windows xp AND home edition

[brian63]

hi there 2 yrs ago I had someone upgrade my pc and they installed windows xp proffesional for me , but it was not a genuine copy....a few months ago i started noticing that i could no longer update windows with the copy i had .
To help me out my father sent me his old windows xp home ed which he no longer uses , so i started to install that without uninstalling proffesional.
Now to top all this off one of my disk drives was faulty and in the process of installing home ed i was told to remove it before progressing which i now have , but now im getting a windows message that virtual memory minimum is too low...
So firstly how do i solve the problem with the windows proffesional and home edition? do i need to uninstall first ? and secondly this problem with the memory is it linked to the first problem

oh and i did not carry on with the full installation of home ed but now when i start the pc i am prompted to access for either pro or home edition

[wolflmg]

You need to tottaly uninstall pro and reformat the computer since it is an illegal copy. And then you need to reinstall the computer with the home edition, that either your father gave you (that cannot not be in anyway still in use on another computer) or use the CD that came with your computer, it would be an OEM CD, it would have the name of your computer on it and state which windows version it is.

[renegade600]

using the old xp from your father could also be an illegal copy. If its oem its only good for the computer it came with. You may need switch to linux or put the original one that came with your computer back on.

sounds more like you need to reformat the drive and start the install process all over again.

[Miz]

First, if your dad's copy is OEM, it will have the letters "OEM" somewhere in the product key (the number you have to enter when installing windows). If those letters are present, you cannot legally use that copy of XP on any computer other than the one it was originally installed.

If the copy you got from your dad is a retail (purchased separately from the computer) version, you can install it on your computer.

However, as wolflmg said, you'll have to format the drive, then install XP Home. XP Home will not install over top of XP Pro.

[brian63]

ok thanks to all for the replys ,I think my safest option here is to purchase my own copy then at least i will know its safe .
What does everyone recommend to go for ? and as I have never done this myself before how do I go about formatting the drive and installing my new system ?

[Miz]

Click Here to open a page with detailed instructions on performing a clean install of XP.

[renegade600]

maybe give linux a try. it to the point where linux works like windows and its free.

as far as purchasing xp - if you still have the disks that came with your computer, then you should be elgible for xp upgrade versions. If not then you will have to purchase the full version.

You can get copies from xp from tigerdirect, newegg or amazon.com. Those are just a few places where you can get it.

[brian63]

i checked out that link you sent me miz and have printed it off do i have to wipe the system before beginning that

[brian63]

ok i have just bought myself xp home edition . I will transfer my programs and files to disk, and then is it a case of just following the link from Miz or do i have to clean the sysytem out ? ?

[Miz]

The instructions on that link explain how to do a clean install (wipe the drive clean and in XP). The actual instructions on the formatting and installation start about halfway down the page, the first half is how to prepare for the clean install.