Installing Old Windows Over New
Fred, I have a Dell Dimension 8000 purchased Nov 2004 which had XP Pro pre-installed. Having had a bout of the dreaded "flashing amber light" Dell sent a technician to my home to replace various hardware items. Unfortunately the techie installed XP Home on the new hard drive which I didn't notice for a few days and though I have received plenty of advice from Dell and via your site about re-installing XP Pro, having read the item at Subject dated2005-08-08 on your site. I am loathe to attempt the process.
Can you give me any assurance that if I re-install with the XP Pro CD that came with the computer I will have a trouble- free setup (bearing in-mind that I will have done a backup of my programs, favorites, email addresses and messages).
I have been a Plus subscriber for a couple of years and look forward to receiving your newsletter immensely.
You're referring to an attempt by another LangaList
reader to install an older version of Windows XP Pro on top of a newer version
of Windows XP Home. You're asking for my assurance of a trouble-free setup. What
I can assure you is that if your version of Pro is older than the installed
version of Home, you're likely to have similar problems. ; )
The good news is that it's easy to find out. Simply begin the install process.
If Windows is going to gag on an older version of Pro, it will say so very early
in the process--- well before anything is added, removed or changed. If no error
message pops up, blocking your advance, then you can proceed with a normal
installation.
If the install process scolds you for attempting to install a version of Windows
that's older than the one already installed, you can "Slipstream" the install (see
http://langa.com/newsletters/2006/2006-03-27.htm#5 and
http://tinyurl.com/r5mrm ), which is a
technique for "rolling your own" new version of Windows by adding patches and
upgrades to the older version.
Both these processes--- "Slipstreaming" and installing Pro on top of Home--- are
mere time-saving techniques. Remember: You can always choose instead to reformat
your disk clean, then install Pro on a virgin disk. Assuming you have a good
backup, the only downside to a full reformat is the additional time it takes.
the upside is that a fresh install almost always give you a leaner, cleaner,
initial setup.
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