Is it possible to install XP Pro over XP Home whithout destroying data or installed programs?

[GhostWrtr]

The PC is a dell and had XP Home installed and, of course, no OS CD.
I have a genuine XP Pro SP2 CD. Dare I hope?



< "Old age ain't for sissies" ;-) >

 

[Bruce Chambers]

The PC is a dell and had XP Home installed and, of course, no OS CD.
I have a genuine XP Pro SP2 CD. Dare I hope?



< "Old age ain't for sissies" ;-) >

WinXP is designed to install and upgrade the existing operating system
while simultaneously preserving your applications and data, and
translating as many personalized settings as possible. The process is
designed to be, and normally is, quite painless. That said, things can
go wrong, in a small number of cases. If your data is at all important
to you, back it up before proceeding.

The upgrade from WinXP Home to WinXP Pro, in particular, almost
always goes smoothly, as both operating systems use the same kernel.

However, do you really need to upgrade? The WinXP Home and WinXP
Pro versions are _identical_ when it comes to performance, stability,
and device driver and software application compatibility, but are
intended to meet different functionality, networking, security, and
ease-of-use needs, in different environments. The most significant
differences are that WinXP Pro allows up to 10 simultaneous inbound
network connections while WinXP Home only allows only 5, WinXP Pro is
designed to join a Microsoft domain while WinXP Home cannot, and only
WinXP Pro supports file encryption and IIS. (Oh, and WinXP Pro usually
costs roughly $100 USD more than WinXP Home.)

Windows XP Comparison Guide
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.asp

Which Edition Is Right for You
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/whichxp.asp

Windows XP Home Edition vs. Professional Edition
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_home_pro.asp


--

Bruce Chambers

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They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrum Russell

 

[Patrick Keenan]

The PC is a dell and had XP Home installed and, of course, no OS CD.
I have a genuine XP Pro SP2 CD. Dare I hope?



< "Old age ain't for sissies" ;-) >

If the XP Pro CD is an upgrade version, or if the installer specifies
"upgrade" when you insert the CD, then yes. Some installer versions do not
support upgrade installs.

However, you should always back up first.

HTH
-pk

 

[Patrick Keenan]

WinXP is designed to install and upgrade the existing operating system
while simultaneously preserving your applications and data, and
translating as many personalized settings as possible. The process is
designed to be, and normally is, quite painless. That said, things can go
wrong, in a small number of cases. If your data is at all important to
you, back it up before proceeding.

The upgrade from WinXP Home to WinXP Pro, in particular, almost always
goes smoothly, as both operating systems use the same kernel.

However, do you really need to upgrade? The WinXP Home and WinXP Pro
versions are _identical_ when it comes to performance, stability, and
device driver and software application compatibility, but are intended to
meet different functionality, networking, security, and ease-of-use needs,
in different environments. The most significant differences are that
WinXP Pro allows up to 10 simultaneous inbound network connections while
WinXP Home only allows only 5, WinXP Pro is designed to join a Microsoft
domain while WinXP Home cannot, and only WinXP Pro supports file
encryption and IIS. (Oh, and WinXP Pro usually costs roughly $100 USD more
than WinXP Home.)

Windows XP Comparison Guide
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.asp

Which Edition Is Right for You
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/whichxp.asp

Windows XP Home Edition vs. Professional Edition
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_home_pro.asp

One more thing - XP Pro has features you may not really want the user to
have.

For one client, I specifically decided for XP Home and against XP Pro
because XP Pro has encryption built-in, and Home does not. That client was
having issues that could potentially (in fact, likely) have led to
encryption being invoked inappropriately, then the accounts changed... which
would have blocked access to the encrypted data.

I was certain that I would have been called to try to recover this
permanently lost data. I was also certain that I didn't want to find out
the effects of encrypting the entire drive and then damaging the accounts.
This was easy to prevent by simply not using Pro.

HTH
-pk

 

[GhostWrtr]

Thank you for your input. My main consideration for going to Pro was
because of the security and networking features.



< "Old age ain't for sissies" ;-) >

 

[GhostWrtr]

I neglected to include the SP Pro disc is labled "Systems" "Student
Media", if it makes any difference.



< "Old age ain't for sissies" ;-) >

 

[GreenieLeBrun]

Thank you for your input. My main consideration for going to Pro was
because of the security and networking features.



< "Old age ain't for sissies" ;-) >

If by security you mean encryption the read the following :-

The Encrypting File System
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/topics/cryptographyetc/efs.mspx

Best practices for the Encrypting File System
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223316/en-us

 

[GhostWrtr]

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/topics/cryptographyetc/efs.mspx

I was not thinking too much about encryption.
I would like to have more granular control over privleges and be able
to print over the network more easily from Win98SE machines.



< "Old age ain't for sissies" ;-) >

 

[Tom Willett]

If the computer came with OEM Windows XP Home installed, and you have a
retail version of Pro, you will need to reformat the machine to install it.
Which means you'll need to back up your data and programs and reinstall
them.

 

[GhostWrtr]

On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 07:03:27 -0500, "Tom Willett"

Thanks Tom. That is the answer I thought would be most likely.

If the computer came with OEM Windows XP Home installed, and you have a
retail version of Pro, you will need to reformat the machine to install it.
Which means you'll need to back up your data and programs and reinstall
them.

< "Old age ain't for sissies" ;-) >

 

[Bruce Chambers]

If the computer came with OEM Windows XP Home installed, and you have a
retail version of Pro, you will need to reformat the machine to install it.

No, he won't. Where'd you get that idea? All retail versions of WinXP
Pro (both Upgrade and Full) are perfectly capable of upgrading an
earlier OS, regardless of whether or not it was originally an OEM
installation.

Which means you'll need to back up your data and programs and reinstall
them.

A backup of data should be made before upgrading, certainly. But, if
all goes well, nothing will need to be reinstalled.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrum Russell

 

[Bruce Chambers]

On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 07:03:27 -0500, "Tom Willett"

Thanks Tom. That is the answer I thought would be most likely.

But it's completely wrong.

--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrum Russell

 

[Neil Howie]

I have an Acer laptop with OEM Home, updated to SP1 then SP2. I
successfully installed XP Pro Upgrade painlessly. No formatting, no
problems.

I needed it because I have a major piece of software which only runs
under Pro.

--
Neil

Anti-spam - Domain is really oakleaf # idps ~ co + uk (change symbols to
dots)




| If the computer came with OEM Windows XP Home installed, and you have
a
| retail version of Pro, you will need to reformat the machine to
install it.
| Which means you'll need to back up your data and programs and
reinstall
| them.
|
| | > The PC is a dell and had XP Home installed and, of course, no OS CD.
| > I have a genuine XP Pro SP2 CD. Dare I hope?
| >
| >
| >
| > < "Old age ain't for sissies" ;-) >
|
|

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I have an Acer laptop with OEM Home, updated to SP1 then SP2. I
successfully installed XP Pro Upgrade painlessly. No formatting, no
problems.

Yes, that's the way it should work.




--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrum Russell

 

[GhostWrtr]

Thanks to all of you for your input.

The PC is a dell and had XP Home installed and, of course, no OS CD.
I have a genuine XP Pro SP2 CD. Dare I hope?



< "Old age ain't for sissies" ;-) >

< "Old age ain't for sissies" ;-) >

 

[Ken Blake]

If the computer came with OEM Windows XP Home installed, and you have
a retail version of Pro, you will need to reformat the machine to
install it.

Not at all true. Not only only is the upgrade from XP Home to Professional
possible and legal (regardless of whether the Home version retail or OEM),
it's the easiest and most likely successful of all possible upgrades.

The only OEM vs Retail issue involved is with the XP Professional CD. *That*
can not be OEM, because OEM versions can't do upgrades. As long as the
Professional CD is retail it doesn't matter whether it's Full or Upgrade.
You can do an upgrade with either.

 

[Tom Willett]

Thanks for clarifying that, Ken.

Tom

Not at all true. Not only only is the upgrade from XP Home to Professional
possible and legal (regardless of whether the Home version retail or OEM),
it's the easiest and most likely successful of all possible upgrades.

The only OEM vs Retail issue involved is with the XP Professional CD.
*That* can not be OEM, because OEM versions can't do upgrades. As long as
the Professional CD is retail it doesn't matter whether it's Full or
Upgrade. You can do an upgrade with either.

 

[Pegleg]

So if I purchase XP Pro from Dell am I getting an OEM version or a
regular "retail" version?

Do the "upgrade" XP Pro cds work successfully when installed over an OEM
XP Home version or is a "full" XP Pro cd required? This is very
confusing and I don't feel comfortable spending all that $$$ on an
upgrade to get to XP Pro when it might not work.

Pegleg
U.S. Navy Retired
Support Our Troops,
Question The Policy!

All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words:
freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.
Sir Winston Churchill

 

[Bruce Chambers]

So if I purchase XP Pro from Dell am I getting an OEM version or a
regular "retail" version?

OEM. Go to your local store to obtain a retail license.

Do the "upgrade" XP Pro cds work successfully when installed over an OEM
XP Home version or is a "full" XP Pro cd required? This is very
confusing and I don't feel comfortable spending all that $$$ on an
upgrade to get to XP Pro when it might not work.

The Upgrade version of WinXP Pro will install over the OEM WinXP Home
without a problem.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrum Russell

 

[Ken Blake]

Thanks for clarifying that, Ken.

You're welcome, Tom. Glad to help.