Re-installing Windows XP

A good thing to read. I was entering R for the Recovery Console and should have waited till later to enter R for repair. Too late for me now, but I will remember this for the next time I get in the same pickle.

 

jay2009,
1) AFAIK you must have a full retail CD, sorry.

mickzer.

 

Hi ephemarial,

That's what I suggested and gave a link for him to follow. And you're correct, Pro over Home is a much, much better idea.

@Christer: Deal!

 

Hi mickzer,

A full retail version is not necessary. XP Home qualifies as an existing version and the XP Pro upgrade version will install over it.

I just called MS to double check and was told the above info is correct — Pro will install over Home.

p.s. Where is mxcaballero, by the way?

 

jpChris
This thread has become very confusing....
I thought we were still talking about a repair install.......or does what you say still hold ie. that you can perform a repair install on Home with a Pro CD?.( I didn't think that was the case).
And that you needed a full OS CD to do a repair install.

mickzer.

 

Hi mickzer,

Your confused! This thing has gone in more directions than our tax money.

Firstly, though, mxcaballero wrote: "If I were to reinstall Windows XP, would my installed programs work? "
And Christer answered: "A reinstallation wipes everything. "

True.

Then mxcaballero posted back: "I have been working for several years with XP Home. I want to use XP Pro. Since I had the feeling that reinstalling XP Pro over XP Home, my programs would not work . . . "

Methinks mxcaballero has his terminology wrong. He's talking about a "reinstall" and an "upgrade" as being the same thing (I thimk).

If he's having problems with his OS, then a "repair" is called for — not a reinstall. Only if the system is badly munged, then a re-install is called for. In which case Christer's answer to mxcaballero is the answer.

However, in mxcaballero second post he's equating an "upgrade" with a "reinstall." In which case you are correct: To repair\reinstall, you need the original OS disk (Home) — not a different version (Pro), and it can be an upgrade disk. It doesn't have to be the full-install disk.

If mxcaballero would have asked: "I have XP Home. I want to upgrade to XP Pro. Can I do it and still keep my programs? "; then the question would have been answered in one post.

Now he has Home on one partition and Pro on another and has to reinstall all his Home programs on his Pro: Unless he upgrades his Home to Pro.

[mxcaballero, where are you?]