2 questions..

im on windows xp..legit copy been on the this laptop for 5 years now..

anyways..im having problems with the upgrade advisor...it wont check my system category..it says "We had a problem checking yoru system for compatibility with windows 7..please make sure u have the latest version yada yada"
now could this be cause my ram is 512 and not 1 gig?..i ordered ram it should be here soon..but any otehr reason why it cant check my system?

then...im planning to buy a digital river "upgrade" key..ive done it already for my ladys computer (vista) and clean install worked great...but i have question regarding upgrading/clean install with xp..
i have read the tutorials and i want to confirm the steps..
insert the dvd i got from digital river...click agree..click custom install..then delete the partitions i dont want?..do i delete them both or what..i have a C: then D:..i want to combine them..do i just delete D?..also can i reformat?..once thats done and installs...do i enter a key or what?..also do i click "automatically activate" or uncheck that box..

ive read the tutorial many times i understand 98% of it but i just want to make sure i dont get "invalid key" when i do this..my friend who was on a legit copy of xp bought a digital river key n dvd and when he went to install it said "invalid key"..we thought it was becasue he formatted it (whcih took 1 sec..wierd)..but after reading the tutorials..he should still be able to activate it..right?

thanks..

There have been issues reported with the Digital River download, but I haven't paid much attention to those threads because I used a retail disc.

Generally, the procedure is this if you want a clean install:

Backup your data to another disc.

Decide how you many partitions you want on the new disc. You can delete all existing partitions during the install.

For a clean install, you would choose Custom Install on an early screen and then choose "drive options, advanced" on a later screen when you come to the partitioning area and are asked where you want to install Windows.

You can delete all partitions immediately after choosing "drive options/advanced".

Obviously, if you choose to delete all partitions, then your backed up data better not be on any of the deleted partitions.

If your drive has C and D, and you choose to delete C and D, you could then choose to make a new C and D. Or if you don't choose to make a new D, you will end up with just C occupying the entire drive.

but if i make a new C:..should my upgrade key still work?...because my bud did that and went to put his key and said invalid...even though it was correct

With a retail disc, it would work.

But as I say, there have been issues reported with Digital River. Search this forum and you will find numerous posts. I'm not sure how often or under what circumstances people were having trouble with Digital River downloads.

any idea on the upgrade advisor?..i googled and no one has posted that problem anywhere...