Windows XP Pro 120 Day Trial ending!!!

[Allan]

Help,

It looks like I messed up! I sent away for the XP Pro 120
Day trial version and now I have 3 days left. I didn't
realize that the only way it won't shut down is to
purchase the 'FULL' XP Pro version. Well, I don't have
the bucks just yet, found out I can't uninstall it
because I had Win. 2000 Pro before it. Looks like I have
to save everything, reformat, and start over...man, that
takes me days when I have to do that. Does anyone think
that Microsoft might give me some kind of extension? Does
anyone know how to get around all of the mess I'm in? Any
one's help would be greatly appreciated...al
([email protected])

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Allan;
You have three days.
Microsoft can not give an extension because Windows XP knows when the
time bomb goes off.

Also before you try, do not touch the clock/calendar.
All changes, forward or back, are cumulative and will subtract from
your three days.

Back up and go back to Windows 2000 or buy Windows XP Pro.
See also:
http://aumha.org/win5/a/fast.htm

 

[PA Bear]

It looks like I messed up! I sent away for the XP Pro 120
Day trial version and now I have 3 days left. I didn't
realize that the only way it won't shut down is to
purchase the 'FULL' XP Pro version. Well, I don't have
the bucks just yet, found out I can't uninstall it
because I had Win. 2000 Pro before it. Looks like I have
to save everything, reformat, and start over...man, that
takes me days when I have to do that. Does anyone think
that Microsoft might give me some kind of extension?

No.

 

[Jim]

"found out I can't uninstall it because I had Win. 2000 Pro before it. "

Huh? I need some clarification, what does this mean? Are you talking about
multiple partitions here? Do you have a clean, working partition of W2K in
a partition PRECEDING the XP partition that's about to expire? Do you
simply want to continue using that W2K installation?

It's no big deal to get rid of the XP install and keep using the current
W2K, rather trivial in fact, but before I go further, it would be nice to
get some more details. Again, it's generally no big deal to return to a
previous OS *if* it's safely sitting in another partition.

Jim

 

[Michael Stevens]

Help,

It looks like I messed up! I sent away for the XP Pro 120
Day trial version and now I have 3 days left. I didn't
realize that the only way it won't shut down is to
purchase the 'FULL' XP Pro version. Well, I don't have
the bucks just yet, found out I can't uninstall it
because I had Win. 2000 Pro before it. Looks like I have
to save everything, reformat, and start over...man, that
takes me days when I have to do that. Does anyone think
that Microsoft might give me some kind of extension? Does
anyone know how to get around all of the mess I'm in? Any
one's help would be greatly appreciated...al
([email protected])

Sorry, no way out of the backup and reinstall, other than purchasing a new
hard drive and do a fresh install of 2000 and then install the current drive
as a slave to retreive the data and possibly in the future change to the
full version.
100+ gig hard drives are very cheap.

--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

 

[Kelly]

Hi Jim,

You can't uninstall XP and return to W2K. Upgrades from W2K to XP does not
allow for uninstall due to many reasons.

To reinstall: MVP Doug:

Boot from the Windows 2000 CD, do not run setup from within XP. As part
of Win2K's setup, you will be offered the option to reformat your
drives. If your computer doesn't support booting from CD, then go to
www.bootdisk.com and download the necessary files to create a Win98 or
Win ME Startup Disk with CD support. Boot the computer with this. At
the A: prompt, type FORMAT C: If your hard disk is formatted NTFS you
will have to use FDISK first, to remove the "non-DOS" partition, then
create a new partition. After done with FDISK reboot, again with the
Win98/Me Startup Disk and at the A: prompt type FORMAT C:

Then type X:\I386\WINNT.EXE where X is your CD-Rom drive letter.

When you go to www.bootdisk.com look for a Startup Disk file set that
includes SMARTDRV You will want to run this before you run WINNT.EXE
to make the process go faster.

How to Install W2K to its own partition. Use a 98 Startup disk and run
WINNT.EXE from the I386 directory. After 2K is installed, boot with the XP
CD and at the Setup/Repair screen, choose Repair. In Recovery Console, use
the following commands:

1) FIXBOOT, answer Yes
2) CD \
3) ATTRIB -H NTLDR
4) ATTRIB -S NTLDR
5) ATTRIB -R NTLDR
6) ATTRIB -H NTDETECT.COM
7) ATTRIB -S NTDETEC.COM
8) ATTRIB -R NTDETECT.COM
9) COPY X:\I386\NTLDR C:\
10) COPY X:\I386\NTDETECT.COM C:\

In Steps 9 and 10, X is the letter of your CD-Rom drive.

How to Install W2K to its Own Partition after installing XP
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_2k.htm

 

[Jim]

Yeah, I know, but he never made it clear this was an "upgrade", that's my
point. It sounded to me that he may have simply installed XP in a second
partition, AFTER the partition containing W2K (that's what I would have
done). His use of the phrase "I had Win. 2000 Pro before it" is what threw
me. Of course, upgrading a "working" version of W2K w/ a "trial version" of
XP deserves a good spanking!

Jim

 

[Kelly]

Of course, upgrading a "working" version of W2K w/ a "trial version" of

XP deserves a good spanking!

I hear you, Jim. )