XP will not install over ME

[Greg]

I just bought the XP Professional upgrade. I am running
Windows ME. My current system has been freezing up when I
try to update ME through the MS Windows update site. Some
other down loads hang as well. The ME was an OEM install.
I decided to buy the XP upgrade to move to a better op
system.

*When I try to install XP, the install program either
freezes up, or I get a message I am not intitled to
upgrade to XP. It's like it doesn't recognize I am running
ME.

 

[purplehaz]

Upgrading to a new os over an older os that is already having problems is
not a good idea. The problems will only get worse. If your ME install had
probs, then I would do a fresh format and clean install of xp. Have your ME
cd handy during install of xp.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I just bought the XP Professional upgrade. I am running
Windows ME. My current system has been freezing up when I
try to update ME through the MS Windows update site. Some
other down loads hang as well. The ME was an OEM install.
I decided to buy the XP upgrade to move to a better op
system.

*When I try to install XP, the install program either
freezes up, or I get a message I am not intitled to
upgrade to XP.

Are you running the XP install *from* the ME? That should recognise it
and proceed. Unless your disk is in a dreadful state the result should
be stable, as the whole OS is replaced. But if setup is giving trouble
do a clean install. You will need to do whatever recovery the OEM
installation provides, to have a clean ME, as the OEM CD is likely to be
one that has an image of the installed system, rather than the set of
installation .cab files that the XP setup will recognise as 'evidence of
entitlement'.

Run the CD from that restored system. Enter Install, change Upgrade to
New Install, then when it asks you to confirm where, you can hit ESC and
get the chance to select the current partition, delete it, and create
a new RAW one, going on to format it as part of the setup

This will by then have detected that it was an e upgrade over the ME so
will not make any further check