I currently have Windows ME (which was cleanly installed using a OEM CD I purchased) and I want to upgrade to XP. If I buy an OEM XP CD will it let me simply upgrade, NOT clean install? I have too many files I do not want to lose. Thanks.

most oem cds will know that it's a different pc and won't let you do it.

Well the old trick in 9.x was to rename win.com to win.old then start the install of the OS through windows. I myself have not attempted this with Xp though as I prefer a clean install of an OS, upgrades can have serious issues. My advice though to you though is to purchase the upgrade of Xp. You have a copy of Win Me so even if you do format the HDD and do a fresh install of Xp using the upgrade it will simple ask you to insert the Me CD and then it will continue on without problems. Laters, KTTD

If you format and try the install, some OEM CDs are built so that they will not be recognized as a qualifying os. In that case, you could restore from the OEM CD and then upgrade before you install any s/w. That would be about as clean as you could get it. I had to do it that way, and my only problems have been with apps (IE6, Outlook, etdc.) and a couple of drivers. The os has been clean. If you run setup from your ME system, you should nor even be asked for a CD. The running ME system will be detected and you will qualify automatically.

I believe the OEM he is refering to is just purchasing a standard OEM CD which is legal with the purchase of hardware. My copy of Xp Pro is an OEM copy of the OS. It is not an OEM copy from a manufacture so I have nothing to worry about. Just because you have a OEM copy does not mean it came from Dell, Gateway, HP, etc. which can but restrictions on how their OEM software is used. My point is just don't assume OEM means it came from a big box company and it has restrictions. Laters, KTTD

I also bought a OEM like KTTD and was going to dual boot it with Win98 and so started the installation from with in Win98 and the recommended installation WAS to UPGRADE and i had to chose advanced setup to do a new install on a seperate partition to create a dualboot. My point is that you CAN do an upgrade over and existing OS with a OEM CD such as what KTTD was refering to.If you don't beleive me start the setup from within your existing windows OS and it will ask if you want to upgrade. In fact if you read the instruction manual which comes with this type of OEM CD it does talk about upgrading.

Kevin the tech dude is correct. It is a legal OEM copy of XP with no restrictions. Will it prompt me to format HD or will it allow me to upgrade from ME to XP without losing any files?