upgrading

Had a PC built a couple years back, died last week. I had XP Pro on it.
Bought a Dell and was told to buy it with XP Home and use my XP Pro disc to
upgrade. I put the disc in a it says it can't upgrade because the Home
version is newer. I need Pro to network. What to do? Help.

In 060C1532-3B4F-435A-9B02-9CEC435F7F32@microsoft.com
Cuttingedge wrote:
> Had a PC built a couple years back, died last week. I had
> XP Pro on it. Bought a Dell and was told to buy it with XP
> Home and use my XP Pro disc to upgrade. I put the disc in a
> it says it can't upgrade because the Home version is newer.
> I need Pro to network. What to do? Help.

The reason why you're getting that message is because the new
Dell came with Service Pack 2 already installed and your old XP
Pro update disk is at a lower service pack level. Since you
won't be able to remove SP2 from the Dell your only option is
to create what's called a "slipstreamed" XP Pro upgrade
installation CD.

Here are a few web sites that will explain the process a whole
lot better than I could in this forum.

Create a Slip Stream version of Windows XP
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/slipstream.htm

Here are some of the files you'll need to obtain in order to
follow this procedure:

Windows XP Service Pack 2 Network Installation Package for IT
Professionals and Developers
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

If you're on dial-up you can order the CD here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/d...s/default.mspx

AutoStreamer 1.0.33
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/1092632287/1

CDBurner XPPro
http://www.cdburnerxp.se/download.php

Here's another article that you may find helpful with this
issue:

How to use AutoStreamer to Slipstream Windows XP Service Pack 2
http://www.simplyguides.net/guides/u...ostreamer.html

Good luck

Nepatsfan

"Cuttingedge" <Cuttingedge@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>Had a PC built a couple years back, died last week. I had XP Pro on it.
>Bought a Dell and was told to buy it with XP Home and use my XP Pro disc to
>upgrade. I put the disc in a it says it can't upgrade because the Home
>version is newer. I need Pro to network. What to do? Help.

If your XP Pro is a Retail Upgrade version then you will need to make
a new XP Pro installation CD with Service Pack 2 slipstreamed into it.

In addition to your XP Pro upgrade CD you will require:

1. A computer with a CDRW or DVD writer drive and a blank CDR/CDRW
disk.

2. The complete Service Pack 2 download from
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

3. Slipstreaming software such as nlite (free) from
http://www.nliteos.com/


4. Software to create a CD from the .ISO image file built by nlite.


You can then use the new CD to upgrade your XP Home to XP Pro.

Note that terms of the End User License Agreements means that the XP
Home license that came with the Dell is blended into the XP Pro
Upgrade license and both are now tied to the Dell.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca