Greetings. I currently was given a computer from a friend (Former friend now). Its a pretty old computer and doesn't run very well with my Comcast cable with ethernet or usb. I recently went out and bought XP Home Edition. When i go to upgrade it everything looks ok then it asks for the orginal cd or some sort of orginal cd. Now i don't have it, is there anyway to upgrade to xp without having the orignal cd? Maybe a complete format then then install xp? The version i bought is the upgrade version of Home Edition.

Without a "proof of ownership" CD, I doubt it - there's a mention here (Upgrading Without a Win9x CD?). Is ME still on the system? If so, you should (as I understand it) be able to run setup from Windows, and that would be 'proof enough' If not, possibly you could 'borrow' a WinME or Win98 disc, but that's hardly an ideal situation, as the time may come when a complete reinstallation is needed. Kind of pointless to get an upgrade disc if you don't have proof of the original version. For Win9x there were workarounds that allowed upgrading from Win31 etc, but those involved DOS, and are not applicable (DOS is absent from XP) The 160Mb of RAM you've listed will not allow XP to perform well at all, even if you are successful - most agree that 256Mb is a reasonable starting point, although more is better ... the interests and rights of some individuals take precedence over the interests and rights of others

I'm not positive, but maybe you could perform a flat installation using the upgrade CD, by copying the i386 folder (and subfolders) to the hard drive Most folks recommend a clean install on an empty drive as being potentially less troublesome than upgrading 'in place' You might consider asking in the WinXP forum, since your question has more to do with that OS (rather than the one you intend to get rid of) ... the interests and rights of some individuals take precedence over the interests and rights of others

... I guess not You will need to have a qualifying Win98/Me/2000 CD to insert if you are using an upgrade version of XP to clean install. OEM restore disks will usually not fulfill the qualifying requirement. If the restore disk has a i386 folder, it will usually work. ... the interests and rights of some individuals take precedence over the interests and rights of others

You do need wither a compliant working/installed OS from within which to run XP-upgrade version; or have a CD of a compliant OS to offer up during the Upgrade/setup process. If the specs of this PC as as posted... whilst it will work with that processor (it's just slightly above the absolute lower limits for a cpu) you will need more RAM - preferably 512Meg - although it would work with 256Meg upwards. And even then the overall performance will be a little slow...; and one really needs to be sure that you have (or can get) all required drivers etc. for the system. In some ways you'd better of with '98SE - but you have already bought XP... so at least considering upping the RAM - and "acquire" a '98SE CD... otherwise you won't be able load the Upgrade, which means you would then need the full version... '98CDs can be bought ("legally") at computer fairs; clearance outlets; eBay? If you have difficulty in "acquiring" a '98SE CD after checking the suggested possibiliities - post back...

You should get 98 98SE Win Me or 2000 for that computer. Not XP it will be way too slow. But maybe if you upgraded to 512 it may be ok but with a 366 Mhz in my opinon its way too slow. Keyboard not detected. Hit F1 to Continue. BREAKFAST.SYS HALTED Cerial port not Responding!!