> It sounds like you still have a hardware problem somewhere. Installing Vista
> may seem like it has cured something but the most likely thing is that the
> hardware problem will bite you somewhere down the road. I'd figure out why
> XP isn't installing before going any further. If you want to continue with
> the Vista upgrade version without installing XP first you could try this
> method. Note this is not a Microsoft supported method.
>
>
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_upgrade_clean.asp>
> --
> Kerry Brown
> Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
>
http://www.vistahelp.ca>
>
> "J. A. H." <J. A. H.[ at ]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:AE34164C-5330-4CF9-8389-6977D5864CCC[ at ]microsoft.com...
> > Greetings,
> >
> > I purchased an OEM copy of Windows XP-SP2 with the Vista upgrade coupon.
> > At
> > the same time I purchased hardware to upgrade the computer, hard drive,
> > memory,DVD and installed Windows XP. During the install some files would
> > not
> > copy. Although the install seemed to work I started to get the BSD often.
> > I
> > found a memory problem but the system still was not stable. I then
> > replaced
> > the motherboard, processor and ram and then did a clean install using the
> > Vista upgrade. On first install I did not activate or use the product key
> > but
> > when I tried to activate I could not because I used the upgrade version. I
> > then tried to install the original OEM version of XP but that refused to
> > install.
> > Can someone please tell me how I can get this resolved.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Joe
>