XP Pro: Full version of OEM vs "upgrading"

[Guest]

Greetings!

I have encountered a problem with understanding the difference between
purchasing an OEM version of Windows XP Pro (on eBay) and purchasing the XP
Pro upgrade.

BACKGROUND: I have installed XP Pro on a system already running Windows 2000
Professional - and now there are two OSes: XP Pro and 2K Pro to choose from
when booting up. ... **BUT** all my software I have been using in 2K Pro is
only available when booting into 2K Pro.

QUESTION: Should I have purchased an "upgrade" version of XP Pro, such that
the 2K Pro OS would have been upgraded to XP Pro, and all my s/w would have
then been available for continued use in XP Pro?

FOLLOW-UP: Is there a way to perform an "upgrade" with this OEM OS disc I
have vs having the entire OS loading into its own sector on the hard drive?
Or, .. well, comments and suggestions are most welcome.

Thanks very much, in advance!

GLen

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

The OEM is designed for a Clean Installation only and thus will not
perform an upgrade.

Retail Full or retail Upgrade of Windows XP can perform a Clean
Installation or an upgrade.

Apparently you installed OEM Pro to dual boot with Windows 2000
instead of a Clean Installation.
If they are on separate partitions, all is probably OK.
If they are on the same partition, conflicts and other problems are
likely over time and you should perform a Clean Installation with Pro.
In either case, you will not be able to use programs from one OS
installed on the other.

Clean Installation:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/cleanxp.htm

 

[Kip Kniskern]

Your software is not installed on the new OS (XP). You need to do that in
order to use it with XP. If you have the OS's on separate partitions, and
you are careful of where you install them (so they don't mess with the
original (2K) installations, you should be able to install the sw to be able
to use it with XP. You would then be able to access your documents and
files from either system.

It's not always that easy though, and don't be surprised if you run into
problems. I'll issue the obligitory "read the EULA" regarding your software
here, too.

Best case is to start over clean with a new fresh install of XP. Painful at
first, but you'll end up with a cleaner and better running system in the
long run.

kip

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings!

I have encountered a problem with understanding the difference between
purchasing an OEM version of Windows XP Pro (on eBay) and purchasing the XP
Pro upgrade.

BACKGROUND: I have installed XP Pro on a system already running Windows 2000
Professional - and now there are two OSes: XP Pro and 2K Pro to choose from
when booting up. ... **BUT** all my software I have been using in 2K Pro is
only available when booting into 2K Pro.

QUESTION: Should I have purchased an "upgrade" version of XP Pro, such that
the 2K Pro OS would have been upgraded to XP Pro, and all my s/w would have
then been available for continued use in XP Pro?

Yes, if you elect to perform and upgrade rather than a new installation.

FOLLOW-UP: Is there a way to perform an "upgrade" with this OEM OS disc I
have vs having the entire OS loading into its own sector on the hard drive?

No. An OEM CD cannot be used to perform an upgrade of an earlier OS,
as it was designed to be installed _only_ upon an empty hard drive. It
can still be used to perform a repair installation (a.k.a. an in-place
upgrade) of an existing WinXP installation.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Alex Nichol]

I have encountered a problem with understanding the difference between
purchasing an OEM version of Windows XP Pro (on eBay) and purchasing the XP
Pro upgrade.

BACKGROUND: I have installed XP Pro on a system already running Windows 2000
Professional - and now there are two OSes: XP Pro and 2K Pro to choose from
when booting up. ... **BUT** all my software I have been using in 2K Pro is
only available when booting into 2K Pro.

QUESTION: Should I have purchased an "upgrade" version of XP Pro, such that
the 2K Pro OS would have been upgraded to XP Pro, and all my s/w would have
then been available for continued use in XP Pro?

I would have. The price is not be much more than a *legitimate* OEM CD
bought on eBay and there is a good chance that ones there may not in
fact be legit. You can still do a clean install with the Upgrade CD
should you ever want to, provided you retain your Win2000 CD to show in
evidence. And running the upgrade *from* the Win2000 should retain
installed software and data (though always ensure data is backed up,
just in case)

FOLLOW-UP: Is there a way to perform an "upgrade" with this OEM OS disc I
have vs having the entire OS loading into its own sector on the hard drive?
Or, .. well, comments and suggestions are most welcome.

An OEM one will *not* do an upgrade, and AFAIK will not install in a
dual boot to another partition other than by using a third party boot
manager

 

[D.Currie]

I would have. The price is not be much more than a *legitimate* OEM CD
bought on eBay and there is a good chance that ones there may not in
fact be legit. You can still do a clean install with the Upgrade CD
should you ever want to, provided you retain your Win2000 CD to show in
evidence. And running the upgrade *from* the Win2000 should retain
installed software and data (though always ensure data is backed up,
just in case)


An OEM one will *not* do an upgrade, and AFAIK will not install in a
dual boot to another partition other than by using a third party boot
manager

FYI: it will do a dual boot as long as it's a generic OEM cd.