Windows XP Pro Upgrade What's the deal?

[Spleeze]

Hey all. I don't know if this has been asked before, but I was curious about windows XP pro upgrade... particularly this

Win XP Upgrade

Now do i have to install 98 then install XP? I know that it tells me that i have to have 98 installed on that page, but can't i just input a 98/ME whatever cd key and then input my new cd key?

Also, wouldn't this cd key work on a "corporate edition" since I hear that those copies don't have to go through the activation business... just curious.

Thanks for your help guys.

 

[E4g1e]

Hey all. I don't know if this has been asked before, but I was curious about windows XP pro upgrade... particularly this

Win XP Upgrade

Now do i have to install 98 then install XP? I know that it tells me that i have to have 98 installed on that page, but can't i just input a 98/ME whatever cd key and then input my new cd key?

Also, wouldn't this cd key work on a "corporate edition" since I hear that those copies don't have to go through the activation business... just curious.

Thanks for your help guys.

If you get the upgrade version, be advised that you will not get a bootable CD. Also, the Setup program for any upgrade version of Windows XP cannot partition or format your hard drive - you will have to format your hard drive under your old version of Windows (or the version of DOS that came with Windows 98/98SE/Me). Finally, you cannot directly input the CD key for your previous Windows version - if you have no operating system at all whatsoever installed onto your already formatted hard drive, you'll have to pop in the actual Windows 98/98SE/Me/NT4/2000 CD into your CD drive so that the upgrade's Setup program will verify that you qualify for the upgrade. Finally, you will have a chance of converting any of your formatted hard drive volumes to NTFS.

 

[SJConsultant]

Also, wouldn't this cd key work on a "corporate edition" since I hear that those copies don't have to go through the activation business... just curious.

The key provided in that version will *not* work with corporate cds.

 

[Spleeze]

So the cd is not bootable?? Are you sure? And you are also sure that the key is not valid for a corporate install? It doesn't seem like that would be the case... I heard that you could boot from the disc and all, but it just would ask for an old disc or ask for an old key...

If that's the case that doesn't seem like a good deal at all... What would you recommend... something that will let me use a corporate version and not be another $300....

 

[E4g1e]

Personally, I cannot recommend any so-called "corporate" versions distributed over the Internet at all - the reason being that most such copies have been pirated. And if you continue to discuss using illegal copies of Windows XP, or illegally using "legitimate" copies of Windows XP by using CD keys from pirated versions, you will be banned (indefinitely) from the [H]. (And this is not to mention that using a widely pirated CD key will complicate matters when you try to update your new installation with Service Pack 2 when it becomes available - your new Windows XP installation will likely become corrupted badly enough to require a complete reformat and reinstall if you attempt to run SP2 setup on such an installation.)

Also, I stand corrected about the bootability of the Windows XP Upgrade CD. However, I still stand by my opinion that you cannot partition or format a new hard drive with any upgrade copy - you'll have to use a Windows 98/98SE/Me startup disk (with FDISK and FORMAT files copied onto that startup disk) or a non-upgrade Windows NT4 or Windows 2000 CD to partition and format your hard drive.

 

[Spleeze]

I never said anything about the internet or pirating software. I never said anything about using an illegal version or using an illegal version with a pirated key. I didn't want a recommendation on warez. Please do not put words in my mouth. Mentioning corporate edition is not the same as saying "YO DoOdz h0W c4N 1 P1RA+3 W1Nd0w5"

Does the upgrade have the full capabilities of a real disc? Can anyone give me a definite answer and not an "opinion." An opinion is useless to me.

Also can anyone give me thier recommendation on what version is the best deal. OEM, or this retail upgrade. Or if the key will work with corporate. Remember corporate doesn't mean pirated. Thanks.

 

[GeForceX]

Ok-- I have the Windows XP Pro Upgrade CD. I see great value on the CD. Yes, I can boot up with that CD too. You don't need to have 98 installed, all you have to do is prove that you do OWN an actual Windows 98 CD (which hopefully you do). They will ask you to put the CD in the drive and they will read it and then say OK, then you put back the WXPPro CD in when you pick a partition and etc. It's that simple. You can do everything with the CD like a regular CD full installation would have. All it does it requires is proof of a previous version. That's all. I would suggest you to get that. However, I have no clue about the 'corporate' counterpart.

Edit: And whether to choose from OEM or Retail-- what this means is that with OEM you receive no support from Microsoft. If you're experienced enough to install Windows on your own or anything, you won't need the retail. If you're still new and Microsoft will back up your CD (even for a replacement in case it breaks)-- retail would be the way to go. I don't know about you but I'm a careful person, I collect all my CD's in a perfect rack-- so it's OEM for me (saves money, no?).

-J.

 

[M11]

Ok-- I have the Windows XP Pro Upgrade CD. I see great value on the CD. Yes, I can boot up with that CD too. You don't need to have 98 installed, all you have to do is prove that you do OWN an actual Windows 98 CD (which hopefully you do). They will ask you to put the CD in the drive and they will read it and then say OK, then you put back the WXPPro CD in when you pick a partition and etc. It's that simple. You can do everything with the CD like a regular CD full installation would have. All it does it requires is proof of a previous version. That's all. I would suggest you to get that. However, I have no clue about the 'corporate' counterpart.

Edit: And whether to choose from OEM or Retail-- what this means is that with OEM you receive no support from Microsoft. If you're experienced enough to install Windows on your own or anything, you won't need the retail. If you're still new and Microsoft will back up your CD (even for a replacement in case it breaks)-- retail would be the way to go. I don't know about you but I'm a careful person, I collect all my CD's in a perfect rack-- so it's OEM for me (saves money, no?).

-J.

Yep. "Upgrade" is a licensing term, it in no way affects the functionality or working ofthe product, including installation.

 

[E4g1e]

I never said anything about the internet or pirating software. I never said anything about using an illegal version or using an illegal version with a pirated key. I didn't want a recommendation on warez. Please do not put words in my mouth. Mentioning corporate edition is not the same as saying "YO DoOdz h0W c4N 1 P1RA+3 W1Nd0w5"

In my personal experience, most "corporate" versions that you can get are "P1R4+3D". Any corporate keys that single home users can use are all "P1R4+3D". The only legitimate "corporate" versions that you can get come at an astronomical price (in $$$) to the buyer - you'll have to special-order a "legitimate" copy of XP Pro with 25 or more licenses (directly from Microsoft or from selected corporate resellers), and keep the master disk in the same corporation that will use Windows XP Pro. And all that will cost you thousands of $$$.

Does the upgrade have the full capabilities of a real disc? Can anyone give me a definite answer and not an "opinion." An opinion is useless to me.

Not quite. You still cannot partition or format a new hard drive using the Setup program, using any upgrade copy of Windows. You will have to buy a non-upgrade copy of Windows in order to partition and format a new hard drive in Windows setup. EDIT: This applied to Windows 9x/Me upgrades. Windows XP Upgrade may be different.

Also can anyone give me thier recommendation on what version is the best deal. OEM, or this retail upgrade. Or if the key will work with corporate. Remember corporate doesn't mean pirated. Thanks.

Remember, "corporate" does not mean "pirated" if the corporate copy of Windows XP, along with the corporate CD key, is obtained according to my first response in this post. But most corporate copies and keys that are downloaded from the Internet are pirated. And there is no legitimate single-user licensed copy of Windows that will work at all with a corporate key - legitimate or pirated.

 

[M11]

Downloading a corporate version even if you do have a license may be illegal, depending on how you do it. Remember that even licensed users are forbidden to use P2P, since they are unable to verify that the recipients of their uploading are licensed, nor do they posess the right to "redistribute" their copy (they agreed to this in the VLK)

 

[Spleeze]

Regarding the upgrade version. 2 guys say it has full capabilities, in which case it would be the better deal (84 at newegg) and 1 says it has crippled partitioning/formatting capabilities.

who's right?

 

[GeForceX]

Not quite. You still cannot partition or format a new hard drive using the Setup program, using any upgrade copy of Windows. You will have to buy a non-upgrade copy of Windows in order to partition and format a new hard drive in Windows setup.

E4gle, I'm not sure how you got that because with my upgrade CD, I can do just that. Mine's a legitimate copy too. The upgrade CD is a fully functional CD only except it's a discounted product in exchange of making sure you did own a previous Windows product.

-J.

 

[M11]

Regarding the upgrade version. 2 guys say it has full capabilities, in which case it would be the better deal (89 at newegg) and 1 says it has crippled partitioning/formatting capabilities.

who's right?

I've used it many times, legitimately, for clients, and it is identical to full ersion, except for te "proof of ownership(insert prior CD)" requirement.

 

[E4g1e]

Downloading a corporate version even if you do have a license may be illegal, depending on how you do it. Remember that even licensed users are forbidden to use P2P, since they are unable to verify that the recipients of their uploading are licensed, nor do they posess the right to "redistribute" their copy (they agreed to this in the VLK)

Even if you're licensed to use a corporate copy of Windows XP, you still cannot redistribute that corporate copy of Windows XP by any means at all whatsoever, such as Internet distribution. This means that if you want to sell or "give away" your corporate copy of Windows XP to someone else, you must also get rid of all of your licenses and nuke the Windows installation of all PCs that use that same copy of Windows XP. Then, the new owner(s) of that corporate copy will have to call Microsoft to verify new ownership.

 

[E4g1e]

E4gle, I'm not sure how you got that because with my upgrade CD, I can do just that. Mine's a legitimate copy too. The upgrade CD is a fully functional CD only except it's a discounted product in exchange of making sure you did own a previous Windows product.

-J.

I stand corrected. I've edited my post to indicate that the partitioning/formatting capabilities had been crippled in all upgrade versions of Windows 9x and Windows Me. Windows XP Upgrade CDs may differ.

 

[M11]

Even if you're licensed to use a corporate copy of Windows XP, you still cannot redistribute that corporate copy of Windows XP by any means at all whatsoever, such as Internet distribution. This means that if you want to sell or "give away" your corporate copy of Windows XP to someone else, you must also get rid of all of your licenses and nuke the Windows installation of all PCs that use that same copy of Windows XP. Then, the new owner(s) of that corporate copy will have to call Microsoft to verify new ownership.

Yep. Thats what I said. The VLK is a nontransferrable license.

 

[GeForceX]

Ah, now I see how you assumed that E4g1e. But FYI, Windows XP has been improved substantially so yes upgrading is actually that easy. That's why Windows XP is pretty much a well appreciated software (or OS-- call it whatever you want.)

-J.

 

[E4g1e]

Ah, now I see how you assumed that E4g1e. But FYI, Windows XP has been improved substantially so yes upgrading is actually that easy. That's why Windows XP is pretty much a well appreciated software (or OS-- call it whatever you want.)

-J.

Yep. And to clarify on which Windows CD is required to verify eligibility for this "upgrade", the upgrade versions of Windows XP Professional require licensed CD copies of Windows 98/98SE/Me/NT4/2000; Windows XP Home Upgrade recognizes only Windows 98/98SE/Me CDs for eligibility purposes. In both cases, it doesn't matter whether your copy of that older Windows OS is a non-upgrade disk or an upgrade disk, so long as you're using an original Microsoft or OEM manufacturer's disk (and not a CD-R copy).

 

[E4g1e]

Also can anyone give me thier recommendation on what version is the best deal. OEM, or this retail upgrade. Or if the key will work with corporate.

I misread the last sentence. The answer is still "NO". A retail or OEM key will not work at all with corporate copies. And even if it did, you will only end up with Microsoft flagging your licensed CD key as "P1R4+3D".