home to pro upgrade stalls - help!!

[Guest]

I'm doing an upgrade on a dell inspiron 6000 - xp home sp2 to pro sp2 using
new sp2 disk purchased new. First time through it went to a black screen and
then sat there for over an hour with not hd light flashing and no noice from
cd drive. I shut down - now it boots to restarting setup screen - works for
a while but eventually stops and is still on the same " restarting setup"
screen forever.

This guy has data on the drive - most is backed up but I'm afraid he didn't
really backup everything so would like to not reformat if possible. Is there
any way to get out of this install and go back ? I've been looking from the
DOS prompt at log files and think this is either an antivirus problem or a
hardware problem. I appreciate any input. Thanks in advance.

 

[Guest]

Well thier is no upgrade from xp home to xp pro,the upgrade is for older
windows OS.To switch from home to pro,install xp pro cd,boot to xp cd,at
xp cd boot menu select install xp,new copy,delete the partition (home) create
one,then let xp format the hd and do a clean installation.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I'm doing an upgrade on a dell inspiron 6000 - xp home sp2 to pro
sp2 using new sp2 disk purchased new. First time through it went
to a black screen and then sat there for over an hour with not hd
light flashing and no noice from cd drive. I shut down - now it
boots to restarting setup screen - works for a while but
eventually stops and is still on the same " restarting setup"
screen forever.

This guy has data on the drive - most is backed up but I'm afraid
he didn't really backup everything so would like to not reformat
if possible. Is there any way to get out of this install and go
back ? I've been looking from the DOS prompt at log files and
think this is either an antivirus problem or a hardware problem.
I appreciate any input. Thanks in advance.

Well thier is no upgrade from xp home to xp pro,the upgrade is for
older windows OS.To switch from home to pro,install xp pro cd,boot
to xp cd,at xp cd boot menu select install xp,new copy,delete the
partition (home) create one,then let xp format the hd and do a clean
installation.

You'll have to excuse Andrew E.

Although I can honestly say I have seen Andrew give the correct advice once
or twice - it was never on this topic nor is it ever well formatted and easy
to read.

Andrew E. has been incorrect about this many times - but refuses (or perhaps
cannot comprehend) the fact that upgrading from Windows XP Home to Windows
Professional is supported and one of the easiest paths to follow.

Windows XP supported upgrade paths
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/292607

That article clearly shows a path from Windows XP Home Edition to Windows XP
Professional Edition..
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/292607#XSLTH3140121123120121120120

Even external (non-Microsoft sponsored) confirm this:

What are the supported upgrade paths to Windows XP?
http://www.jsifaq.com/subI/tip4300/rh4349.htm

However - this was not your question. Sorry for the interruption - but in a
worldwide newsgroup, you have to expect some "weirdness" to occur on
occasion.

I would remove all but the critical hardware to push that out of the way. I
would also check into a BIOS upgrade - as that has been known to cause some
issues. However - before doing anything else I would make an image of the
drive in its entirety - to be safe. Ghost/TrueImage/BootItNG/other..

If the removal of the hardware does not work (which seems to be the most
likely path) - you may need to perform a repair install on XP Home edition -
get in there and uninstall the AV - then upgrade.

 

[Larry Samuels]

Andrew,

Will you PLEASE stop replying with advice that is totally bogus
The XP Home to XP Pro upgrade is the easiest upgrade path because they are
based off the same code.

--
Larry Samuels Associate Expert
MS-MVP (2001-2005)
Unofficial FAQ for Windows Server 2003 at
http://pelos.us/SERVER.htm
Expert Zone-

 

[Guest]

I didn't ask my question so well - this is a laptop - I just want to go back
enough to make sure everything of value is off this computer before I
reformat and load the XP pro. I've seen enough already to decide not to do
the upgrade path. Dell is no help whatsoever in regards to hardware
compatibility issues. Is there a way to undo this when it has never
finished? a home repair doesn't work - it says one setup of xp is already in
progress - xp pro - but it never finishes. Thanks so much.