Solved: Reinstalling XP

[lisakmusco]

Of my two copies(licenses) for windows xp one is an upgrade version and one is a full version. If I need to reinstall on the computer that was using the upgrade version, do I have to go through installing 2000 and then upgrading, or is there a way I can use the other copy and the key from the upgrade version (or would I use the key from 2k?)?

 

[Triple6]

You don't have to install a previous version to use the upgrade copy. You have two options around that. First is when you boot from the Upgrade CD and it sees your currently installed copy of Windows that will be sufficient. The second option is if the hard drive is completely blank you can still boot from the Upgrade CD and then at a certain point you can insert the Windows 2000 CD to prove that you have a previous version.

You can use the Windows 2000 key, nor can you use the full version key for you upgrade or vice versa.

 

[lisakmusco]

Great, thanks. I'll have to remember that for the future about the upgrade CD. I had forgotten the order that things happen in and that it would see the current version first before reformatting the drive.
What I ended up doing was I just what I thought for sure I couldn't do. I used the full-version CD and when I tried putting in the key from the upgrade it didn't accept it, just as you said (but I swear someone had told me before that it would). So just for the heck of it, I input the key that goes with that cd (but is already in use on my other system) thinking it either wouldn't install or wouldn't activate, but it did, and it's even patched and passed the windows GA test. I had to buy the second copy last year because the upgrade copy wouldn't install on both computers, and now apparently it is letting me install the same (full-version) on both.... Go figure.