Upgrade vs Full Version Purchase

[Jerry]

I currently have "Me" and want to upgrade to "XP
Professional". But to avoid problems I want to perform a
full install of the product. I of course don't want to
pay $299 (retail) for the packaged full version of "XP".
Does the "Upgrade" as packaged for $199 (retail) allow the
user to perform a complete install if they choose?

 

[Norm]

Yes, during the clean install XP will ask you to insert the ME cd to verify
the upgrade is a valid one.

 

[Bruce]

Absolutley, Jerry. You may want to take a look at this website for pointers
on doing a clean install. And may I say that you're making a wise move
doing a clean install.

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp

 

[Jeffrey Struyk [MVP]]

I currently have "Me" and want to upgrade to "XP
Professional". But to avoid problems I want to perform a
full install of the product. I of course don't want to
pay $299 (retail) for the packaged full version of "XP".
Does the "Upgrade" as packaged for $199 (retail) allow the
user to perform a complete install if they choose?

The clean install is the way to go. No problems with using the
upgrade product, either. It's the same as the full version except it
requires you to prove you have an earlier version of Windows. This
requirement is met by inserting an old Windows CD when prompted.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

I currently have "Me" and want to upgrade to "XP
Professional". But to avoid problems I want to perform a
full install of the product. I of course don't want to
pay $299 (retail) for the packaged full version of "XP".
Does the "Upgrade" as packaged for $199 (retail) allow the
user to perform a complete install if they choose?

The requirement to use an upgrade version is to *own* a previous
qualifying version's installation CD (not an OEM restore CD), not
to have it installed. When setup doesn't find a previous
qualifying version installed, it will prompt you to insert its CD
as proof of ownership. Just insert the previous version's CD, and
follow the prompts. Everything proceeds quite normally and quite
legitimately.

However my advice is to at least try the upgrade route. Unlike
with earlier versions of Windows, upgrades to XP usually go very
well, and are much easier. Worst case, if the upgrade results in
problems, you can always change your mind and do a clean
installation.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I currently have "Me" and want to upgrade to "XP
Professional". But to avoid problems I want to perform a
full install of the product. I of course don't want to
pay $299 (retail) for the packaged full version of "XP".
Does the "Upgrade" as packaged for $199 (retail) allow the
user to perform a complete install if they choose?

Yes it does. You can either boot it, and in doing a clean install, show
it an ME CD as evidence (a retail one, not an OEM Restore one), or else
Run the CD from the existing system. Enter Install, change Upgrade to
New Install, then when it asks you to confirm where, you can hit ESC and
get the chance to select the current partition, delete it, and create
a new RAW one, going on to format it as part of the setup
By then it will have made the eligibility check


But I would urge you to do an Upgrade in the first instance. The old
conventional wisdom from win95 to 98 days is not true any more. It does
so much replacement of the system that from that POV it is essentially
the same as a clean install, but it brings forward installed software
and importantly may bring forward old drivers where there are no native
XP ones. You can always go back to do the clean install if it does not
work out - the converse is not true. Read Gary Woodruff's article on
upgrading to XP at http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm