installing xp home over xp pro

[Mitchell Fox]

i need to deinstall xp pro and install xp home becasue of
a number of applicaition and device problems i have had
with xp pro. adiitonally, this is for home use and I don't
ned xp pro. what is the best way to do this?

 

[Patti MacLeod]

Hi Mitchell Fox,

You will have to do a clean install of XP Home, removing the partition that
has XP Pro installed and then creating a new partition for the XP Home
install. Follow the instructions here:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html


Regards,

 

[Mitchell Fox]

Thank you. i will give htat a try. I do know, though, that
there is only one partition on the hard drive.

 

[Patti MacLeod]

You're welcome.

Since there is only the one partition on the hard drive, that sure makes
things simpler as far as ensuring that you delete the correct partition


Regards,

 

[Guest]

Thanks again. I read over some of those instructions from
that link ,and they say that an OEM version of XP Home may
not work on a clean install("you will need to have a
qualifying Win98/Me/2000 CD to insert if you are using an
upgrade version of XP to clean install. OEM restore disks
will usually not fulfill the qualifying requirement. If
the restore disk has a i386 folder, it will usually work.")
Is that possible, andif so, what can I do other than
purchasing a retail copy?

 

[Patti MacLeod]

I take it that you have an OEM version of XP Home, and this will work fine
for doing a clean install of XP Home. The paragraph that you're referring to
is stating that the OEM version of XP Home may not work for doing a clean
install of XP Pro when using an XP Pro Upgrade CD as opposed to the XP Pro
Full install CD.


Regards,

 

[mitchell fox]

Thanks again

-----Original Message-----
I take it that you have an OEM version of XP Home, and this will work fine
for doing a clean install of XP Home. The paragraph that you're referring to
is stating that the OEM version of XP Home may not work for doing a clean
install of XP Pro when using an XP Pro Upgrade CD as opposed to the XP Pro
Full install CD.


Regards,

--
Patti MacLeod
Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User




.

 

[Patti MacLeod]

You're very welcome


Regards,

 

[Mitchell Fox]

Hello: A brief summary of my xp experience last night. I
probably did some things wrong, and that's why I am having
problems. I did the following:
1. Tried to boot from xp home oem instal disk, got error
message "bootcd: can't find NTLDR.
2. Downloaded w98 boot disk image for flopy, since i
didn't have one.
3. using that, did fdisk to delete original partition on
hard disk and created new one. Then did format: /s to
reformat hard drive.
4. Tried to boot from xp home cd to install XP home, and
it wouldn't boot (no error message).
Now all I have on the PC is the W98 Comand.com.
Help.

 

[Patti MacLeod]

If there is an i386 folder on the XP Home OEM install disk, you could run
setup by booting from the WIN98 startup floppy disk and invoking WINNT in
the i386 folder.
First, d/load smartdrv.exe from the link that is in Step 2a of the "Clean
Install Windows XP" instructions. You can d/load the file directly to the
WIN98 startup floppy disk that you had created. Now, boot from the WIN98
startup floppy disk, choose to start WITH CDROM SUPPORT, and take note of
the drive letter designation that will be given to your CDROM drive (will
display a line, just above the A: prompt, which says something like "Drive
X:=Drive MSCD001 unit0", where the X will be replaced by the actual drive
letter designation given to the drive). At the A: prompt, key in:
smartdrv
and hit ENTER
Now, key in the drive letter for the CDROM (eg., X: ) and hit ENTER. When at
the CDROM drive prompt, key in:
cd i386
and hit ENTER
When at the <CDROM drive letter>\i386 prompt, key in:
WINNT
and hit ENTER
Setup should now commence.
Let WINXP Setup reformat the drive for either FAT32 or NTFS.


Regards,

 

[Mitchell Fox]

Patti:
Thanks again for your expertise. please forgive my
ignorance in askingthe following questions:
1. How do I know if there is an i386 folder if I can't get
anything to "read" the XP cd? alit does if spin for a
minute and then stops.
2.How do I invoke WINNT in the i386 folder? What does that
mean?
3. To get the SmartDrive.exe file on the w98 startup
floppy, I will have to download it on my imac, then put
the file on the flopy, since I don't hinnk I have any
network connectivity on that PC I am trying to install
windows XP on.

 

[Patti MacLeod]

Boot from the WIN98 startup floppy disk and choose to start WITH CDROM
SUPPORT. When you get to the A: prompt, put the XP install CD in the CD
drive, wait a few seconds, then switch to the drive letter for the CDROM
drive that is specified in the "Drive 'X':=Drive MSCD001 unit0" line above
the A: prompt (this is assuming that you are seeing the line regarding the
drive letter designated for the CDROM drive, and not a message stating that
no drivers were loaded). When you're at the prompt for the CDROM drive, key
in:
dir
<ENTER>
Does it display a list of items that are on the CD?

You invoke WINNT by keying it in at the prompt and hitting ENTER.

If you have to d/load the file to the drive on your imac and then copy it to
the floppy disk, that is fine. I was just trying to save you an extra step
by saying to download it directly to the floppy disk.


Regards,

 

[mitchell fox]

THanks again

-----Original Message-----
Boot from the WIN98 startup floppy disk and choose to start WITH CDROM
SUPPORT. When you get to the A: prompt, put the XP install CD in the CD
drive, wait a few seconds, then switch to the drive letter for the CDROM
drive that is specified in the "Drive 'X':=Drive MSCD001 unit0" line above
the A: prompt (this is assuming that you are seeing the line regarding the
drive letter designated for the CDROM drive, and not a message stating that
no drivers were loaded). When you're at the prompt for the CDROM drive, key
in:
dir
<ENTER>
Does it display a list of items that are on the CD?

You invoke WINNT by keying it in at the prompt and hitting ENTER.

If you have to d/load the file to the drive on your imac and then copy it to
the floppy disk, that is fine. I was just trying to save you an extra step
by saying to download it directly to the floppy disk.


Regards,

--
Patti MacLeod
Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User




.

 

[Patti MacLeod]

Were you able to access the XP install CD?

 

[Donald McDaniel]

Hello: A brief summary of my xp experience last night. I
probably did some things wrong, and that's why I am having
problems. I did the following:
1. Tried to boot from xp home oem instal disk, got error
message "bootcd: can't find NTLDR.
2. Downloaded w98 boot disk image for flopy, since i
didn't have one.
3. using that, did fdisk to delete original partition on
hard disk and created new one. Then did format: /s to
reformat hard drive.
4. Tried to boot from xp home cd to install XP home, and
it wouldn't boot (no error message).
Now all I have on the PC is the W98 Comand.com.
Help.

When you formatted the partition with the switch "/s', you transferred the
Windows 98 system files to it. This means that the volume has a Windows 98
boot sector. If you are unable to boot using the XP install CD, your
solution is to boot using the XP setup disk set, and run install from there.
You will need to repartition and reformat the HD. When XP installs, it will
write its own boot sector and boot files.

When formatting a partition which will be used for storage or a different
OS, it is not necessary to use the "/s" switch. Not only that, you DON'T
want to transfer the Windows 9x system files to a partition which will have
a different OS on it. In fact, it is NEVER necessary to use the "/s"
switch, since installing Windows 9x to a partition formatted plainly
("format d:<ENTER>" will transfer the system files automatically anyway.

 

[mitchell fox]

Thanks. I'll try to keep this brief. I tried a lot of
different things last night that were recommended on that
link you gave me, as well as links and pointed to (various
win98 boot and set up floppy disks, and none were
successful. it always came to the same thing, which was
the pgm failed to start from the CD (got pointer errors,
or press any key to start cd, and then it failed to start).
I just finished trying the six floppy set up disks that I
downloaded from the Microsoft web site (WINXP-EN_HO). I
ran the prcedure twice, and each time it successfully
processed the six floppies, but when it came time to press
enter to aces the CD it either said it couldn't find the
CD or it just stayed at "press any key to start CD."

Is there any hope?

Thanks

 

[mitchell fox]

please see my reply above. should the flopies i just used
format it correctly, or should i go back to square one?

 

[mitchell fox]

Thanks. I'll try to keep this brief. I tried a lot of
different things last night that were recommended on that
link you gave me, as well as links and pointed to (various
win98 boot and set up floppy disks, and none were
successful. it always came to the same thing, which was
the pgm failed to start from the CD (got pointer errors,
or press any key to start cd, and then it failed to start).
I just finished trying the six floppy set up disks that I
downloaded from the Microsoft web site (WINXP-EN_HO). I
ran the prcedure twice, and each time it successfully
processed the six floppies, but when it came time to press
enter to aces the CD it either said it couldn't find the
CD or it just stayed at "press any key to start CD."

Is there any hope?

Thanks

 

[Patti MacLeod]

I would give this a try.......run FDISK and choose to Delete the partition
that is on the drive. Don't create a new partition (the drive can be
partitioned and formatted via WINXP Setup routine), just leave the drive as
unallocated space. Now try booting from the XP install CD (I have been
assuming that you ensured that the boot device order in your computer's BIOS
is set to try booting from CD prior to HDD) and see if that works.


Regards,

 

[mitchell fox]

I'll give it a try, but I think I have tried that and just
about everything. I am suspecting there is a bad problem
with CD drive. I haven't been able ot use nay CDs in the
Pc since I last used it to install the XP Pro (but I don't
have that CD anymore so I have to use XP Home, which I
have.