xp pro versus xp media center

[Guest]

my son has xp media center installed on his laptop. The college he will be
attending next year requires xp pro. What is the difference and if I install
xp pro, will all his data, music and movies be deleted?

 

[Bob I]

XP Pro won't "upgrade" "XP media center". You will need to save all
important files, data, documents etc. do a clean install, and acquire
any and all drivers from the laptop manufacturer.

 

[Ground Cover]

Don't forget to mention the "Files and Settings Transfer Wizard".

 

[Ground Cover]

The difference is that Pro has networking capabilities that are turn off in
Media Center Edition (MCE). These network capabilities enable the laptop to
join domains and directories.

There are hacks out there that supposedly enable MCE to do everything Pro
does .. but if you want to play it safe - and I would recommend that you do
here as some future Microsoft Windows Update might break any hack - the
thing to do would be to put Pro on there, as that is what it is meant for
and that is what is being recommended by the college.

Shop around for the copy of Windows XP - don't pay too much. Newegg for
instance has reasonable prices. Watch the URL wrap:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9&Submit=ENE&Manufactory=1149&SubCategory=368

Be careful to get the right version - notice that Pro comes in two flavours
32-bit and 64-bit. You probably want 32-bit. And note that the retail
"upgrade" version can be used to perform a clean install [hint] or just get
an OEM copy .. the "full" copy is rather expensive.

Oh and you can search at Nextag - results for a number of sellers:

http://www.nextag.com

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

my son has xp media center installed on his laptop. The college he
will be attending next year requires xp pro.

Almost certainly because he will need to join their domain.

What is the difference

Media Center is a superset of XP Professional. It has everything in
Professional (with one exception) plus all its extra media-related features.
Unfortunately, the missing feature is the one he undoubtedly needs, the
ability to join a domain.

and if I install xp pro, will all his data, music and movies be
deleted?

Yes. You can't upgrade from Media Center to Professional, and Professional
will have to be installed cleanly, which means losing everything on the
drive. He will need to first back up anything he needs to external media,
then restore it after installation of XP Professional.

But the way you ask that question suggests that there is no procedure for
regular backup in place. If that's the case, and he cares wabout the data he
has, he is living very dangerously. It is always possible that a hard drive
crash, user error, nearby lightning strike, virus attack, even theft of the
computer, can cause the loss of everything on his drive. As has often been
said, it's not a matter of whether you will have such a problem, but when.

 

[Ground Cover]

P.S.

Some things to do:

Make sure that the copy of Windows XP Pro yu buy is current i.e. includes
Service Pack 2

Windows XP will probably go on smoothly and catch all the hardware. But, to
avoid hassles, visit the laptop manufacturer's website, go to the page
specific to that model and download the drivers for it - and burn them to
CD-R.

If you get a "retail upgrade" version to boot from and do a clean install,
make sure to have some "qualifying media" handy (i.e. a Win95/98/ME/2000/XP
Home CD-ROM disc) because at one point the install routine might ask you for
it [you pop out the XP Pro disc, put in the "qualifying media" .. the
routine checks it .. then the install routine continues and asks you to put
the XP Pro disc back in]

Gather other software and the product keys and numbers.

Look into the "Files and Settings Transfer Wizard" and if you decide to use
it, burn the results to CD- R or store on another computer on home network.

But also plain ordinary back up all data and music etc. to somewhere OFF THE
LAPTOP .. burn to CD-R or store on another computer on home network.

Read-up online, e.g.:

http://www.theeldergeek.com/clean_installation_of_windows_xp.htm

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm