The upgrade will work fine if you have the necessary hardware requirements and you will not have to install ME at any time, just show the cd when asked. Run the Upgrade Advisor on the XP cd first to check for conflicts or needed upgrades. For instance--a larger hard drive, more memory--256 ram is the minimum, 512 is better. However, it is not advisable to install ME on a different partition. Your software will probably work with XP's compatibility mode. You must do a clean install using the upgrade cd because XP will not work over ME. I know from personal experience!
XP is the easiest os to install. Many sites have instructions. Here's one--
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp
Once you have partitioned the hard drive you can install ME on one partition (the older operating system should be installed first) then install XP on the second partition. You do not have to install ME on that partition first. When you begin the installation of XP using the upgrade CD you will be prompted to insert the CD of a qualifying operating system to verify that you are doing a legitimate installation. Insert the ME reinstallation CD at that point, XP will recognize it, then you can proceed with the rest of the installation of XP.
Mary G
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June 7th, 2004 19:00
Denny Denham
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18.8K Posts
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June 7th, 2004 19:00
Once you have partitioned the hard drive you can install ME on one partition (the older operating system should be installed first) then install XP on the second partition. You do not have to install ME on that partition first. When you begin the installation of XP using the upgrade CD you will be prompted to insert the CD of a qualifying operating system to verify that you are doing a legitimate installation. Insert the ME reinstallation CD at that point, XP will recognize it, then you can proceed with the rest of the installation of XP.