XP Professional Install Questions

  • Thread starter Thread starter Charlie Brookhart
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Charlie Brookhart

I'm upgrading XP from Home SP2 to XP Professional. I received two versions
of XP Professional from my school -- XP Professional x64 and XP Professional
SP2. I first attempted to install the x64 version, but cancelled the install
when the setup program stated that a windows folder already existed and that
continuing the setup would result in all applications, user accounts, etc.
being deleted. I then restarted windows as normal and put in the other XP
install CD. This time, setup gave me the option of upgrading or doing a new
install. I chose to do an upgrade.

The setup program proceeded to complete the initialization process and then
an error occurred when trying to copy the files to the harddrive. The setup
program then continued to loop upon each system restart. No meaningful error
message was displayed and there was no error code to identify the specific
problem.

When I took out the install cd and tried to start windows, an error message
was displayed. "Cannot find c:\windows\system.sav" It was at this point that
I found out that setup had wiped out everything leaving me with no working
OS. I restored the computer using my backup CDs only to find that while I
had the applications on the start menu (Word, for example), none of the
applications actually worked.

I then restarted the computer with the XP Professional SP2 CD in the drive
and this time (because there did not seem to be any other option), I pressed
the key to have the setup program delete the existing windows folder. Just
as before, setup copied all files to the harddrive and then created an
internal setup error.

At this point, I again have no working OS. Here are my questions:

Q1. Why can I not upgrade and keep all applications installed and working

Q2. Why is there an internal setup error that occurs only after the existing
windows install seems to be wiped clean regardless of what answer is chosen.

Q3. The reason for upgrading was so that I can join a domain (an option not
available with the Home install). If XP Professional x64 is not a complete
operating system, why is it even released in an academic environment?

Q4. Is there any way of being able to get XP Professional to install without
having to go out an buy another copy of Windows?

Q5. Is it necessary to reformat the harddrive in order to remove any
instance of a previous version of windows so that the Professional Version
comes out.
 
In my opinion, it's better to perform a fresh install rather than upgrade.
But, please answer to one basic question (I suppose it's "yes" but..) Do you
have a 64bits processor?
 
I have a 64-bit processor, but neither XP Professional x64 or XP
Professional SP2 will install. I am trying to install on top of the
existing NTFS partition, which is XP Home SP2.
 
Then, performing a fresh install of XP is an option for you? Note that
you'll lose everything in the partition where you are going to format.
 
in my opinion, copy the xp sp2 CD to your harddisk then run setup program
from harddisk (you should close all antivirus software while installing
windows),if this doesn't work then restart your Pc into Dos ,running setup
program in Dos enviroment.
 
Charlie Brookhart said:
I'm upgrading XP from Home SP2 to XP Professional. I received two versions
of XP Professional from my school -- XP Professional x64 and XP Professional
SP2. I first attempted to install the x64 version, but cancelled the install
when the setup program stated that a windows folder already existed and that
continuing the setup would result in all applications, user accounts, etc.
being deleted. I then restarted windows as normal and put in the other XP
install CD. This time, setup gave me the option of upgrading or doing a new
install. I chose to do an upgrade.

The setup program proceeded to complete the initialization process and then
an error occurred when trying to copy the files to the harddrive. The setup
program then continued to loop upon each system restart. No meaningful error
message was displayed and there was no error code to identify the specific
problem.

When I took out the install cd and tried to start windows, an error message
was displayed. "Cannot find c:\windows\system.sav" It was at this point that
I found out that setup had wiped out everything leaving me with no working
OS. I restored the computer using my backup CDs only to find that while I
had the applications on the start menu (Word, for example), none of the
applications actually worked.

I then restarted the computer with the XP Professional SP2 CD in the drive
and this time (because there did not seem to be any other option), I pressed
the key to have the setup program delete the existing windows folder. Just
as before, setup copied all files to the harddrive and then created an
internal setup error.

At this point, I again have no working OS. Here are my questions:

Q1. Why can I not upgrade and keep all applications installed and working
Click to expand...

You should have been able to *if* using an install CD that included an
upgrade routine - not all do - but the upgrade install failed for some
unknown reason. It may be that your hardware has a defect - perhaps a
stick of dodgy RAM or a failing CD drive.

Back up your drive, wipe it, remove any cards not actually needed, and try
again. Noting the exact text of the setup error is very helpful.
Q2. Why is there an internal setup error that occurs only after the existing
windows install seems to be wiped clean regardless of what answer is chosen.

Q3. The reason for upgrading was so that I can join a domain (an option not
available with the Home install). If XP Professional x64 is not a complete
operating system, why is it even released in an academic environment?
Click to expand...

XP Pro x64 *is* a complete OS. I'm not sure why you think it isn't, unless
you've just mis-wrote XP Home. Yes, Home misses a few more advanced
networking features that aren't needed for many educational institutions.
But that doesn't make it incomplete as an OS.

However, the installer for the x64 version you have apparently does not
support an upgrade install, since it was not presented as an option. It
wants a "clean", full install. This is probably because virtually *all*
drivers and Windows files are replaced with versions compiled as 64 bit.
Q4. Is there any way of being able to get XP Professional to install without
having to go out an buy another copy of Windows?
Click to expand...

Sure. You have the CDs you were given and the install keys. Given your
current situation, back up your data, boot from the CD, wipe the drives, and
start clean. This will give you the stablest, most reliable install.
After the install completes, and before you install anything else, get *all*
the Windows Updates that apply.

Since there is no OS currently, to back up the data, pull the drive from the
system and attach it to an external USB2 case. Connect this to a
functioning XP system, and simply copy the files you need to some convenient
location (with sufficient space). When the copying is done, put the drive
back in the system. Do the XP install, and when you're done shift the
data back.

I often use a program called FileSync (www.fileware.co.uk) to copy files in
this way.

Or, on the utility system, download and install the trial version of Acronis
TrueImage. Use this to create an image of the drive - this is very fast to
do, and you can mount the image to extract the data later. Have a look at
TrueImage; if you need to back up in this way, it's very good and not
expensive.

If there is a lot of data to restore, it can be much faster to again remove
the drive and re-connect it to the USB2 case. This can be much faster than
most network connections. The difference in time can add up into hours.
Don't use a USB 1.1 port for this.
Q5. Is it necessary to reformat the harddrive in order to remove any
instance of a previous version of windows so that the Professional Version
comes out.
Click to expand...

Formatting is the easiest, fastest and most reliable thing to do. You may
get marginally better results if you also remove the partitions and recreate
them. Repartitioning will ensure that there are no leftovers to interfere,
and give you a known-good starting point.

In any case, given where you are now, you already need to reinstall your
apps, and restore your data from your backups. So, best to back up the
data, wipe the drive, and do a clean install.

HTH
-pk
 
When I placed the XP Pro SP2 (32-bit) CD into the drive, there were two
choices: upgrade and new install. I selected the recommended option
which was upgrade, but when setup got to the point of copying the files
to the disk, the setup failed. All of this happened AFTER I put the XP
Pro x64 CD in the drive and started the computer. The thing is though,
I never went through with the setup of x64. At this point, both
installs don't work, and it seems that even though I was told that I
can do an upgrade, there never was going to be a way to upgrade and
keep all my applications.
 
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