Another reader question, this one sent to us by Hal. If you have a tech question, our friendly forums are a great place to start.

Q: I have a laptop with a legal, licensed copy of Windows ME. I understand that ME is eligible for the Windows XP Home Upgrade version. Does the XP Home Upgrade version allow a complete format of the hard drive and "clean" install? I want no remnants of Me left on the disk. In other words, I'm thinking I'll insert the Home edition upgrade CD. It will see Windows Me and discern that my laptop is eligible for the upgrade version. Then it will offer the option of formatting the drive before install. Is this true?

A: Yes. You can perform a 'full' installation of Windows XP Home from the upgrade CD. The way you've suggested should work. The way that will certainly work is to use the XP Home upgrade CD to boot your computer and start the installation process. During the text mode part of the install, you will be prompted to insert your Windows ME CD to verify that you own an upgradable version of Windows. Once this is done, you can cleanly install the upgrade version of XP Home onto your system just like you could with a 'full' version of XP.