Guest Matt Posted October 12, 2008 Posted October 12, 2008 I have an older computer that came with a Windows XP Upgrade CD. I am trying to reinstall with that CD but I get a message saying the version of Windows on my hard drive is newer than the CD and will not let me proceed. I have everything backed up I want, how do I get around this? -- Matt
Guest Big_Al Posted October 12, 2008 Posted October 12, 2008 Re: Reinstalling XP Matt wrote: > I have an older computer that came with a Windows XP Upgrade CD. I am > trying to reinstall with that CD but I get a message saying the version of > Windows on my hard drive is newer than the CD and will not let me proceed. I > have everything backed up I want, how do I get around this? And the manufacturer didn't send you both the older OS and the new OS? And you've contacted them to see if they could send you the older OS? Its an upgrade so you have to have an earlier version. You probably have applied a service pack to the current version on your hard drive thus its a later version than the one on your CD. You could slipstream the SP3 into your CD and make a new one, at least it would then be the save version and might let you continue, its not an upgrade technically, but at least its not a downgrade, and that's the current issue. I won't tell you to find a buddy that had win98 and use it as that would technically not be *your* upgrade.
Guest Ken Blake, MVP Posted October 12, 2008 Posted October 12, 2008 Re: Reinstalling XP On Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:25:01 -0700, Matt <Matt@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > I have an older computer that came with a Windows XP Upgrade CD. I am > trying to reinstall with that CD but I get a message saying the version of > Windows on my hard drive is newer than the CD and will not let me proceed. I > have everything backed up I want, how do I get around this? You get that message because you have a service pack that's not on the CD, but is installed on the drive. But it doesn't matter. You're doing the reinstallation incorrectly. If you do it correctly, it doesn't matter what's on the drive. Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when prompted, then create a new one). You can find detailed instructions here: http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html or here http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_install_windows_xp.htm or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm Note that you *can* do a clean installation from a Upgrade CD without regard to what's on the drive, or even whether there is *anything* on the drive. Despite what some people think, an Upgrade copy *can* do a clean installation as long as you own a CD of a previous qualifying version to show it as proof of ownership when prompted to do so. Most people have a Windows 98 CD around, but worst case, if you don't, you can buy one inexpensively someplace like eBay. -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience Please Reply to the Newsgroup
Guest Ken Blake, MVP Posted October 12, 2008 Posted October 12, 2008 Re: Reinstalling XP On Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:55:16 -0400, Big_Al <BigAl@md.com> wrote: > Matt wrote: > > I have an older computer that came with a Windows XP Upgrade CD. I am > > trying to reinstall with that CD but I get a message saying the version of > > Windows on my hard drive is newer than the CD and will not let me proceed. I > > have everything backed up I want, how do I get around this? > > And the manufacturer didn't send you both the older OS and the new OS? > And you've contacted them to see if they could send you the older OS? > > Its an upgrade so you have to have an earlier version. You probably > have applied a service pack to the current version on your hard drive > thus its a later version than the one on your CD. > > You could slipstream the SP3 into your CD and make a new one, Please note that although that might be a good thing to do, it's not Matt's problem. His problem is that he's trying to do the installation incorrectly, and needs to do it by booting from the CD. Please see the message I sent. > at least > it would then be the save version and might let you continue, its not an > upgrade technically, but at least its not a downgrade, and that's the > current issue. > > I won't tell you to find a buddy that had win98 and use it as that would > technically not be *your* upgrade. -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience Please Reply to the Newsgroup
Guest Patrick Keenan Posted October 12, 2008 Posted October 12, 2008 Re: Reinstalling XP "Matt" <Matt@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:2B805C84-C1CB-462C-97FD-44CABEEF3ADC@microsoft.com... > I have an older computer that came with a Windows XP Upgrade CD. I am > trying to reinstall with that CD but I get a message saying the version of > Windows on my hard drive is newer than the CD and will not let me proceed. > I > have everything backed up I want, how do I get around this? > -- > Matt As noted, you're just doing the wrong thing for a "clean" install, and to do it correctly, you need to have on hand another Windows install CD, such as a Windows 98SE CD. *If* the XP version is XP Pro, you can also use a Windows 2000 CD, but that won't work for XP Home. Setup will halt at the point where it asks you for the qualifier CD. You can't proceed till you get one. HTH -pk
Guest Big_Al Posted October 12, 2008 Posted October 12, 2008 Re: Reinstalling XP Ken Blake, MVP wrote: > On Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:55:16 -0400, Big_Al <BigAl@md.com> wrote: > >> Matt wrote: >>> I have an older computer that came with a Windows XP Upgrade CD. I am >>> trying to reinstall with that CD but I get a message saying the version of >>> Windows on my hard drive is newer than the CD and will not let me proceed. I >>> have everything backed up I want, how do I get around this? >> And the manufacturer didn't send you both the older OS and the new OS? >> And you've contacted them to see if they could send you the older OS? >> >> Its an upgrade so you have to have an earlier version. You probably >> have applied a service pack to the current version on your hard drive >> thus its a later version than the one on your CD. >> >> You could slipstream the SP3 into your CD and make a new one, > > > Please note that although that might be a good thing to do, it's not > Matt's problem. His problem is that he's trying to do the installation > incorrectly, and needs to do it by booting from the CD. Please see the > message I sent. > > > >> at least >> it would then be the save version and might let you continue, its not an >> upgrade technically, but at least its not a downgrade, and that's the >> current issue. >> >> I won't tell you to find a buddy that had win98 and use it as that would >> technically not be *your* upgrade. > Yes, I read it. I have my old Win98, I never throw anything away. So its never been an issue to get over that hurdle. I'm glad you responded, to both us.
Guest Ken Blake, MVP Posted October 12, 2008 Posted October 12, 2008 Re: Reinstalling XP On Sun, 12 Oct 2008 18:16:13 -0400, Big_Al <BigAl@md.com> wrote: > Ken Blake, MVP wrote: > > On Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:55:16 -0400, Big_Al <BigAl@md.com> wrote: > > > >> Matt wrote: > >>> I have an older computer that came with a Windows XP Upgrade CD. I am > >>> trying to reinstall with that CD but I get a message saying the version of > >>> Windows on my hard drive is newer than the CD and will not let me proceed. I > >>> have everything backed up I want, how do I get around this? > >> And the manufacturer didn't send you both the older OS and the new OS? > >> And you've contacted them to see if they could send you the older OS? > >> > >> Its an upgrade so you have to have an earlier version. You probably > >> have applied a service pack to the current version on your hard drive > >> thus its a later version than the one on your CD. > >> > >> You could slipstream the SP3 into your CD and make a new one, > > > > > > Please note that although that might be a good thing to do, it's not > > Matt's problem. His problem is that he's trying to do the installation > > incorrectly, and needs to do it by booting from the CD. Please see the > > message I sent. > > > > > > > >> at least > >> it would then be the save version and might let you continue, its not an > >> upgrade technically, but at least its not a downgrade, and that's the > >> current issue. > >> > >> I won't tell you to find a buddy that had win98 and use it as that would > >> technically not be *your* upgrade. > > > Yes, I read it. I have my old Win98, I never throw anything away. So > its never been an issue to get over that hurdle. I'm glad you > responded, to both us. Good, I'm glad I was able to help. -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience Please Reply to the Newsgroup
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