can i update windows on a desktop with a laptop disc?

Question

this is probably a wicked stupid question and the answer is most likely no... but i was just wondering.. if i had like 2000 on a desktop and wanted to upgrade to XP and i had a disc that had XP on it from the laptop, could i use it on the desktop?

Answer 1

If you were doing a re install of say XP you could use the laptop disk with they product key from the desktop(its on a sticker usually on the side or the top of your desktop)



It most likely is an OEM version which can be used to do a fresh install. But in this case, since your desktop is 2000 it would seek a 2000 OS disk. Sorry you can't go from 2000 to XP with the same key that you used on the laptop.

Answer 2

You can update a Windows 2000 desktop with a Windows XP disc depending on what type of XP CD it is, but you cannot use the same XP product key on two different machines.



If the Windows XP CD came with your machine, chances are good that it's an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) disc meant to reinstall Windows XP on your laptop. All OEM CDs (that I'm aware of) are setup up so that you can only perform a clean install. I.e., you cannot upgrade to XP with it.



In other words, if you want to install Windows XP on the desktop you need to purchase another copy of Windows XP (retail version).



Of course, you could install a free operating system, like Ubuntu:



http://www.ubuntu.com/

Answer 3

It will probably fail because the Windows that comes bundled with machines is usually locked to that model/brand of machine and that serial key.



In any case, this would be a copyright violation to do. You need to buy Windows XP separately for the desktop

Answer 4

In theory, yes - if the PC can handle it. The installation discs contain all the same files. You'll need a registration key to activate the install though and there's one key per disc, so if you use the same key twice the oldest install will become inactive.