Windows XP Upgrade vs full thing

[NiKeFiDO]

My school (UCONN) doesnt seem to pay for licensing for students so we cant get XP Pro for like $10 as others have (according to this: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=34&threadid=1578240 )

What they offer is XP Pro for like $300 (niiice price kthnx) XP Pro upgrade for $100 and XP Pro Student license for $80 (doesnt say XP Pro or not, i assume it is)

Whats the diff between getting the full versionand upgrade? You can only upgrade with it and cant do clean installs of XP Pro?
Or do you just need a valid CD Key? If thats the case, will the one for XP Home on my Dell be OK to use for the upgrade?

 

[spyordie007]

upgrade requires that you have a previous qualifying version (yes xp home counts). During the install you would either have to point the installer to your CD (so you would have to put the xp home cd in the drive) or point it to a previous install of windows (the install currently sitting on your hard drive).

BTW, the $80 student license really isnt that bad as far as costs go. Students of just about anywhere qualify for that price.

 

[mikecel79]

Check with the helpdesk at Uconn. I'm pretty sure they have an Academic MSDN subscription or something similiar. A friend of mine and my sister went to school there and she was able to get software for cheap. Of course she couldn't use it after she left school but it was great while she is there.

The only difference between the upgrade and full version of XP is that with the upgrade you need to have proof of a previous version of Windows. This can be either an installed copy of Windows or proof that you have the media from a previous version. Basically if you do a fresh install with no Windows OS on there it will prompt you to put your old Windows CD in the drive before it will continue.

 

[NiKeFiDO]

not too bad then, might have to do that. thnx for the help

 

[Nocturnal]

I get WinXP Pro for free or $5.00 through my school. The free version is through downloading it and then $5.00 is through getting the CD from school.

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
I get WinXP Pro for free or $5.00 through my school. The free version is through downloading it and then $5.00 is through getting the CD from school.

What school?