Tech Support Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

New HD, WinXP Upgrade CD, what should I do?

2K views 14 replies 6 participants last post by  Darrell Collins 
#1 ·
When I got a new hard drive for my computer I didn't realize that my OS CD was a WinXP upgrade CD, not the full version. So when I try to install it I get this message:

"Setup could not read the CD you inserted, or the CD is not a valid Windows CD.

Please insert your Window NT 3.51 Workstation, Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Millenium CD into your CD-ROM drive"

What's the best way to get around this? Should I find a full-version CD and use the Product Key that came with my Upgrade CD, or find Win98 and install it then upgrade to XP?

My problem is I can't think of anybody that has either of these CD's. What should I do?
 
#6 ·
I believe it should. Problem is I've never updated from an old OS to XP. I've always done a clean install. If anybody would confirm or deny this I would be most gratefull.

BTW, what happened to the old hard drive? If it is still working you could clone that HDD to the new HDD.

Lydokane
 
#7 ·
I would buy a full version of Win98SE or WinME.
Do not install it. Just insert the WinXP upgrade CD, click install WinXP.
When it asks to insert a copy of the previous version, remove the WinXP upgrade CD, insert the Win98SE or WinME CD so it can copy the verification info.
Then it will tell you to insert the WinXP upgrade CD again to finish the installation, all without first installing a previous version.
I think that's how it goes, if my memory serves me well.
You can find copies of Windows CDs at Goodwill, used computer outlets, garage sales, thrift shops, friends, etc. or purchase them on eBay for as little as $10.00.
I have Win95 vA, vB, vC, Win98, Win98SE, WinME, but they are not for sale.
Good luck.
 
#9 ·
What happened to my old hard drive? :rolleyes: Well, uh, I had my computer on broadband internet for about a week without any form of protection. Last week it started acting really funky, and now it will hardly run. I'm pretty sure it's got every form of spyware, adware, malware, virus, trojan, and worm known to man, so I just unplugged it. I have an extra hd anyway, and it's bigger, so I figured I would just start from scratch with that one.

Hey thanks for the help guys, I really appreciate it. I can tell I came to the right place for help. I'm not too knowledgeable when it comes to things like these, but I will do my best to give back to the forum.
 
#10 ·
lucky, sounds like your old hard drive has some virii and spyware on it. If you do not have any information you wish to keep on it, I would fdisk it, removing all partitions, then recreate partitions, then reformat it about 3 times. Then use it as a backup drive.
NEVER go online without antivirus fully updated, and without a software firewall or a router that has an NAT firewall.
Good luck. :grin:
 
#11 ·
While I'm not absolutely certain of this, I don't believe there are any legal issues with advising a User to legally obtain a MS disk in order to get past the "Upgrade" check of the Upgrade XP CD.

And any disk should work.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Here is a tip that avoids having to ever re-install XP again:

Before you re-install XP, create a partition AT THE END of your available drive space of approx. 20 gig. More if you have a lot of applications.

After you re-install WinXP; after you have up-dated all drivers; after you installed all Microsoft updates; after you install all of what ever software is really important to you and every thing is working properly; AND before you install a lot of bells, whistles and utilities; COPY AN EXACT copy of this installation to the partition you created at the end of your drive space.

There are 2 programs to help you do this... One is Norton's "Ghost". The other (at about half the price) is "Acronis True Image 10 Home" Both of these utilities copy a mirror image of your boot partition (including the boot sector) to the other partition.

Also create an emergency boot disk... The next time you HD is infected or whatever, Boot up with the emergency boot disk; reformat you primary partition and copy your back-up OS back to the primary partition (using Acronis True Image) Restart you computer and "Ta Dah", you are back in business

If you have already re-installed XP before you read this; you can still do the above back-up by using another utility to create the back-up partition without losing everything you have installed. "Acronis Disk Director Suit 10.0" will do the job nicely.. And a lot more too

Both Acronis utilities are available from Newegg for about $60 total.. By the way; if you are in a hurry, Newegg.com has a downloadable version of Acronis True Image.

Hope this advice is helpful
 
#14 ·
It is very good advice, particularly now with the large SATA drives being so cheap, this could be a very fast & efficient lifesaver for most situations (except for when the whole drive goes bad).

But to survive malware and other problems, this is a real nice option.

Good & Useful suggestion.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top