XP home to Professional upgrade

[Japhy]

Hello,
I have a computer that came with XP home preinstalled.
I want to upgrade to XP Pro. I have a full version of Pro (not
currently in use), not
an upgrade. In reading some posts on this group, sounds like
I may have some problems accessing programs and files if
I proceed with an install from the full Pro CD.
Can this easily be done?
Can anyone briefly outline pitfalls.....I'm tempted to just buy the
upgrade
if it is alot easier.
thanks!

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

There would be no advantage of using an Upgrade CD vs. a full CD other than
cost.
The upgrade process and end result will be identical.

The only difference is the original Windows XP Home.
If you use the full Windows XP Pro and Windows XP Home is retail, you are
free to install Home on a different computer.
OEM is generally permanently tied to the original computer.
If you use an upgrade Windows XP Pro, Home is tied to the computer as the
qualifying OS.

 

[Japhy]

Thanks for the reply. When I boot up from the FULL XP Pro cd and
initiate the install,
it warns me that I MAY lose MY DOCUMENTS. In researching this, it
seems others have had a problem with losing access to either programs
or data when using the FULL XP Pro over an existing XP Home
installation.
In your experience :
1) would I have to reinstall application programs (Office, etc) after
installing FULL XP Pro over an existing HOME installation
2) Lose access to any data in MY DOCUMENTS
Thanks for your opinion.

 

[DL]

In any upgrade its allways wise to backup docs, in any case they should be
backed up as a matter of course.

 

[Ron Martell]

Hello,
I have a computer that came with XP home preinstalled.
I want to upgrade to XP Pro. I have a full version of Pro (not
currently in use), not
an upgrade. In reading some posts on this group, sounds like
I may have some problems accessing programs and files if
I proceed with an install from the full Pro CD.
Can this easily be done?
Can anyone briefly outline pitfalls.....I'm tempted to just buy the
upgrade
if it is alot easier.
thanks!

Do you have a Retail Full Install version of Windows XP? One that
came in a blue Microsoft box? If so then that should install as an
upgrade to your XP Home with no problems. However it is an expensive
way of doing this, as it retails for about $275 U.S. The Retail
Upgrade version is about $90 to $100 cheaper.

Or do you have an OEM version, which probably came in a shrink-wrapped
package, which may have the name or logo of a computer
manufacturer/assembler on the CD, and which also says on the CD "for
sale or distribution only with a new computer system or hardware" or
words to that effect? If this is what you have then it is an OEM
version of Windows XP Pro and it will not install as an upgrade over
your existing XP Home. It will only do a clean install.

If that is what you have then you could use the Files and Settings
Transfer wizard to save your existing user data files and program
configuration settings to a different hard drive partition, a network
drive, or a removable backup device. Then after installing the OEM XP
Pro and reinstalling the application programs you can run FASTW again
to import the saved data and settings.

If you decide to use the FASTW approach then do not repeat do not use
the copy of FASTW installed with your XP Home to create the backup.
Instead insert the XP Pro CD and run FASTW from there. There are some
differences in FASTW because of Windows Updates and you need to ensure
that the version you use to restore the data is the same as the
version that was used to create it. For more information see the
Files and Settings Transfer Wizard article by MVP Gary Woodruff:at
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/fast.htm


Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

One note: For upgrading, you can not use an OEM CD.
Since OEM are intended for a new computer, they are incapable of upgrading.

Generally all programs and data should be fine.
The possibility of losing any data or access is identical whether you use a
full or upgrade for the upgrade procedure.

While the possibility of lost data is remote, it is always a good idea to
have back-ups of important data just in case.

If you lose access, Taking Ownership usually resolves that issue, #9 on this
link:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/adsecurity.htm

 

[Japhy]

Thanks to all for you opinions on this topic. BTW, I have a full
retail version of XP Pro that I purchased for a computer that died.
The XP Home is OEM that came with my new Dell.
Sounds like I'll be OK....thanks again.

 

[Guest]

Thanks to all for you opinions on this topic. BTW, I have a full
retail version of XP Pro that I purchased for a computer that died.
The XP Home is OEM that came with my new Dell.
Sounds like I'll be OK....thanks again.

I am in almost the same position. I have an OEM version of XP Home preinstalled on my Acer Notebook. I purchased a retail version of XP Pro upgrade for $200. I tried to install it and started hitting errors that said "setup cannot copy the file csv.xs_" and others. I called microsoft support and after waiting on hold for 52 minutes I finally cancelled the install.

When I rebooted it seems to have partially installed and now gives me that
popup that says I have an unlicensed version of XP. I called back to
customer support and the tech rep is now telling me that the problem is that
the retail upgrade version won't work with and OEM XP home edition. It says
nothing about this on the microsoft upgrade page or anywhere on the box.

He is telling me that all I can do now is parallel install so that I can
save data and then do a full reinstall that will wipe out all of my settings,
applications, user acoounts etc. Not good.

 

[Ron Martell]

When I rebooted it seems to have partially installed and now gives me that
popup that says I have an unlicensed version of XP. I called back to
customer support and the tech rep is now telling me that the problem is that
the retail upgrade version won't work with and OEM XP home edition. It says
nothing about this on the microsoft upgrade page or anywhere on the box.

He is telling me that all I can do now is parallel install so that I can
save data and then do a full reinstall that will wipe out all of my settings,
applications, user acoounts etc. Not good.

The retail upgrade version of Windows XP Pro will install as an
upgrade to an OEM version of Windows XP Home. Period. Been there,
done that many times.

It seems that the customer support rep misunderstood your problem.

What exactly does the popup say regarding your current installed XP.
The complete *verbatimn* text would be appreciated. Does it boot up
at all?

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."