XP Upgrade without the original previous version

[Brian Alton]

I own Windows XP Home and have been using it for some
time now. Today, my main hard drive failed and I need to
reinstall XP and the other programs I lost.

I bought the upgrade disk because when I first installed
XP, it was an upgrade. Now, I need to reinstall but the
hard drive is clean. I am asked to insert the CD from the
previous version of Windows to continue the install, but
I don't have my old Win 98 CD. The original install
worked because I did upgrade and the old Win 98 was on
the hard drive.

Why can't I still use my Win XP cd to install the OS. Is
there no way around this? I don't need to buy another
copy because its being reinstalled....it just
technically, right now I am not upgrading, but only
because the old hard drive failed.

I'm stuck. Any thoughts?

Brian

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

When performing a "clean install" of Windows XP using
the "upgrade version", you'll be requested to insert a previous
Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME/W2K installation CD in order
to qualify using the "Windows XP Upgrade CD". Without having
one of the aforementioned CDs, then you are indeed stuck and
cannot proceed. In that case, only a "full version" of Windows
XP will work.

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

[Courtesy of Michael Stevens, MS-MVP]


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

-------------------------------------------------------------------------


| I own Windows XP Home and have been using it for some
| time now. Today, my main hard drive failed and I need to
| reinstall XP and the other programs I lost.
|
| I bought the upgrade disk because when I first installed
| XP, it was an upgrade. Now, I need to reinstall but the
| hard drive is clean. I am asked to insert the CD from the
| previous version of Windows to continue the install, but
| I don't have my old Win 98 CD. The original install
| worked because I did upgrade and the old Win 98 was on
| the hard drive.
|
| Why can't I still use my Win XP cd to install the OS. Is
| there no way around this? I don't need to buy another
| copy because its being reinstalled....it just
| technically, right now I am not upgrading, but only
| because the old hard drive failed.
|
| I'm stuck. Any thoughts?
|
| Brian

 

[Mike Brannigan [MSFT]]

If you cannot provide a qualifying media then you are not licensed to use
the upgrade CD
You could get another Windows 98 CD from a budget source such as e-bay (as
long as it is legitimate)

--
Regards,

Mike
--
Mike Brannigan [Microsoft]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights

Please note I cannot respond to e-mailed questions, please use these
newsgroups

 

[Guest]

Borrow one of the qualifying CD's (95/98/ME/W2K) from a
friend. You don't need to know the serial numbers of the
particular DCD. You merely have to insert it for
verification.