winXP home upgrade to XP pro

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pika2000

Limp Gawd
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Apr 16, 2003
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I would like to get a laptop. The cost difference of XP home pre-installed and XP pro is $100, while I could get retail XP pro upgrade with student discount cheaper than $100. If I get the XP home version, would I be able to upgrade the laptop to XP pro this way? I'm afraid some propietary drivers/files would mess things up. Anybody with this kind of experience?

Thanks.
 
Pre installed? If possible just install it yourself.

If you get it with Home, and you want to install Pro I'd recommend doing a fresh install, ie. format your harddrive and install xp afresh. Upgrades over Home to Pro can cause file fragmentation and degregation and lead to some problems in the future.
 
With a desktop, I would do just that. However, this is going to be a laptop, which has more propietary drivers and software than a regular desktop. Also, many laptops come only with recovery CDs. I just want to know if there is anyone who succesfully upgrade a laptop with pre-installed winXP home to XP pro using retail XP pro upgrade.
 
I formatted over Dell's preintalled XP Home on a D600 with a copy of XP Pro Corp with no problems at all. Dell did have a driver cd but nothin I couldn't have gotten off their website.
 
I've read many people recommend upgrading on laptops instead of clean install. Many laptops only come with rescue/recovery CDs, and not all drivers are available for download. Also some laptops have hidden partition, etc that would complicate partitioning/formatting with clean install.
 
pika2000 said:
I've read many people recommend upgrading on laptops instead of clean install. Many laptops only come with rescue/recovery CDs, and not all drivers are available for download. Also some laptops have hidden partition, etc that would complicate partitioning/formatting with clean install.
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I completely disagree. On 3 laptops, I have formatted and done a fresh install of windows xp pro. Remove all partitions and all will go fine.
UPGRADES of an OS' are never a good idea. And you have nothing to worry about in this case. ;)
 
Big P said:
Pre installed? If possible just install it yourself.

If you get it with Home, and you want to install Pro I'd recommend doing a fresh install, ie. format your harddrive and install xp afresh. Upgrades over Home to Pro can cause file fragmentation and degregation and lead to some problems in the future.
Click to expand...

I agree with Big P here. If you do a fresh install you'll get rid of all the company shit that comes with the laptop. Dell is one of the biggest offenders. Reformat yourself...install it yourself.
 
Think about it this way, laptops are tiny desktops. There is no 'magic' that makes them what they are, nothing special about the OS load, drivers, etc., just smaller.

If you feel comfortable doing this on a desktop, the fact that it's a laptop shouldn't scare you. Aside from some extra drivers for power management, there really isn't much difference at all..
 
^^^ what they said - I've done lots of fresh installs of XP Pro onto laptops (Inspiron 4000, a random Latitude, a Viao, etc), and never had a problem. Every last driver is available on the net, too, so no need to worry about losing them.

-SEAL
 
Will I be able to fresh install XP pro using the retail XP pro upgrade? Some people said the setup would ask for an older windows CD to verify the upgrade. However, what if the laptop comes only with rescue/recovery CDs?
 
pika2000 said:
Will I be able to fresh install XP pro using the retail XP pro upgrade? Some people said the setup would ask for an older windows CD to verify the upgrade. However, what if the laptop comes only with rescue/recovery CDs?
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Of course your laptop will come with the XP HOME install cd if it comes with XP HOME installed on it when you get it. (or it would be the first one that didnt)
 
Big P said:
Of course your laptop will come with the XP HOME install cd if it comes with XP HOME installed on it when you get it. (or it would be the first one that didnt)
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Really? So today all manufactures include the original winXP CD? The reason I asked is that in the past, I've seen manufactures not including any windows CD, only a set of recovery CDs. My friend had a compaq desktop that only comes with recovery CDs, no OS cds at all. Another friend has a Toshiba laptop that only comes with a recovery DVD, nothing else.

As far as I know, only Dell and small companies (like abspc) that include the OS CD. Gateway used to do that, but I heard they moved to recovery CDs.

Thanks for the info.
 
Big P said:
Of course your laptop will come with the XP HOME install cd if it comes with XP HOME installed on it when you get it. (or it would be the first one that didnt)
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Not true.

Laptops come with a recovery disc. It can restore the OS and delete all programs but it will install the manufactuers software. It will NOT work on any other computer. It's not a free copy of XP.

Pika - no the laptop wont come with a CD with the full OS on it.
 
ComputerBox34 said:
Not true.

Laptops come with a recovery disc. It can restore the OS and delete all programs but it will install the manufactuers software. It will NOT work on any other computer. It's not a free copy of XP.

Pika - no the laptop wont come with a CD with the full OS on it.
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Bullshit. My laptop came with the full install CD, as did my brother's, as did a couple other people I know. It depends on the company you are buying from.

Also, Pika, you are incorrect about being able to download drivers easily. There are plenty of places to get drivers for any and all laptop components. Almost all OEMs who sell laptops on the web have download sections (with the crap-holes being the only exception). The trouble is more in identifying the hardware in order to know what driver to install. Luckily, XP recognizes almost all hardware, and makes it relatively easy to figure out what you need to get most drivers.
 
OK, so depending on the company, I might/might not receive the full OS CD. Now, is it possible to clean install using a retail winxp pro upgrade if I only have the recovery CDs? Or I would be pretty much screwed and forced to buy from the company? Most companies don't specifically say whether they include the full winXP CD or not on their webpages. :(

So far, the only companies that I know included the actual winxp CD are Dell and small OEM companies. GrenME, may I know the brands of your, your brother, and your friends' laptops?

Thanks
 
Before all this speculation why not ask the people whom you are getting the laptop off if you get the INSTALL cd for home with it? All I'm saying is in Europe anyway, ALL LAPTOPs come with all the software cds for whats installed on it as you get it.

Unless maybe you're getting it from dodgy dens discount drug store. :p
 
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