XP to Vista back to XP?

G

Guest

I recently upgraded from XP Pro to Vista Home Basic. I'm not able to keep
Vista and now I need to revert back to XP Pro. The only way I'm going to be
able to go back is to do a clean install of XP, but the only version I have
on disc is XP Pro Upgrade. It requires me to insert an older copy of windows
to validate, but will it allow me to do a clean install using an upgrade
version of XP Pro?

Thanks
 
S

Stephan Rose

JFK said:
I recently upgraded from XP Pro to Vista Home Basic. I'm not able to keep
Vista and now I need to revert back to XP Pro. The only way I'm going to
be able to go back is to do a clean install of XP, but the only version I
have on disc is XP Pro Upgrade. It requires me to insert an older copy of
windows to validate, but will it allow me to do a clean install using an
upgrade version of XP Pro?

Sure, as long as you have an old Windows CD around you can easily do a clean
install of XP Pro. Unlike with Vista, there is no need to install an older
version of windows to Upgrade with XP.

I've *never* understood the "Upgrade" crap from Microsoft anyway. As far as
I can tell, the upgrade and non-upgrade versions don't differ in price (at
least I've never seen a difference with XP that I can remember) but the
upgrade version is much more of a pain to install.

Why not just friggin sell the OS, preferably ONE version...and be done with
it?

--
Stephan
2003 Yamaha R6

å›ã®ã“ã¨æ€ã„出ã™æ—¥ãªã‚“ã¦ãªã„ã®ã¯
å›ã®ã“ã¨å¿˜ã‚ŒãŸã¨ããŒãªã„ã‹ã‚‰
 
R

Rock

I recently upgraded from XP Pro to Vista Home Basic. I'm not able to keep
Vista and now I need to revert back to XP Pro. The only way I'm going to
be
able to go back is to do a clean install of XP, but the only version I
have
on disc is XP Pro Upgrade. It requires me to insert an older copy of
windows
to validate, but will it allow me to do a clean install using an upgrade
version of XP Pro?

Yes, the XP Pro upgrade will do a clean install. You will need to insert
the CD for the qualifying product during the installation process when
prompted.
 
R

Rock

Stephan Rose said:
Sure, as long as you have an old Windows CD around you can easily do a
clean
install of XP Pro. Unlike with Vista, there is no need to install an older
version of windows to Upgrade with XP.

I've *never* understood the "Upgrade" crap from Microsoft anyway. As far
as
I can tell, the upgrade and non-upgrade versions don't differ in price (at
least I've never seen a difference with XP that I can remember) but the
upgrade version is much more of a pain to install.


XP upgrade and OEM versions are comparable in cost, but full retail and
upgrade are not. OEM is not transferrable. Inserting the shiny media to
use an upgrade version is simple. I recommend getting the upgrade so it is
transferrable.
 
G

Guest

I agree, I've always purchased upgrades and I never really understood what
that meant until Vista came along and got me into this situation. I don't
mind Vista from a basic standpoint but there is just way to much wrong with
it to make it even somewhat efficient.

Thanks for the answer, I just didn't want to go through the process and then
have it tell me I need a full version to reinstall XP.

Have a good one.
 
K

Ken Blake, MVP

I've *never* understood the "Upgrade" crap from Microsoft anyway. As far as
I can tell, the upgrade and non-upgrade versions don't differ in price (at
least I've never seen a difference with XP that I can remember)


On the contrary, the price difference is considerable.

What may be confusing you is that you are possible comparing the price
of an Upgrade version with an OEM version rather than with a Full
Retail version. That difference is usually slight.

However the OEM version comes with three disadvantages:

1. Its license ties it permanently to the first computer it's
installed on. It can never legally be moved to another computer, sold,
or given away. That means that if the computer it's installed on dies,
the license to use XP dies with it.

2. It can only do a clean installation, not an upgrade.

3. Microsoft provides no support for OEM versions. You can't call them
with a problem, but instead have to get any needed support from your
OEM; that support may range anywhere between good and non-existent. Or
you can get support elsewhere, such as in these newsgroups.

It's that first disadvantage that, as far as I'm concerned, makes an
OEM version a terrible deal. I almost always recommend the Upgrade
version instead.


but the
upgrade version is much more of a pain to install.

Why not just friggin sell the OS, preferably ONE version...and be done with
it?


I think giving a discount to previous Windows users makes sense and is
a good thing to do. But I wish there were no differentiation between
Retail and OEM versions. The public generally doesn't understand the
differences and are often very disappointed and upset to find out the
disadvantages after the fact.
 
G

Guest

Hi JFK,

After reading everyones comments I just want to know why you upgraded from
XP Pro to Vista Basic ? To me this is a waste of time as you would lose out
by just going to Basic instead of Home, Business or Ultimate. I consider
Vista Basic to be the "Lite " version of Vista as you can see by the tables
that MS put out.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top