Re: Fresh install
- From: Bruce Chambers <bchambers@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2006 19:28:23 -0600
Ben wrote:
I have a Dell Computer that came with an OEM Windows XP Home Edition. A few months ago, I obtained a job as a computer technician that gives technical support for a certain program that needs Windows XP Pro to run it properly.
Are you sure? As a computer technician, you'd already know that the WinXP Home and WinXP Pro versions are _identical_ when it comes to performance, stability, and device driver and software application compatibility. Is it a fact that the application really won't work on WinXP Home, or is it that the application's manufacturer simply didn't test it, and arbitrarily claimed incompatibility?
I bought the Windows XP Pro update, and installed it over my XP Home Edition. Several techs told me that was not a good idea.
You probably shouldn't listen to those particular "techs" any more; at least not concerning computers.
Granted, many uninformed people do recommend that one always perform a clean installation, rather than upgrade over an earlier OS. For the most part, I feel that these people, while usually well-intended, are living in the past, and are basing their recommendations on their experiences with older, obsolete operating systems or hearsay. One would save a lot of time by upgrading a PC to WinXP, rather than performing a clean installation, if there're no hardware or software incompatibilities. Microsoft has greatly improved (over earlier versions of Windows) WinXP's ability to smoothly upgrade an earlier OS.
Certainly, there are times when an in-place upgrade is contra-indicated:
1) When the underlying hardware isn't certified as being fully compatible with the newer OS, and/or updated device drivers are not available from the device's manufacturer. Of course, this condition also causes problems with clean installations.
2) When the original OS is corrupt, damaged, and/or virus/malware infested. I've also seen simple, straight-forward upgrades from WinXP Home to WinXP Pro fail because the computer owner had let the system become malware-infested. Upgrading over a problematic OS isn't normally a wise course to establishing a stable installation.
3) When the new OS isn't designed to properly, correctly, and safely perform an upgrade.
But to cavalierly dismiss *all* upgrades as unsafe and inadvisable is patently absurd. A properly prepared and maintained PC can almost always be successfully upgraded by a knowledgeable and competent technician. I've lost count of the systems I've seen that have been upgraded from Win95 to Win98 to Win2K to WinXP (usually with incremental hardware upgrades over the same time period), without the need for a clean installation, and that are still operating without any problems attributable to upgrades.
Ever since I installed it, my computer has been running slower; also,my windows I try to open, especially most of the time my Internet Explorer's windows, don't open until after I log off my ISP, and\or open Task Manager and\or reboot the computer. I currently have Microsoft One Live Care and Norton Anti-Virus programs on my computer,
.... hence the slow computer...
and have no spyware or viruses; it has to be this installation I did.
Only if there were problems with the original installation from which you upgraded.
I want to reformat my computer, and install the Windows XP Pro update directly into my computer, skipping installing the OEM copy of Windows XP Home Edition. I was told there is a way to do this, i.e. all I need to do is, during the process of installing Windows XP Pro update, is to get the computer to read the license of the full OEM copy of my Windows XP Home Edition that came with my computer. How do I do this?
Again, as a computer technician, you'd know that it's quite possible to perform a clean installation using the WinXP Upgrade CD, provided you have the true installation CD for the earlier OS.
Simply boot from the WinXP Upgrade CD. You'll be offered the opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part of the installation process. The Upgrade CD checks to see if a qualifying OS is installed, and, if it finds none, it asks you to insert the installation media (CD) of that OS. Unfortunately, an OEM "Recovery/Restore" CD will not work for this purpose; you must have a true installation CD, complete with the "\Win98" folder and *.cab files, or the "\i386" folder of WinNT/2K.
--
Bruce Chambers
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