Another XP Upgrade question.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jimbo
  • Start date Start date
J

Jimbo

Hello again people,
Another question about XP Pro upgrading from Home Edition.

As someone suggested I have spoken to a university colleague who does
all the system maintenance. He does not recommend doing an upgrade as it
often goes seriously wrong, and suggests doing an XP Pro install from
scratch.

So my question is this, if I do a complete re-install using an XP Pro
CD will the upgrade license key work? After all, an upgrade is what I
want to do, and an ugrade is what I get.

I have already purchased and installed XP Pro on a new machine I
bought, I am now just wanting to upgrade my existing home laptop.

Thanks
Jimbo
 
Jimbo said:
Hello again people,
Another question about XP Pro upgrading from Home Edition.

As someone suggested I have spoken to a university colleague who does
all the system maintenance. He does not recommend doing an upgrade as
it often goes seriously wrong, and suggests doing an XP Pro install
from scratch.

So my question is this, if I do a complete re-install using an XP Pro
CD will the upgrade license key work? After all, an upgrade is what I
want to do, and an ugrade is what I get.

I have already purchased and installed XP Pro on a new machine I
bought, I am now just wanting to upgrade my existing home laptop.

Thanks
Jimbo
Click to expand...

With the same key? No. Windows XP is the same as every version of Windows
before it, dating back to at least Windows 3.1 - the desktop/laptop applies
to some versions of MS Office. You may use the same disc, but you will be
required to purchase another licence (though I would purchase another disc
as well - it's always prudent to have a backup). You will need a qualifying
product so, if you do not have a Home disc, or any other version of Windows
(95 - clean installation only - 98, ME or 2000) then you will be required to
purchase the full version.
 
Jimbo said:
Hello again people,
Another question about XP Pro upgrading from Home Edition.

As someone suggested I have spoken to a university colleague who does
all the system maintenance. He does not recommend doing an upgrade a
it
often goes seriously wrong, and suggests doing an XP Pro install from
scratch.

So my question is this, if I do a complete re-install using an XP Pro
CD will the upgrade license key work? After all, an upgrade is what I
want to do, and an ugrade is what I get.

I have already purchased and installed XP Pro on a new machine I
bought, I am now just wanting to upgrade my existing home laptop.

Thanks
Jimbo
Click to expand...

Jimbo, Upgrading to Pro from scratch is easy. Put the install cd fo
Pro in and start your format/install. It will ask to look at you
previous OS cd to verify the upgrade. Then it will continue on t
completion. After the install the Pro version I would recommend yo
update to SP2 after installing up-to-date drivers for your computer
Check the manufacturers website for drivers.
Good Luck.
Treema
 
Jimbo said:
Hello again people,
Another question about XP Pro upgrading from Home Edition.

As someone suggested I have spoken to a university colleague who does
all the system maintenance. He does not recommend doing an upgrade as
it often goes seriously wrong, and suggests doing an XP Pro install
from scratch.

So my question is this, if I do a complete re-install using an XP Pro
CD will the upgrade license key work? After all, an upgrade is what I
want to do, and an ugrade is what I get.

I have already purchased and installed XP Pro on a new machine I
bought, I am now just wanting to upgrade my existing home laptop.

Thanks
Jimbo
Click to expand...

1) Upgrading to XP Pro from XP Home: I found XP Home to be unstable. This
instability disappeared when I installed XP Pro.
2) You cannot use the XP Home Upgrade kit to upgrade to XP Pro. This
includes the XP Home CD key. If you want to upgrade to XP Pro, you must
purchase an XP Pro Upgrade kit (or a "Full Retail" install kit), which will
have a new CD key.
3) I personally would not do an "upgrade" install from XP Home to XP Pro. I
would do a "clean" install of XP Home, starting fresh. It is completely
possible to do a "clean" install of XP Pro using the XP Pro Retail Upgrade
install kit. All you need is qualifying media, either on a distribution CD,
or currently residing on your HD, to use the Retail Upgrade install kit.

There really is no difference between the "Full Retail" kit and the "Retail
Upgrade" kit. The only difference is the installer.

Full Retail
========
May be used to install XP either "cleanly" or as an "upgrade" over a
current installation of Windows. Installation media of another copy of
Windows is not required in any case.

May be installed on any PC (as long as the partition it is installed on is
FAT32 or above).

Retail Upgrade
============
May be used to install XP either "cleanly", or as an "upgrade", IF you have
distribution media of a version of Windows or an installation currently
residing on your HD.

May be installed on any PC, as long as you have installation media for
another copy of Windows. Proof of qualifying media may be distribution
media of Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98SE, ME, NT 4.1, Windows 2000, or
Windows XP. To use the distribution media of Windows 95, the XP Retail
Upgrade kit must be used to install XP "cleanly", and it must be Windows 95
OSR2 or above. That is, Windows XP will not install on a FAT16 partition.
It must be installed on either FAT32 or NTFS partitions. I'm not even sure
that XP would fit on a FAT16 partition. I definitely wouldn't install XP on
a partition the size of a FAT16 partition. You would run out of free space
within days -- maybe within hours.
 
Treeman said:
Jimbo, Upgrading to Pro from scratch is easy. Put the install cd for
Pro in and start your format/install. It will ask to look at your
previous OS cd to verify the upgrade. Then it will continue on to
completion. After the install the Pro version I would recommend you
update to SP2 after installing up-to-date drivers for your computer.
Check the manufacturers website for drivers.
Good Luck.
Treeman
Click to expand...

Thanks Treeman,
Just one clarification do you mean put the "Upgrade" install CD for Pro
in? Or do you mean a full Pro CD?

Cheers
Jimbo.
 
In
Jimbo said:
Hello again people,
Another question about XP Pro upgrading from Home Edition.

As someone suggested I have spoken to a university colleague
who does
all the system maintenance. He does not recommend doing an
upgrade as
it often goes seriously wrong, and suggests doing an XP Pro
install
from scratch.
Click to expand...


First of all, your colleague is wrong. Unlike with previous
versions of Windows, an upgrade to XP replaces almost everything,
and usually works very well.
In particular, for *this* upgrade, since Home and Professional
are so similar (they are identical except that Professional just
includes some extra features) it is *extremely* rare that a
problem results.

My recommendation is to at least try the upgrade, since it's much
easier than a clean installation. You can always change your mind
and reinstall cleanly if problems develop.


So my question is this, if I do a complete re-install using an
XP Pro
CD will the upgrade license key work? After all, an upgrade is
what I
want to do, and an ugrade is what I get.
Click to expand...


Are you asking if you can do a clean installation with the XP
Professional Upgrade CD and its key?

Yes you can, assuming that you have an XP Home CD. The
requirement to use an upgrade version is to *own* a previous
qualifying version's installation CD (with an OEM restore CD, see
below), not to have it installed. When setup doesn't find a
previous qualifying version installed, it will prompt you to
insert its CD as proof of ownership. Just insert the previous
version's CD, and follow the prompts. Everything proceeds quite
normally and quite legitimately.Y

You can also do a clean installation if you have an OEM restore
CD of a previous qualifying version. It's more complicated, but
it *can* be done. First restore from the Restore CD. Then run the
XP upgrade CD from within that restored system, and change from
Upgrade to New Install. When it asks where, press Esc to delete
the partition and start over.

I have already purchased and installed XP Pro on a new machine
I
bought, I am now just wanting to upgrade my existing home
laptop.
Click to expand...


But that makes it sound like you want to use the same copy of
your XP Professional upgrade on two machines.
No, you can *not* do that. The rule is quite clear. It's one copy
(or one license) for each computer.

There's nothing new here. This is exactly the same rule that's
been in effect on every version of Windows starting with Windows
3.1. The only thing new with XP is that there's now an
enforcement mechanism.

If yours is a retail version, not an OEM one, you can buy extra
licenses (see
<http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/addlic.asp>).
But it's not generally a good deal. The problem is that Microsoft
sells additional licenses at only a small savings over the list
price. You're almost certainly better off just buying a complete
second copy from a discount source.
 
Jimbo said:
Treeman wrote:--
So my question is this, if I do a complete re-install using an XP Pro
CD will the upgrade license key work? After all, an upgrade is what I
want to do, and an ugrade is what I get.-
Jimbo, Upgrading to Pro from scratch is easy. Put the install cd for
Pro in and start your format/install. It will ask to look at your
previous OS cd to verify the upgrade. Then it will continue on to
completion. After the install the Pro version I would recommend you
update to SP2 after installing up-to-date drivers for your computer.
Check the manufacturers website for drivers.
Good Luck.
Treeman-

Thanks Treeman,
Just one clarification do you mean put the "Upgrade" install CD fo
Pro
in? Or do you mean a full Pro CD?

Cheers
Jimbo.
Click to expand...

Jimbo, your post was a little vauge.
One car; one license plate. You can't put the same license plate on tw
cars.
Not in our world nor Microsoft's!
Best,
Treema
 
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