upgrading from XP "MCE" to XP "Pro"

[rarewolf]

I just ordered a DELL computer, and although a bit suprised I couldn't
order it with XP/Pro, I thought I'd be able to move my current XP/Pro
upgrade to this new computer. (not without some hassle ... phoning
Microsoft and all, and re-installing Win2k on the old computer).

The DELL I just ordered will come with XP "Media Center Edition", and I
see on my XP/Pro upgrade that MCE is not a upgrade path. Could this be
true?

Reasons I believe I need to upgrade from MCE: (1) in home networking
with other computers, and (2) the security offered by Pro in context
with networking, and (3) while this will be a "media" computer, I feel
I already have all the media software I want or need.

If it turns out the upgrade will work with MCE, will there be any other
problems associated with upgrading from a DELL OEM installation with a
generic XP/Pro upgrade?

tia

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I just ordered a DELL computer, and although a bit suprised I
couldn't order it with XP/Pro, I thought I'd be able to move my
current XP/Pro upgrade to this new computer. (not without some
hassle ... phoning Microsoft and all, and re-installing Win2k on
the old computer).

The DELL I just ordered will come with XP "Media Center Edition",
and I see on my XP/Pro upgrade that MCE is not a upgrade path.
Could this be true?

Reasons I believe I need to upgrade from MCE: (1) in home
networking with other computers, and (2) the security offered by
Pro in context with networking, and (3) while this will be a
"media" computer, I feel I already have all the media software I
want or need.

If it turns out the upgrade will work with MCE, will there be any
other problems associated with upgrading from a DELL OEM
installation with a generic XP/Pro upgrade?

Why would you need to upgrade? I saw no mention of domains in your post.

Windows XP Media Center Edition is Windows XP Professional Edition with
additional software and a few features (like the ability to natively join a
domain) removed. The network ability of all the Windows XP editions are
practically the same - with the ability to join domains and do tweaks in
non-safe mode as examples a few differences between XP Home and Pro.

Unless you will be joining a domain - you are wasting your time and money
moving laterally to Windows XP Professional in all other terms.

(You'd have to format everything to go to Windows XP Professional - yes -
since it is *not* an upgrade.)

 

[theimmortalone17]

umm... Dude the reason why most manufacturers give out MCE now is
because MCE is windows xp PRO . it just has extra features for
multimedia. So keep MCE, besides it gets more updates than PRO and HOME

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I just ordered a DELL computer, and although a bit suprised I
couldn't order it with XP/Pro, I thought I'd be able to move my
current XP/Pro upgrade to this new computer. (not without some
hassle ... phoning Microsoft and all, and re-installing Win2k on
the old computer).

The DELL I just ordered will come with XP "Media Center Edition",
and I see on my XP/Pro upgrade that MCE is not a upgrade path.
Could this be true?

Reasons I believe I need to upgrade from MCE: (1) in home
networking with other computers, and (2) the security offered by
Pro in context with networking, and (3) while this will be a
"media" computer, I feel I already have all the media software I
want or need.

If it turns out the upgrade will work with MCE, will there be any
other problems associated with upgrading from a DELL OEM
installation with a generic XP/Pro upgrade?

umm... Dude the reason why most manufacturers give out MCE now is
because MCE is windows xp PRO . it just has extra features for
multimedia. So keep MCE, besides it gets more updates than PRO and
HOME

While "theimmortalone17" is correct in most aspects (that Media Center is
based off Professional - with added features).. They miss that some
features of professional (like the ability to join domains) have been
removed and as for the "gets more updates than pro and home" thing.. I can
only agree with that in as far as it has additional software that gets
updates in addition to the same updates that the other versions of Windows
XP get.

In other words - Windows XP Media Center Edition gets the exact same updates
as any other version of Windows XP and has the same level of support. Any
additiona updates it receives would be due to extraneous softwar - much like
if you installed Microsoft Office or any other software from any other
company.. I could argue that my Windows XP Professional installation with
Microsoft Office gets more updates than my Windows XP Professional install
without Microsoft office - but why would I?

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I just ordered a DELL computer, and although a bit suprised I couldn't
order it with XP/Pro, I thought I'd be able to move my current XP/Pro
upgrade to this new computer. (not without some hassle ... phoning
Microsoft and all, and re-installing Win2k on the old computer).

The DELL I just ordered will come with XP "Media Center Edition", and I
see on my XP/Pro upgrade that MCE is not a upgrade path. Could this be
true?

Yes, it's true. WinXP Media Center Edition is a _superset_ (iow, it
does _everything_ WinXP Pro can do (except join a domain), plus contains
additional multi-media features) of WinXP Pro.

Windows XP Media Center Edition Home
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ehome/default.asp

Reasons I believe I need to upgrade from MCE: (1) in home networking
with other computers, and

WinXP MCE is perfectly capable of home peer-to-peer networking. It
just can't be part of a corporate domain.


(2) the security offered by Pro in context

with networking,

Because WinXP MCE is a superset of WinXP Pro, is has exactly the same
security capabilities.

and (3) while this will be a "media" computer, I feel
I already have all the media software I want or need.

But do you already have the specific software to properly deal with the
more specialized hardware that comes in a Media Center PC?

If it turns out the upgrade will work with MCE,

To be more accurate, it's a "downgrade," and the only way to do it
would be to format the hard drive and start fresh.

will there be any other
problems associated with upgrading from a DELL OEM installation with a
generic XP/Pro upgrade?

By replacing the OEM OS with something else, you'll void any
service/support agreements with Dell, and might even void the computer's
warranty. Ask Dell.


--

Bruce Chambers

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[Guest]

You definatly want to keep MCE. It's the same as Pro, but with more
features. If you don't use the features - it won't make your computer run
slower at all. Remember it doesn't matter how much you have "on" your
computer, just how much you're using at once that determines your speed.

Since MCE already IS Pro, there's no reason to deny yourself features you
may want later.

Also, installing a different OS (even an upgrade) will void your warrenty
from your OEM.