I have aquired a computer with Windows Professional 2000. I would like to install my own Windows XP that is installed on my main computer. Do I have to uninstall the Windows Professional before I install Windows XP. Or can I just install it just over that just like any other program?

you can install overtop, but during the install process i would suggest doing a format to have a clean installation, since none of the applications using 2000 will be available to XP anyway.

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</Dream In Code>
-William. § (marvin_gohan)

ok i give up. how do i format it before? i've installed alot of programs, but i am still illiterate.
Thank you

Cautionary note to be added....

Back up all data and make sure you have any application downloads backed up before any format.

Good luck

To format your machine with the XP CD first change your boot settings in BIOS. As the machine boots up look for something like "To enter setup press DEL now". Once in BIOS goto "BOOT" and change the first device to CD. Exit and save settings and make sure your XP CD is in the CD drive. The machine will boot straight into XP Setup. After a while it will ask you what partition you want to install XP onto. At this screen you can delete the Win2000 partition and create a new partition for XP. Once you have selected the partition to install on setup will continue and once its finished you will have an XP OS on your machine!

A word of caution though, as Pizza53 said make sure that you have backups of EVERYTHING you want to keep, as deleting the partition will erase everything on it. You may want to create 2 partitions, one for your OS and one for everything else, so that if you have to do a full reinstall or decide to change OS again you wont lose anything saved on the other partition, but that depends on your HDD size and how confident you are with doing it.

Any other problems just ask

i tried to install the windows xp last night. i couldnt. it said setup cannot upgrade. your current installation of windows is not supported upgrade path. i guess that means i need it cleaned of the old installation.

Ok step by step:
When asked if you wish to install Windows XP press Enter.

You will be presented with the End User Licensing Agreement. Press F8 to accept and continue or press F3 to cancel the install.

Move to the Win 2000 partition and delete it.Once you've deleted partitions you will be asked to create a partition. At this point you can choose the size you wish. Most people will elect to create one partition that fills the entire drive. If you decide you would like multiple partitions then create a partition size that will be suitable for XP and your installed apps as well as room for cache files etc. 10GB is s nice size for a full XP install leaving plenty of room for applications etc. After XP is setup and running you can create additional partitions in the free space through XP's Computer Management Console.

The next screen asks if you wish to use the NTFS file system. This is the preferred file system, however, if you choose to use FAT32, you will not have all the security and stability features of Windows XP.

If you have NOT deleted the Win 2000 partition and are installing over the top you will be given a choice of Format options . Select the Format option of your choice(I'd go with NTFS and not the NTFS Quick Format). When asked to start the format, press the "F" key. The formatting process may take quite a bit of time.

Setup will begin an automated loading of files which will take several minutes.

After this is complete the computer will restart. Leave the XP CD in the drive but this time DO NOT press any key when the message it "Press any key to boot CD" is displayed. In 5 seconds setup will continue.

The Windows XP Setup wizard will lead you through the process of gathering information about you and your computer.

And that is pretty much it done. Remember to DELETE the Win 2000 partition and create a new one, or at least format it before you try and install XP.

And the most important thing is to backup everything you want to keep onto DVD or CD as deleting or formatting the partition will erase all the information stored on it.

Windows 2000 allows for a direct upgrade to XP from within windows, it is odd you would recieve that error. Try running from a command prompt (on the cd's I386 folder)
winnt32 /checkupgradeonly
this will let you know of any hadware or software compatability issues your computer may have with upgrading this way.

__________________

</Dream In Code>
-William. § (marvin_gohan)