Can't Install Win XP: Cannot find previous copy of Windows

[Susan]

I am trying to upgrade to Win XP Home because the Win 98
on our machine is corrupted and will no longer boot.

I go through the install, and I get the message that it
cannot find a previous version of windows.

I called Microsoft and was told that they could not help
me. I was talking to XP support. Since I did not have my
Win 98 disk, I would have to talk to Win 98 support to get
my Win 98 working before I could upgrade.

I called the support number, waited on hold for 25
minutes, was transferred to XP tech, waiting for 10
minutes, was disconnected, called back, held for 20
minutes, was transferred, held for 2 HOURS, and then was
told I had the wrong department. It was now after 9pm my
time, and I could not call back until Monday.

The woman I spoke with used very poor english, had awful
grammar, and kept repeating the same 'script' without
listening to my question. I hope Bill Gates is happy
being at the top of the "Rich" list, cause it is really
obvious he is making his money farming US jobs out to
India and screwing the consumer.

I am looking for my 98 CD, but since it is 5 years old, I
doubt I have it. It may have been an OEM version, I am
not sure. If it is an OEM version, do I have the license
right to upgrade? The woman I spoke to had no clue what
that meant.

[Harry Ohrn]

Upgrading over a corrupt system is never a good idea. Purchasing an Upgrade
version of an OS is never a good idea if you don't have a copy of the
qualifying product. What were you thinking??????

Yes you can use an OEM version of Win98 to satisfy an XP Upgrade version
request for a qualifying product.


--

Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell\User]
www.webtree.ca/windowsxp


"Susan" > wrote in message
...
> I am trying to upgrade to Win XP Home because the Win 98
> on our machine is corrupted and will no longer boot.
>
> I go through the install, and I get the message that it
> cannot find a previous version of windows.
>
> I called Microsoft and was told that they could not help
> me. I was talking to XP support. Since I did not have my
> Win 98 disk, I would have to talk to Win 98 support to get
> my Win 98 working before I could upgrade.
>
> I called the support number, waited on hold for 25
> minutes, was transferred to XP tech, waiting for 10
> minutes, was disconnected, called back, held for 20
> minutes, was transferred, held for 2 HOURS, and then was
> told I had the wrong department. It was now after 9pm my
> time, and I could not call back until Monday.
>
> The woman I spoke with used very poor english, had awful
> grammar, and kept repeating the same 'script' without
> listening to my question. I hope Bill Gates is happy
> being at the top of the "Rich" list, cause it is really
> obvious he is making his money farming US jobs out to
> India and screwing the consumer.
>
> I am looking for my 98 CD, but since it is 5 years old, I
> doubt I have it. It may have been an OEM version, I am
> not sure. If it is an OEM version, do I have the license
> right to upgrade? The woman I spoke to had no clue what
> that meant.
>
>

[Susan]

Excuse me?

I was thinking, "Hey, I have Win 98 so I should be
entitled to save $100 by buying the upgrade instead of the
new version."

Sorry to have offended your sense of intelligence.


>-----Original Message-----
>Upgrading over a corrupt system is never a good idea.
Purchasing an Upgrade
>version of an OS is never a good idea if you don't have a
copy of the
>qualifying product. What were you thinking??????
>
>Yes you can use an OEM version of Win98 to satisfy an XP
Upgrade version
>request for a qualifying product.
>
>
>--
>
>Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell\User]
>www.webtree.ca/windowsxp
>
>
>"Susan" > wrote in message
...
>> I am trying to upgrade to Win XP Home because the Win 98
>> on our machine is corrupted and will no longer boot.
>>
>> I go through the install, and I get the message that it
>> cannot find a previous version of windows.
>>
>> I called Microsoft and was told that they could not help
>> me. I was talking to XP support. Since I did not have
my
>> Win 98 disk, I would have to talk to Win 98 support to
get
>> my Win 98 working before I could upgrade.
>>
>> I called the support number, waited on hold for 25
>> minutes, was transferred to XP tech, waiting for 10
>> minutes, was disconnected, called back, held for 20
>> minutes, was transferred, held for 2 HOURS, and then was
>> told I had the wrong department. It was now after 9pm
my
>> time, and I could not call back until Monday.
>>
>> The woman I spoke with used very poor english, had awful
>> grammar, and kept repeating the same 'script' without
>> listening to my question. I hope Bill Gates is happy
>> being at the top of the "Rich" list, cause it is really
>> obvious he is making his money farming US jobs out to
>> India and screwing the consumer.
>>
>> I am looking for my 98 CD, but since it is 5 years old,
I
>> doubt I have it. It may have been an OEM version, I am
>> not sure. If it is an OEM version, do I have the
license
>> right to upgrade? The woman I spoke to had no clue what
>> that meant.
>>
>>
>
>
>.
>

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

Susan,

For the upgrade to work, you have to run Setup from within 98, or you can
boot from the XP CD, do a clean installation, and when prompted, give it
your 98 CD.

An OEM version can be upgraded, and as long as its not a "recovery" CD, will
serve as proof of ownership.

--
Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows XP/ Windows Smart Display
Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com
--------------------------------
Associate Expert
ExpertZone - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
--------------------------------
Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.

"Susan" > wrote in message
...
> I am trying to upgrade to Win XP Home because the Win 98
> on our machine is corrupted and will no longer boot.
>
> I go through the install, and I get the message that it
> cannot find a previous version of windows.
>
> I called Microsoft and was told that they could not help
> me. I was talking to XP support. Since I did not have my
> Win 98 disk, I would have to talk to Win 98 support to get
> my Win 98 working before I could upgrade.
>
> I called the support number, waited on hold for 25
> minutes, was transferred to XP tech, waiting for 10
> minutes, was disconnected, called back, held for 20
> minutes, was transferred, held for 2 HOURS, and then was
> told I had the wrong department. It was now after 9pm my
> time, and I could not call back until Monday.
>
> The woman I spoke with used very poor english, had awful
> grammar, and kept repeating the same 'script' without
> listening to my question. I hope Bill Gates is happy
> being at the top of the "Rich" list, cause it is really
> obvious he is making his money farming US jobs out to
> India and screwing the consumer.
>
> I am looking for my 98 CD, but since it is 5 years old, I
> doubt I have it. It may have been an OEM version, I am
> not sure. If it is an OEM version, do I have the license
> right to upgrade? The woman I spoke to had no clue what
> that meant.
>
>

[Harry Ohrn]

What were you thinking? Susan you don't owe me an apology.

--

Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell\User]
www.webtree.ca/windowsxp

"Susan" > wrote in message
...
> Excuse me?
>
> I was thinking, "Hey, I have Win 98 so I should be
> entitled to save $100 by buying the upgrade instead of the
> new version."
>
> Sorry to have offended your sense of intelligence.
>
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >Upgrading over a corrupt system is never a good idea.
> Purchasing an Upgrade
> >version of an OS is never a good idea if you don't have a
> copy of the
> >qualifying product. What were you thinking??????
> >
> >Yes you can use an OEM version of Win98 to satisfy an XP
> Upgrade version
> >request for a qualifying product.
> >
> >
> >--
> >
> >Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell\User]
> >www.webtree.ca/windowsxp
> >
> >
> >"Susan" > wrote in message
> ...
> >> I am trying to upgrade to Win XP Home because the Win 98
> >> on our machine is corrupted and will no longer boot.
> >>
> >> I go through the install, and I get the message that it
> >> cannot find a previous version of windows.
> >>
> >> I called Microsoft and was told that they could not help
> >> me. I was talking to XP support. Since I did not have
> my
> >> Win 98 disk, I would have to talk to Win 98 support to
> get
> >> my Win 98 working before I could upgrade.
> >>
> >> I called the support number, waited on hold for 25
> >> minutes, was transferred to XP tech, waiting for 10
> >> minutes, was disconnected, called back, held for 20
> >> minutes, was transferred, held for 2 HOURS, and then was
> >> told I had the wrong department. It was now after 9pm
> my
> >> time, and I could not call back until Monday.
> >>
> >> The woman I spoke with used very poor english, had awful
> >> grammar, and kept repeating the same 'script' without
> >> listening to my question. I hope Bill Gates is happy
> >> being at the top of the "Rich" list, cause it is really
> >> obvious he is making his money farming US jobs out to
> >> India and screwing the consumer.
> >>
> >> I am looking for my 98 CD, but since it is 5 years old,
> I
> >> doubt I have it. It may have been an OEM version, I am
> >> not sure. If it is an OEM version, do I have the
> license
> >> right to upgrade? The woman I spoke to had no clue what
> >> that meant.
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >.
> >