Before I move forward, I'd sincerely appreciate input from members at Computing.net I've been running an HP 540n with XP Home that I bought new in 2001. Never had a problem with it. What I want to do is upgrade to XP Pro (please, forget Vista). First question: Where can I find the best buy on a legitimate copy of XP Pro? Second question: What's the best procedure to reformat my hard drive with XP Pro? Why I ask. . . My PC has a separate partition which contains a recovery version of XP Home should I need to restore the operating system. I also have the OEM disks which came with the computer, plus a Microsoft SP2 disk that I used to keep the OS current as the years passed. And I visit MS monthly for the latest upgrades. What I want to do his completely reformat the hard drive - no traces of XP Home or an additional recovery partition. All of my critical files are backed up. So, I guess it boils down to: When I get my factory copy of XP Pro, what's the best way to install it? Believe it or not, in the seven years I've been running XP Home, I've never had a BSOD. Never. I'd like to continue that pleasant experience with the upgrade. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Ocean

The question is WHY do you want to spend £90 UK, to upgrade a PC not even worth £60 UK. What does XP Professionnel offer you what you do not already have with XP Home ? http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Soft...

So well said. And if you've never had a BSOD, you're obviously doing something right, and it's obviously a good, sound install. Heck, I only got BSOD's when I first put XP on my laptop because of Zonealarm, and it took me around 6 restarts and BSOD to isolate Zonealarm as the error. XP Pro offers hardly anything (except maybe GPEDIT) extra that I need. Personally I think you should spend the money on something else worth your while, like more RAM. If my replies look messed up, I'm sorry. I use Safari on a Mac the majority of the time, and the web hasn't really caught up yet.

I agree with the above. Unless you are working in a commercial environment and connecting to a corporate network there is no advantage with XP professional over home. The differences are not worth bothering about. The money would be far, far, far better spent on more memory. That will give you a dramtic improvement in performance. Stuart

Ocean I too agree with the others above. However, it is your money. The prices on full versions have increased in the last year. I would assume this is due to MS trying to push Vista. The most cost effective method is to pruchase a full copy of WinXP-DSP (OEM). These copies are supposed to be sold with qualifying hardware purchases. I see vendors selling without mention of hardware. If you have a qualifying upgrade MS OS you may be able to find an upgrade vesion of WinXP pro. For an explanation of what products qualify look at the first link below. The next couple of links are to vendors I have dealt with in the past. http://www.petri.co.il/windows_xp_s... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... http://www.mwave.com/mwave/Skusearc...

I would not do anything but add more ram, your computer can handle 1024 mb or 1 gig of memory.. This would make a BIG difference in performance and speed..

XP Pro even has some disadvantages for the home user. You can get into trouble because of it's security features, which a home user doesn't even need.