Change XP Home to XP Pro without losing data

jefro January 2, 2010 at 11:49:36

Maybe. Kind of depends on the problem. What use would it be to use Pro? Pro is more for companies and is of no value to a home user. I think I'd consider a live barts cd to use system restore or maybe any xp home disk to be used for repair or even sfc.exe /scannow or try a live linux cd to get files off to remote drive. Playing to the angels Les Paul (1915-2009)

the reason i was going to use pro is because i cant find my xp home edition cd. i want to do a system restore but i cant find my xp home edition cd.

ChristopherTGarrett January 2, 2010 at 15:19:08

"What use would it be to use Pro? Pro is more for companies and is of no value to a home user." Pro is better especially if you have more than 1 PC and you have a home network set up. Get a live linux CD you can download ubuntu and only boot to the CD. DO NOT INSTALL it or you will loose your data. Get the files you need from C:/ and but them on external. Then boot to the XP Pro CD and then install it. Or if it is the Dell XP home CD you can get Dell disk from ebay. Try this http://computers.shop.ebay.com/i.ht... here is the linux http://www.ubuntu.com/GetUbuntu/dow... Jesus Loves You! Keyboard not detected. Hit F1 to Continue. BREAKFAST.SYS HALTED Cerial port not Responding!!

i really dont want to use pro. i would prefer to use home edition but i cant find the disk. i just want to be able to use my computer but most importantly not lose my music and pics. im not that computer savy so i really dont understand that much about what yall were saying about that other stuff. please help but can it be an easy fix

kimsland January 2, 2010 at 16:53:21

"so i really dont understand that much about what yall were saying about that other stuff" Me too :) Because drivers are free from the manufacturer support page And if you can't find your Setup disc that may be because you have a hidden Recovery Partition on your drive (which includes the entire of Windows XP Home But I'm still confused because to Repair with XP Pro (of which will work) means you must have an XP Pro Key (ie two XP keys, one for Home and one for Pro) So that doesn't sound cost effective anyway (?) You can contact Dell here (for FREE) to ask if you have a Recovery Partition and how to access it: http://support.dell.com/support/top... Note: You can also order your Recovery CD as well, at a very reduced cost, since you already own Windows I hope this helps

rich1949 January 2, 2010 at 18:39:41

Dell 2400 series systems normally came with a Dell OEM XP disk and a Utility disk with the drivers. In order to use the XP Pro disk and not delete by accident you would need to be able to boot to the desktop and do an upgrade. From the symptoms you describe that is not an option. You refer to System Restore, but that would need an OEM Home Premium disk. You would need to boot to the disk and in the first repair section trigger the system restore. I suspect that trying this will not accomplish anything. Do you see message on the screen prior to reboot? What we need to find out is why you are getting shutdown when booting. Will the system boot to SAFE mode? Try booting and pressing the F8 key after the Dell bar starts loading. You need to be able to select the listing for "Do not reboot on errors". It sounds like a reboot loop caused by a BSOD problem. You probably need to download a hard drive test program for the brand you have. If not the one I use that detects errors on most brands it the Hitachi Drive Fitness test program. Your reboot could be hardware based and this would help identify that. Richard

no it will not load in safe mode.

ChristopherTGarrett January 2, 2010 at 19:28:31

"You refer to System Restore, but that would need an OEM Home Premium disk." I would not recremend vista home premium on a Dimension 2400. And alot of the Dimension 2400's came with XP Professional. I know of two people who ordered XP Home and have the Dell XP Home COA but Dell sent an XP Professional disk by mistake. XP Pro is better than XP Home by a long shot. Is the XP Pro disk a Dell XP Prodisk? Is it an upgrade? OEM? or Retail? Jesus Loves You! Keyboard not detected. Hit F1 to Continue. BREAKFAST.SYS HALTED Cerial port not Responding!!

kimsland January 2, 2010 at 19:31:12

What? This is only about XP, where did you get Vista from in this thread?

ChristopherTGarrett January 2, 2010 at 19:50:26

Rich1949 said this You refer to System Restore, but that would need an OEM Home Premium disk. You would need to boot to the disk and in the first repair section trigger the system restore. I suspect that trying this will not accomplish anything. Do you see message on the screen prior to reboot?. Jesus Loves You! Keyboard not detected. Hit F1 to Continue. BREAKFAST.SYS HALTED Cerial port not Responding!!

kimsland January 2, 2010 at 20:16:54

Oh I see

no i dont see any error messages. it boots up like normal. it will take me to the log on screen and then when a select a users it goes to the desktop for a seconds and then says logging off and saving settings

ok i have an xp home edition disk but its not giving me an option for system restore. it ask for a recovery console. is that the same thing.

i am unable to log on to the desktop.every time i try to log on it goes to the desktop and then after a second it automatically logs me off. it even does it in safe mode. when i put the xp cd in its ask if i want to set up window or repair a windows installation using recovery console. there is no option for system restore. i do not want to lose my data

kimsland January 4, 2010 at 20:02:03

ok i have an xp home edition disk Finally :) ok here's the Repair Guide: Microsoft's Windows XP Home Repair Install step by step http://www.windowsxphome.windowsrei... Note: You do not lose any data if you follow this guide precisely