xp pro install over home

joshbrinkley · 07-20-2005, 06:20 AM

sisters laptop has xp home, bought from a person used so no cd or product key, but i have a xp pro, so since she is having problems i was wondering if it is possible to install pro over home. or would it really mess things up? shes getting a windows explorer error and i'm thinking a reinstall would fix it, but i don't want to lose everything, so thats why i am asking?

**Terrister** · 07-20-2005, 06:51 AM

XP Pro upgrade will load over XP Home. You will need a unique product key to do this legally.

joshbrinkley · 07-20-2005, 07:09 AM

i have an unique pro key just don't have the home stuff.

**petercj** · 07-20-2005, 07:47 AM

If the laptop has enough disc space, you could load XP Pro alongside XP Home and transfer the data over - just a thought. Personally I'm just not keen on upgrading on top of an older, or in this case just a used, o/s. But as Terrister says, if you have the key and it's a full copy of Pro (Windows CD) it should work.

By the way, if the copy of XP Pro is on another machine as well, you are likely to hit problems from various directions.

Peter

joshbrinkley · 07-20-2005, 08:54 AM

well already hit a problem, when upgrading to pro, i get a fatal error during setup that says, "Installation Failed: d:\i386\asms. Error Message: The device is not ready." but the cd is in the drive and it has been working fine up to that point.

jflan · 07-20-2005, 09:33 AM

If I aquired such a laptop that "came in from the wild" I would not hesitate to write zeroes on it first. I like DBAN for disk washing.

If you have a full version of XP it should install with no problem.

If you are trying to do this with an upgrade version over XP with unknown origins, all bets are off.

I'm probably being a bit redudant, but that's my take on it. Good Luck.

Regards,
JF
Vancouver,WA

joshbrinkley · 07-20-2005, 09:47 AM

its a full version xp pro that i am trying to upgrade to.

jflan · 07-20-2005, 10:01 AM

OK, I think, as you said XP is not seeing the drive as formatted (ready). I would download the floppy version of DBAN and run it. Or use the FDISK utility from within Windows and format/set-to-active the drive.

joshbrinkley · 07-20-2005, 10:13 AM

well see i think its got more to do with the cd or cdrom drive b/c it says d:\filename isn't ready

jflan · 07-20-2005, 11:21 AM

Yes, you're right, unless you have HD partitions, (D:) drive would typically be your first optical drive.

I would take a look in Device Manager and make sure that there are no conclicts with that drive or problems with its driver.

Has the drive been working with other disks?

**Terrister** · 07-20-2005, 11:34 AM

Try copying the I386 folder from the cd to a folder on the hard drive and run setup from there.

joshbrinkley · 07-21-2005, 08:22 AM

alright, i'm loading from scratch but it hung up at 39 minutes, is there a way to get to a command prompt from the xp pro cd, or is there a bootable program i can download so that i can copy the i386 from the cd to hd?

BMR777 · 07-21-2005, 08:26 AM

Yes, there si a command prompt on the XP CD. Go into recovery console by loading CD and on main menu press "R" and then "C" and a black screen will appear. You should be able to use this as DOS command prompt.

BMR777

kjprince · 07-21-2005, 09:44 AM

Remeber though that the RC has only limited access control and IS NOT a fully usable command prompt like you would have in the 9x systems.

07-20-2005, 06:20 AM	#1 (permalink)
joshbrinkley Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 80 OS: xp	xp pro install over home sisters laptop has xp home, bought from a person used so no cd or product key, but i have a xp pro, so since she is having problems i was wondering if it is possible to install pro over home. or would it really mess things up? shes getting a windows explorer error and i'm thinking a reinstall would fix it, but i don't want to lose everything, so thats why i am asking?

07-20-2005, 06:51 AM	#2 (permalink)
Terrister Moderator Hardware Forum Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: West Georgia, USA Posts: 6,919 OS: Xp	XP Pro upgrade will load over XP Home. You will need a unique product key to do this legally. __________________

07-20-2005, 11:34 AM	#11 (permalink)
Terrister Moderator Hardware Forum Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: West Georgia, USA Posts: 6,919 OS: Xp	Try copying the I386 folder from the cd to a folder on the hard drive and run setup from there. __________________

07-21-2005, 08:26 AM	#13 (permalink)
BMR777 Tech, Microsoft Support Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 1,395 OS: XP Pro, XP Home, Vista Home Basic, Ubuntu Studio Blog Entries: 2	Yes, there si a command prompt on the XP CD. Go into recovery console by loading CD and on main menu press "R" and then "C" and a black screen will appear. You should be able to use this as DOS command prompt. BMR777 __________________ Brandon Rusnak Protection: AVG Free Anti Virus :: Windows Defender :: Hosts File :: SiteAdvisor :: ZoneAlarm Quick Fixes: 5 Steps to remove spyware

07-21-2005, 09:44 AM	#14 (permalink)
kjprince Registered User Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Hillsboro, Oregon Posts: 1 OS: Win XP(Pro/Home)/2000 Advanced Server/98SE	Remeber though that the RC has only limited access control and IS NOT a fully usable command prompt like you would have in the 9x systems. __________________ Kevin P Hillsboro, Oregon

07-20-2005, 07:09 AM	#3 (permalink)
joshbrinkley Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 80 OS: xp	i have an unique pro key just don't have the home stuff.

07-20-2005, 07:47 AM	#4 (permalink)
petercj UK Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: South Coast UK Posts: 905 OS: Win XP Pro/XP Home/98se/Suse Linux 9.1 & Xandros 3 Deluxe	If the laptop has enough disc space, you could load XP Pro alongside XP Home and transfer the data over - just a thought. Personally I'm just not keen on upgrading on top of an older, or in this case just a used, o/s. But as Terrister says, if you have the key and it's a full copy of Pro (Windows CD) it should work. By the way, if the copy of XP Pro is on another machine as well, you are likely to hit problems from various directions. Peter

07-20-2005, 08:54 AM	#5 (permalink)
joshbrinkley Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 80 OS: xp	well already hit a problem, when upgrading to pro, i get a fatal error during setup that says, "Installation Failed: d:\i386\asms. Error Message: The device is not ready." but the cd is in the drive and it has been working fine up to that point.

07-20-2005, 09:33 AM	#6 (permalink)
jflan Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Location: Vancouver, WA Posts: 935 OS: XP/Puppy 2.14	If I aquired such a laptop that "came in from the wild" I would not hesitate to write zeroes on it first. I like DBAN for disk washing. If you have a full version of XP it should install with no problem. If you are trying to do this with an upgrade version over XP with unknown origins, all bets are off. I'm probably being a bit redudant, but that's my take on it. Good Luck. Regards, JF Vancouver,WA

07-20-2005, 09:47 AM	#7 (permalink)
joshbrinkley Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 80 OS: xp	its a full version xp pro that i am trying to upgrade to.

07-20-2005, 10:01 AM	#8 (permalink)
jflan Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Location: Vancouver, WA Posts: 935 OS: XP/Puppy 2.14	OK, I think, as you said XP is not seeing the drive as formatted (ready). I would download the floppy version of DBAN and run it. Or use the FDISK utility from within Windows and format/set-to-active the drive.

07-20-2005, 10:13 AM	#9 (permalink)
joshbrinkley Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 80 OS: xp	well see i think its got more to do with the cd or cdrom drive b/c it says d:\filename isn't ready

07-20-2005, 11:21 AM	#10 (permalink)
jflan Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Location: Vancouver, WA Posts: 935 OS: XP/Puppy 2.14	Yes, you're right, unless you have HD partitions, (D:) drive would typically be your first optical drive. I would take a look in Device Manager and make sure that there are no conclicts with that drive or problems with its driver. Has the drive been working with other disks?

07-21-2005, 08:22 AM	#12 (permalink)
joshbrinkley Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 80 OS: xp	alright, i'm loading from scratch but it hung up at 39 minutes, is there a way to get to a command prompt from the xp pro cd, or is there a bootable program i can download so that i can copy the i386 from the cd to hd?