My friend bought an H-P with xp-home and all the crap on it he doesnt need. The guy at the store told us that I can just install xp-Pro over the Home edition and it will be fine. They dont supply drivers for the system just the entire system disks(which sucks, I think) Does anyone know if this will work? Thanks

You will need to register the new WinXP pro installation. If you are going to spend to money on WPpro then I suggest that you use a utility called Delpart to delete the partitions on the harddrive. There may be a hidden restore partition that you won't need and it takes up drive space. The only advantage pricewise to buying one of these types of computers is that the OSystem is pretty much free. Once your friend starts buying XPpro (retail yet) he could get a better maching for the same cash. If this machine is brand spanking new, tell him to return it. Once he wipes the drive all his tech support is gone.

You should be able to install over it but be aware you will need a new cd key for the pro as the pro won't accept the home coa. Please post back within 24 hours or I will delete the post from my follow up list. Thanks. It would be a courtesy if you would post back and let us know if the fix worked or not.

Why XP Pro, if I may ask? XP Home does just fine in most cases unless you need home networking or other extra features. In that case, if you can find an XP Home CD, you should be able to use the cd key that came with your friends computer. Also, to my knowledge, this is not in violation of Microsoft's policies & should be legitimate but it's up to you to make sure.

HP uses recovery discs, correct? Won't installing XP Pro over XP Home void the HP warranty? or doesn't that matter? If you do go with XP Pro, I believe all the HP discs will become useless. I don't advise it. Just uninstall/delete the programs you don't want & stick with XP Home. Asus A7N8X-X 1800+ @8x210mhz 512mb PC3200 Ti4200/8X 128mb WDC 60GB

Or, as I stated take the thing back.