XP Home Upgrade re-install

[Dan]

Need assistance with re-install of XP Home Upgrade. My
son's computer needs the OS re-installed. He only has the
XP Home Upgrade disk. Is there a way that he can re-
install without the previous OS disks?

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

He can't do a clean install, that is an installation to a blank, freshly
formatted hard drive with the XP Home Edition Upgrade unless he has a disk
of a previous version of Windows. It must be a retail version as the
manufacturer supplied OEM versions are usually customized and not recognized
by the setup routine. Other than that, the upgrade install must be over a
previous version of Windows. If the upgrade is over a previous version of
Windows it must be Windows 98 or later.

While the upgrade with accept a Windows 95 CD as proof of a previous OS, it
will not install over an installed version of 95 as 95 is not a supported
upgrade path.