Hi my laptop is running windows xp professional (the very basic one with no service packs). Before I had SP1 but I got a virus and had to format the hard drive. I am running the basic windows xp because my friend installed it and I think that he used his serial key. I had one on the back of my laptop but I guess he never saw it. When I used windows update it wouldn't let me. When I downloaded SP1 and SP2 it wouldn't let me upgrade. I was wondering is there any way for me to upgrade to windows SP2 with an official SP1 serial code. I also want to know if I could do this without overwriting any of my installed programs or files. Also how would I be able to do this because the computer came preinstalled with windows xp SP1. Would it be legal for me to download a version of windows xp and then I could put in my serial code. If so where would I be able to download a version. I'm sorry if this sounds confusing. If anyone doesn't understand I could try to clarify.
Now that procedure is kinda long and drawn out, and you can replace the folder names with whatever you want, but keep the names simple...no spaces!! DOS commands don't like spaces and you'll get an error saying the target cannot be found.
If you have any questions or get stuck, post back...we'll be glad to help.
It may be possible if you do a repair installation using XP SP2. I have yet to test that myself as I've always done a new installation.
If you haven't done one, during Windows setup after you press F8 to accept the EULA, setup will detect the installed version and give you a choice for a new, or repair install. Choose repair.
OK then I will try that. When I was intergrating SP2 into my windows xp disc, when I got to the "Applying the Service Pack" bit, it didn't look how it did on the website. When it was applying the SP2 the box looked like it was extracting it and not how it looks like on the site. After it finished applying it, I never got a box where I could click OK. I was just wondering if it was normal and if I should continue as normal and burn the disk. I am doing all of this on my windows xp machine.
OK then I will try that. When I was intergrating SP2 into my windows xp disc, when I got to the "Applying the Service Pack" bit, it didn't look how it did on the website. When it was applying the SP2 the box looked like it was extracting it and not how it looks like on the site. After it finished applying it, I never got a box where I could click OK. I was just wondering if it was normal and if I should continue as normal and burn the disk. I am doing all of this on my windows xp machine.
