XP_pro to XP_home edition ?

[john A]

I have a customer who has XP pro installed on there
system and have had issues which may require a microsoft
tech call registration, etc. They bought the computer
with software installed but no media. now they would like
to buy there own version but dont want to pay the extra
for the pro version when they realy only need the home
edition. Can this downgrade be done? If so are there any
ramifications that may leave installed software unusable?

 

[Larry Samuels MS-MVP XP \(Shell/User\)]

You cannot downgrade pro to home--a clean install will be required.

--
Larry Samuels MS-MVP (Windows-Shell/User)
Associate Expert
Unofficial FAQ for Windows Server 2003 at
http://home.earthlink.net/~larrysamuels/WS2003FAQ.htm
Expert Zone -

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi John,

In addition to Larry, as the preinstalled system may require specific
drivers not available in the retail media, they may want to contact the
system builder for a system-specific (OEM) product CD.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Harry Ohrn]

As mentioned by Rick and Larry your client can not install Home over Pro so
would need a Full version of Home if they want to downgrade. The Upgrade
version of XP Pro likely costs around the same as a Full version of XP Home.
Of course if they ever need to co a clean install of Pro they would need a
qualifying Windows OS CD to fulfill the request during the clean install.

 

[Ron Martell]

I have a customer who has XP pro installed on there
system and have had issues which may require a microsoft
tech call registration, etc. They bought the computer
with software installed but no media. now they would like
to buy there own version but dont want to pay the extra
for the pro version when they realy only need the home
edition. Can this downgrade be done? If so are there any
ramifications that may leave installed software unusable?

If this was a private purchase of a used computer then they are
probably out of luck insofar as any recourse to the vendor is
concerned.

However if it was purchased at retail then the vendor is obligated to
provide some method of restoring the original operating system to the
"as new" state. This may be in the form of a Windows XP Installation
CD, a "System Recovery CD or CDs, or a hidden partition on the hard
drive containing a disk image of the factory fresh install which can
be used to replace the existing intall.

If the retailer did not provide any of these alternatives then an
email to (e-mail address removed) with the full particulars of the
purchase might produce some beneficial results.

Good luck


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

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."