Guest Terry Posted October 8, 2008 Posted October 8, 2008 Can someone help me out? I would like to know if it's possible to upgrade Windows XP Home to Windows XP Pro, without formatting the hard drive. Would I have to purchase an Upgrade version or could I use a Full Package product. Is it possible to purchase an OEM XP Pro and upgrade from XP Home? Thanks,
Guest Malke Posted October 8, 2008 Posted October 8, 2008 Re: Windows XP Home upgrade to Windows XP Pro Terry wrote: > Can someone help me out? I would like to know if it's possible to upgrade > Windows XP Home to Windows XP Pro, without formatting the hard drive. > Would I have to purchase an Upgrade version or could I use a Full Package > product. Is it possible to purchase an OEM XP Pro and upgrade from XP > Home? 1. Yes, you can upgrade XP Home to XP Pro without formatting the hard drive. However, it would be extremely foolish not to back up all your data first because Stuff Happens. 2. You could use either an Upgrade version or a Full version. 3. OEM versions require you to do a clean install and are tied to the machine on which they are first installed. For this reason it's always better to pay a little bit more and get a retail version. http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Reinstalling_Windows - What you will need on-hand http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpupgdissues.html - Upgrade Issues http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xp_in_place_upgrade.htm - Install In Place Malke -- MS-MVP Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic! FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ
Guest Ken Blake, MVP Posted October 8, 2008 Posted October 8, 2008 Re: Windows XP Home upgrade to Windows XP Pro On Wed, 8 Oct 2008 13:15:51 -0400, "Terry" <terry@nospamsandcreektelco.com> wrote: > Can someone help me out? I would like to know if it's possible to upgrade > Windows XP Home to Windows XP Pro, without formatting the hard drive. Yes. It's the easiest and most likely successful of all possible XP upgrades, since so little has to be changed. > Would > I have to purchase an Upgrade version or could I use a Full Package product. You could use either. I recommend the Upgrade version, since it's considerably less expensive. > Is it possible to purchase an OEM XP Pro and upgrade from XP Home? You can purchase it, but you can not do upgrades with OEM versions. They do clean installations only. Also, my view is that an OEM copy is the worst kind you can buy. It comes with several restrictions, and the worst restriction is that the license ties it permanently to the first computer it's installed on. Even if the computer dies, you may not use your copy on another computer. A Full copy costs much more than an Upgrade or OEM copy, and the Upgrade costs only slightly more than an OEM copy. I strongly recommend that you buy an Upgrade, not either of the other choices. Also, may I ask why you want a Professional version rather than the Home version you have? Are you sure you want to do this? Are you aware that XP Home and Professional are identical except that Professional includes a few features (mostly related to security and networking) missing from Home? Most home users don't need and would never use these extra features and will see no benefits by upgrading. For details go to http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_home_pro.asp http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/whichxp.asp> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.asp Also note another point, not included in any of the above: Professional allows ten concurrent network connections, and Home only five. -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience Please Reply to the Newsgroup
Guest Bruce Chambers Posted October 9, 2008 Posted October 9, 2008 Re: Windows XP Home upgrade to Windows XP Pro Terry wrote: > Can someone help me out? I would like to know if it's possible to upgrade > Windows XP Home to Windows XP Pro, without formatting the hard drive. WinXP is designed to install and upgrade the existing operating system while simultaneously preserving your applications and data, and translating as many personalized settings as possible. The process is designed to be, and normally is, quite painless. That said, things can go wrong, in a small number of cases. If your data is at all important to you, back it up before proceeding. Normally, the upgrade from WinXP Home to WinXP Pro, in particular, almost always goes smoothly, as both operating systems use the same kernel. > Would > I have to purchase an Upgrade version or could I use a Full Package > product. You could use either one, but the Upgrade license would be much less expensive. > Is it possible to purchase an OEM XP Pro and upgrade from XP Home? > No. An OEM CD cannot be used to perform an upgrade of an earlier OS, as it was designed to be installed _only_ upon an empty hard drive. It can still be used to perform a repair installation (a.k.a. an in-place upgrade) of an existing OEM WinXP installation. -- Bruce Chambers Help us help you: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375 They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has killed a great many philosophers. ~ Denis Diderot
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