Installing an OEM version of XP

[trailness]

Greetings all!

Last time I upgraded to a new version of Windows was about 5 years ago. I bought an OEM disc of Win95 on Pricewatch for a $20 garage-sale computer. I just formatted C: and installed from the OEM disc with no problems, even though Win 3.11 was installed on it before the wipe. But do things still work the same way?

I want to upgrade my main box from Win2k Pro to XP Home. (And I don't want an "upgrade" disc, because I no longer have the 2k disc or info; I want a full install.) I know I exceed all the system requirements, and I know better than to buy a "branded" OEM disc for my homebuilt machine. But I want to make sure that if I buy a non-branded OEM disc of XP Home, I'm not going to run into trouble installing because of either the fact that 2000 Pro has been installed on this machine before, or the fact that I don't have the newest components. Will I have to do anything beyond the ordinary Format C:... find some software that writes all 0s to my hard drive, for example? (If so, can you recommend a utility and tell me where to get it?)

Also, I have a hard drive from a different XP Home machine. It doesn't have Windows on it, was just a secondary drive in the last computer, but I'd like to install it in my soon-to-be-upgraded machine and access the data files that are still there. Any tips for putting this hard drive in without losing the data?

Thanks in advance for any advice. I'm definitely interested in saving some money on this upgrade by buying OEM, but not if it's going to cause a lot of headaches!

[trailness]

I still have that old OEM Win95 disc/license/etc. Could I use the Upgrade version of XP Home and just do a clean install, or do you have to have a newer version than 95 to use the Upgrade?

[Erik]

No problems that I can see. Might want to post with the specs of the machine you plan to install on just to be sure everything will work well though before buying a CD.

Anyway all you will need to do it put the CD in your CD drive, amke sure BIOS is set to boot to CD first, and boot to the CD. You can do all of your formating and partitioning from within the bootable CD. The only time when having or not having a prior version of Windows installed becomes a factor is with an upgrade version. OEM just means that it is tied to the first machine it is installed on and has no MS support.

[Sylvander]

Run Windows XP Upgrade Advisor (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/upgrading/advisor.mspx) using the OLD OS before you upgrade to XP on a PC.

KILLDISK (http://www.killdisk.com/downloadfree.htm) on a bootable floppy is a nice program to use to zero-fill [if you want to make the previous programs & data irrecoverable or eliminate any possibility of infection surviving].
Use the "Download Bootable ISO Image of Active@ KillDisk to burn CD" link.

You'll want NTFS partitions for XP. What partitions are on the HDD now?

[trailness]

Here are the basic specs I'm working with -please don't laugh, it was built in '99 :)

Mobo: Asus P2B-D rev. 1.06 D03. Award BIOS v.1012b, 3/00
CPU: Dual Intel Pentium III 600MHz
RAM: 512MB 8ns PC100 SDRAM
HDD: 1- 22gb IBM primary, 1- 2gb Samsung slave; all partitions are NTFS
Video: ATI AGP 64mb
Standard floppy drive
Iomega Zip 100 IDE drive
Samsung IDE CD-RW drive (I need to check whether it is bootable)
SCSI: Iwill (Advansys chipset) SIDE-2930C PCI card
Sound: Creative Labs PCI card
Ethernet: 3Com 3C905-TX 10/100 MBps PCI Card
*Also has Toshiba XM6401-B 40X SCSI CD drive, but I'd rather ditch this if the CD-RW is bootable, as it's so old and slow

I did realize I'll need Pro, not Home, in order to make use of both processors. I'd love to upgrade the ram to 1gb, but haven't found anything affordable yet. My hubby insists on getting Kensington to avoid off-brand quirks. Actually, I am thinking building a new system would benefit me more in the long run. I'm about to post budget & requirements in the Buying/Upgrading forum if you'd care to share advice of that sort.

Thanks especially for the Killdisk link - I'm sure it will come in handy later even if I don't need it this time.

Anyone dealt with www.directdeals.com for OEM OSs or otherwise? I'm always a little nervous buying from a new vendor, but they seem to have decent prices.

[PrntRhd]

The price for XP Pro Upgrade edition is within the ballpark for that OS. You can also get the same at Costco and other vendors for similar prices.

Remember an OEM version is only good on that one PC, & should not be transferred.
Full versions can be transferred if the original PC is wiped.

[Paul Komski]

Remember an OEM version is only good on that one PC, & should not be transferred.
The situation is possibly more clearcut with branded preinstalled OEM versions such as would come with a Dell or Compaq but even OEM versions purchased after a computer has been self-built there exists a grey area about what constitutes "one PC" or "a computer".

In the main the motherboard seems to be the most important component in defining "one PC" but as long as it is replaced (because it is defective) then even that may well be OK and any reactivation allowed.

See Michael's notes at the bottom of: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/oemeula.htm

[Sylvander]

Oops, got it wrong, should have said to use the "Download Bootable Disk Creator for Free version of KillDisk" link. :(

[Erik]

Hmm, that PC is a bit on the old side to be running XP for my tastes, but then again I have no patience. Anyway I have XP installed and running, if you could call it that, on a PII 400MHz 128MB of RAM. So as far as your hardware is concerned it would work without too much problem. Runnin upgrade advisor first is a good idea just to avoid any potential pitfalls.

As for the CD-RW being bootable this isn't something to do with the drive itself, but a setting in BIOS. Basically any drive can be set as bootable, you just need to direct the order in BIOS to boot from the CD drive first, HD second, etc.

[Mini-Me]

I just sold my old laptop - an IBM Thinkpad 600 - 300MHz with 64MB RAM and Win98SE. I heard back from the buyer today, that he's put XP Home on it, and it runs fine!
:eek:

I, however, would not even think of putting XP on a P300/64MB!!!

With respect to trailness's specs, I should think it would run OK, so long as you don't mind it being a little slow at times.

I run XP Pro on a P3/500 with 128MB RAM, and it runs just fine - albeit a little slower then a modern beast!
:D