Whats the best way to upgrade to XP Pro

You havent read the box, have you.? You might have wasted your money.

98 and ME can only Upgrade to XP Home

Windows 2000 or NT4 can upgrade to XP Pro.

Windows 2000 and ME are NOT the same.

If you got the Upgrade (not full) edition of XP Pro and have Windows ME then you have wasted your money. It will not install.

If you have the FULL (not upgrade) edition of XP Pro (the more expensive editon) you CAN upgrade (keep your programs, documents etc...) but only if its the FULL RETAIL (more expensive) version and NOT an OEM (cheaper)version

The one I have is a 2002 version with Service Pack 2 and Owners install key. Microsoft says yes. What exactly is a full upgrade?

should be fine i think, just try it. Make sure to choose upgrade and not to start over.

Should I use the ME format disc and completly remove everything from the computer first?

wouldn't be a upgrade if you did that ,it would be a full/fresh install,you will lose all created data and personal info if you do that .but it is the best choice ,over a upgrade .you wouldn't need the me disk to format ,as the winxp will do this when you boot to it to install it .check this sticky in the windows forum .
http://www.daniweb.com/forums/thread55459.html

I want to do a clean install. How many discs come with a Win ME computer I have 3 recovery discs but none to erase all files. Should I have one more disc?

like i said in my last post ,the winxp cd will delete the partition,then you create a new partition and then format the drive and load winxp ,when you boot to it,you don't need winME disks to do it .

Did full install with XP disc. So far so good.
Had a previous problem with sound device.
XP drivers did not remedy this problem.
Downloaded two drivers from HP that may work but when I open the zip file there is no install exe. Do you have any ideas?
It is a HP Pavilion xL844 with Win ME

you say you installed winxp ,then in you description you say with ME,oversite i know ,just checked HP.COM and there are no drivers listed for sound ,found one link that says it has a sound card/not onboard sound ,if the drivers you have don't work you will need to find a name on the sound card to get the right drivers .anyway see if you can follow this!

right click on mycoputer icon, and go to properties /hardware /device manager ,you should see sound device listed lower down in the list ,should be a yellow or red ! because its not loaded right !,go to it and double click whats there ,for properties and choose update drivers ,and direct it to the unzipped folder and it should install the driver if its the right ones