Upgraded to XP PRO, but nothings changed...bad software?

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I just bought a lap top with xp home edition on it. I need to upgrade for
work to XP Pro, so I bought XP Pro software from this place online selling it
for like $90. I ran the disk tonight, it took at least a half hour to
install and when it was done, nothing changed, my startup screen does not say
xp professional and when I came microsoft.com, it said I am running regular
XP.

Is this normal? The disk I have says Microsoft Windows XP Professional with
service pack 2, it came with a product key and it says not for retail or OEM
distribution and not for resale. It is a hologram disk that also says
microsoft licensing on it in large green letters.

I just want to make sure this is normal and I didn't get jipped. Any
suggestions you may have are appreciated, thanks!
 
pinkluxe said:
I just bought a lap top with xp home edition on it. I need to upgrade for
work to XP Pro, so I bought XP Pro software from this place online selling it
for like $90. I ran the disk tonight, it took at least a half hour to
install and when it was done, nothing changed, my startup screen does not say
xp professional and when I came microsoft.com, it said I am running regular
XP.

Is this normal? The disk I have says Microsoft Windows XP Professional with
service pack 2, it came with a product key and it says not for retail or OEM
distribution and not for resale. It is a hologram disk that also says
microsoft licensing on it in large green letters.

I just want to make sure this is normal and I didn't get jipped. Any
suggestions you may have are appreciated, thanks!
Click to expand...
 
pinkluxe said:
I just bought a lap top with xp home edition on it. I need to
upgrade for work to XP Pro, so I bought XP Pro software from this
place online selling it for like $90. I ran the disk tonight, it
took at least a half hour to install and when it was done, nothing
changed, my startup screen does not say xp professional and when I
came microsoft.com, it said I am running regular XP.

Is this normal? The disk I have says Microsoft Windows XP
Professional with service pack 2, it came with a product key and it
says not for retail or OEM distribution and not for resale. It is
a hologram disk that also says microsoft licensing on it in large
green letters.

I just want to make sure this is normal and I didn't get jipped.
Any suggestions you may have are appreciated, thanks!
Click to expand...

OEM - clean install only.
That's fine - but I don't know what you hoped to gain going from Home to
Professional. heh

*If* it was SP2 level - no - it wouldn't look much different than Home
Edtion.

Start Button --> RUN

winver

What does the picture at the top of the window that opens say?
 
Shenan said:
OEM - clean install only.
That's fine - but I don't know what you hoped to gain going from Home to
Professional. heh
Click to expand...

The OP wrote that it must be XP Pro for work. He/she would
have been much better off if the workplace took care of the
upgrade in the first place.
 
pinkluxe wrote:

<quote>I just bought a lap top with xp home edition on it. I need to
upgrade for
work to XP Pro, so I bought XP Pro software from this place online selling
it
for like $90. I ran the disk tonight, it took at least a half hour to
install and when it was done, nothing changed, my startup screen does not
say
xp professional and when I came microsoft.com, it said I am running regular
XP. </quote>

Warning bells sounded at that price tag.
Half an hour is normal for an install.
Yes, it would say XP Professional on the startup screen if it was Pro.


<quote>Is this normal? The disk I have says Microsoft Windows XP
Professional with
service pack 2, it came with a product key and it says not for retail or OEM
distribution and not for resale. It is a hologram disk that also says
microsoft licensing on it in large green letters. </quote>

Even bigger alarm bells are now ringing. It says "not for retail or OEM
distribution and not for resale". Genuine retail copies of XP Pro come in a
nice big box, along with the Certificate of Authenticity and Product Key.
They do not come with those terms written on them.

<quote>I just want to make sure this is normal and I didn't get jipped. Any
suggestions you may have are appreciated, thanks! </quote>

You were jipped. Buyer beware.....if a price sounds too good to be true,
then it usually is.

Can you remember which online site you got this from?
 
pinkluxe said:
I just bought a lap top with xp home edition on it. I need to
upgrade for work to XP Pro, so I bought XP Pro software from this
place online selling it for like $90. I ran the disk tonight, it
took at least a half hour to install and when it was done, nothing
changed, my startup screen does not say xp professional and when I
came microsoft.com, it said I am running regular XP.

Is this normal? The disk I have says Microsoft Windows XP
Professional with service pack 2, it came with a product key and
it says not for retail or OEM distribution and not for resale. It is a
hologram disk that also says microsoft licensing on it in
large green letters.

I just want to make sure this is normal and I didn't get jipped.
Any suggestions you may have are appreciated, thanks!
Click to expand...

Shenan said:
OEM - clean install only.
That's fine - but I don't know what you hoped to gain going from
Home to Professional. heh
Click to expand...
The OP wrote that it must be XP Pro for work. He/she would
have been much better off if the workplace took care of the
upgrade in the first place.
Click to expand...

If this is a personal laptop - there is no way I would ever join it to my
work domain.

First - there is no reason to join the domain to access the domain
resources.
Second - I don't want the domain policies on my personal laptop - nor the
ability for the domain admins to access my personal laptop freely.

Which means there would be no reason to upgrade the personal laptop to
Windows XP Professional.
 
Actually, it would. On the splash screen, with SP2, the scrolling bar is green for Home, blue for Pro and Media Center.
 
Jane said:
Warning bells sounded at that price tag.
Half an hour is normal for an install.
Yes, it would say XP Professional on the startup screen if it was
Pro.

<quote>Is this normal? The disk I have says Microsoft Windows XP
Professional with
service pack 2, it came with a product key and it says not for
retail or OEM distribution and not for resale. It is a hologram
disk that also says microsoft licensing on it in large green
letters. </quote>

Even bigger alarm bells are now ringing. It says "not for retail
or OEM distribution and not for resale". Genuine retail copies of
XP Pro come in a nice big box, along with the Certificate of
Authenticity and Product Key. They do not come with those terms
written on them.

<quote>I just want to make sure this is normal and I didn't get
jipped. Any suggestions you may have are appreciated, thanks!
</quote>

You were jipped. Buyer beware.....if a price sounds too good to be
true, then it usually is.

Can you remember which online site you got this from?
Click to expand...

Actually - they were not "jipped". They purchased an OEM copy of Windows XP
Professional.

These are perfectly legal and suitable installs - if you don't plan on
upgrading anything - but perfomrning clean installations - and you don't
*need* the support direct from Microsoft.
 
If it's a genuine OEM version, why would it say "not for retail or OEM
distribution and not for resale" on it??
 
Shenan said:
If this is a personal laptop - there is no way I would ever join it to my
work domain.

First - there is no reason to join the domain to access the domain
resources.
Second - I don't want the domain policies on my personal laptop - nor the
ability for the domain admins to access my personal laptop freely.

Which means there would be no reason to upgrade the personal laptop to
Windows XP Professional.
Click to expand...

Concur.
 
Yes, it would say XP Professional on the startup screen if it was Pro.

If SP2 is installed or slipstreamed, then no it would not. This was a change
with that service pack.
Even bigger alarm bells are now ringing. It says "not for retail or OEM
distribution and not for resale". Genuine retail copies of XP Pro come in
a
nice big box, along with the Certificate of Authenticity and Product Key.
They do not come with those terms written on them.
Click to expand...

Quite true, what I suspect the OP may have gotten is an illegally sold
internal upgrade disk. It may pass muster on the WGA thing though, as this
doesn't happen very often. What makes me think so is this missive:
The disk I have says Microsoft Windows XP Professional with
service pack 2, it came with a product key and it says not for retail or
OEM
distribution and not for resale. It is a hologram disk that also says
microsoft licensing on it in large green letters.
Click to expand...

This suggests it is an internal upgrade, possibly for a volume license
purchaser. Legit for them, but not for him. Somebody in the company's making
a few $$$'s on the sly.
Jane, not plain ;) 64bit enabled ;)
Click to expand...

Ain't 64bit nice?

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Jane said:
If it's a genuine OEM version, why would it say "not for retail or OEM
distribution and not for resale" on it??
Click to expand...

It isn't OEM.

It is select or open licence media, by the sound of it.
 
Ok, when I right click on my computer it does say windows xp professional,
with service pack 2. So I guess it's all good.

The site, which I have forgotten, had a bunch of links to view showing how
it was legal to sell these cd's. I just needed this to upgrade for work, so
I can connect to the network. Since I am an independant contractor working
out of a larger organization, it is my responsibility to purchase it. So I
just needed to get it on my computer, I don't need all the fancy stuff that
comes in the nice shiny blue box, just need my computer to say xp pro, so the
tech boys at corporate will shut up.

I think for what I need this for, it is good enough. But it would be nice
to know exactly what the difference between this one and the one that comes
in the box is. If anyone knows, feel free to post.
 
pinkluxe said:
Ok, when I right click on my computer it does say windows xp professional,
with service pack 2. So I guess it's all good.

The site, which I have forgotten, had a bunch of links to view showing how
it was legal to sell these cd's. I just needed this to upgrade for work, so
I can connect to the network. Since I am an independant contractor working
out of a larger organization, it is my responsibility to purchase it. So I
just needed to get it on my computer, I don't need all the fancy stuff that
comes in the nice shiny blue box, just need my computer to say xp pro, so the
tech boys at corporate will shut up.

I think for what I need this for, it is good enough. But it would be nice
to know exactly what the difference between this one and the one that comes
in the box is. If anyone knows, feel free to post.
Click to expand...

Only you knew where the Windows XP cdrom was obtained. The price
at $90 is somewhat low. But if it works, passes WGA and does all
you expect of it, then leave it at that. The larger organization
must be a pretty chintzy one, requiring you to obtain Windows XP
Pro on your own; many typically give the independent contractor a
copy of the Volume License XP cdrom and key, if not do the upgrade.
And take heed what Shenan Stanley had written earlier about the type
of network that this laptop will be connected.
 
Jane said:
If it's a genuine OEM version, why would it say "not for retail or
OEM distribution and not for resale" on it??
Click to expand...

I missed a bit there - admittedly.
After re-reading - I would bet it is an Open, Select or Enterprise Agreement
CD..
Disks and documentation come shrink-wrapped with decals identifying them as
"World Wide Fulfillment" product, and "Not for Retail or OEM Distribution."
It is illegal to purchase these disks without a Select or Open License.
 
Now I'm intrigued.....if the OP did a fresh install of XP Pro with SP2, then
what would appear on the startup screen? I assumed that all Pro versions
would say Pro, just as Home versions would say Home. Or do they just say
XP?
 
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