windows xp home does not load

[jaycee]

I have a failure to load windows xp home which was upgraded from windows 98se
12 months ago. Windows 98 has been deleted from the hard drive and if I try
to reload the upgrade it does not recognise a previous windows product. I
have other windows product disks and I am able to access the upgrade, however
when I try to load It does not over write the existing files. The other
option is to delete the existing files but I am not sure this is the right
option as the disk is an upgrade. Is the upgrade disk a complete version?
can I delete and re-install the upgrade without any problems?

John

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

Yes, a clean install is possible.
Format. Start setup from a cd boot. Press F8 to agree to the license.
Replace the XP CD with your qualifying CD, XP setup will scan the qualifying
CD and tell you to replace it with an XP CD

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have a failure to load windows xp home which was upgraded from windows 98se
12 months ago. Windows 98 has been deleted from the hard drive and if I try
to reload the upgrade it does not recognise a previous windows product. I
have other windows product disks and I am able to access the upgrade, however
when I try to load It does not over write the existing files. The other
option is to delete the existing files but I am not sure this is the right
option as the disk is an upgrade. Is the upgrade disk a complete version?

Yes.


can I delete and re-install the upgrade without any problems?

If you have your Windows 98 installation CD, yes.

The requirement to use an upgrade version is to *own* a previous
qualifying version's installation CD (with an OEM restore CD, see
below), 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.

You can also do a clean installation if you have an OEM restore CD of
a previous qualifying version. It's more complicated, but it *can* be
done. First restore from the Restore CD. Then run the XP upgrade CD
from within that restored system, and change from Upgrade to New
Install. When it asks where, press Esc to delete the partition and
start over.

 

[jaycee]

I do not have the windows 98 disc. i have upgraded and registered XP and
still have the registration details. however I do have a windows 95 which
when inserted gives access to the install menu on the XP disk. Is it safe to
delete the XP files as this is one of the options and load the XP upgrade
again. Will I loose any data or programs currently installed. reply from
another contributor suggests it is OK.

John

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I do not have the windows 98 disc. i have upgraded and registered XP and
still have the registration details. however I do have a windows 95 which
when inserted gives access to the install menu on the XP disk.

A Windows 95 installation CD will also work. You can't upgrade
directly from Windows 95, but it works as proof of ownership of a
qualifying previous version when doing a clean installation.

Is it safe to
delete the XP files as this is one of the options and load the XP upgrade
again. Will I loose any data or programs currently installed. reply from
another contributor suggests it is OK.

It is *not* OK. When you do a clean installation, you lose
*everything* on the drive--all data, all programs, and everything
lese. Back up your data before starting. You can restore your backed
up data after reinstallation, but you will have to reinstall all your
programs from the original media.

I'm not sure why you want to do this at all, but if you are having a
problem, you can try a repair installation (which should not cause the
loss of anything, but it's still prudent to have a backup--just in
case) instead of a clean one. That may or may not help you, depending
on what problems you're experiencing.

 

[jaycee]

I have tried a repair installation but windows will not load-850.nls file
missing or corrupt.. I am unable to access my data files. I am unable to
load in safe mode or to last known good settings. not looking too good!!!

John

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have tried a repair installation but windows will not load-850.nls file
missing or corrupt.. I am unable to access my data files. I am unable to
load in safe mode or to last known good settings. not looking too good!!!

As I suggested, a repair installation does *not* solve all problems.