XP Activation ? - legally

[Guest]

3 questions -

I have a copy of XP Pro installed legally on one computer. I put it on my 2 other computers (a laptop and the kid's computer) not realizing I could not legally do this - no problem - understood

I now want to install XP Home on both of these 2 other computers. I realize that I will have to purchase a FULL edition of XP Home for $199 for one of the computers

(1) Can I re-install the full edition of XP Home over the current version of (now disabled) XP Pro or do I have to reformat and reinstall everything

(2) I was previously running Windows 98SE on the 2nd computer, I would like to reinstall Windows 98SE and then purchase the XP Home upgrade for $99 (thereby saving $100). I have tried reinstalling Windows 98SE over the current version of (now disabled) XP Pro but that current version of (now disabled) Windows XP Pro does not seem to permit me to do this. Is it possible to "get rid" of this XP Pro and then reformat with Windows 98SE? Or should I just bite the bullwet and go with the FULL version of XP Home

(3) Is it better just in general to go with a "full" version of Windows XP Home rather than an "upgrade" from 98SE to Windows XP Home?

Thanks in advance for for any help/comments/suggestions.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

(1) One cannot install XP Home over XP Pro...a "clean install" is required.

(2) If you have a Microsoft Windows 98 installation CD, then you can use
the "Upgrade Version" of Windows XP Home to perform a "clean install"

(3) The "Full Version" and the "Upgrade Versions" are identical except for
one aspect. The "Upgrade Version" requires you to insert a Windows 98
CD in the CD Drive during setup to verify upgrade eligibility.

Clean Install Windows XP
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

[Courtesy of MS-MVP Michael Stevens]

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

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|3 questions -
|
| I have a copy of XP Pro installed legally on one computer. I put it on my 2 other computers (a laptop and
the kid's computer) not realizing I could not legally do this - no problem - understood.
|
| I now want to install XP Home on both of these 2 other computers. I realize that I will have to purchase a
FULL edition of XP Home for $199 for one of the computers?
|
| (1) Can I re-install the full edition of XP Home over the current version of (now disabled) XP Pro or do I
have to reformat and reinstall everything?
|
| (2) I was previously running Windows 98SE on the 2nd computer, I would like to reinstall Windows 98SE and
then purchase the XP Home upgrade for $99 (thereby saving $100). I have tried reinstalling Windows 98SE over
the current version of (now disabled) XP Pro but that current version of (now disabled) Windows XP Pro does
not seem to permit me to do this. Is it possible to "get rid" of this XP Pro and then reformat with Windows
98SE? Or should I just bite the bullwet and go with the FULL version of XP Home?
|
| (3) Is it better just in general to go with a "full" version of Windows XP Home rather than an "upgrade"
from 98SE to Windows XP Home?
|
| Thanks in advance for for any help/comments/suggestions.

 

[Yves Leclerc]

XP Pro has more file/configuration that Home so you can not "upgrade" Pro to
Home. A reformat is required. This is also the solution of putting back
Windows 98SE.

Also, as long as you have a vaild Windows 98S CD, you do not have to have it
installed in order to do the XP Home upgrade. XP Home will ask for the CD
during the upgrade.

It is by far better to do a "clean" install of XP (any version). You must
keep a Windows 98SE CD with the Upgrade CDs.

3 questions -

I have a copy of XP Pro installed legally on one computer. I put it on my

2 other computers (a laptop and the kid's computer) not realizing I could
not legally do this - no problem - understood.

I now want to install XP Home on both of these 2 other computers. I

realize that I will have to purchase a FULL edition of XP Home for $199 for
one of the computers?

(1) Can I re-install the full edition of XP Home over the current version

of (now disabled) XP Pro or do I have to reformat and reinstall everything?

(2) I was previously running Windows 98SE on the 2nd computer, I would

like to reinstall Windows 98SE and then purchase the XP Home upgrade for $99
(thereby saving $100). I have tried reinstalling Windows 98SE over the
current version of (now disabled) XP Pro but that current version of (now
disabled) Windows XP Pro does not seem to permit me to do this. Is it
possible to "get rid" of this XP Pro and then reformat with Windows 98SE?
Or should I just bite the bullwet and go with the FULL version of XP Home?

(3) Is it better just in general to go with a "full" version of Windows XP

Home rather than an "upgrade" from 98SE to Windows XP Home?

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In

I have a copy of XP Pro installed legally on one computer. I put it
on my 2 other computers (a laptop and the kid's computer) not
realizing I could not legally do this - no problem - understood.

I now want to install XP Home on both of these 2 other computers. I
realize that I will have to purchase a FULL edition of XP Home for
$199 for one of the computers?

Are you sure? If you own two copies of installation CDs (not OEM
restore CDs) of previous qualifying versions (Windows 98, Me,
NT4, or 2000--even 95, if you want to do a clean installation),
you can use them with Upgrade versions.

(1) Can I re-install the full edition of XP Home over the current
version of (now disabled) XP Pro or do I have to reformat and
reinstall everything?

The latter. It is not possible to do a downgrade.

(2) I was previously running Windows 98SE on the 2nd computer, I
would like to reinstall Windows 98SE and then purchase the XP Home
upgrade for $99 (thereby saving $100). I have tried reinstalling
Windows 98SE over the current version of (now disabled) XP Pro but
that current version of (now disabled) Windows XP Pro does not seem
to permit me to do this.

Correct. As above, downgrades are not supported.

However it isn't necessary to install Windows 98. You can do a
clean installation with the Upgrade version. 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.

Is it possible to "get rid" of this XP Pro
and then reformat with Windows 98SE?

Yes, but as above, it's completely unnecessary.

Or should I just bite the
bullwet and go with the FULL version of XP Home?

No, that would be a complete waste of money. If you qualify for
the upgrade, buy the upgrade. Again, you *can* do a clean
installation with it.

(3) Is it better just in general to go with a "full" version of
Windows XP Home rather than an "upgrade" from 98SE to Windows XP
Home?

Absolutely not. Again, it's just a waste of money.

 

[Barry Watzman]

First, if you have the CD from an earlier operating system (98, for
example), you can use an upgrade edition instead of full product. It
will save you about $100 per machine. You do not have to actually
install the earlier operating system, as long as you have the CD for it.
It will ask for the CD during installation. So you can do what you
suggested in (2) without actually reinstalling 98SE.

The bad news is that you will have to start "from scratch", you can't
install XP Home "over" XP Pro. One option here, if you "blow away" the
C:\Windows and C:\Program Files folders (or even just rename them),
that's enough, and it will let you preserve your DATA on the drive
without completely wiping the drive (although installed programs will
still be lost). This is easier to do if C: is FAT32 than if it's NTFS.

That said, it's a bit cleaner to actually go ahead and totally wipe C:,
but it's also a LOT more time consuming. Much of this, in the end,
comes down to your personal preference, how much data is involved, and
what kind of backup devices you have available to hold the data while
you are reformatting and reinstalling things.

Note that except for the installation itself, there is ***NO***
difference between XP Home (or Pro, for that matter) upgrade version and
full product version. You end up with exactly the same thing. The
upgrade version does not actually USE the "older" operating system, it's
still a complete install. The differences are legal and license
related, as enfornced by the respective setup programs, but whichever
way you go, you end up with the same operating system (although the
upgrade version may try to import some registry entries and may try to
use some NON-Microsoft drivers for hardware devices).