Author Topic: Difference btw Win2k Pro and Win2k Pro Upgrade  (Read 541 times)

cheekygeezer

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Difference btw Win2k Pro and Win2k Pro Upgrade
« on: November 05, 2002, 07:15:13 AM »
I\'ve migrated through the years from Win 3.11 thru Win 95, 98 and now Win 2000 Pro.

During this time I\'ve had various rebuilds and upgrades of my home built PC.

I upgraded Win 98 to Win 2k Pro (Upgrade Release) a few months back but last week managed to destroy my motherboard and therefore upgraded my motherboard and CPU from my old P3 to a P4. Unfortunately the O/S will not boot anymore so I\'m going to have to reinstall.

As I have a dedicated hard drive for my O/S it is easier to reformat and start again.

However, I have an UPGRADE release of Win 2k Pro (and associated licence key).

Does this mean anything or affect anything at all (i.e., are all the product files there)? The small print states that is will search my PC at install for proof that I am allowed to use the upgrade version. I never bothered reading that before, but noticed this time around.

Well, if it does that it will find very little evidence as the O/S hard drive has been reformatted. All my data is located on separate hard drives.

Is this just threatening talk from Microsoft or does it actually do anything like search for a previous licence key hidden somewhere?

If it does check, what does it check and what do I do if it thinks I have no valid reason to upgrade?

I am one of those idiots who pays for the O/S through the years and I don\'t want any grief from any anti-piracy tactics that MS may try to stick on me.

Any info would be appreciated.

Cheers.

Anonymous

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Difference btw Win2k Pro and Win2k Pro Upgrade
« Reply #1 on: November 11, 2002, 12:04:59 PM »
The Upgrade version will look for previous Windows version on your hard drive or will ask you to put an original (not an upgrade version if I not mistaken) Win98 / WinNT4.0 CD in a CD-ROM drive to verify your upgrade eligibility. This is the only difference with full version. After upgrade eligibility verification, you can even reformat your HD from within Win2k loader to perform cleen install. So, if you do not own an original Win98 / WinNT4.0 CD (I think Win95 is excluded, but not shure), you are kinde of out of luck.