[fear187]

I am going to be fixing a friend's computer.
She has xp pro on it (installed via an upgrade installation cd).

I am going to be reinstalling the OS on her computer. I have a full retail version of Xp Pro and need to know
if her serial key will work fine with the full retail version of XP Pro? (Rather find out now instead of screwing myself
later if I were to wipe it out and figure that out on my own). Thank you!

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Hi fear187...

The upgrade key and full install keys are different and will likely not work. You can, however, perform a complete, clean install using the upgrade disk and the upgrade key. You will have to provide a previous operating system disk in order to do this, but if it is currently running an upgrade, I assume you have access to her old installation cd.

wannabe1

[wannabe1]

Hi fear187...

The upgrade key and full install keys are different and will likely not work. You can, however, perform a complete, clean install using the upgrade disk and the upgrade key. You will have to provide a previous operating system disk in order to do this, but if it is currently running an upgrade, I assume you have access to her old installation cd.

wannabe1

[fear187]

ok, thanks for clearing that up.
I think that stinks then. It just complicates things. So, if you brought it to a computer repair company and they had to fix it then they'd have to install
and old operating system, and then install the upgrade cd lol. They should have just made it so you could use the CD key with the full retail version too, then it'd simplify life because you could just use a full retail installation cd when you had to reinstall the OS.

I'm not sure if she has the original (old) operating system CDs. If she doesn't, then I will just format the computer and install windows 2000 professional on it (because they hadn't yet made you do serial key activations with that os)... and then just run her the XP Upgrade CD. That should work fine right?

(I never understood why someone would bother doing upgrades, my personal preference is I'd rather have the full installation CD because of situations like this, if I ever had to do clean installs). I think upgrades are rather a waste of money. (my personal opinion).

[wannabe1]

Use the XP Upgrade CD to do a clean install just as you would with a full install CD. Use the Win2000 CD as the qualifying product when it asks you for it during the install. No difference from a complete install from a full install CD other than the extra step. Use the upgrade CD key.

You need not install the older operating system first.

[fear187]

ok, thanks. =) I appreciate the information. Its a huge help.