Windows XP: Installation and setup

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When you insert the upgrade CD, the AutoRun wizard presents you with three choices: Install Windows XP, Perform additional tasks, or Check system compatibility. Although XP provides relatively broad hardware and software support, you should first select the compatibility check to launch the Upgrade Advisor, which will scan your system, alert you to potential problems such as incompatible drivers, and link to the vendor's Web site, which may have newer drivers available for download. (The Upgrade Advisor is also available separately as a free download.)

You can do a clean installation of XP, which erases the contents of your hard drive, or you can upgrade from Windows 98, 98 SE, Me, NT, or 2000. To run XP, Microsoft recommends that you have a system with an AMD or Intel processor with a clock speed of 300MHz or greater, 128MB of RAM, and 1.5GB of disk space (1GB is required for installation). During setup, the Dynamic Update feature automatically downloads the latest drivers and patches from Microsoft's Web site and incorporates these into the installation. On our test system, the entire setup process took about one hour.

Ordinarily, we wouldn't dwell much on licensing and activation, but the Product Activation feature has generated so much controversy that it deserves some explanation. Already used in Microsoft Office XP and Visio 2002, Product Activation is designed to crack down on so-called casual copying that violates the licensing agreement. Whether you need to activate XP depends on how you purchase it. If you buy it as a retail upgrade or with a new PC, it will require activation (although, in the latter case, some computer makers may complete the activation for you). If you purchase it through one of Microsoft's volume licensing programs for five or more copies, you won't need to activate.

From the time you first boot XP, you have 30 days to activate it either online or via telephone. The activation is based on a 50-digit installation code that consists of the XP software product ID and a hardware hash value. Once you activate XP, you can't make more than five major changes to the hardware configuration without reactivating. Every 120 days, the clock is reset and you can make an additional five hardware changes. If you replace or reformat the hard drive, you must always reactivate.

Product Activation has sparked concern from users who feel it will be onerous and an invasion of their privacy, but these fears seem exaggerated for several reasons. First, Product Activation does not involve personal information; it is separate from Product Registration, which gives you the option of providing your name, company name, address, phone, and e-mail address. Second, the hardware hash value is generated locally on your PC using a one-way algorithm that, according to Microsoft, can't be decoded to reveal the hardware makeup of your system. Finally, the provisions that Microsoft has made for hardware configuration changes should satisfy most users.

If you perform a clean installation to a second system or receive XP on a new system, you can use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard to quickly make it look like home again. This tool uses a direct cable or network connection to transfer Internet Explorer (including Favorites) and Outlook Express settings, desktop icons, files in the My Documents folder, dial-up connections, and display settings to your new system. Unlike third-party utilities, such as Aloha Bob's PC-Relocator from Eisenworld or Miramar Systems' Desktop DNA, the wizard can't transfer applications.