Upgrading to Windows XP Home from Win95

[Boris]

Now that XP will be phased out, I'd like to purchase an upgrade
version to have around. I think I'll use it to install on a newly
purchased Dell Vista laptop, because I don't care for Vista. I have
anOEM version of XP that came on a Dell machine that I no longer use,
but I know that I can't use it on a new laptop per the license.

I do have a retail version of Windows 95 that is no longer in use.
I've read different articles that say Win95 is not an upgrade path to
XP, and some articles have said that it is.

My question is, can I, using an XP Home SP2 Upgrade disc, do a clean,
full install, and insert my Win95 disk when I'm asked for
verification?

Thank you.

 

[philo]

Now that XP will be phased out, I'd like to purchase an upgrade
version to have around. I think I'll use it to install on a newly
purchased Dell Vista laptop, because I don't care for Vista. I have
anOEM version of XP that came on a Dell machine that I no longer use,
but I know that I can't use it on a new laptop per the license.

I do have a retail version of Windows 95 that is no longer in use.
I've read different articles that say Win95 is not an upgrade path to
XP, and some articles have said that it is.

My question is, can I, using an XP Home SP2 Upgrade disc, do a clean,
full install, and insert my Win95 disk when I'm asked for
verification?

Thank you.

Though win95 is not considered to be a qualifying product
I've seen dozens of posts stating that the CD *will* work for an XP upgrade

 

[PD43]

Now that XP will be phased out, I'd like to purchase an upgrade
version to have around. I think I'll use it to install on a newly
purchased Dell Vista laptop, because I don't care for Vista.

You'd better be damned sure that Dell has XP drivers for the machine
you're going to buy or you might find yourself up sh*t creek without
a paddle. If you can buy a laptop with XP already installed, you'd be
much better off.

 

[Big_Al]

You'd better be damned sure that Dell has XP drivers for the machine
you're going to buy or you might find yourself up sh*t creek without
a paddle. If you can buy a laptop with XP already installed, you'd be
much better off.

He's right. If the laptop comes with Vista, the hardware may be totally
XP incompatible. Well, not so much the hardware itself, but the fact
that the manufacturers may not have written drivers for it is more the
issue.

 

[R. McCarty]

There is another issue with rolling back a "Native" Vista machine to
XP. That is future peripheral use. While it's still mostly possible to
take a new machine and get XP running. Users need to understand
that any new peripherals they buy over the life-cycle of the computer
will likely not ship with XP drivers. Doing a Roll back may meet the
current needs but somewhere down the road a driver or app may
need to be installed that is not XP compliant.
The terrain is changing. When Vista first appeared it was a lack of
drivers for Vista. Now the reverse is becoming true - Only Vista
drivers or support for running in Vista.

 

[Anteaus]

In most cases they do supply drivers, but since you won't have LAN access on
the XP machine until you install the drivers, best to get them with the
existing machine before you start work. Also, before you flatten Vista, take
a look in Device Manager and jot down a list of the device types, particulary
display and disk interfaces. It's not been unknown for the website to have
wrong info, and being wise to this can save a lot of head-banging.

 

[norm]

Now that XP will be phased out, I'd like to purchase an upgrade
version to have around. I think I'll use it to install on a newly
purchased Dell Vista laptop, because I don't care for Vista. I have
anOEM version of XP that came on a Dell machine that I no longer use,
but I know that I can't use it on a new laptop per the license.

I do have a retail version of Windows 95 that is no longer in use.
I've read different articles that say Win95 is not an upgrade path to
XP, and some articles have said that it is.

My question is, can I, using an XP Home SP2 Upgrade disc, do a clean,
full install, and insert my Win95 disk when I'm asked for
verification?

Thank you.

I have used W95b(2.1 OEM) as a verification CD when doing a fresh
install of xp with a retail XP upgrade CD. ( I also had XP drivers
that came with the motherboard)
Note: I understand the upgrade will not work if you are trying to
upgrade an existing W95 installation, a new XP install is needed.

Hope this helps.

 

[David Webb]

Whether you intend to replace the Vista installation on the laptop or setup a
dual boot configuration, there are some major issues you should be made aware
of. The deal breaker in either case is if you can obtain Windows XP drivers for
a system designed for Vista. See issue item 1 below.

Here's my standard pitch that I post to those wanting to dual boot:

There are some major issues to overcome in order to dual boot with Vista and
WinXP (with OEM Vista preinstalled).

They are:
1) Obtaining WinXP System drivers for your system.
2) Finding a Dual boot setup procedure.
3) Loss of System Restore points in Vista when WinXP is installed.

For item 1, you'll need to do some research to see if this desktop is a good
candidate for WinXP. Whether trying a dual boot configuration or a clean install
of WinXP, you'll need to have all drivers, which may include SATA drivers, if
required. In many cases of newer systems, the hardware devices were developed
for Vista only and there are no WinXP device drivers available. During the early
transition period, some systems were sold with WinXP installed and the mfg
offered an upgrade to Vista when it was released. This type will/should have
WinXP drivers available.

For item 2, see the procedure in the following link.

How to dual boot Vista and XP (with Vista installed first)
http://apcmag.com/5485/dualbooting_vista_and_xp

Note, you will need a Vista installation DVD or a recovery CD in order to repair
the Vista bootloader and then complete the dual boot section with the EasyBCD
utility.

For item 3, see this article for detailed info including some workarounds:

No restore points are available when you use Windows Vista or Windows Server
2008 in a dual-boot configuration together with an earlier Windows operating
system
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926185

Good luck!

 

[Big_Al]

There is another issue with rolling back a "Native" Vista machine to
XP. That is future peripheral use. While it's still mostly possible to
take a new machine and get XP running. Users need to understand
that any new peripherals they buy over the life-cycle of the computer
will likely not ship with XP drivers. Doing a Roll back may meet the
current needs but somewhere down the road a driver or app may
need to be installed that is not XP compliant.
The terrain is changing. When Vista first appeared it was a lack of
drivers for Vista. Now the reverse is becoming true - Only Vista
drivers or support for running in Vista.

The OP stated he was going to get a laptop, and this kinda implies a
lack of customization, unlike a desktop. Do you still think this is an
issue? I only ask in that I too have a laptop running XP, but it was
designed for XP. Your comment seems to point at me too that any future
hardware might be an issue, and other than IDE drives becoming an issue
more and more today, I don't see any hardware I want in here. Course I
bought bluetooth,firewire,usb,G wireless, so what more can I get in
here.

 

[R. McCarty]

XP support will be around for a while, because of it's huge installed base.
As far as I know, the only forthcoming technology "Leap" is USB 3.0.

I just mentioned the peripheral issue because I get calls frequently on
buying a new machine with Vista and reloading XP. I try to inform the
customer on what issues are involved with doing that. One big area is
notebooks for college use. Since XP's support will diminish over the 4
years of college use I try to discourage purchasers from rolling back a
Vista machine to XP if it is being purchased for college.

 

[Tim Slattery]

I do have a retail version of Windows 95 that is no longer in use.
I've read different articles that say Win95 is not an upgrade path to
XP, and some articles have said that it is.

My question is, can I, using an XP Home SP2 Upgrade disc, do a clean,
full install, and insert my Win95 disk when I'm asked for
verification?

You can't use a WinXP upgrade disk on a machine that's running Win95,
that won't work. But Win95 is a "qualifying product" for the upgrade,
and you can insert a Win95 disk when the WinXP install process asks
for a qualifying product.

 

[Detlev Dreyer]

You can't use a WinXP upgrade disk on a machine that's running Win95,
that won't work. But Win95 is a "qualifying product" for the upgrade,
and you can insert a Win95 disk when the WinXP install process asks
for a qualifying product.

Did you try this out, Tim? In that case we should ask the MSKB content
manager to correct this article.

"Windows XP supported upgrade paths"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/292607/en-us

 

[PD43]

He's right. If the laptop comes with Vista, the hardware may be totally
XP incompatible. Well, not so much the hardware itself, but the fact
that the manufacturers may not have written drivers for it is more the
issue.

Umm... I think the definition of "incompatible hardware" would be any

 

[Tim Slattery]

Did you try this out, Tim? In that case we should ask the MSKB content
manager to correct this article.

"Windows XP supported upgrade paths"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/292607/en-us

As I said, the XP Upgrade CD will not upgrade an existing Win95
system. If your machine is running Win95, you'll have to remove it
before installing XP (of course, if your machine is running Win95 it
probably doesn't have snazzy enough hardware to make XP worthwhile).
But AFAIK, a Win95 installation CD *does" work as a qualifying
product. I've found a page that quotes the "qualifying product" prompt
in the XP Upgrade install:

<quote>
"Please insert your Windows NT 3.51 Workstation, Windows NT 4.0
Workstation, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 95, Windows 98, or
Windows Millennium CD into your CD-ROM drive."
</quote>
http://www.duxcw.com/faq/win/xp/clean.htm

 

[John John (MVP)]

As I said, the XP Upgrade CD will not upgrade an existing Win95
system. If your machine is running Win95, you'll have to remove it
before installing XP (of course, if your machine is running Win95 it
probably doesn't have snazzy enough hardware to make XP worthwhile).
But AFAIK, a Win95 installation CD *does" work as a qualifying
product. I've found a page that quotes the "qualifying product" prompt
in the XP Upgrade install:

<snip>

Gary Woodruff also confirms this here:
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm

John

 

[Boris]

In most cases they do supply drivers, but since you won't have LAN access on
the XP machine until you install the drivers, best to get them with the
existing machine before you start work. Also, before you flatten Vista, take
a look in Device Manager and jot down a list of the device types, particulary
display and disk interfaces. It's not been unknown for the website to have
wrong info, and being wise to this can save a lot of head-banging.

Hi,

The laptop is an Inspiron 1420, with Vista Home Premium, to be
delivered this week.

I just checked the Dell site, and they do have both XP and Vista
drivers available for download for the Vista laptop I have ordered.

I've had a Vista desktop since October 2007. I used it for about a
month, and then gravitated back to my XP machines. The 1420 was a
Dell outlet buy, at a good price, with Vista already installed. I
didn't have a choice of OSs.

I'm not one of these people that has strong feelings about Vista, pro
or con, I'm just more comfortable with XP. On the other hand, I don't
enjoy the chore of moving from Vista drivers to XP drivers, I may just
bite the bullet, and become proficient with Vista. I hear it's good
to challenge the brain. <g>

 

[Detlev Dreyer]

Gary Woodruff also confirms this here: http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm

Thanks guys. I've sent a change request to the MSKB content manager.