XP Media Center Edition to XP Home

[John R]

I have a Dell Laptop and it has Windows XP Media Center Edition installed
on it. I need to install Protools ( audio recording software ) on this
laptop so i can do portable sessions and not have to lug my workhorse
computer. the Problem is Digidesign - the manufacturers of Protools
clearly call out that there are issues with compatability between
Protools and the Media Center Edition - i can easily wipe this system clean
and install Windows XP Home edition but my question is will the Serial #
for the Media Center edition work or will it give me a hard time....
Anybody can help me with this would be a HUGE help

Thanks

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have a Dell Laptop and it has Windows XP Media Center Edition
installed on it. I need to install Protools (audio recording software)
on this laptop so i can do portable sessions and not have to lug my
workhorse computer. The Problem is Digidesign - the manufacturers
of Protools clearly call out that there are issues with compatability
between
Protools and the Media Center Edition - I can easily wipe this system
clean
and install Windows XP Home edition but my question is will the Serial #
for the Media Center edition work or will it give me a hard time....
Anybody can help me with this would be a HUGE help

It's not that it is giving you a 'hard time', it's that you would be trying
to use a product key for an edition of Windows XP that it was not intended
for.

It's similar to having two vehicles made by the same manufacturer, perhaps
they are even the same model, even possibly the same manufacturing year...
One may have a few features the other one does not, and vice-versa.
However - unless you have done something to make it this way - it is
unlikely (very very unlikely) that the key for one will work on the other
one. I say it is similar - the only difference is that in the Windows
installation/product key world, generally, a product key for a type/edition
(OEM, Retail, MSDN, etc are types; Home, Professional, Media Center are
editions) will work for all of the media for that same type/edition. So if
you have one copy of the Windows XP Home OEM CD and you have 4000 Windows
Home OEM Product keys - you can install using that one CD onto 4000
computers with each having a unique product key.

In other words - put in simplest terms - your Windows XP Home Edition
installation media must be used with a Windows XP Home Edition product key.
Your Windows XP Media Center Edition product key will only work with WIndows
XP Media Center Edition media.

The questions here would be where you got this 'easily wipe this system
clean and install Windows XP Home edition' idea, where you got the
installation media for Windows XP Home (which would determine if you could
use it within the terms of the agreement), why you don't have a product key
to go with it, etc...?

 

[Daave]

I have a Dell Laptop and it has Windows XP Media Center Edition
installed on it. I need to install Protools ( audio recording
software ) on this laptop so i can do portable sessions and not
have to lug my workhorse computer. the Problem is Digidesign -
the manufacturers of Protools clearly call out that there are issues
with compatability between Protools and the Media Center Edition
- i can easily wipe this system clean and install Windows XP Home
edition

Easily?! That's very time-consuming!

but my question is will the Serial # for the Media Center
edition work

Absolutely not.

Do you have an XP Home installation CD? If so, what kind is it --
Retail, generic OEM, or branded OEM? If you are installing XP Home, you
need an XP Home-specific product key, and it also must match with regard
to being retail or OEM.

Perhaps you can communicate with other Protools users who have
successfully dealt with these issues. (That way you could just keep
MCE). MCE and Home are similar, so that's what I would look into first.

Out of curiosity, is XP Pro supported?