Cheap XP

I have found that most college bookstores have better than average pricing on PC Software and Operating Systems at student discounts. This may be true at your college as well.

Well, with my major, I get free software, so I downloaded XP to put on my new pc, and when I installed it, it said it wasn't a verified copy. It didn't give me a CD Key for it or anything so I'm guessing I have to go buy a new OS. But Would I be able to buy a WIndows 7 Upgrade and upgrade a unverified copy of XP, or would I have to Buy a full new OS?

You can't just download it from anywhere. If you're downloading an ISO from your school's website, then it should come with an installation key.

Well If its not a verified copy, can I buy a "Windows 7 - Upgrade Version?" or wouldn't that work?

You can get a windows full retail or OEM copy, and install windows.

Whats the difference between the full version and the OEM version?

Full retail is a little more expensive, isn't tied to the original hardware, and has MS support.

Full OEM is tied to the original hardware that it's installed on, cheaper, and you don't get MS support.

Ok, Thanks for all the help!

Aford, isn't this so?--XP can't be upgraded directly to Win 7, except with Vista as the "middleman".

You can upgrade from XP to windows 7 by doing a custom install (except for home basic versions I believe). But you should have a legal install of XP first.

Of course, legal. I meant, doesn't an upgrade really wipe the drive first, wiping your data and programs, unless you had data on a separate partition?

When you do the windows 7 custom upgrade, it will move your old data into c:\windows.old. In a manner of speaking, yes it does wipe your drive, but it backs up your data first. Programs are normally worthless at that point, as the registry and path files no longer match.

Thanks.

Wfode--get back to us and tell us how you're doing.