Windows XP Home upgrade to Windows XP Pro

[Terry]

Can someone help me out? I would like to know if it's possible to upgrade
Windows XP Home to Windows XP Pro, without formatting the hard drive. Would
I have to purchase an Upgrade version or could I use a Full Package product.
Is it possible to purchase an OEM XP Pro and upgrade from XP Home?

Thanks,

 

[Malke]

Can someone help me out? I would like to know if it's possible to upgrade
Windows XP Home to Windows XP Pro, without formatting the hard drive.
Would I have to purchase an Upgrade version or could I use a Full Package
product. Is it possible to purchase an OEM XP Pro and upgrade from XP
Home?

1. Yes, you can upgrade XP Home to XP Pro without formatting the hard drive.
However, it would be extremely foolish not to back up all your data first
because Stuff Happens.

2. You could use either an Upgrade version or a Full version.

3. OEM versions require you to do a clean install and are tied to the
machine on which they are first installed. For this reason it's always
better to pay a little bit more and get a retail version.

http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Reinstalling_Windows - What
you will need on-hand
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpupgdissues.html - Upgrade Issues
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xp_in_place_upgrade.htm - Install In Place

Malke

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Can someone help me out? I would like to know if it's possible to upgrade
Windows XP Home to Windows XP Pro, without formatting the hard drive.

Yes. It's the easiest and most likely successful of all possible XP
upgrades, since so little has to be changed.

Would
I have to purchase an Upgrade version or could I use a Full Package product.

You could use either. I recommend the Upgrade version, since it's
considerably less expensive.

Is it possible to purchase an OEM XP Pro and upgrade from XP Home?

You can purchase it, but you can not do upgrades with OEM versions.
They do clean installations only. Also, my view is that an OEM copy is
the worst kind you can buy. It comes with several restrictions, and
the worst restriction is that the license ties it permanently to the
first computer it's installed on. Even if the computer dies, you may
not use your copy on another computer.

A Full copy costs much more than an Upgrade or OEM copy, and the
Upgrade costs only slightly more than an OEM copy. I strongly
recommend that you buy an Upgrade, not either of the other choices.

Also, may I ask why you want a Professional version rather than the
Home version you have? Are you sure you want to do this? Are you
aware that XP Home and Professional are identical 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.

For details go to

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_home_pro.asp

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/whichxp.asp>

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

Also note another point, not included in any of the above:
Professional allows ten concurrent network connections, and Home only
five.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Can someone help me out? I would like to know if it's possible to upgrade
Windows XP Home to Windows XP Pro, without formatting the hard drive.

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.

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

Would
I have to purchase an Upgrade version or could I use a Full Package
product.

You could use either one, but the Upgrade license would be much less
expensive.

Is it possible to purchase an OEM XP Pro and upgrade from XP Home?

No. An OEM CD cannot be used to perform an upgrade of an earlier OS,
as it was designed to be installed _only_ upon an empty hard drive. It
can still be used to perform a repair installation (a.k.a. an in-place
upgrade) of an existing OEM WinXP installation.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

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