Free upgrade from Me to XP??

Hi,
I notice that Microsoft offer a free upgrade from Me to XP.
I am in the UK, how do i get hold of this free upgrade?
Although i appear to be entitled to it, the website just sends me round in
circles!

ANY help appreciated.

Thanks

Where do you *notice* that, then?

Shane


"x" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I notice that Microsoft offer a free upgrade from Me to XP.
I am in the UK, how do i get hold of this free upgrade?
Although i appear to be entitled to it, the website just sends me round in
circles!

ANY help appreciated.

Thanks

And where did you see this offer? What is the address of the web site? I
suspect the circles you are experiencing might be the result of some sort
of scam.

I'm unaware of any such offer having been made either in the UK or
elsewhere in the world. You can of course purchase an upgrade version of
either XP Home or XP Pro that is somewhat cheaper than the full version
and requires the user to already own a qualifying product, the list of
such products including Win Me.
--
Mike Maltby



x wrote:

Hi,
I notice that Microsoft offer a free upgrade from Me to XP.
I am in the UK, how do i get hold of this free upgrade?
Although i appear to be entitled to it, the website just sends me
round in circles!

ANY help appreciated.

Thanks

Hello "x":
You couldn't possibly believe to get a "free" upgrade of that caliber from
Microsoft. They do offer a free CD with SP2 for WinXP though. I have already
secured mine.
You will have to order it from them.
That offer I found most generous, especially since no shipping costs were
involved.

Harry.


"x" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I notice that Microsoft offer a free upgrade from Me to XP.
I am in the UK, how do i get hold of this free upgrade?
Although i appear to be entitled to it, the website just sends me round in
circles!

ANY help appreciated.

Thanks

With a bit of searching I found the source, Shane.
It is: www.AllFreeGifts.com
The trouble is you have to order or subscribe to something(s)
to get WinXP Professional and who needs that?

Harry.

"Shane" wrote in message
...
Where do you *notice* that, then?

Shane


"x" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I notice that Microsoft offer a free upgrade from Me to XP.
I am in the UK, how do i get hold of this free upgrade?
Although i appear to be entitled to it, the website just sends me round
in
circles!

ANY help appreciated.

Thanks

Harry,

The free XP SP2 CD is a service pack and not the full operating system in
a similar fashion to the security update CD that used to be available
which incidentally included a copy of the free XP SP1 service pack as well
as the then latest SP for Win2K. It was the release of XP SP2 that caused
the security CD to be withdrawn as it was out of date for those running
XP.
--
Mike Maltby



webster72n wrote:

Hello "x":
You couldn't possibly believe to get a "free" upgrade of that caliber
from Microsoft. They do offer a free CD with SP2 for WinXP though. I
have already secured mine.
You will have to order it from them.
That offer I found most generous, especially since no shipping costs
were involved.

His windowsME key is messed up or somehow he unknowingly got a illegal
version of WindowsME.

I suspect you have been misled What you mention can indeed happen for
those running pirated versions of XP depending on the source of the copy
such as when supplied preinstalled on a PC but not AFAIK for those running
Win Me since Windows Advantage doesn't check Win Me keys..
--
Mike Maltby



GregRo wrote:

His windowsME key is messed up or somehow he unknowingly got a illegal
version of WindowsME.

So windows advantage is offering a Free windows full retail.

I don't know if Microsoft is allowing UK to participate in the free
offer.

For the free retail version of XP
You need send Microsoft the windowsMe Cd and the receipt.
Make a copy of the receipt for your records.


Otherwise if it the system.

Microsoft will give you a discount without the cd.
You will need to sign some type of form and provide proof of purchase


Sorry, I don't have the address info for these

Greg Ro

Does that mean my CD is worthless, Mike?
I understand it is a service pack and not the full operating system. How
could I find out about those *little details* you mention , were it not for
this forum? 'm sure glad to be here.

Harry.




"Mike M" wrote in message
...
Harry,

The free XP SP2 CD is a service pack and not the full operating system in
a similar fashion to the security update CD that used to be available
which incidentally included a copy of the free XP SP1 service pack as well
as the then latest SP for Win2K. It was the release of XP SP2 that caused
the security CD to be withdrawn as it was out of date for those running
XP.
--
Mike Maltby



webster72n wrote:

Hello "x":
You couldn't possibly believe to get a "free" upgrade of that caliber
from Microsoft. They do offer a free CD with SP2 for WinXP though. I
have already secured mine.
You will have to order it from them.
That offer I found most generous, especially since no shipping costs
were involved.

webster72n wrote:

Does that mean my CD is worthless, Mike?
I understand it is a service pack and not the full operating system.
How could I find out about those *little details* you mention , were
it not for this forum? 'm sure glad to be here.

That rather depends Harry,

If you haven't yet bought a copy of XP then any new purchase will, or
rather should, be of XP SP2, that is with SP2 included. However if you
have a version purchased before the release of SP2, that is before Autumn
2004, then having the CD will enable you to upgrade XP to XP SP2 without
having to go on-line and download the package which can be pretty big.
--
Mike Maltby

The Microsoft Download Centre installs the Windows Advantage control but
doesn't use it when a user running Win Me wants to download certain
components such as WMP9 that can also be installed on XP. The Windows
Update site however does not use WGA for Win Me. The WGA mechanism makes
no check of any Win9x key. So much so that Microsoft are in the process
of removing the downloading of the WGA control by those using Win 9x
systems to download such apps as WMP9.

I am pretty sure it checks all key from windows 98se and up.

That's not true, I would take anything written by either Gibson or his
acolytes with a very large pinch of salt.

Plus it does not matter what version of operating system you send in.
Microsoft will give you a free or discount version of windows xp home
depending on the purchaser situation

That is simply untrue. I'll check again but doubt that Microsoft have
changed their policy and are now doing this. Microsoft will only give
free copies of XP to those whose pirated copy of XP was obtained as part
of a pre-built system and not for those who downloaded and installed a
copy from Usenet, Bit Torrent or the like although in the latter cases may
sometimes offer a discount.
--
Mike Maltby



GregRo wrote:

When you download stuff it sure does.
I could not download windows media player nine for windows 98se
without validating.


I am pretty sure it checks all key from windows 98se and up.
I was told this in the windows xp group as well the grc groups.


Plus it does not matter what version of operating system you send in.
Microsoft will give you a free or discount version of windows xp home
depending on the purchaser situation


Greg Ro