Home 2 Pro

[apu95]

i just got my new dell pc and i want to upgrade it from home to pro before starting to give it general use, but i have some questions:
1) is it better to upgrade or to reformat and install pro?
2) will i have to activate the pro installation as well?
3) since the home edition isnt being used, can i install it on another pc and activate it? (since it wont be in use anymore with the dell pc)

 

[allan]

1) Makes no difference
2) It activates automatically, but yes
3) Probably, yes.... but you'll likely need to call MS to get a new activation code or Product ID to enter during installation.

 

[mal1930]

HI, This was discussed on another forum and it seems Microsoft will let you change to another computer once if you use home. Peace Mal

 

[ModestCargo]

Despite what Allan said, I would reformat and install it (to reformat boot from the XP Pro CD, go to the partition manager and erase C: and then create a new partition, format it with NTFS, and install Windows XP onto it). This way, you don't have all the dell promotional crap and ads on your computer. Believe me, you don't need any of it.

That's a big hard drive, man. I envy you.

 

[allan]

Originally posted by ModestCargo
Despite what Allan said, I would reformat and install it (to reformat boot from the XP Pro CD, go to the partition manager and erase C: and then create a new partition, format it with NTFS, and install Windows XP onto it). This way, you don't have all the dell promotional crap and ads on your computer. Believe me, you don't need any of it.

That's a big hard drive, man. I envy you.

Yeah, okay - no argument there. But from the standpoint of whether there is a difference between an upgrade from home to pro vs. a reformat, unlike upgrading from another OS to XP there is not.

 

[Tinker]

Welllllll, I did a upgrade from Home to Pro in order to save all my files. 3 weeks later things ran so bad I reformatted and clean install of Pro. This was much better for me. Of coarse I lost some files but nothing that could not be rebuilt...

I agree that it should not matter, however it did for me....

 

[spikemic]

what were you looking to add going from home to pro if i may ask? remote desktop? hooking it to a domain? 5 more connections?

its the same basic OS minus the features you'd want in a business environment i cant see where this upgrade is worth the headaches for most.

i start with pro on most cause i can get a full copy for what it cost to get an upgrade copy of home in the store but have built them with home for people to save $100 and is more than adequate

there is reasons but for the average user i don't see alot of them..... just wondering

oh and no matter what you use a clean install is always best to do, even from an upgrade disk..........

 

[mal1930]

Hi, I started with Pro but when I bought my new computer I went legit and now use home even though Pro is still available.

It is all I need and not worth the hassle to me. Peace Mal

 

[Powerchordpunk]

I agree -- XP Home has almost all the features of pro that anyone normal user needs. I don't need remote desktop because I run a ftp server. I can't even imagine what people say regarding a choice of pro over home. What are they?