Possible to install XP Pro on top of XP home?

joemama

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What I would like to do is a repair install of Pro Sp2 on top of Home Sp2....without formatting and losing installed programs. Can I do this?
 
In theory, I think you can, but you may end up with an equally unstable install. It's always best to repair with the same version and SP level as is installed.
 
djnes said:
In theory, I think you can, but you may end up with an equally unstable install. It's always best to repair with the same version and SP level as is installed.
d!tto
 
Well I tried to do an "upgrade" install from within Xp Home and had some issues...XP pro apparently wants to install all your devices during initial installation instead of waiting till after the basic install finishes. When it asked me for the driver cd for my soundcard it also simultaneously killed my usb so I couldn't use my keyboard or mouse to control anything....I had to restart teh installation with a ps2 keyboard. :rolleyes: YMMV..
 
Driver's CDs are worthless because they're usually outdated by the time you buy the product. Why not boot from the XP Pro CD and install it that way, if you have to switch from Home to Pro? First, download all the latest drivers for your hardware, and put them on a CD or USB Thumb Drive.
 
djnes said:
Driver's CDs are worthless because they're usually outdated by the time you buy the product. Why not boot from the XP Pro CD and install it that way, if you have to switch from Home to Pro? First, download all the latest drivers for your hardware, and put them on a CD or USB Thumb Drive.
My method is to skip all that...get into windows and install chipset drivers/nic and then download the latest version of everything else I need. Yeah, it takes more time than simply making a cd beforehand but I'm lazy. :p
 
joemama said:
What I would like to do is a repair install of Pro Sp2 on top of Home Sp2....without formatting and losing installed programs. Can I do this?

If you are using a retail xp pro full full version or upgrade you should be fine. Most of the time you can't do it with an OEM copy. Pretty much you just want to do an inplace upgrade. A VLK disk(corporate) will let you upgrade as well.
 
Yes, an In-place upgrade install should work fine. I'd advise ensuring that SP2 is integrated into the install CD first, though, no matter what version of XP is being used for the upgrade install.


But the pertinent question is really "WHY?"

Upgrade installs don't really 'fix' things. The procedure can magnify existing problems you didn't even realise were there. They can render a troublesome machine unusable. And the only practical reason for changing from XP Home to XP Pro (other than to legitimise and illegal original install of course) is to add domain networking capability.

If the PC has problems it's always far, far preferable to back up, wipe and start over. Anybody thinking they're saving time by using an upgrade install will soon change their tune if the upgrade creates or magnifies problems, as it most often does!
 
Why are you trying to "upgrade" from xp home to xp pro? The pro has some extra features that most people don't need.
There is only one SP2 CD, which can be used to bring both xp home and xp pro up to SP2.
 
The reason why is because I had to format the HD (loads of spyware and probably viruses) on my sisters 4 year old HP computer and I want to use the XP Home that I already have for hers and get Pro for myself. Doesn't matter because I already did it and it's working fine now after some initial trouble....if I were trying to fix existing problems I would have done a complete format/reinstall but the version of XP Home was only 3 weeks old since my last format and I didn't want to take the time to back up everything.
 
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