Upgrading ME to XP Home sp2 retail upgrade.

[bd1886]

Morning. Can you upgrade from an oem Gateway ME os, using the XP Home sp2 retail upgrade pack, and retain the benefits of a full retail version? Checked out the MS EULA and it didn't seem clear on this. Read else where that people haven't had a problem with a factory restore disk to upgrade from? If that is the case do the retail benefits follow.
Edit: I am not the original owner of the system if that pertains. Thanks.

[glc]

Yes you can. You can even install the upgrade on a blank drive if you have a Win98 or ME CD.

[bd1886]

That is awesome news glc ! (Thanks for getting back to me so soon.) I'll be going that route to get XP on this box then.

[glc]

How much ram does that box have - and how big is the hard drive?

[bd1886]

It will have a minimum of 256 and maybe as much as 512. The hd is only 20 gig though. The hd is full of spyware and who knows what else. When I did get online(after installing an NIC,) I was able to only get to one site before Windows errors started occurring. Tried system restore points and none would work. Going to make a restoration disk (if possible) and restore. Have another box (with everything with it) being given to me with in the next week thats supposedly the exact same computer. Power on button doesn't work (which happens with this one when the bezel is off). Looks to be an easy fix. Will be getting the upgrade before the end of the month though.

[glc]

20 gigs is enough for XP and a decent application suite - just don't expect to store a bunch of multimedia files. Do not try to upgrade over the top of a trashed ME install - even an upgrade over a fresh install may not work right.

[bd1886]

Thanks, I'm going to investigate tools to get the gunk off. Have a bunch of programs on free apps. cd's and going to investigate whats on 'em to see if some of them would help (or even be compatible). Looks like a lot of the junk doesn't have easy uninstall avenues. Would just install a good linux distro if it's real nasty but figured how am I going to learn anything if I don't at least try.

[glc]

What I'm suggesting is a CLEAN install of XP, not an upgrade. All you have to do is stick a 98 or ME cd in the drive when XP does its compliance check.

If you do want to try Linux, that would be an excellent machine to use. Ubuntu runs okay on 256 ram.

[bd1886]

Okay. I'll do the install of XP when I get the ME cd. Thanks for the advise glc.

[bd1886]

Well...haven't a acquired an ME disk as the person who gave me the comp. can't find it. Do have a Windows 98 box that also could use the upgrade but it has a brand new but corrupted hard drive. Is there any need to wipe clean the drive prior to a new install w/XP SP2 Upgrade pack? I do have a 98 disk for this one! I know this is probably 101 stuff but I am moving through tons of issues on several old boxes and learning a lot in a fairly short period of time. Enjoying it! Thanks for everyones help!

[glc]

I would recommend a clean wipe. You can use that 98 CD on ANY machine you choose as a compliance check for multiple XP upgrades - just remember you can only use that particular XP upgrade on ONE machine.

[bd1886]

Thanks glc. Went through archives and learned a lot about different types of hard drive erasing apps. Going to create the "Ultimate Boot CD" and run with one of the programs on that. I also seen mention of 2.0 to IDE cables? Do they make 'em for SATA too? Apparently the hd cleaners run using different levels of overwriting? Are any of them designed for hd destruction,rather than just overwriting? ( All I am doing now is 1 SATA drive for re-use.) These "wipers" begin their work completely pre BIOS so you just configure the BIOS to boot from cd and let her rip? Can you set up a computer for cleaning multiple hd's concurrently, and does doing multiple drives at once, significantly slow down the process? Whats the best single pass utility that is on that download? Is there any danger of wiping the drive on the host system? Sorry for so many questions but this should get me up to speed for doing this for the first time.

[glc]

For a reasonably quick single pass, use Active@ KillDisk Free Edition. For a multiple pass secure wipe, use Darik's Boot and Nuke. Using a boot CD or bootdisk, you can only wipe one drive at a time, and you can't wipe a drive over USB. None of them are designed for drive destruction. Disconnect the host system's drives for safety.

If you want a USB adapter that can handle 3.5" IDE, 2.5" notebook IDE, and SATA, get this:

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=2020&cat=HDD

I'm not suggesting a zero wipe to install XP - just a repartition and format.

[bd1886]

Done deal...everything is running well. Thanks!

[Disgrace]

Originally Posted by bd1886 Done deal...everything is running well. Thanks!

Nice to hear, Windows ME was a real handful for me sometimes!