Counterfiet Windows XP professional

[Guest]

I bought a used computer for my son with Windows XP professional installed on
it. When I tried to update the Windows information, I was informed that my
XP may be counterfiet. I have my own copy of Windows XP home edition. Is it
possible to load the home edition on this computer and uninstall the
professional? If so, how do I do it?

 

[Patrick Keenan]

I bought a used computer for my son with Windows XP professional installed
on
it. When I tried to update the Windows information, I was informed that
my
XP may be counterfiet. I have my own copy of Windows XP home edition. Is
it
possible to load the home edition on this computer and uninstall the
professional? If so, how do I do it?

If your copy of XP Home isn't installed on any other computers, yes. XP
Home licenses are for one machine only (XP Home retail and versions are this
way too, but there is another volume license version that can be installed
on a specified number of machines - this won't apply to you).

However... you'll be best off if you boot from the CD and format the drive,
because XP Home will be considered a downgrade from Pro and the install
won't proceed. It is probably technically possible to do a parallel
install, but it isn't a good idea.

So, the way you would uninstall XP Pro would be to boot from the Home CD and
let the Setup program format the drive prior to installation.

Of course, back up any user data first to a different drive.

HTH
-pk