Upgrade Windows XP Home OEM to XP Professional

  • Thread starter Thread starter srd
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S

srd

Is there a painless upgrade path from Windows XP Home that came with the
computer to XP Pro. There seems to be something of a consensus that XP Pro
is a stabler system than Home, but people say different things about the
upgrade path. If it's possible, is there a special upgrade edition of XP
Pro? Would I retain my settings?

Stephen Diamond
 
This "consensus" is wrong. If your computer is unstable then it has a
hardware fault and/or spyware/virus.
 
srd said:
Is there a painless upgrade path from Windows XP Home that came with
the computer to XP Pro.
Click to expand...

Nothing is painless when it comes to computers.
There seems to be something of a consensus
that XP Pro is a stabler system than Home, but people say different
things about the upgrade path.
Click to expand...

It is just a matter of opinion that Pro is stabler than home. More than
likely the consensus is of those that run XP Pro.

Do you have a need for Pros extra features? If not, more than likely
the instability problems you are eXPeriencing with Home, you'll
eXPerience with Pro.
If it's possible, is there a special
upgrade edition of XP Pro?
Click to expand...

Nope. MS just has the regular Upgrade XP Pro, that can upgrade any MS
OS since Win98, though with a clean install, Win95 is qualifying media
for it.
Would I retain my settings?
Click to expand...

Yes, it should, if you do it right, however you may have to reinstall
some of you device drivers to get them to be fully functional.

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"
 
srd said:
Is there a painless upgrade path from Windows XP Home that came with the
computer to XP Pro. There seems to be something of a consensus that XP Pro
is a stabler system than Home, but people say different things about the
upgrade path. If it's possible, is there a special upgrade edition of XP
Pro? Would I retain my settings?
Click to expand...
There is a special upgrade edition but make sure you are sitting down when
you hear the price. You won't loose your settings or programs. The
differences are compared here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.mspx

The core of the OS is the same. If Home is unstable on your system upgrading
to Pro won't solve your problem.

Kerry Brown
KDB Systems
 
People who state that XP Pro is more stable than XP home
are misinformed . . .

- WinXP Pro will allow 10 inbound connections, Home only 5
- Pro has policy editors (useful in a corporate
environment)
- Pro has IIS (useful if you build server apps)
- Pro can become part of a domain (another corporate use)
- Both use simple file sharing by default, but it can only
be disabled in Pro
- Firewall and file security between users is the same
- Encrypted file system is only available in Pro
 
If you have "problems" with Windows XP Home upgrading will not solve them.
However many of my clients who started off with the Home addition
subsequently upgraded to Pro for the additional features.
So I suggest that in your case with the unknown problems, consider this
solution
1 buy the upgrade to Pro (make sure you get a retail CD with SP2 already
incorporated)
2 backup your data,
3 do a clean install to Pro in a new folder ex. Windows_Pro , reinstall your
applications and restore your data. If all goes well delete your Home
installation.
--
Uncle John
Harry Ohrn said:
Are you having problems? If so what are they?

--

Harry Ohrn MS MVP [Shell/User]
www.webtree.ca/windowsxp


srd said:
Is there a painless upgrade path from Windows XP Home that came with the
computer to XP Pro. There seems to be something of a consensus that XP
Pro
is a stabler system than Home, but people say different things about the
upgrade path. If it's possible, is there a special upgrade edition of XP
Pro? Would I retain my settings?

Stephen Diamond
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
In
srd said:
Is there a painless upgrade path from Windows XP Home that came
with
the computer to XP Pro.
Click to expand...


Yes, you can upgrade XP Home to Professional. There is no special
upgrade version just for this, but the regular XP Professional
Upgrade works fine (although it doesn't say so on the box).


There seems to be something of a consensus
that XP Pro is a stabler system than Home,
Click to expand...


Not at all. That statement is completely false. They are
identical in stability.

XP Home and Professional are identical in all respects except
that Professional includes a few features (mostly related to
security and networking) missing from Home? Most home users don't
need and would never use these extra features and will see no
benefits by upgrading.


but people say different
things about the upgrade path. If it's possible, is there a
special
upgrade edition of XP Pro?
Click to expand...


Yes, there's an upgrade edition, but there is none specifically
to upgrade from XP Home.

Would I retain my settings?
Click to expand...


Yes. By definition, an "upgrade" (as opposed to a clean
installation) means that all data, programs, etc. are kept
intact.

However there are no guarantees that it always works perfectly.
However unlikely, it's always possible that something might go
wrong. For that reason it's prudent to be sure you have a backup
of anything you can't afford to lose before beginning.
 
srd said:
Is there a painless upgrade path from Windows XP Home that came with
the computer to XP Pro.
Click to expand...

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.

There seems to be something of a consensus that
XP Pro is a stabler system than Home,
Click to expand...


Perhaps a consensus amongst people who have no knowledge of the OS.
;-} 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.



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH
 
Bruce said:
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.




Perhaps a consensus amongst people who have no knowledge of the OS.
;-} 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.
Click to expand...

A much different consensus in this group.

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"
 
srd said:
Is there a painless upgrade path from Windows XP Home that came with the
computer to XP Pro. There seems to be something of a consensus that XP Pro
is a stabler system than Home, but people say different things about the
upgrade path. If it's possible, is there a special upgrade edition of XP
Pro? Would I retain my settings?

Stephen Diamond
Click to expand...

There is zero difference in the performance and/or stability of XP
Home compared to XP Pro. The two versions are produced from the same
source code base and the differences between them consist of certain
specific features and functions that are included in XP Pro but are
not found in XP Home.

Unless you have an actual need for at least one of those features or
functions that are unique to XP Pro then there is absolutely no
benefit in upgrading from Home to Pro.

If you can provide some specific details regarding the problems that
you are having with XP Home then it may be possible to help you to
resolve these.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."
 
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