Windows XP Home Edition in a Domain Based Home Network

[Laird]

I have a current small home network using Windows NT Server 4.0, two Windows
98 SE desktops and a laptop with Windows 98 ME. I am upgrading the domain
controller from NT 4.0 Server to Windows Small Business Server 2003.

Here is my problem:

I want to upgrade the operating system on each PC and laptop. I was told
but I am not sure, that I cannot use Windows XP Home Edition to connect to
my small network with a Primary Domain Controller. I also understand I can
upgrade directly to the XP Home Edition from Windows 98SE.

If I have to use XP Professional, I understand I can only upgrade from a
Windows NT 4 Workstation or Windows 2000 Professional workstation. I also
understand that XP Professional is the version that supports a domain based
network infrastructure.

Have I learned this correctly? Is there a way to use XP Home Edition in my
small network domain?

Thanks for any help.

Best,


This leave a dilemma for me. What to do?

--

 

[Laird]

I have a current small home network using Windows NT Server 4.0, two Windows
98 SE desktops and a laptop with Windows 98 ME. I am upgrading the domain
controller from NT 4.0 Server to Windows Small Business Server 2003.

Here is my problem:

I want to upgrade the operating system on each PC and laptop. I was told
but I am not sure, that I cannot use Windows XP Home Edition to connect to
my small network with a Primary Domain Controller. I also understand I can
upgrade directly to the XP Home Edition from Windows 98SE.

If I have to use XP Professional, I understand I can only upgrade from a
Windows NT 4 Workstation or Windows 2000 Professional workstation. I also
understand that XP Professional is the version that supports a domain based
network infrastructure.

Have I learned this correctly? Is there a way to use XP Home Edition in my
small network domain?

Thanks for any help.

Best,


This leave a dilemma for me. What to do?

------------------------------------------------
Update:


I checked on the Microsoft Web Site and see that I CAN upgrade to XP
Professional from Win 98 SE. I understand that XP will not decompress
compressed 98 files, etc. so a user would have to do this before upgrade.

There is either incorrect or incomplete information in the following text:

Microsoft Windows XP, Deluxe Second Edition!, Online Training Solutions,
Inc.
Copyright 2005 Online Training Solutions, Inc. Microsoft Press

Page ix : Windows XP Professional: [...] You can upgrade to Windows XP
Professional from Microsoft Windows NT Workstation or Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional.

Windows XP Home Edition: [...] Windows XP Home Edition is designed as the
upgrade from Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows Millenium Edition
(Windows ME).

It seems the text from the book is misleading since the Microsoft web site
says you can upgrade (as opposed to full install) to XP Professional from
Me, 98, NT and Win 2000 Pro.

I hope I saved someone from an unnecessary reply.

Regards,

Phil

 

[Guest]

A few thoughts anyway:

You'd gain most from spending money on the clients, as WinMe in particular
has dire stability problems, and XP would provide a more reliable platform.

I'd be inclined to do a fresh install of XP instead of an upgrade if at all
possible, even though that means reinstalling apps it would give you a new,
clean system.

There is no actual need to replace the NT server if it still meets your
needs. XP Pro can join an NT4 domain.

HP Home cannot join a domain, but with MyLogon it can connect to the server
in a manner which meets most of the usual requirements. On SBS this would not
give you all the additional SBS client features though, only a standard
file-sharing logon.

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In Laird <[email protected]> typed:


<snip>

------------------------------------------------

Update:


I checked on the Microsoft Web Site and see that I CAN upgrade to XP
Professional from Win 98 SE. I understand that XP will not decompress
compressed 98 files, etc. so a user would have to do this before
upgrade.

There is either incorrect or incomplete information in the following
text:

Microsoft Windows XP, Deluxe Second Edition!, Online Training
Solutions, Inc.
Copyright 2005 Online Training Solutions, Inc. Microsoft Press

Page ix : Windows XP Professional: [...] You can upgrade to Windows
XP Professional from Microsoft Windows NT Workstation or Microsoft
Windows 2000 Professional.

Windows XP Home Edition: [...] Windows XP Home Edition is designed
as the upgrade from Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows
Millenium Edition (Windows ME).

It seems the text from the book is misleading since the Microsoft web
site says you can upgrade (as opposed to full install) to XP
Professional from Me, 98, NT and Win 2000 Pro.

I hope I saved someone from an unnecessary reply.

Regards,

Phil

Yes, that is a bit misleading - but it just means, the upgrade path for a
home OS such as 9x is XP Home (it's designed to replace it) - whereas a
corporate OS such as NT/2k will be a logical fit for an XP Pro upgrade. And
you do want XP Pro when you use a domain, rather than Home.

So, depending on the age of your 9x PCs (how long have they been up and
running, etc) you might be better off choosing the 'clean install' option
when you put the XP Pro CD in. Upgrades in place to XP are not as
nerve-wracking as for prior versions of Windows, but I still prefer a clean
install when I have the option.

I'd run a Belarc report on each PC *first* to make sure you know what
drivers you may need - www.belarc.com

Re the SBS upgrade/migration - I'd do that first and make sure all the
workstation data was copied over to the server before beginning.

When you join the XP Pro computers to the domain make sure you use the
wizards (http://servername/connectcomputer). Do not try to do anything in
SBS without consulting the wizards/to-do list, or you will likely be very
sorry.

 

[Laird]

Ian,

We've made our minds to upgrade to SB 2003 because NT Server 4 no longer is
supported on several applications we run and we cannot upgrade any longer.
I might make the server a stand alone server later and use it for maybe a
print server. It doesn't need to be upgraded to do that.

I agree, a fresh install on clean hard driver will minimize the risk of
registry problems (even those that have not become apparent at this time).

The ME must go. it is the last 16 bit Windows OS. I don't know what
Microsoft was thinking when it released this slug.

I have XP Pro on the way. Thank you for your kind and thoughtful comments.

Best,

Phil

 

[Laird]

Thanks very much about the 'belarc' report information. As a matter of
fact, I have a CMDB already documented with information about each
configuration item in our small network here. I already have a complete
listing of the drivers needed and the hardware and software on each client
down to the last bit of information.

I am prepared to use the SBS wizards when joining the clients to the new
domain. Thank you for this useful information!

Sincerely,

Phil

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

In Laird <[email protected]> typed:


<snip>

------------------------------------------------

Update:


I checked on the Microsoft Web Site and see that I CAN upgrade to XP
Professional from Win 98 SE. I understand that XP will not decompress
compressed 98 files, etc. so a user would have to do this before
upgrade.

There is either incorrect or incomplete information in the following
text:

Microsoft Windows XP, Deluxe Second Edition!, Online Training
Solutions, Inc.
Copyright 2005 Online Training Solutions, Inc. Microsoft Press

Page ix : Windows XP Professional: [...] You can upgrade to Windows
XP Professional from Microsoft Windows NT Workstation or Microsoft
Windows 2000 Professional.

Windows XP Home Edition: [...] Windows XP Home Edition is designed
as the upgrade from Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows
Millenium Edition (Windows ME).

It seems the text from the book is misleading since the Microsoft web
site says you can upgrade (as opposed to full install) to XP
Professional from Me, 98, NT and Win 2000 Pro.

I hope I saved someone from an unnecessary reply.

Regards,

Phil

Yes, that is a bit misleading - but it just means, the upgrade path for a
home OS such as 9x is XP Home (it's designed to replace it) - whereas a
corporate OS such as NT/2k will be a logical fit for an XP Pro upgrade. And
you do want XP Pro when you use a domain, rather than Home.

So, depending on the age of your 9x PCs (how long have they been up and
running, etc) you might be better off choosing the 'clean install' option
when you put the XP Pro CD in. Upgrades in place to XP are not as
nerve-wracking as for prior versions of Windows, but I still prefer a clean
install when I have the option.

I'd run a Belarc report on each PC *first* to make sure you know what
drivers you may need - www.belarc.com

Re the SBS upgrade/migration - I'd do that first and make sure all the
workstation data was copied over to the server before beginning.

When you join the XP Pro computers to the domain make sure you use the
wizards (http://servername/connectcomputer). Do not try to do anything in
SBS without consulting the wizards/to-do list, or you will likely be very
sorry.

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

Thanks very much about the 'belarc' report information. As a matter
of fact, I have a CMDB already documented with information about each
configuration item in our small network here. I already have a
complete listing of the drivers needed and the hardware and software
on each client down to the last bit of information.

I am prepared to use the SBS wizards when joining the clients to the
new domain. Thank you for this useful information!

No problem - you might post in m.p.windows.server.sbs for more help...that
group gets a lot of traffic.

Sincerely,

Phil

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

In Laird <[email protected]> typed:


<snip>

------------------------------------------------

Update:


I checked on the Microsoft Web Site and see that I CAN upgrade to XP
Professional from Win 98 SE. I understand that XP will not
decompress compressed 98 files, etc. so a user would have to do
this before upgrade.

There is either incorrect or incomplete information in the following
text:

Microsoft Windows XP, Deluxe Second Edition!, Online Training
Solutions, Inc.
Copyright 2005 Online Training Solutions, Inc. Microsoft Press

Page ix : Windows XP Professional: [...] You can upgrade to
Windows XP Professional from Microsoft Windows NT Workstation or
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional.

Windows XP Home Edition: [...] Windows XP Home Edition is designed
as the upgrade from Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows
Millenium Edition (Windows ME).

It seems the text from the book is misleading since the Microsoft
web site says you can upgrade (as opposed to full install) to XP
Professional from Me, 98, NT and Win 2000 Pro.

I hope I saved someone from an unnecessary reply.

Regards,

Phil

Yes, that is a bit misleading - but it just means, the upgrade path
for a home OS such as 9x is XP Home (it's designed to replace it) -
whereas a corporate OS such as NT/2k will be a logical fit for an XP
Pro upgrade. And you do want XP Pro when you use a domain, rather
than Home.

So, depending on the age of your 9x PCs (how long have they been up
and running, etc) you might be better off choosing the 'clean
install' option when you put the XP Pro CD in. Upgrades in place to
XP are not as nerve-wracking as for prior versions of Windows, but I
still prefer a clean install when I have the option.

I'd run a Belarc report on each PC *first* to make sure you know what
drivers you may need - www.belarc.com

Re the SBS upgrade/migration - I'd do that first and make sure all
the workstation data was copied over to the server before beginning.

When you join the XP Pro computers to the domain make sure you use
the wizards (http://servername/connectcomputer). Do not try to do
anything in SBS without consulting the wizards/to-do list, or you
will likely be very sorry.