upgrade with OEM CD

[Jumby]

I had a lot of problems after a few months with XP, and reformated and installed 98se again. I really want XP but I wanted to be sure the strange error messages and reboots and wierd problems weren't hardware problems. The computer works fine. Now that some software has been installed, can I upgrade to XP using a full version OEM XP CD?

[Reid]

Does your system meet the Windows XP Home Edition System Requirements (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/evaluation/sysreqs.asp)? If you already have an XP CD, you can run its compatibility test before installing XP. I think a fresh installation would be the best start, if you have programs and data backed up (which is a good idea if installing over Windows anyway).

[Jumby]

It was a fresh install. Things were fine until I tried to install Nascar Racing 2002. I don't play many games but this looked fun. It never really worked right so I uninstalled and reinstalled. Then things started to happen. The biggest problem was that after about a week or two and after a few other software installs, I would either turn the computer on, or after a reboot because of a software install, the computer would just keep rebooting. I tried to go into safe mode but couldn't, I checked the BIOS for something wierd, but everything seemed fine. Even after a fresh install of XP (which I did a few times) it kept happening. So I tried Win98 jsut to see if what happened and that seems to work fine. At least I know it's not the computer. But this is very frustrating. I even spent $75 for a computer store to do the install (flushed that $75). Here's one thing I thought of yesterday; does XP have "Hardware acceleration" in video card properties? Could that be the simple fix?

[Jumby]

Oh sorry...the system is a AMD Athlon 1.2GHz, 512 mb ram, 32mb video...

[randyrhoads1981]

A recap: XP installed worked fine..game installed, crashed, XP went nuts. Sounds like video driver upgrade needed for XP once installed.They are also a NVidia update for XP that needs installed also if you use that brand card or any card with a Nvidia chipset. If you can install 98..you shouldnt have any trouble installing XP.