installin xp pro over xp home

  • Thread starter Thread starter damobrad
  • Start date Start date
D

damobrad

hi, i'm new here so i'll jus cut to the point. lately my copy of xp home has
been crashin a lot and i've since lost my original copy of xp pro but i'm
unsure of installin it because i don't have my own pro key and i don't want
to use his, plus i don't want to lose all the data i have on my system
already, yes i'd done a backup already but i was hopein that maybe i could
jus reinstall the os without makin any serious changes to the data or such,
is it possible. . . considering i don't have a pro key....
 
It is not quite clear from your post which edition of XP you are running.
It sounds like you are running XP Home and want to use someone else's XP Pro
cd. If I got it wrong and you started out with XP Home but upgraded with
someone else's XP Pro then some of my post will not apply. If you are
actually running XP Pro now, you need to get your own copy of the software.

You cannot use an XP Pro Product Key on anything but XP Pro. If you need to
fix your XP Home installation you are going to need both an XP Home cd and
an XP Home Product Key. If XP Home is still running you can recover the PK
with a free program called Keyfinder from Magic Jellybean Software,
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml. Also, if XP Home came
preinstalled on your computer you should have the PK on a label affixed to
the side of the case (desktop) or bottom (laptop).

What you need to do to reinstall XP Home without having to reinstall your
programs is to do a repair installation of XP,
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx.
This is the same for XP Pro.

In order to do a repair install of XP the version on the cd must be the same
as the one now running on the hard drive. That means that if your cd does
not include SP2 but your running XP has been updated to SP2 a repair install
will not work. You will quickly find out if they are the same version when
you try because there will be an error message if the cd and hd contain
different service pack levels. If that happens it is possible to create a
copy of your XP cd that is at the same service pack level as the XP running
on the machine. Post back if you think you need to do that and someone will
explain how to create what's called a slipstreamed cd.
 
sori i neglected to mention i'm running Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
5.1.2600 (WinXP Retail) Service Pack 2 and i did have a copy of XP Home for
myself but have since lost it since moving house, hence my query on using XP
Pro to hopefully repair the system.

but yes i don't have another copy of XP Home which is why this SlipStream
option sounds interesting,

do you need any other details?

Greg
 
You would have to have the original cd in order to make a slipstreamed copy.
You can use someone else's XP Home SP2 cd (or a copy of the cd) to do the
repair as long as you have your own PK. Otherwise you need to replace the
cd. All retail XP Home SP2 cd's are alike. They do not have the PK on them
so your valid PK will work as long as you can find a cd.
 
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