Replacing WinME with WinXP - MUST I format the hard drive?

I'm currently running ME and am having horrible problems with it locking up
every few minutes requiring a cold boot. (Not the boots made of leather,
although that too is tempting!) I'm told that XP is more stable and is likely
to resolve these issues. ME came pre-loaded and I have no reinstall
software. IF I buy a FULL version of XP, I've heard that I MUST install it
onto a formatted hard drive. I'd prefer the FULL to the UPGRADE because I
don't have the reinstall disk for the ME version so if something goes wrong,
I may end up having to format and rebuild from scratch. Is this true? Must
I format the hard drive to install a FULL version of XP?

Take a look at this site..

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/h...g/default.mspx


"TiredOfColdBoots" <> wrote in
message newsBCE8DF9-ABF3-4C37-BEBF-...
> I'm currently running ME and am having horrible problems with it locking
> up
> every few minutes requiring a cold boot. (Not the boots made of leather,
> although that too is tempting!) I'm told that XP is more stable and is
> likely
> to resolve these issues. ME came pre-loaded and I have no reinstall
> software. IF I buy a FULL version of XP, I've heard that I MUST install
> it
> onto a formatted hard drive. I'd prefer the FULL to the UPGRADE because
> I
> don't have the reinstall disk for the ME version so if something goes
> wrong,
> I may end up having to format and rebuild from scratch. Is this true?
> Must
> I format the hard drive to install a FULL version of XP?