Upgrading of Windows XP home to XP Pro

[pcloverfun]

Hi PC Guys & Gals,

I am a first-timer to Windows upgrading and since I have no experience in technical support, I really hope that you guys out there can help me step by step with the upgrade.

I have a few questions pertaining to the upgrade. Firstly, do I need to backup all my important files before the upgrade is done? What other precautions that I need to take note before I do the upgrade?

My boss was telling me that I can just put in the XP Pro CD and let it run but I am still in doubt and would like to seek expert tips and advice here.

Appreciate if you could help me on this..Thank you..

PCLOVERFUN

[Panama Red]

First a question. Why do you want to upgrade to Pro? It isn't necessary unless you are joining a business network or domain or it is required by a university network.

[pcloverfun]

Hi Panama_Red,

Thanks for replying. Sorry, I did not mention the reason. Currently, my PC doesn't connect to the company's domain. I want to access to all the network drives and to apply security settings to some folders. I can't do that with my XP home.

As this is the first time I am upgrading to XP Pro, I need more help.


PCLOVERFUN

[Panama Red]

You should be able to do an upgrade to Pro the same way you would do a repair/install of either Home or Pro. Boot to the Pro CD, Press a key to boot from the CD when it is displayed on the screen. Once the Setup files are loaded you will be given an option to use the Recovery Console or New Installation. Choose New Installation. It will scan your system and when if finds the existing XP Home installation you will be give a Repair option. Press the R to initiate the repair and let it run. Even tho this method should not damage any installed programs or files, it's still a good idea to back the files up before you begin the installation. You will also need the XP Pro product key in order to complete the installation. When you're finished, you'll need to do all the updates from MS Windows Updates to bring your system up to date. If the Pro disk you use doesn't have SP2 on it, you'll need to do the SP2 upgrade too. Best to do a thorough scan with Adaware and Spybot - Search and Destroy, an antivirus scan (or use the online scan at Trendmicro.com) as well as defrag the hard drive before you install SP2. Might even be a good idea to run those scans before you do the Pro upgrade. Good luck.