OS Upgrade Home => Pro

[Mitternacht]

The main computer in my house is a Compaq Presario. I've got my 2 computers and that one going through a router.

On the Compaq, there's home edition XP. Can I upgrade it to XP Pro SP2 without worrying about losing any user profiles or programs?

[ajmilton]

I don't recall microsoft providing a clear upgrade path from xp home to xp pro. there are upgrade packages available, but google's full of errors as a result of the upgrades.

[Mitternacht]

Damn, oh well. I was gonna share my slave hard drive on the network. I'll just throw it into 'ol beater again.

[Airbozo]

You should still be able to share it with XP home. The main limitation with sharing under xp home is the number of external connections (external to your computer) you are allowed. Under XP HOME it is limited to 5, under XP PRO it is 256.

[gaz_the_chav]

Airbozo you took the words out of my mouth!

-gaz

[Mitternacht]

You should still be able to share it with XP home. The main limitation with sharing under xp home is the number of external connections (external to your computer) you are allowed. Under XP HOME it is limited to 5, under XP PRO it is 256.

Well what I wanted to do was map my slave hard drive on the network, so I can get my music from any computer in the house. I can't do that on Home.

[Airbozo]

Well what I wanted to do was map my slave hard drive on the network, so I can get my music from any computer in the house. I can't do that on Home.

My wifes computer is running the home version and she can share any folder on any drive on her system. Again, only 5 different computers can connect to her system at one time. I can then map the shared folder to any other system in our network including my linux and sgi boxes using samba.

[nil8]

There isn't any way to easily upgrade or migrate data from home to pro.
Turn off simple file sharing under folder options. That might fix the problem.

[SgtM]

You can upgrade to pro from home.. Boot the PC, and then insert the install disk. After that, choose the option to upgrade. But if all you want to do is share the files, you can also do that with home. Make sure file and printer sharing is turned on in the network properties. Also, check to make sure you don't have a firewall blocking everything.