XP full v upgrade

tibboh

Arte et Marte
Joined
23 Dec 2002
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235
Now then, can anyone tell me of ANY benefits (apart from price) from installing a "complete" version of XP Pro against the "upgrade" version (installed on top of Win 98), if the Upgrade was a clean install?

Also, I understand the difference in retail/OEM with hardware, but how does this work with software if all that is supplied in the box is a CD?

And finally is XP "Home" regarded as sufficient for the "average" bloke stuck under the stairs in his house as opposed to the networking guru?

I have been using "Pro", but wondered if I would loose the benefits of downgrading when I purchase new?
 
If by clean install you mean a clean hard drive with 98 not loaded then go for it. Bootup with the xp cd & at some point you will be asked for the 98 disk to verify that you have it.

As for oem all that means is you get no help from microsoft not that you their help. We're here.

If you are only going to be using xp at home & not getting into networks etc then go for xp home. It does a great job for me.
 
DO NOT BUY AN UPGRADE!

I did it once and every time I wanted to do a reinstall I had to go back to load the original operating system. The beauty (other than its faster and ?more stable) of Win XP is that it self installs smooth as silk.

Do you really want to have to reload 98 first, before you do a reinstall of XP? Then there will be activation of XP again and potential aggravation there. Do what I do. Stop buying cookies and coffee at work for a month to cover the extra cost.

With the retial version you get support (and maybe a replacement is something is hosed). With OEM the "reseller", who is you, is supposed to handle support and replacement. So, hang around NTFS, burn a backup(s) of the CD, make and hide about 20 copies of the CD key and go for the OEM version.

XP home should be fine I helped several friends build top end systems for dial up, cable and dsl connections and have never seen or heard of a problem. I bought PRO and am still trying to figure out why I spent the extra $40.

Not sure what you meant by the last question, and not sure if I want to based on plausible deniability.

But taking a stab at it. If you have a version of PRO with "questionable parentage" installed and want to get a birth certificate "so to speak" there are some tools that might allow you to change parentage without a reformat. I could not do this though and went with the reformat. (It knew an upgraded Beta from a real one.) I'd say there is zero chance of going from a PRO to a Home without a reformat.
 
Originally posted by LeeJend
DO NOT BUY AN UPGRADE!

If you have a previous version of Windows and buy a full version of XP and not an upgrade you are donating money to Microsoft. It is like Hipster said you can do a clean install with the upgrade cd and you don't have to install the previous version. It is sufficient to have the cd.
 
With XP as an upgrade is not a good idea - well actually and upgrade of any M$ OS os a bad idea .. You will run into a lot of incompatibility issues if you do, you would be better off buying the retail full and using that ... if it is an older machine with win 98 you will need to use the 6 floppy installer set to install it ..

get the floppies from www.bootdisk.com
 
Is it really so hard to understand? You do NOT need the full retail version to do a clean install.
 
Now just for the sake of argument, if you have a less than legal version of 98, is there any dif to xp upgrade if it is installed or not? In other words, it obviously wouldn't work to have a passed around cd copy of 98 to stick in to verify ownership (or would it?, hmmm). But having 98 up and running, does that mean anything to xp?

Now I am not trying to advocate anything here, and hope I'm not breaking any rules. I have just enjoyed the wisdom of LeeJend's posts and am trying to get the picture of him ridicuosly loading 98 first everytime he wanted to refresh xp......

kip
 
Umm... anyway. DO NOT buy a full version of XP if you have 98. You WILL NOT run into any incompatibility issues with an upgrade that you wouldn't run into with the full version. And finally, you DO NOT have to have 98 installed in order to upgrade. Here's the basic jist of what you should do:

1) Buy the XP upgrade.
2) Boot from the XP CD.
3) Choose to format your hard disk (I advise NTFS).
4) Begin installation.
5) Insert your 98 disk when asked to verify ownership.
6) Complete installation.

There are a couple of other things I would recommend, such as backing up any wanted files and downloading driver updates if necessary, but overall those 6 steps will take care of ya.
 
All it needs is the Windows CD from any OS from 98 onwards.

CD Protection was not advanced back then. It was just a bunch of files on a CD. It just checks the directory structure and file versions. You don't need ur 98 CD Key or anything.

An Upgrade version of XP is exactly the same as a Full version. The only difference being u need a qualifying version of windows os's to upgrade. This does not mean you are doing an Upgrade install. You can quite easily do a clean install.

Just borrow a friends copy of 98 if you really need to.
 
XP

WOW - I never expected such a response. Just to clarify, my '98 version IS legitimate, and the last time I installed my current copy of XP Pro (dubious parentage) I installed it "on top" of '98.

If all I need to do to have a "clean" install is just to verify with my '98 version, then I think the dosh saved on an upgrade is well worth it (Scottish blood, dont you know).

I only installed current XP Pro to get a feel of the system (has been a long feel), and I think there is no going back. It just remains to decide, Pro or Home? - any more feedback on subjective views will hepl my final (and others) decision.

To those who have so far responded, I thank you and have taken on board ALL comments - I just want to get it right for my new beastie that i have just completed building from scratch(P4).

So boys, whats it gonna be, Pro or Home?
 
took a whole lot of beating it into some ppls heads in this thread but I think u guys got the whole upgrade myth pretty much stomped to the ground and spit on :D
 
yup consider it stomped. XP pro gives you 1) better file security, and 2) network control. For a single pc, there's really no reason to spend the extra $$ on Pro. Unless you've got top secret files you need to hide from little brother the computer wiz, or you're setting up a network (or wanting to learn about how to...) XP Home will give you the same stability, cool features, etc, etc as Pro will.

kip
 
I am in total agreement with jkipk on this one. Go the Home route unless you are into networking, or you want to learn a lot of the advanced features that Pro has to offer. I use Pro because I do home networking (which is great with XP Pro), and because I attended a .NET seminar and got the OS for free there. :p Otherwise, I'd be using Home, because the difference in cost is enough to make up my mind! :happy:
 
Originally posted by Krux
took a whole lot of beating it into some ppls heads in this thread but I think u guys got the whole upgrade myth pretty much stomped to the ground and spit on :D

*kicks the dead body aside* & installs XP:eek:
 
yes Microsoft makes alot of money off people (about $100 each)who just don't understand that the upgrade CD is exactly the same as a full CD and can be used just like it is a full copy to do fresh install other than it asks just to spin up and see a legal copy of something that it will upgrade from - had many an argument with people who just couldn't grasp the concept..........

and the number of people who think that 98 or whatever has to already be loaded to upgrade ( had one guy once say he loaded 98, then the 98SE(upgrade) then Me(upgrade) to then load Xp......... my head almost exploded :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: and what a mess the drive was after.....)
 
Originally posted by spikemic
( had one guy once say he loaded 98, then the 98SE(upgrade) then Me(upgrade) to then load Xp......... my head almost exploded :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: and what a mess the drive was after.....)

Wow, that's the most ridiculous thing I've heard all... well, at least in the past minute or two. :eek: :rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by LeeJend
DO NOT BUY AN UPGRADE!

I did it once and every time I wanted to do a reinstall I had to go back to load the original operating system. The beauty (other than its faster and ?more stable) of Win XP is that it self installs smooth as silk.

Do you really want to have to reload 98 first, before you do a reinstall of XP? Then there will be activation of XP again and potential aggravation there. Do what I do. Stop buying cookies and coffee at work for a month to cover the extra cost.

With the retial version you get support (and maybe a replacement is something is hosed). With OEM the "reseller", who is you, is supposed to handle support and replacement. So, hang around NTFS, burn a backup(s) of the CD, make and hide about 20 copies of the CD key and go for the OEM version.

XP home should be fine I helped several friends build top end systems for dial up, cable and dsl connections and have never seen or heard of a problem. I bought PRO and am still trying to figure out why I spent the extra $40.

Not sure what you meant by the last question, and not sure if I want to based on plausible deniability.

But taking a stab at it. If you have a version of PRO with "questionable parentage" installed and want to get a birth certificate "so to speak" there are some tools that might allow you to change parentage without a reformat. I could not do this though and went with the reformat. (It knew an upgraded Beta from a real one.) I'd say there is zero chance of going from a PRO to a Home without a reformat.

omg you are all crap man... do you have no idea what you're on about :p
i have winxp pro upgrade edition.. i have never done an upgrade install
i always do a clean install, all it require is for you to stick a previous version of windows.. 98 2k etc.. for like a second.. you do NOT have to install another os before upgrading.. i have no idea what you're on .. but man are you lost
 
I heard you could use any version of windows when it asked for legal owner ship before upgradeing, meaning you could also use Windows 3.11 disks o_O (at least I read on some parts of the web).... save your money and buy the upgrade, it's the same as buying the full but with the option of installing over the existing OS or go for the clean installtion.
 
Win98 onwards was required to qualify to WinXP

I think u actually need at least Win98SE to go to Pro
 

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