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Windows on a new hard drive

Tractors4u

Active member
Site Supporter
A friend of mine's laptop hard drive crashed. I told her I would get a new one for it. I got the hard drive in, but she is going to need Windows. I was set to get her a copy of Windows 7, but it says that is requires XP on it already. How do you do this on a new hard drive. If I find a copy of XP to put on it, will it require that the previous version on Windows be on the hard drive?
 

OhioTC18

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
If you're using a Windows XP to Win 7 upgrade disk, yes it will require XP to have already been installed.
 

Big Dog

Large Member
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
You need to buy the full version instead of the upgrade version unless you can find a XP version some where.
 

Tractors4u

Active member
Site Supporter
The upgrade was $109 where I found it this afternoon. Any idea on the price of the full version?
 

tsaw

New member
GOLD Site Supporter
Just a quick thought. If the laptop had xp on it before, dig up the cd's that came with it and re-install. Then Windows 7 that you have will work. If there are no CD's that came with it, call the manufacture and have them shipped. Cheaper than buying the full version of Win 7.
 

Tractors4u

Active member
Site Supporter
Thanks for the tip TSAW. I got to work this morning and found a copy of XP that my office mate had. No here is another problem. Bored at home last night I found a copy of Windows 98 so I loaded it. It wouldn't worked correctly so I gave up on it. This morning I loaded XP and it works fine, but when you start the computer it asks what do you want to run, Windows or Windows XP? I'm more of a Mac guy. How do I get rid of 98 or delete it or something. I just want her to turn this computer on and it go to the WIndows XP desktop.
 

tsaw

New member
GOLD Site Supporter
Bill has it right. Format.. install XP - then the Win 7 upgrade. That should work.
 

jwstewar

Active member
When you are installing an upgrade OS, you can do so to a clean hard drive. When it can't find a previous OS, insert the original CD (in this case for XP) and browse to it. The new OS is then fine and you can continue your install. This is the preferred way to do it and is the only way you can get a clean install from an upgrade CD.
 
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