Pro & Home compatible?

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Guest

I want to network my Dell Dimension 4550 running XP prowith a dimension 4300
which currently is running ME. I want to upgrade the ME to XP, what are the
advantages or disadvantages to using XP Home with Professional? Should I
spend the extra $40.00 for the Pro?
 
John said:
I want to network my Dell Dimension 4550 running XP prowith a dimension 4300
which currently is running ME. I want to upgrade the ME to XP, what are the
advantages or disadvantages to using XP Home with Professional? Should I
spend the extra $40.00 for the Pro?
Click to expand...

The main difference between XP Home and Pro for the use you seem to
contemplate is the ability of XP Pro to set more fine grained
permissions for access restriction. XP Pro has "simple file sharing" or
full NTFS file sharing. XP home only has simple file sharing. For
details, see

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304040/en-us
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308418/en-us (note "troubleshooting"
section)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307874
 
Lem said:
The main difference between XP Home and Pro for the use you seem to
contemplate is the ability of XP Pro to set more fine grained
permissions for access restriction. XP Pro has "simple file sharing" or
full NTFS file sharing. XP home only has simple file sharing. For
details, see

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304040/en-us
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308418/en-us (note "troubleshooting"
section)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307874
Click to expand...


I suppose more info might have been helpful in my original post.
I plan to share files a laser printer and a cable internet connection
between the two computers.
 
John said:
I suppose more info might have been helpful in my original post.
I plan to share files a laser printer and a cable internet connection
between the two computers.
Click to expand...

When I wrote "the use you seem to contemplate" I had in mind that the
other major difference between Home and Pro is that Pro has the ability
to join a domain. It sounds as what you have in mind is to set up a
home network to share files, printers, and your Internet connection. If
you're not interested in restricting different users from accessing
individual files, folders, or applications, either Home or Pro will work
fine. You can still have "private" info and "limited" users, even on XP
Home. The MSKB articles I linked explain what classic NTFS file
permissions are all about.
 
John,

I would agree with pico hat. As a techinician I run into far fewer problems
with home networks where Pro was chosen over Home. For $40 you are saving
the less than 1 hour of professional technical help if you choose Home.

I am not saying Pro is free of networking issues but it does tend to network
much more smoothly than Home.
 
John said:
I want to network my Dell Dimension 4550 running XP prowith a dimension 4300
which currently is running ME. I want to upgrade the ME to XP, what are the
advantages or disadvantages to using XP Home with Professional? Should I
spend the extra $40.00 for the Pro?
Click to expand...

For simple file & printer sharing with a handful of PCs, XP HE and XP MC and
XP PRO are pretty equal. XP PRO does offer more a complicated set of choices
for sharing files, but most home users -- where everybody is trusted --
don't need that.

I'm currently sharing Fs & Ps across Vista, XP PRO, XP MC, XP HE, and W9x.
No problems with those; W2K PRO was a bit strange, but that box died.
 
For simple file & printer sharing with a handful of PCs, XP HE and XP MC and
XP PRO are pretty equal. XP PRO does offer more a complicated set of choices
for sharing files, but most home users -- where everybody is trusted --
don't need that.

I'm currently sharing Fs & Ps across Vista, XP PRO, XP MC, XP HE, and W9x.
No problems with those; W2K PRO was a bit strange, but that box died.
Click to expand...

John,

XP Home has the same networking stack as XP Pro, and other editions of XP. It
simply has less choices, and less utilities, for Windows Networking. If you can
live with the lack of utilities, and the non-granular access from one computer
to the other, XP Home will do just as well as XP Pro.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/11/windows-xp-which-edition-should-i.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/11/windows-xp-which-edition-should-i.html

That said, if you're going to have an XP Home computer on the network, you'll be
happier in the long run if you use Simple File Sharing (disabled Password
Protected Sharing, in Vista) on the non XP Home computers. Balanced access,
with all computers using Simple File Sharing, is easier to support, and to
diagnose problems.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Advanced>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Advanced

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.
 
Spend the extra dollars on the the XP pro. I am battling to connect my PC
with my laptop because the one is pro and the other is home. If you can
connect them then go for it, and please let me know how to do it aswell.
Thanks. Shawn
 
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