Upgrade XP Pro to XP Home?

[RogerC]

I have bought a secondhand laptop which appears to have a pirate copy of XP
Pro installed (or so MS imply when I cannot download SP1). The previous
owner has now emigrated to New Zealand! Can I buy an XP Home upgrade CD, or
do I have to bite the bullet and buy a full XP Home CD?

 

[Phil]

You cannot upgrade from home to pro. Pro is home with more features.
You have to buy a full version of xp home, unless you have a win98, winme
cd, in which case the upgrade would version would work.
Either way you have to format the drive, removing xp pro, then install xp
home.

 

[null]

I have bought a secondhand laptop which appears to have a pirate copy of XP
Pro installed (or so MS imply when I cannot download SP1). The previous
owner has now emigrated to New Zealand! Can I buy an XP Home upgrade CD, or
do I have to bite the bullet and buy a full XP Home CD?

You cannot upgrade from XP Pro to XP Home - that would be a downgrade.

You'll need to buy a full XP Home license and CD.

--
The reader should exercise normal caution and backup the Registry and
data files regularly, and especially before making any changes to their
PC, as well as performing regular virus and spyware scans. I am not
liable for problems or mishaps that occur from the reader using advice
posted here. No warranty, express or implied, is given with the posting
of this message.

 

[Tony Talmage]

Well, to get one thing straight first off, you are going to be required to
format your laptop - there is no easy way to downgrade from Pro to Home. Be
sure to back up any and all important data before you do anything with the
operating system. Now, in answer to your question, you definitely can
purchase the Upgrade version of Home, but you will need to have a previous
operating system CD-ROM handy when you install. If you do not have an old
OS disc, then you will need to purchase the full version of home.

Now just to make sure you know this option is available, you can purchase a
license for XP Pro and call Microsoft to activate your installation. At
that time, you would no longer have a pirated version, as you would have
purchased a copy. With this method, you will not be required to format your
drive, which to me is a big benefit (too much data to backup in order to
format, plus I'm lazy =) ). So, with this in mind, choose which route you
would prefer to take based on your needs and let us know how things turn
out.

 

[Chris Catt]

Hi, ok there is no need to delete, format or fdisk, lets make that clear.
All you need is a legit version of XP Prof and by using this method below
enter in your CD key that comes with XP
Now:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.

2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.

3. In the left pane, locate and then click the following registry
key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Current Version\WPAEvents

4. In the right pane, right-click OOBETimer, and then click Modify.

5. Change at least one digit of this value to deactivate Windows.

6. Click Start, and then click Run.

7. In the Open box, type the following command, and then click OK.

%systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a

8. Click Yes, I want to telephone a customer service representative
to activate Windows, and then click Next.

9. Click Change Product key.

Type the new product key in the New key boxes, and then click Update.

You should then be able to install SP2
Chris C

 

[Tony Talmage]

This is all assuming the user purchases xp Pro. If Xp Home is purchased, a
downgrade is necessary, and to downgrade, one needs to format.

 

[Phil]

That's if the the op wants to buy the more expensive xp pro. If they buy xp
home they have to format the drive.

 

[CS]

I have bought a secondhand laptop which appears to have a pirate copy of XP
Pro installed (or so MS imply when I cannot download SP1). The previous
owner has now emigrated to New Zealand! Can I buy an XP Home upgrade CD, or
do I have to bite the bullet and buy a full XP Home CD?

Roger:

Just purchase a copy of XP Home upgrade. No need to purchase the full
version. However: Make sure you have at least a Win95, Win98, 98SE,
or WinME CD that you can show the install program when it asks for
proof to do the upgrade. (You'll need to do a clean install.)

If you don't have any of the above that I mentioned, then borrow a CD
from a friend. Unless of course you like giving your money away to
MS!

 

[Barry Watzman]

What you suggest is certainly physically possible, but probably not
legal under the terms of the various applicable license agreements. I
know that some people don't care about that distinction, and I don't
want to get into a discussion of ethics and legalities, but the person
asking the original question should at least understand that, so that he
can decide how to proceed with a full understanding of the situation.

 

[CS]

On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 19:57:53 -0400, Barry Watzman

Agreed.

 

[Wislu Plethora]

-----Original Message-----
What you suggest is certainly physically possible, but probably not
legal under the terms of the various applicable license agreements. I
know that some people don't care about that distinction, and I don't
want to get into a discussion of ethics and legalities, but the person
asking the original question should at least understand that, so that he
can decide how to proceed with a full understanding of the situation.

This is the stupidest thing I've ever read. Do you
understand how the upgrade process works? The new (upgrade)
version first checks to see if a qualifying product is
installed. If it isn't it then prompts the user to
insert the removable medium containing the qualifying
product. In other words, Microsoft's upgrade algorithm
*acknowledges* that the qualifying product doesn't have
to be installed in order for the upgrade to proceed. If
MS intended to *require* installation of the qualifying
product, why would they have gone to the trouble of
writing *additional* code that would contravene their
own intention? You need to take a laxative, pal.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I have bought a secondhand laptop which appears to have a pirate copy of XP
Pro installed (or so MS imply when I cannot download SP1). The previous
owner has now emigrated to New Zealand! Can I buy an XP Home upgrade CD, or
do I have to bite the bullet and buy a full XP Home CD?

You are going to have to format and reinstall. If you have a CD of a
qualifying version of Windows (95/98/ME) that is *not* in use, even as
support for an upgrade on a different machine, you could use that in
support of a clean install with an Upgrade CD. Otherwise you might
consider one of the cheaper 'OEM' versions: These will only install
clean (OK) and so the real disadvantage would be that you could not
later transfer it on to a successor machine; but that limit might be
worth it