Windows Xp

[rfisher]

Thinking of upgrading my OS from OEM Windows ME to Xp via Ebay.

Don't know much about Xp so;

What's the difference between Home and Professional and is Home OK or will I really want Pro?

Service packs 1 and 2. Some Ebay ads say comes with Sp 1 or 2. Can I download these anyway for free or are these ads for newer versions of Xp without backwards compatibility?

Keys - am I correct in thinking that you now need to have your Xp verified by Microsoft online to stop fraud? How does this work? Can I put my Xp onto both my laptops or do I need 2 copies of Xp?

Ta.

[sybaseian]

rfisher said:

Thinking of upgrading my OS from OEM Windows ME to Xp via Ebay. Don't know much about Xp so; What's the difference between Home and Professional and is Home OK or will I really want Pro? Service packs 1 and 2. Some Ebay ads say comes with Sp 1 or 2. Can I download these anyway for free or are these ads for newer versions of Xp without backwards compatibility? Keys - am I correct in thinking that you now need to have your Xp verified by Microsoft online to stop fraud? How does this work? Can I put my Xp onto both my laptops or do I need 2 copies of Xp? Ta.

You need one official copy per computer which will come with the necessary key. There are official Upgrade versions available if you have a genuine previous version for considerably less than the full version.

The difference between XP Pro and XP Home is basically, Pro has more inbuilt security over Home. There are a few more additions in Pro but you should be more than happy using Home. I use a combination at home - PC (Home), 2 laptops (1 Home and 1 Pro(office laptop)). You will find it easier to swap things between computers if you use Home on both your computers.

By default, which ever version you choose it will need to have patches applied immediately. If you don't have broadband, you used to be able to get Microsoft to send a CDROM with SP2 rather than downloading upto 200Mb.

[rfisher]

Thanks.

So an upgrade version of Xp will only upgrade a PC which already has Xp on it and can't be used to upgrade from Windows ME?

Also, will my office 2000 software work under Xp?

Ta.

[sybaseian]

rfisher said:

Thanks. So an upgrade version of Xp will only upgrade a PC which already has Xp on it and can't be used to upgrade from Windows ME? Also, will my office 2000 software work under Xp? Ta.

you misunderstood. An upgrade version of XP (home or pro) is specifically for you to upgrade from (Windos 98/ME to XP home) or from (Windows 2000 to XP Pro). You can only upgrade Windows 2000 to XP Pro and not XP Home as Windows 2000 is based on Windows NT4, but you can upgrade Windows 98/ME to either XP Home or XP Pro.

The full versions of Pro and Home editions are if you self-build a new PC that doesn't have a manufacture installation OEM of XP.

Office 2000 will still work with XP.

regards,

Ian