Upgrade to Windows XP Professional

[Richard Williams]

Hi
I recently bought a Compaq SR1799AN desktop computer which has an AMD Athlon
64 X2 Dual Core Processor and 2GB RAM. It comes with Windows XP Home
pre-installed.

I tried to upgrade to Windows XP Pro and the installation seemed to be going
smoothly until the system tried to re-boot. As soon as the computer began
restarting a blue screen would appear only for an instant (so I couldn't
read what it said) and then the computer would try to restart again. This
process would just repeat in what appeared to be an endless cycle. I
recovered the system back to the factory XP Home installation with the
recovery disks I had made.

When I contacted Compaq Telephone Support they told me that their OEM
version of Windows XP Home cannot be upgraded to Windows XP Pro and blamed
Microsoft for this. I can't believe that Microsoft would close the door on
so many potential sales of upgrades to people who buy brands like Compaq, HP
and all the other major companies who bundle OEM versions of Windows with
their computers.

Could somebody please advise if what the Compaq people told me is correct or
are there in fact other issues with upgrading Windows on this particular
machine.
e.g. When installing I chose the "Upgrade" option - should I have chosen
"New Installation"?
Thank you for your help.

 

[Ted Zieglar]

By any chance, is your copy of XP Pro an OEM version? An OEM version of
Windows can only do a clean install, not an upgrade. Which makes perfect
sense, since an OEM version of Windows is intended to be installed by a
computer masnufacturer. Why would a manufacturer want to do an upgrade
in order to build a computer?

 

[Richard Williams]

By any chance, is your copy of XP Pro an OEM version? An OEM version of
Windows can only do a clean install, not an upgrade. Which makes perfect
sense, since an OEM version of Windows is intended to be installed by a
computer masnufacturer. Why would a manufacturer want to do an upgrade in
order to build a computer?

Thanks for your reply Ted. No, the version of XP Pro I tried to install was
an official Microsoft upgrade package I bought from a computer store.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi
I recently bought a Compaq SR1799AN desktop computer which has an AMD
Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor and 2GB RAM. It comes with Windows
XP Home pre-installed.

I tried to upgrade to Windows XP Pro and the installation seemed to
be going smoothly until the system tried to re-boot. As soon as the
computer began restarting a blue screen would appear only for an
instant (so I couldn't read what it said) and then the computer would
try to restart again. This process would just repeat in what appeared
to be an endless cycle. I recovered the system back to the factory XP Home
installation with the recovery disks I had made.

When I contacted Compaq Telephone Support they told me that their OEM
version of Windows XP Home cannot be upgraded to Windows XP Pro and
blamed Microsoft for this. I can't believe that Microsoft would close
the door on so many potential sales of upgrades to people who buy
brands like Compaq, HP and all the other major companies who bundle
OEM versions of Windows with their computers.

Could somebody please advise if what the Compaq people told me is
correct or are there in fact other issues with upgrading Windows on
this particular machine.
e.g. When installing I chose the "Upgrade" option - should I have
chosen "New Installation"?

Try this: Run the XP Pro upgrade from within XP Home, and change from
Upgrade to New Install. When it asks where, press Esc to delete the
partition and start over.

But why are you doing this? Are you aware that XP Professional and XP Home
are exactly the same in all respects, except that Professional has a few
features (mostly related to networking and security) missing from Home. For
most (but not all) home users, even those with a home network, these
features aren't needed and would never be used.

 

[Guest]

yeh, i can understand switching from an oem to a retail. The oem doesn;t
have a "repair" feature -- that I'm aware of. The only option someone has
with an oem reinstalled version of windows is either restore to factory
settings or install windows new. both of which will delete all previously
installed personal softwares...

Also, encryption is not available. However, I found freeware that encrypts
files handy.


~~~~~~~~~~~
"To be a 0 or is it to be the 1 ?
That is the data".......W.Gatespeare

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

yeh, i can understand switching from an oem to a retail. The oem
doesn;t have a "repair" feature -- that I'm aware of.

No, that's not correct. A generic OEM CD can do everything retail one can,
except do an upgrade.

There are two kinds of OEM CDs:

1. those provided by major OEMs, which normally aren't installation CDs, but
are only able to restore an image to factory condition.

2. generic OEM CDs (normally sold with hardware). These are complete
installations CDs which are identicalto retail ones except that they will
not do an Upgrade.

All OEM CDs are licensed differently. Unlike retail versions, OEM copies may
never be transferred to a different computer. And Microsoft doesn't provide
technical support for OEM version; that's the responsibility of the OEM.

 

[Guest]

hmm, there must be a 3rd version of an oem. the disks i have restore the
laptop back to original configuration. in addition the sequentially
numbered disks automatically install windows into a windows folder and
installs a \i386 folder in which i can initiate a winnt32.exe. but this will
on initiate a new installation. I havnt found a repair option available,
unless one of the 4 disks has a windows setup inwhich i will look into in a
minute...

 

[Richard Williams]

Try this: Run the XP Pro upgrade from within XP Home, and change from
Upgrade to New Install. When it asks where, press Esc to delete the
partition and start over.

But why are you doing this? Are you aware that XP Professional and XP Home
are exactly the same in all respects, except that Professional has a few
features (mostly related to networking and security) missing from Home.
For most (but not all) home users, even those with a home network, these
features aren't needed and would never be used.

Thanks Ken - I'll take your advice and stick with XP Home for the time
being. I didn't really have any strong reasons for upgrading - just decided
to do it on a whim.

 

[Guest]

actually, i got the images as you mentioned being the first type of oem.
But, unless i can do a "repair" I think that my opionion still stays the
same..... I can do a winnt.exe from the i386 folder on the hd and get the
setup dialog, then the only option i get is new install, then it asks for
product key. I'm relunctant to go beyond entering the product key for fear
of reinstalling a new windows instead of repairing the current installation.
Do you think that the option to repair will be provided after i enter the
product key?

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thanks Ken - I'll take your advice and stick with XP Home for the time
being. I didn't really have any strong reasons for upgrading - just
decided to do it on a whim.

You're welcome. Glad to help. And I'm glad to hear that you don't need to
upgrade.

 

[Ted Zieglar]

What you are referring to is a set or recovery CDs. These erase the hard
drive and reinstall all the software that was on the hard disk when you
received the computer. Not a "third version".

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hi
I recently bought a Compaq SR1799AN desktop computer which has an AMD Athlon
64 X2 Dual Core Processor and 2GB RAM. It comes with Windows XP Home
pre-installed.

I tried to upgrade to Windows XP Pro and the installation seemed to be going
smoothly until the system tried to re-boot. As soon as the computer began
restarting a blue screen would appear only for an instant (so I couldn't
read what it said) and then the computer would try to restart again. This
process would just repeat in what appeared to be an endless cycle. I
recovered the system back to the factory XP Home installation with the
recovery disks I had made.

When I contacted Compaq Telephone Support they told me that their OEM
version of Windows XP Home cannot be upgraded to Windows XP Pro and blamed
Microsoft for this.

They flat-out lied. However, it may well be that the Compaq's
proprietary design makes it incompatible with an uncustomized
installation CD, but this would be entirely Compaq's fault, not Microsoft's.

I can't believe that Microsoft would close the door on
so many potential sales of upgrades to people who buy brands like Compaq, HP
and all the other major companies who bundle OEM versions of Windows with
their computers.

And you're correct.

Could somebody please advise if what the Compaq people told me is correct or
are there in fact other issues with upgrading Windows on this particular
machine.
e.g. When installing I chose the "Upgrade" option - should I have chosen
"New Installation"?

I'd give it a try, but remember to back up any important data first.
You should also visit Compaq's web site and download any available
device drivers for that specific model, and burn them to a CD before
starting.

Thank you for your help.

--

Bruce Chambers

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