Only Microsoft would do this - Win XP doesn't recognise Win XP

approve of it here in Australia. However, that's not all that relevant - regardless of what the OEM EULA says, under Australian consumer law, once I buy a licenced copy of the software I can install it on any machine I wash to. Trying to force me to have it on only one specific machine is restriction of trade and not permitted.

Hi DE,
I am not sure anyone is really arguing about the 'law' here.

There have been a few references to 'legal' upgrade paths but I'm pretty sure people mean 'valid' or 'permitted' by the software maker.

What people are saying, as I read it, is that there is nothing in MS rules that prevent the upgrade path BUT (and it's huge) the software you have seems to only work for upgrading from W98 to XP-Pro. This is either a 'feature' or a 'bug' but it's just a fact.

If MS say the disk should work and they accept that it doesn't I assume a replacement 'working' disk is on the way?

This seems to be a case of using the software in a way not expected. This may or may not have been on purpose but given the story of a disk provided to upgrade from W98 it's not the most surprising thing in the world it doesn't work for other purposes. I think it's bad that it doesn't but it's not a surprise given the mindset of MS that everyone is out to steal from them until proved otherwise.

Anyway, the key point is that I can't see that anything in the story has any reference to differences between US law and law outside the US.

Happy for anyone to prove me wrong.

Could you please stop saying this "... there is no upgrade path."

Have a read here (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/upgrading/matrix.mspx )
and stop making claims about upgrade paths that are contradicted by MS itself.

Who says "you can not upgrade XP Home to XP Pro"?

It isn't MS. They say you can.
(http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/upgrading/matrix.mspx)

So who told you this?

The law question got raised when a few people said you can't do it because the EULA says you can't. They forgot the EULA is written with every jurisdiction in the world in mind and the writers know that some aspects aren't enforceable in some jurisdictions, yet some people think the EULA is an iron clad contract when it isn't.

As I said the disc worked when I let it look at my Win2K disc despite not finding it on the system.

I don't know how the USA consumer law goes, although I would guess there are some differences from the responses on this thread. Australian law includes strong protections of 'right to use' and allows me to use the licence on any machine I wish (as long as I don't violate the number of licences) while some people say OEM licences are restricted to a specific machine. They also claim a limit on the number of times of installation - in the EULA but not recognised here.

Your XP upgrade, whichever machine it goes on, does not free up the original licence. While I find it odd that it didn't allow the upgrade on the one machine, the licence for the original XP Home would not be valid any longer.

Need any more reasons to upgrade to Vista?

I did a reverse after a crash; loaded XP Home over XP Pro after I couldn't find another partition to try and save some extra files; it worked, sort of. Now there's a strange mask over the system; file recovery programs recognize a lot of old files, but don't help you hook them back up, from what I've seen so far; any suggestions? I'm the sole administrator; deleted other user accounts long ago.

I also encrypted a large folder (dumb); now I can't find the old encryption key; does anyone know where this is located in hidden registry files? Already tried all the usual tricks; no luck so far.

Thank you!

I'm a bit of an ignoramus and I have chemical allergies which effect my short term memory at times, but I've been playing and working on computers since the early nineties and I'm a self-employed artist working on a full-service website. I DID install a legal copy of Windows XP Professional on my Toshiba Satellite laptop, which came with Windows XP Home. I created a new partition so I could hopefully minimize any damage. Well I guess what I've learned here has given me a clue as to why nothing I've tried is working - never occured to me the two stupid OS's weren't compatible! Not surprising, I guess... I should have known they'd never let it be that easy. I was going to attempt the upgrade, glad now I didn't. But my first OS is corrupted, by a prematurely terminated scanreg\restore. I wonder if I could install a version of Linux, is there any way I could get at my data? Most of it is on the old installation that came with this machine... can't seem to get at it. It might take too long to have it serviced, would be prohibitive. I'll have to delete so many things... I have 80 Gigs of stuff on here. So much of it is pictures I can't replace, but I guess I could get down to a fraction, if I have to. I'd rather not! It's so stupid. So user-unfriendly. I learned a bit about Apple technology last year... working my way over. It was stupid of me to ever buy a new PC. I'll blame pesticides.

Linux distribution (I recommend SimplyMEPIS, Ubuntu, Damn Small Linux or PCLinux) with a live CD versions (that's most of them). Run the live version and it'll allow you to read both partitions. Take the opportunity to use it to (Please read notes at bottom first)

1. delete all the damaged Windows installation off the second partition,

2. transfer all the data from the first partition to the second partition,

3. delete all the damaged installation on the first partition,

4. then replace the cd with your Windows XP pro disk and reboot.

5. use the disk to make a clean install of XP on your first partition without touching your second partition.

6. when you reload your software, set up data folders on the second partition and point the programs to those folders. This way your data won't be affected by any further problems with your operating system. Note this for all future computers you use.

Some notes:

- Some live cds don't read NTFS drives, the ones of the latest versions I've tried do

- You may wish to consider backing the data up to an external USB drive.

- You may wish to upgrade from Windows XP to any one of the Linux installation for a better response. However, you may find some of your proprietary 3rd party software may not work in Linux Wine or Crossover. You should check that out before switching if any is critical to your business operations.

Good luck, I've done this so many times I can almost do it in my sleep. I have many people who've had XP systems lock up on them and this is the only way to save their data.

You are beating a dead horse here. I understood your conclusion several minutes ago. Do yourself a favor and GIVE IT UP! Regards, Paul

Bible verses
http://www.carm.org/questions/homosexuality.htm
Lev. 18:22,
Lev. 20:13,
1 Cor. 6:9-10,
Rom. 1:26-28,