Installing a Windows XP Pro or Home Upgrade CD without a Previous OS installed
Begin the windows install as if it was the full version, during the install you will be prompted for a previous operating system, at his point put your old operating system CD in the drive and browse to the I386 folder (for Windows NT or 2000), WIN9X folder (for Windows ME), or WIN98 folder (for Windows 98). Click ok, the windows upgrade will confirm this is a full version and continue with the upgrade (after you replace the upgrade CD
What you need to run Windows XP
-PC with 300 megahertz or higher processor clock speed recommended; 233 MHz minimum required (single or dual processor system);* Intel Pentium/Celeron family, or AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family, or compatible processor recommended
-128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum supported; may limit performance and some features)
-1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available hard disk space*
-Super VGA (800-600) or higher-resolution video adapter and monitor
-CD-ROM or DVD drive
-Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
----------For Internet access:
-Some Internet functionality may require Internet access, a Microsoft .NET Passport account, and payment of a separate fee to a service provider; local and/or long-distance telephone toll charges may apply
-14.4 kilobits per second (Kbps) or higher-speed modem
* depends on selected windows componets
Windows XP Boot Process
1. BIOS Power On Self Test
2. RISC firmware checks hardware configuration
3. Check drives in boot sequence.
4. For floppy drives, load the boot sector.
5. For hard drives, load the Master Boot Record.
6. Find the active partition.
7. Load boot sector.
8. Run the loaded boot code.
9. Load and run NTLDR RISC systems run OSLOADER.EXE
10. Load and run NTDETECT.COM
11. Read BOOT.ini
12. Ask which OS to start
13. Load and run NT Kernel
14. Ask to run LastKnownGood configuration
15. Load Hardware Adaptation Layer
16. Load system hive
17. Load some drivers and services
18. Initialize kernel and drivers that were loaded
19. Load and initialize the rest of the drivers
20. Create hardware list in registry using NTDETECT information
21. Load and run Autocheck to check file systems
22. Set up paging
23. Load subsystems defined in the registry
24. Win32 starts the logon process
25. Upon first logon, writes control set to LastKnownGood configuration
Click the above picture to purchase Windows XP Home/Professional from amazon.com
10 reasons to buy Windows XP:
1) The Windows XP engine. This is the fastest, most stable and reliable operating system you've ever seen, courtesy of the powerful, rock-solid Windows NT code base. Computers running Windows XP have been found to be 34% faster than those running Windows 2000 and 27% faster than those running Windows 98 Second Edition. Still on Windows 98? It's time to move up to greater stability, performance and security.
2) Remote Desktop. If you have Windows XP Professional on both your office and home (or mobile) computers, you can connect to your office network, documents and settings from home or while traveling. From a remote location, you can actually log on to your computer at work, without any worries about security. All you need to do is set up your Remote Desktop feature.
3) Windows Messenger. Have you seen the advantages of using instant messaging (IM) at work? Windows XP takes IM up a notch by incorporating the videoconferencing features of NetMeeting with Windows Messenger. You can also place voice calls from your computer to a telephone. In addition, Windows Messenger supports .NET Alerts, which are instant messaging subscriptions that can be used to track news headlines, stocks and other dynamically changing information. Windows Messenger users can also communicate with users of MSN Messenger, which runs on prior Windows versions (Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows Me).
4) Remote Assistance. Through the Help and Support Center in Windows XP, you can enable a technical support person of your choosing, or even just a good friend who can help you, to have access to your computer remotely in case of a problem. If you are an experienced user, you can even be the one to directly help your family and friends through Remote Assistance.
5) System Restore. With this recovery tool, you can escape trouble by rolling back your PC to a date or time before the problem occurred. Say you downloaded a defective software program, or you installed a faulty appliance and caused your system to crash. Not to worry. System Restore, works like the "undo" command in your word-processing system. You can roll back to your last good configuration or, if you've just installed a driver that disrupted your system, in most cases you reinstall your previous driver. You also can set up an automated system recovery to roll back as many as 10 machines at once.
6) Encrypting File System. The Encrypting File System (EFS) technology in Windows XP helps you protect your sensitive data by encrypting files so that only you can read them and work on them. Windows XP also enables group policy and command-line utilities, for your entire company to manage EFS.
7) Enhanced wireless networking support. More people are on the go with their laptops, and high-speed wireless networks based on the Wi-Fi 802.11b standard are going up fast at businesses, college campuses, airports, hotels, even coffee shops. Windows XP provides the most enhancements to date for wireless networking, including Zero Configuration support, which allows a laptop with a wireless adapter card to automatically detect and connect to wireless access points within range. Windows XP detects signals from wireless devices nearby, and notifies you if your laptop is near a network access point.
8) Network Setup Wizard. If you are running a network of computers at your home-based or small business, Windows XP allows you to share your Internet connection, broadband connection, Internet firewall and printer connection throughout your network. Under the Network Setup Wizard, your computer becomes the Internet connection host and directs Internet traffic to the rest of the computers on your network. With the Windows XP New Connection Wizard, you can easily create Internet, virtual private networking connections (VPN) and dial-up or DSL or cable modem connections.
9) New task-based visual design. Windows XP features a simplified user interface that makes it easier than ever for you to find the tools you regularly use and to complete frequent tasks. Enhancements in your control panel and My Documents folder anticipate your needs and provide you with menu options to help save you time and mouse-clicks in completing tasks.
10) Internet Explorer 6. The newest version of the world's most popular Web browser is included in Windows XP. Internet Explorer 6 features three new tool sets:
- An embedded Media Bar that, coupled with the new Windows Media Player for Windows XP, provides top-quality video and audio.
- An Image Toolbar that adds the ability to instantly capture and e-mail an image from a Web page, as well as a quick way to reduce the image size before sending, without loss of quality.
- Privacy enhancements that give you the power to make decisions about accepting cookies.
Can your system support Windows XP?
Windows XP Upgrade Compatability Check
Microsoft offers a website where you can go to check hardware and software to see if it is compatbile with Windows XP. This check can be used to see if your current system is ready for an upgrade, or if you're already running Windows XP it can be used to determine the compatbility of other hardware and software you may be considering installing:
