My friend has just bought a PC with a dodgy copy of XP
Professional and wishes to replace it with a legal XP
Home Edition. Is this possible, and if so, what is the
best procedure?

Thanks in advance for any assistance in this matter...

Bruce;
There is no downgrade path from Pro to Home.
A clean Installation is necessary.
Clean Installation
Disconnect all peripherals (camera, printer, scanner, etc)
Disconnect network/modem cable.
Go to BIOS and set CDROM as boot device before hard drive.
Insert Windows XP CD and reboot.
At "Press any key to boot to CDROM" quickly press a key and follow the
prompts for a Clean installation:
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase...p_sg_clean.asp
Delete all partitions in step 5 if you desire to erase all data on the
hard drive.
Partitioning and formatting will be done automatically.
All data will be destroyed, back-up important data first.

Enable or install firewall BEFORE connecting network cable.
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=283673

Install ALL Critical Windows Updates:
Start/All Programs/Windows Update

After you are finished, you will need to load the appropriate drivers.

If your computer was shipped with Windows XP, these procedures may or
may not apply.
Check your manual or contact the computer manufacturer for more
details.

--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
An easier way to read newsgroup messages:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p...oups/setup.asp
http://dts-l.org/index.html


"BruceW" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:02e201c3abf7$b6663810$(E-Mail Removed)...
> My friend has just bought a PC with a dodgy copy of XP
> Professional and wishes to replace it with a legal XP
> Home Edition. Is this possible, and if so, what is the
> best procedure?
>
> Thanks in advance for any assistance in this matter...

Only by formatting the whole hard drive and installing XP Home clean.

Cari
www.coribright.com

"BruceW" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:02e201c3abf7$b6663810$(E-Mail Removed)...
> My friend has just bought a PC with a dodgy copy of XP
> Professional and wishes to replace it with a legal XP
> Home Edition. Is this possible, and if so, what is the
> best procedure?
>
> Thanks in advance for any assistance in this matter...

Greetings --

The only way to change from WinXP Pro to WinXP Home is to format
the drive and start over. There is no supported downgrade path or
technique.

Simply boot from the WinXP Home installation CD. You'll be
offered the opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as
part of the installation process. (You may need to re-arrange the
order of boot devices in the PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)

HOW TO Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...B;en-us;316941

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase...p_sg_clean.asp

Of course, you'll want to back up any important data before
starting.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH


"BruceW" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:02e201c3abf7$b6663810$(E-Mail Removed)...
> My friend has just bought a PC with a dodgy copy of XP
> Professional and wishes to replace it with a legal XP
> Home Edition. Is this possible, and if so, what is the
> best procedure?
>
> Thanks in advance for any assistance in this matter...