Upgrade XP Home OEM to XP Pro

[Robin]

I recently bought a Toshiba notebook with pre-installed
XP Home (have license label with product key code and
Toshiba's system recovery CDs). I need to upgrade to XP
Pro and want to be sure that the OEM XP Home meets
upgrade requirements for XP Pro (don't want to open
retail XP Pro Upgrade package if it won't work).
Nothing I've read indicates that the OEM XP Home isn't
upgradeable, but I've heard rumors that there can be
problems upgrading OEM OS's. Anybody have any definitive
info on the subject?
Thanks.

[Perdita X. Nitt]

Robin wrote:
> I recently bought a Toshiba notebook with pre-installed
> XP Home (have license label with product key code and
> Toshiba's system recovery CDs). I need to upgrade to XP
> Pro and want to be sure that the OEM XP Home meets
> upgrade requirements for XP Pro (don't want to open
> retail XP Pro Upgrade package if it won't work).
> Nothing I've read indicates that the OEM XP Home isn't
> upgradeable, but I've heard rumors that there can be
> problems upgrading OEM OS's. Anybody have any definitive
> info on the subject?
> Thanks.

The main issue is the warranty. Toshiba, like all major manufacturers, will
refuse to honour the warranty if significant changes are made to the system
and a change of OS is considered a significant change. Why did you not ask
for Pro instead of Home when you purchased the laptop? Why don't you ask
Toshiba for an upgrade (they'll be a charge for this, obviously)? That way
you'll keep your warranty intact.

--
Perdita X. Dream

Please help us to help you
http://groups.google.com
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
Please note that the reply address is fake.
Keep all posts to the groups as private requests for assistance
(i.e. email/IM) cannot be acknowledged. Thank you.

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Add to that the fact that a retail version of WindowsXP may not contain
needed drivers for the notebook. Best bet is to check with Toshiba for the
availability of needed drivers or an OEM upgrade version.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Win98 Help - www.rickrogers.org

"Perdita X. Nitt" > wrote in message
...
> Robin wrote:
> > I recently bought a Toshiba notebook with pre-installed
> > XP Home (have license label with product key code and
> > Toshiba's system recovery CDs). I need to upgrade to XP
> > Pro and want to be sure that the OEM XP Home meets
> > upgrade requirements for XP Pro (don't want to open
> > retail XP Pro Upgrade package if it won't work).
> > Nothing I've read indicates that the OEM XP Home isn't
> > upgradeable, but I've heard rumors that there can be
> > problems upgrading OEM OS's. Anybody have any definitive
> > info on the subject?
> > Thanks.
>
> The main issue is the warranty. Toshiba, like all major manufacturers,
will
> refuse to honour the warranty if significant changes are made to the
system
> and a change of OS is considered a significant change. Why did you not ask
> for Pro instead of Home when you purchased the laptop? Why don't you ask
> Toshiba for an upgrade (they'll be a charge for this, obviously)? That way
> you'll keep your warranty intact.
>
> --
> Perdita X. Dream
>
> Please help us to help you
> http://groups.google.com
> http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
> Please note that the reply address is fake.
> Keep all posts to the groups as private requests for assistance
> (i.e. email/IM) cannot be acknowledged. Thank you.
>
>
>
>

[Walter Clayton]

Why do think you need Pro?

Unless you have a version of Pro that has SP1 incorporated into it you're
looking at a major problem.

--
Walter Clayton - MS MVP(WinXP)
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
http://www.dts-l.org


"Robin" > wrote in message
...
> I recently bought a Toshiba notebook with pre-installed
> XP Home (have license label with product key code and
> Toshiba's system recovery CDs). I need to upgrade to XP
> Pro and want to be sure that the OEM XP Home meets
> upgrade requirements for XP Pro (don't want to open
> retail XP Pro Upgrade package if it won't work).
> Nothing I've read indicates that the OEM XP Home isn't
> upgradeable, but I've heard rumors that there can be
> problems upgrading OEM OS's. Anybody have any definitive
> info on the subject?
> Thanks.

[Robin]

The notebook is for my daughter at college. The
University's IT department advised no Pro needed for
network access(support all the way back to WIN95), but
the major school stated that their students need XP Pro
for domain access to their server.
What kind of major problems will I be looking at? Is
there a Pro upgrade that incorporates SP1? As for my
original question, is my licensed XP Home eligible for
upgrade?

>-----Original Message-----
>Why do think you need Pro?
>
>Unless you have a version of Pro that has SP1
incorporated into it you're
>looking at a major problem.
>
>--
>Walter Clayton - MS MVP(WinXP)
>Associate Expert
>http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
>Any technology distinguishable from magic is
insufficiently advanced.
>http://www.dts-l.org
>
>
>"Robin" > wrote in message
...
>> I recently bought a Toshiba notebook with pre-installed
>> XP Home (have license label with product key code and
>> Toshiba's system recovery CDs). I need to upgrade to
XP
>> Pro and want to be sure that the OEM XP Home meets
>> upgrade requirements for XP Pro (don't want to open
>> retail XP Pro Upgrade package if it won't work).
>> Nothing I've read indicates that the OEM XP Home isn't
>> upgradeable, but I've heard rumors that there can be
>> problems upgrading OEM OS's. Anybody have any
definitive
>> info on the subject?
>> Thanks.
>
>.
>

[Robin]

Yeah, I wish I had been able to get the Toshiba hardware
package I wanted with XP Pro preinstalled. I tried to
order direct from ShopToshiba, but was advised that they
had quit taking orders for the M15-S405 (Home) or -S406
(Pro) the previous week. I ended up finding the M15-S405
at a reseller.
I'll try ShopToshiba tomorrow for OEM upgrade packages,
but all I see available on their web site are retail
upgrades. I talked with Toshiba tech support, was
advised that all drivers are downloadable from their web
site.
Upgrading was not my original preference, but it now
seems to be the viable option, in spite of the hassle.
What I really wanted to know, for sure, was whether the
retail XP Pro upgrade package will work on a licensed OEM
XP Home installation.
>-----Original Message-----
>Add to that the fact that a retail version of WindowsXP
may not contain
>needed drivers for the notebook. Best bet is to check
with Toshiba for the
>availability of needed drivers or an OEM upgrade version.
>
>--
>Best of Luck,
>
>Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
>http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
>Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone
>www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
>Win98 Help - www.rickrogers.org
>
>"Perdita X. Nitt" > wrote in
message
...
>> Robin wrote:
>> > I recently bought a Toshiba notebook with pre-
installed
>> > XP Home (have license label with product key code and
>> > Toshiba's system recovery CDs). I need to upgrade
to XP
>> > Pro and want to be sure that the OEM XP Home meets
>> > upgrade requirements for XP Pro (don't want to open
>> > retail XP Pro Upgrade package if it won't work).
>> > Nothing I've read indicates that the OEM XP Home
isn't
>> > upgradeable, but I've heard rumors that there can be
>> > problems upgrading OEM OS's. Anybody have any
definitive
>> > info on the subject?
>> > Thanks.
>>
>> The main issue is the warranty. Toshiba, like all
major manufacturers,
>will
>> refuse to honour the warranty if significant changes
are made to the
>system
>> and a change of OS is considered a significant change.
Why did you not ask
>> for Pro instead of Home when you purchased the laptop?
Why don't you ask
>> Toshiba for an upgrade (they'll be a charge for this,
obviously)? That way
>> you'll keep your warranty intact.
>>
>> --
>> Perdita X. Dream
>>
>> Please help us to help you
>> http://groups.google.com
>> http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
>> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
>> Please note that the reply address is fake.
>> Keep all posts to the groups as private requests for
assistance
>> (i.e. email/IM) cannot be acknowledged. Thank you.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>.
>

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Robin,

> What I really wanted to know, for sure, was whether the
> retail XP Pro upgrade package will work on a licensed OEM
> XP Home installation.

Yes, it will.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Win98 Help - www.rickrogers.org

"Robin" > wrote in message
...
> Yeah, I wish I had been able to get the Toshiba hardware
> package I wanted with XP Pro preinstalled. I tried to
> order direct from ShopToshiba, but was advised that they
> had quit taking orders for the M15-S405 (Home) or -S406
> (Pro) the previous week. I ended up finding the M15-S405
> at a reseller.
> I'll try ShopToshiba tomorrow for OEM upgrade packages,
> but all I see available on their web site are retail
> upgrades. I talked with Toshiba tech support, was
> advised that all drivers are downloadable from their web
> site.
> Upgrading was not my original preference, but it now
> seems to be the viable option, in spite of the hassle.
> What I really wanted to know, for sure, was whether the
> retail XP Pro upgrade package will work on a licensed OEM
> XP Home installation.
> >-----Original Message-----
> >Add to that the fact that a retail version of WindowsXP
> may not contain
> >needed drivers for the notebook. Best bet is to check
> with Toshiba for the
> >availability of needed drivers or an OEM upgrade version.
> >
> >--
> >Best of Luck,
> >
> >Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
> >http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> >Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone
> >www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
> >Win98 Help - www.rickrogers.org
> >
> >"Perdita X. Nitt" > wrote in
> message
> ...
> >> Robin wrote:
> >> > I recently bought a Toshiba notebook with pre-
> installed
> >> > XP Home (have license label with product key code and
> >> > Toshiba's system recovery CDs). I need to upgrade
> to XP
> >> > Pro and want to be sure that the OEM XP Home meets
> >> > upgrade requirements for XP Pro (don't want to open
> >> > retail XP Pro Upgrade package if it won't work).
> >> > Nothing I've read indicates that the OEM XP Home
> isn't
> >> > upgradeable, but I've heard rumors that there can be
> >> > problems upgrading OEM OS's. Anybody have any
> definitive
> >> > info on the subject?
> >> > Thanks.
> >>
> >> The main issue is the warranty. Toshiba, like all
> major manufacturers,
> >will
> >> refuse to honour the warranty if significant changes
> are made to the
> >system
> >> and a change of OS is considered a significant change.
> Why did you not ask
> >> for Pro instead of Home when you purchased the laptop?
> Why don't you ask
> >> Toshiba for an upgrade (they'll be a charge for this,
> obviously)? That way
> >> you'll keep your warranty intact.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Perdita X. Dream
> >>
> >> Please help us to help you
> >> http://groups.google.com
> >> http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
> >> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
> >> Please note that the reply address is fake.
> >> Keep all posts to the groups as private requests for
> assistance
> >> (i.e. email/IM) cannot be acknowledged. Thank you.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >.
> >

[Walter Clayton]

Typical college. HE can access domain resources fine in work station mode.
The network admins are a bit lazy since it requires a bit more work. Since
it's a school they should take the time to learn old tricks instead of
assuming that everything is domain. Personally I don't want a half competent
network admin pushing policies on my personal machine, but that's a whole
different matter.

To answer your question though. Technically HE is not qualifying media for a
Pro upgrade. You can however install Pro over the top. The problem you're
going to run into however is that unless you can find a retail version of
Pro with SP1 incorporated into it you'll have to install Pro, install SP1
and patch it up. SP1 and the patches total in excess of 170M at present. The
upgrade to SP1 isn't optional in this instance either. USB2 support wasn't
added until SP1 and all new machines are being shipped with USB2.

As far as I know, there is no retail version of Pro with SP1 incorporated.
That will also lead to some other support issues as well outside of the
support issues you'll have with Toshiba by pulling this kind of upgrade.
Unless Toshiba supplies the upgrade for you.

--
Walter Clayton - MS MVP(WinXP)
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
http://www.dts-l.org


"Robin" > wrote in message
...
> The notebook is for my daughter at college. The
> University's IT department advised no Pro needed for
> network access(support all the way back to WIN95), but
> the major school stated that their students need XP Pro
> for domain access to their server.
> What kind of major problems will I be looking at? Is
> there a Pro upgrade that incorporates SP1? As for my
> original question, is my licensed XP Home eligible for
> upgrade?
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >Why do think you need Pro?
> >
> >Unless you have a version of Pro that has SP1
> incorporated into it you're
> >looking at a major problem.
> >
> >--
> >Walter Clayton - MS MVP(WinXP)
> >Associate Expert
> >http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
> >Any technology distinguishable from magic is
> insufficiently advanced.
> >http://www.dts-l.org
> >
> >
> >"Robin" > wrote in message
> ...
> >> I recently bought a Toshiba notebook with pre-installed
> >> XP Home (have license label with product key code and
> >> Toshiba's system recovery CDs). I need to upgrade to
> XP
> >> Pro and want to be sure that the OEM XP Home meets
> >> upgrade requirements for XP Pro (don't want to open
> >> retail XP Pro Upgrade package if it won't work).
> >> Nothing I've read indicates that the OEM XP Home isn't
> >> upgradeable, but I've heard rumors that there can be
> >> problems upgrading OEM OS's. Anybody have any
> definitive
> >> info on the subject?
> >> Thanks.
> >
> >.
> >

[Robin]

I've talked with Toshiba -- the only upgrade they can
offer is the retail XP Pro upgrade (nothing specific to
my notebook), and OS tech support will officially go away
no matter who I purchase the upgrade from. (Hardware
warranty and support remains intact.) Replacement drivers
appear to be readily available for download from their
tech support site.
What I'm hoping for is to be able to install the $199 Pro
Upgrade instead of the $299 full version. From what I
see at
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/
matrix.asp, XP HE is inherently "eligible" for "in-place
upgrade" to XP Pro. Please clarify your comment
"Technically HE is not qualifying media for a Pro
upgrade."

My initial concerns were that the Toshiba pre-installed
HE might be an eligibility exception (or that the Toshiba
recovery disks might not be recognized as valid HE
media), but it sounds like the partner-installed OS
license is as valid as any other license.

Also please clarify your comment
"You can however install Pro over the top."
I don't understand the lingo.

Thanks,
Robin

>-----Original Message-----
>Typical college. HE can access domain resources fine in
work station mode.
>The network admins are a bit lazy since it requires a
bit more work. Since
>it's a school they should take the time to learn old
tricks instead of
>assuming that everything is domain. Personally I don't
want a half competent
>network admin pushing policies on my personal machine,
but that's a whole
>different matter.
>
>To answer your question though. Technically HE is not
qualifying media for a
>Pro upgrade. You can however install Pro over the top.
The problem you're
>going to run into however is that unless you can find a
retail version of
>Pro with SP1 incorporated into it you'll have to install
Pro, install SP1
>and patch it up. SP1 and the patches total in excess of
170M at present. The
>upgrade to SP1 isn't optional in this instance either.
USB2 support wasn't
>added until SP1 and all new machines are being shipped
with USB2.
>
>As far as I know, there is no retail version of Pro with
SP1 incorporated.
>That will also lead to some other support issues as well
outside of the
>support issues you'll have with Toshiba by pulling this
kind of upgrade.
>Unless Toshiba supplies the upgrade for you.
>
>--
>Walter Clayton - MS MVP(WinXP)
>Associate Expert
>http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
>Any technology distinguishable from magic is
insufficiently advanced.
>http://www.dts-l.org
>
>
>"Robin" > wrote in message
...
>> The notebook is for my daughter at college. The
>> University's IT department advised no Pro needed for
>> network access(support all the way back to WIN95), but
>> the major school stated that their students need XP Pro
>> for domain access to their server.
>> What kind of major problems will I be looking at? Is
>> there a Pro upgrade that incorporates SP1? As for my
>> original question, is my licensed XP Home eligible for
>> upgrade?
>>
>> >-----Original Message-----
>> >Why do think you need Pro?
>> >
>> >Unless you have a version of Pro that has SP1
>> incorporated into it you're
>> >looking at a major problem.
>> >
>> >--
>> >Walter Clayton - MS MVP(WinXP)
>> >Associate Expert
>> >http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
>> >Any technology distinguishable from magic is
>> insufficiently advanced.
>> >http://www.dts-l.org
>> >
>> >
>> >"Robin" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> >> I recently bought a Toshiba notebook with pre-
installed
>> >> XP Home (have license label with product key code
and
>> >> Toshiba's system recovery CDs). I need to upgrade
to
>> XP
>> >> Pro and want to be sure that the OEM XP Home meets
>> >> upgrade requirements for XP Pro (don't want to open
>> >> retail XP Pro Upgrade package if it won't work).
>> >> Nothing I've read indicates that the OEM XP Home
isn't
>> >> upgradeable, but I've heard rumors that there can be
>> >> problems upgrading OEM OS's. Anybody have any
>> definitive
>> >> info on the subject?
>> >> Thanks.
>> >
>> >.
>> >
>
>.
>

[Walter Clayton]

OK. Let's see if I can flesh it a bit more.

Pro can be installed over the top of HE. Literally an in place upgrade.
There are some issues, especially in this specific instance, but more on
that in a bit. What I'm not certain of is whether or not, when doing a clean
install, which is formatting the drive and removing all traces of the
previous OS, Pro will accept HE install media as proof of licensing
compliance. To put that in perspective, with upgrade retail media it's
possible to do a clean install as long as you can show it standard
installation media from either 95, 98, SE, Me, NT4 or Win2K. The issue is
whether or not you can show the XP Pro compliance request a copy of HE and
continue the install. This issue may be moot however since I know for a fact
(I also have a fairly new Toshiba) that the Toshiba restore media will not
satisfy compliance checking. Literally that means you can not use upgrade
media to do a clean install. Full retail however will clean install or
upgrade regardless.

Now for the big, major problem you're going to have. Since there is no
retail version of Pro with SP1 available to you, you'll wind resetting the
OS back to pre-SP1 standards. You will literally have to install XP Pro,
install SP1 and then apply all security patches. There is no option on the
latter two due to the hardware you're running. Toshiba doesn't supply USB2
drivers since they are part of SP1. How long all of this will take will
depend on your internet connection speed. SP1 is approximately 130M. The
security patches only that you will need to install are right at 40M in
total size by now. On dial-up it will quite literally take all night,
assuming good connections. And if there are no issues with installing SP1.

All of this assumes however that the non-SP1 version of Pro, which is the
only thing you can access, can be successfully booted once installed over
the top of HE-SP1 with SP1 class hardware. Literally, you may find yourself
in a situation where you can not complete the upgrade. But you won't find th
at out until after you've broken the seal on the Pro package at which point
you can not return it.

Alternatively you can try a clean install of Pro, but again, you might not
be able to complete the process due to the amount of post SP1 hardware you
have coupled with the proprietary nature of laptop hardware. Again, until
you break the seal on the software, which renders it non-returnable, you
won't know.

--
Walter Clayton - MS MVP(WinXP)
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
http://www.dts-l.org


"Robin" > wrote in message
...
> I've talked with Toshiba -- the only upgrade they can
> offer is the retail XP Pro upgrade (nothing specific to
> my notebook), and OS tech support will officially go away
> no matter who I purchase the upgrade from. (Hardware
> warranty and support remains intact.) Replacement drivers
> appear to be readily available for download from their
> tech support site.
> What I'm hoping for is to be able to install the $199 Pro
> Upgrade instead of the $299 full version. From what I
> see at
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/
> matrix.asp, XP HE is inherently "eligible" for "in-place
> upgrade" to XP Pro. Please clarify your comment
> "Technically HE is not qualifying media for a Pro
> upgrade."
>
> My initial concerns were that the Toshiba pre-installed
> HE might be an eligibility exception (or that the Toshiba
> recovery disks might not be recognized as valid HE
> media), but it sounds like the partner-installed OS
> license is as valid as any other license.
>
> Also please clarify your comment
> "You can however install Pro over the top."
> I don't understand the lingo.
>
> Thanks,
> Robin
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >Typical college. HE can access domain resources fine in
> work station mode.
> >The network admins are a bit lazy since it requires a
> bit more work. Since
> >it's a school they should take the time to learn old
> tricks instead of
> >assuming that everything is domain. Personally I don't
> want a half competent
> >network admin pushing policies on my personal machine,
> but that's a whole
> >different matter.
> >
> >To answer your question though. Technically HE is not
> qualifying media for a
> >Pro upgrade. You can however install Pro over the top.
> The problem you're
> >going to run into however is that unless you can find a
> retail version of
> >Pro with SP1 incorporated into it you'll have to install
> Pro, install SP1
> >and patch it up. SP1 and the patches total in excess of
> 170M at present. The
> >upgrade to SP1 isn't optional in this instance either.
> USB2 support wasn't
> >added until SP1 and all new machines are being shipped
> with USB2.
> >
> >As far as I know, there is no retail version of Pro with
> SP1 incorporated.
> >That will also lead to some other support issues as well
> outside of the
> >support issues you'll have with Toshiba by pulling this
> kind of upgrade.
> >Unless Toshiba supplies the upgrade for you.
> >
> >--
> >Walter Clayton - MS MVP(WinXP)
> >Associate Expert
> >http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
> >Any technology distinguishable from magic is
> insufficiently advanced.
> >http://www.dts-l.org
> >
> >
> >"Robin" > wrote in message
> ...
> >> The notebook is for my daughter at college. The
> >> University's IT department advised no Pro needed for
> >> network access(support all the way back to WIN95), but
> >> the major school stated that their students need XP Pro
> >> for domain access to their server.
> >> What kind of major problems will I be looking at? Is
> >> there a Pro upgrade that incorporates SP1? As for my
> >> original question, is my licensed XP Home eligible for
> >> upgrade?
> >>
> >> >-----Original Message-----
> >> >Why do think you need Pro?
> >> >
> >> >Unless you have a version of Pro that has SP1
> >> incorporated into it you're
> >> >looking at a major problem.
> >> >
> >> >--
> >> >Walter Clayton - MS MVP(WinXP)
> >> >Associate Expert
> >> >http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
> >> >Any technology distinguishable from magic is
> >> insufficiently advanced.
> >> >http://www.dts-l.org
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >"Robin" > wrote in message
> >> ...
> >> >> I recently bought a Toshiba notebook with pre-
> installed
> >> >> XP Home (have license label with product key code
> and
> >> >> Toshiba's system recovery CDs). I need to upgrade
> to
> >> XP
> >> >> Pro and want to be sure that the OEM XP Home meets
> >> >> upgrade requirements for XP Pro (don't want to open
> >> >> retail XP Pro Upgrade package if it won't work).
> >> >> Nothing I've read indicates that the OEM XP Home
> isn't
> >> >> upgradeable, but I've heard rumors that there can be
> >> >> problems upgrading OEM OS's. Anybody have any
> >> definitive
> >> >> info on the subject?
> >> >> Thanks.
> >> >
> >> >.
> >> >
> >
> >.
> >