MaskedAvenger
Member
Don't think that you are the only one to have had this happen.
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Microsoft Windows Upgrade from XP Pro 32 bit to 64 bit
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ScrapSilicon
Lifer
😀
I have been laughing since yesterday over this whole upgrade page--I have read literally dozens and dozens of forums where people can't figure out how to fill out the info fields... Microsoft should probably change the wording of what needs to go into the fields, here is my version:
1. The COA field is NOT, repeat, NOT for the product key, serial #, whatever you like to call it. The product key does not conform to field size at all. I tried it twice. What DOES go in that field is this: on the OEM sticker, under the product key, there is a barcode. Under that barcode is a numeric sequence, xxxxx-xxx-xxx-xxx, THAT is the sequence you put in the COA field.
2. The Product ID field. Right-click on My Computer. left-click Properties. Product ID shows up there. Many people can't get this to accept, even mine would not (OEM Pro w/SP2).
1. The COA field is NOT, repeat, NOT for the product key, serial #, whatever you like to call it. The product key does not conform to field size at all. I tried it twice. What DOES go in that field is this: on the OEM sticker, under the product key, there is a barcode. Under that barcode is a numeric sequence, xxxxx-xxx-xxx-xxx, THAT is the sequence you put in the COA field.
2. The Product ID field. Right-click on My Computer. left-click Properties. Product ID shows up there. Many people can't get this to accept, even mine would not (OEM Pro w/SP2).
mi1stormilst
Golden Member
I have extra copies so i am gonna do it when i get home... I don't even have my 64bit hardware yet ... silly....just silly.
The only thing holding me back is possible problems and lack of drivers for my hardware even though I have all newer stuff. Since it wipes out your old prodct key/license for XP Professional I take it there is no going back to Professional after the upgrade. I'd like to try this but if I can't go back to professional then I'm going to wait until I'm sure of drivers being available that are stable.
shortspanishguy
Banned
How can it render my copy of XP useless when I purchase the upgrade. I have a dell... wont all "Dell" XP cds work on my comp?
thedealmaker
Senior member
Even if this site is the real deal and your computer can take advantage of the 64 bit architecture, there are very little software out there that can take advantage of 64bit. So don't waste your money and time to test Microsoft's buggy os. I will not be the first guinea pig.
Since it invalidates your CD key how are you going to reactivate XP if you ever reinstall it? Furthermore if you want to get windows updates on the web you may be screwed. This is all besided the Legal mumbo Jumbo that Microsoft is saying that once you upgrade to the 64 Bit version your XP Professional version is no longer legal to be used. Also I'm not entirely sure that a Dell version of Windows XP Professional can be upgraded. I thought that Dell version were custom versions that only worked with the Dell computer you bought. In any case it still has to be activated after an install so it seems pretty clear to me!
NightCrawler
Diamond Member
Acronis True Image....
shortspanishguy
Banned
Well, I upgraded the xp home using the product code on the COA that came with my 8400. I have like 2 copies of XP laying around so I guess its no big deal.
Devistater
Diamond Member
You guys are a bit confused. Activation is required on all retail copies. Your friend probably has an illigal copy of the VLK version which doesn't need activation. Because other wise it would refuse to work after trying to activate an illigal key. And BTW, MS decided to let people who were able to install SP1, install SP2 as well even if they were illigal. So your friend probably hasn't checked to d/l SP2 since it was in beta.
Also, as for the image, well thats all well and good, except if your hardware has changed, it will ask you to reactivate anyway. Heck the other day, I had to reactivate my legit xp pro, and all I did was disable the network card temporarily so I could try and fix something about getting my DHCP to work. I had to call them up since it wouldn't let me reactivate automatically. MS is such a pain sometimes.
I'm thinking that this "upgrade" is probably a bad idea all around for most people. First of all, I understand you have to do a clean install, no upgrade installs.
Second, the driver support isn't there very much and if you install and find out that 64 bit drivers dont exist for say your soundcard, ooops. Wait you cant go back to XP pro 32 bit since its invalidated your cd key. Guess you just have to live with no sound card support
According to this site:
http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/windowsxp_x64_preview2.asp
There are some software programs that dont (yet?) work with x64. Such as zone alarm, diskeeper, and powertoys.
Finally, many people think that running a 64 bit OS means you get twice the performance as from running a 32 bit OS. NOT TRUE! There is NO inherant performance increase between running 32 bit apps on a 32 bit OS or a 64 bit OS. Your games will NOT run faster! In fact odds are almost all of your programs will run slower since most drivers are not yet tweaked and optimized to run very well on 64 bit systems. The main benifit currently to running a 64 bit OS is that it has support for more than 4 gigs of ram. I kinda doubt many of the people getting 64 bit XP have even half of that. To get a performance increase from going 64 bit you need to have the program recompiled specifically to enable 64 bit support. And almost nothing is availible that has had that done. Perhaps a few CAD programs, I'm not sure about it but perhaps photoshop has a patch for it.
MS even says that on thier site:
The boundaries of 32 bit OS is as mentioned above, 4 gig RAM maximum.
To OP: Just change your link to the official site http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/64bit/upgrade/default.mspx
and tell people to click on link on right and you will be fine. Then you only link to official microsoft and there's no question about the link being legit.
Finally, anyone can get a free trial of win 64 bit for 120 days without screwing up a XP cd key.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/64bit/evaluation/trial.mspx
I suggest trying that rather than screwing up a xp pro cd key, especially if you aren't sure of what your reasons are for upgrading, or if you think you will get a performance increase (you won't).
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