Upgrade or full version question

I can go either way. I qualify for the upgrade but am considering buying the
full version. Here's my question.

Are the contents of these two identical? Is the only difference that the
upgrade one looks to see if there is a qualifying OS already installed? Or,
does the full version contained more drivers and utilities?

Oh, also, any experience with buying the OEM version versus the standard
version? Places like www.atomicpark.com offer the OEM version at about $100
versus $184 for the non-OEM version. These guys are a five star rated
company at CNET so I think I trust them.

Thanks,

Bob

Bob, check here
http://www.softwaretipsandtricks.com...ad.php?t=16104


The only difference between OEM & retail, apart from the 'manual' and
packaging is in the EULA. The retail version can be uninstalled and
reinstalled on a different machine as long as the first version is
uninstalled or if the PC is trashed. With an OEM version it stays with the
original machine and cannot legally be transferred for any reason. As you
may know, a certain number of hardware changes are allowed to both before
any sort of re-activation is required (changing the LAN card has the biggest
chance of having to reactivate). It's a bit of an untried area as to how far
you can change hardware before the system is deemed totally different -
probably just depends on how well you can charm the M$ phone ops!



"BobH" <> wrote in message
news:B77FC76B-9332-4744-ABE2-...
>I can go either way. I qualify for the upgrade but am considering buying
>the
> full version. Here's my question.
>
> Are the contents of these two identical? Is the only difference that the
> upgrade one looks to see if there is a qualifying OS already installed?
> Or,
> does the full version contained more drivers and utilities?
>
> Oh, also, any experience with buying the OEM version versus the standard
> version? Places like www.atomicpark.com offer the OEM version at about
> $100
> versus $184 for the non-OEM version. These guys are a five star rated
> company at CNET so I think I trust them.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bob

Bob;
Upgrade and full are identical once installed.
In fact both can perform a Clean Installation and both can perform an
upgrade.
If you have a qualifying OS, save the $100.

OEM is a different story.
Main differences:
Clean Installation only, no upgrade capability.
Normally permanently tied to the original computer and can not be
transferred regardless the condition of original computer.
No free tech support from Microsoft
Some of the reasons OEM is cheaper than retail.

--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
In memory of our dear friend, MVP Alex Nichol
http://www.dts-l.org


"BobH" <> wrote in message
news:B77FC76B-9332-4744-ABE2-...
>I can go either way. I qualify for the upgrade but am considering buying
>the
> full version. Here's my question.
>
> Are the contents of these two identical? Is the only difference that the
> upgrade one looks to see if there is a qualifying OS already installed?
> Or,
> does the full version contained more drivers and utilities?
>
> Oh, also, any experience with buying the OEM version versus the standard
> version? Places like www.atomicpark.com offer the OEM version at about
> $100
> versus $184 for the non-OEM version. These guys are a five star rated
> company at CNET so I think I trust them.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bob

Hi and thanks for the response,

Here's my situation. I bought a new hard drive for my laptop which, at the
time was running Win 2000 but originally had Win 98 SE on it.

Norton Ghost overwrote my MBR and I all I got was "Missing Operating System"
when I tried to boot. All my data was there and I was able to copy the
contents off the old hard drive to another machine using a USB enclosure.

But, as I understand it the only way to get the drive to function well now
is to reformat it and start from scratch. Having never been enamoured with
Win 2000 I thought I'd just put on XP. So, I have a two hard drives, one
that is not bootable, but has Win 2000, and the other that has Win 98.

So, I qualify for the upgrade, but what I'd like to do is to reformat both
and start from scratch and put on XP on the newer 40 gig drive (the one with
98) and then format the old drive and use it as a 6gig drive off the USB port.

So, the question is. Do I need Win 98 on that drive to do the install off
the Upgrade XP disk, or is it ok as long as I have the code?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks,

Bob




"Jupiter Jones [MVP]" wrote:

> Bob;
> Upgrade and full are identical once installed.
> In fact both can perform a Clean Installation and both can perform an
> upgrade.
> If you have a qualifying OS, save the $100.
>
> OEM is a different story.
> Main differences:
> Clean Installation only, no upgrade capability.
> Normally permanently tied to the original computer and can not be
> transferred regardless the condition of original computer.
> No free tech support from Microsoft
> Some of the reasons OEM is cheaper than retail.
>
> --
> Jupiter Jones [MVP]
> http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
> In memory of our dear friend, MVP Alex Nichol
> http://www.dts-l.org
>
>
> "BobH" <> wrote in message
> news:B77FC76B-9332-4744-ABE2-...
> >I can go either way. I qualify for the upgrade but am considering buying
> >the
> > full version. Here's my question.
> >
> > Are the contents of these two identical? Is the only difference that the
> > upgrade one looks to see if there is a qualifying OS already installed?
> > Or,
> > does the full version contained more drivers and utilities?
> >
> > Oh, also, any experience with buying the OEM version versus the standard
> > version? Places like www.atomicpark.com offer the OEM version at about
> > $100
> > versus $184 for the non-OEM version. These guys are a five star rated
> > company at CNET so I think I trust them.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Bob
>
>
>

--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
In memory of our dear friend, MVP Alex Nichol
http://www.dts-l.org


"BobH" <> wrote in message
news:17B806A9-5727-4887-951A-...
> Hi and thanks for the response,
>
> Here's my situation. I bought a new hard drive for my laptop which, at
> the
> time was running Win 2000 but originally had Win 98 SE on it.
>
> Norton Ghost overwrote my MBR and I all I got was "Missing Operating
> System"
> when I tried to boot. All my data was there and I was able to copy the
> contents off the old hard drive to another machine using a USB enclosure.
>
> But, as I understand it the only way to get the drive to function well now
> is to reformat it and start from scratch. Having never been enamoured
> with
> Win 2000 I thought I'd just put on XP. So, I have a two hard drives, one
> that is not bootable, but has Win 2000, and the other that has Win 98.
>
> So, I qualify for the upgrade, but what I'd like to do is to reformat both
> and start from scratch and put on XP on the newer 40 gig drive (the one
> with
> 98) and then format the old drive and use it as a 6gig drive off the USB
> port.
>
> So, the question is. Do I need Win 98 on that drive to do the install off
> the Upgrade XP disk, or is it ok as long as I have the code?
>
> Any other suggestions?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bob
>
>
>
>
> "Jupiter Jones [MVP]" wrote:
>
>> Bob;
>> Upgrade and full are identical once installed.
>> In fact both can perform a Clean Installation and both can perform an
>> upgrade.
>> If you have a qualifying OS, save the $100.
>>
>> OEM is a different story.
>> Main differences:
>> Clean Installation only, no upgrade capability.
>> Normally permanently tied to the original computer and can not be
>> transferred regardless the condition of original computer.
>> No free tech support from Microsoft
>> Some of the reasons OEM is cheaper than retail.
>>
>> --
>> Jupiter Jones [MVP]
>> http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
>> In memory of our dear friend, MVP Alex Nichol
>> http://www.dts-l.org
>>
>>
>> "BobH" <> wrote in message
>> news:B77FC76B-9332-4744-ABE2-...
>> >I can go either way. I qualify for the upgrade but am considering
>> >buying
>> >the
>> > full version. Here's my question.
>> >
>> > Are the contents of these two identical? Is the only difference that
>> > the
>> > upgrade one looks to see if there is a qualifying OS already installed?
>> > Or,
>> > does the full version contained more drivers and utilities?
>> >
>> > Oh, also, any experience with buying the OEM version versus the
>> > standard
>> > version? Places like www.atomicpark.com offer the OEM version at about
>> > $100
>> > versus $184 for the non-OEM version. These guys are a five star rated
>> > company at CNET so I think I trust them.
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> >
>> > Bob
>>
>>
>>

No you do not need Windows 98 installed.
You can use Windows XP Upgrade on a clean hard drive to perform a Clean
Installation..
You will need to insert the Windows 98 CD or other qualifying media for a
few minutes to prove you qualify if you use Windows XP Upgrade.
You only need the CD, you do not need the Product Key for Windows 98 or
other qualifying media.

--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
In memory of our dear friend, MVP Alex Nichol
http://www.dts-l.org


"BobH" <> wrote in message
news:17B806A9-5727-4887-951A-...
> Hi and thanks for the response,
>
> Here's my situation. I bought a new hard drive for my laptop which, at
> the
> time was running Win 2000 but originally had Win 98 SE on it.
>
> Norton Ghost overwrote my MBR and I all I got was "Missing Operating
> System"
> when I tried to boot. All my data was there and I was able to copy the
> contents off the old hard drive to another machine using a USB enclosure.
>
> But, as I understand it the only way to get the drive to function well now
> is to reformat it and start from scratch. Having never been enamoured
> with
> Win 2000 I thought I'd just put on XP. So, I have a two hard drives, one
> that is not bootable, but has Win 2000, and the other that has Win 98.
>
> So, I qualify for the upgrade, but what I'd like to do is to reformat both
> and start from scratch and put on XP on the newer 40 gig drive (the one
> with
> 98) and then format the old drive and use it as a 6gig drive off the USB
> port.
>
> So, the question is. Do I need Win 98 on that drive to do the install off
> the Upgrade XP disk, or is it ok as long as I have the code?
>
> Any other suggestions?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bob