JCG said:
I qualify for the upgrade version of XP Home Edition as I currently have a
computer with Windows ME on it.
My question is: While the upgrade is less costly than buying the full
version license, will I still be able to do a "clean" install with the
upgrade version? In other words, will I be able to do a "clean" install with
the upgrade version of XP as I do qualify for the upgrade XP Home Edition?
Yes you can.
If you have a Windows Me installation CD then you can reformat your
hard drive and boot with the Windows XP Upgrade CD. During the
install process you will be asked to briefly insert your Windows Me
install CD so as to verify your eligibility to use the upgrade
version.
However if your Windows Me is on a custom "System Recovery" CD
provided by a major computer manufacturer then this will likely not
work. In that circumstance you can leave your installed Windows Me in
place, boot from the Windows XP CD and choose the option to install a
new version in the existing partition.
The next question is why do you want to do a clean install? Are there
serious problems with your installed Windows Me, or are there a lot of
installed items that you no longer want? Because if your Windows Me
is operating properly and if you want to use the same applications
with your Windows XP then I urge you to seriously consider doing an
upgrade install rather than a clean install.
During the beta testing of Windows XP I installed many different beta
versions of Windows XP, and on a number of occasions I installed the
same beta twice, once as an upgrade from Windows Me and once as a
clean install. The only substantive difference that I ever
encountered between an upgrade install and a clean install was that a
clean install was an absolute p.i.t.a. because of the hours and hours
and hours of additional work that it took to reinstall applications,
update and configure them, and restore the data files from backups.
There are some preliminary steps you need to take in order to enhance
your chances of a successful upgrade install. MVP Gary Woodruff has
an article on this at
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm
And if the upgrade install does turn out poorly (and there have a few
instances where this has happened) then you still have the option of
doing a clean install.
Good luck
Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
