Windows XP Pro versus Home edition

[hlthe2b]

While I've been cooking along just fine using XP Home on my laptop and the old windows 98 SE on my desktop, one of the three universities I'm affiliated with, will not support XP Home which makes me unable to use their wireless conncections and access from my laptop.

So, my question to the computer gurus out there: Am I likely to have problems upgrading from XP Home to XP Professional? Any incompatability issues to consider? What in this damned upgrade is worth $199?

Your thoughts/advice/comments much appreciated.

[mw]

1. Well, actually the entire XP is not worth 200 bucks

Get Linux.

But seriously, XP Pro has more networking features than home edition. From a "what you see" perspective, it will look pretty much the same.

The question is: Is it worth 200 bucks to you to be able to hook to their network?

[hlthe2b]

4. Actually, I have richochet wireless as a back up for wireless internet

and, unlike wireless, it is fairly secure. But, I've found strong wireless networks sometimes interfere with it. Bottom line, I need to be able to access both the internet and their networks, so I' guess I'll bite the bullet. I wish I were computer confident enough to go Linux, but I've got several thousands of $$$ of statistical software, that I'm not sure would work with it.

[david_vincent]

9. Doesn't have to

Just for future reference, when you do decide to give Linux a try, you can run your Windows apps within Linux in a couple of different ways, e.g. VMWare or Win4Lin.
Don't be afraid of Linux - when you do give it a whirl, you'll see how far it's come.

[trotsky]

2. More advanced networking support

and the ability to join a domain / Active Directory (Windows server-level security)

It's a pain, such a small difference costs $100. But you are highly unlikely to experience any problems upgrading.

[Deja Q]

3. XP Pro only if you use networking and/or use dual CPUs or HyperThreading

XP Home won't work with multiple CPU systems. This includes Intel's Pentim 4 with "HyperThreading (HT)" technology as HT is looked upon by the hardware and OS as TWO CPUs. :eyes: That's a LOOSE description, but that's how it works.

Also, while HT makes some apps (those designed for multiple CPUs) faster, performance tests had shown that other apps suffer!

Besides, I stick with AMD with the nforce chipset. Much better and less expensive in the end.

[scottcsmith]

17. Wrong...

XP Home recognizes a HT processor. My laptop has a P4 3.0 Ghz HT processor and when I look at "performance" through the Task Manager, it shows the two CPU cycles.

http://www.intel.com/support/platform/ht/os.htm?iid=ipp_htm+os&

[hlthe2b]

5. I've heard that XP PRO eats up memory.... I've got 384 mb RAM

which is maxed out for this particular laptop. Is that enough?

[Deja Q]

8. Odd

I've ran XP Pro, unmodified, on some boxes and they eat up about 160MB.

With unneeded services and crap disabled, I can get it down to 110MB.

384MB is plenty, unless you use the laptop for exotic things (new 3d games, video production, other things you likely wouldn't be doing...)

[DuctapeFatwa]

10. What are some services and crap that can be disabled or taken out?

and what is the best memory manager for xp pro?

[IronLionZion]

12. Free Ram XP Pro works nicely

get it here for free: http://download.com.com/3000-2086-10219611.html?tag=lst-0-2

Only you can decide what you need or don't need. Go to start > Run > type "msconfig" > hit "selective startup" > click on startup tab > and unclick stuff that is not necessary.

IF you use Kazaa, kick yourself in the butt, then uninstall it. If you do use file sharing apps, use Ad-Aware to delete spyware. it free from the same source, Download.com.

Cheers

[DuctapeFatwa]

14. Thanks! getting it now!

I had already taken the windows messenger thing out of msconfig, I don't know what most of the other stuff is to know if its necessary or not. I use spybot search and destroy and have never installed the evil kazaa. I used kazaalite till the screeching songs got so prolific, and now kazaa has effectively shut it down.

[madrchsod]

6. i`m running x-pro

and it`s great. has alot less crap than x-home,which means it what i have runs alot faster.

[meti57b]

7. I can't get NAV LiveUpdate (2003) to run automatically in XP Pro ...

even though I've set a password.

[hlthe2b]

20. I've got NAV 2004 -- I wonder if I'll have the same problem...

Have you gotten any response from Norton on what the problem might be?

[rexcat]

11. Upgrade to XP Professional

My latest experience with XP Home has been a disaster. I was getting a driver conflict on a regular basis (over several months) and the computer would go to a black screen and re-boot. I could not locate the driver conflict. I reformated the drive and reloaded XP Home only to have the same problem after loading all of the patches. I just upgraded to Win XP Professional (reformated hard drive and started with fresh install, downloaded the patches and no problems! No crashes or conflicts except for IE doing some weird things but I can live with that.

[Cooley Hurd]

21. XP Home is the Win ME (Millennium) upgrade...

...and it isn't much better than ME, either. XP Pro is the Upgrade for Windows 2000 (Win 2K was the most stable operating system MS ever produced) and is much, much more stable than XP Home. Depending on your machine (if it's at least a P3 w/ at least 256 mb ram), I would upgrade to Win XP Pro. Doing so is easy - buy the WinXP Pro Upgrade (not the full install). It loads easy as pie...

[hlthe2b]

24. that's very reassuring...

I guess I'll go for it.. Santa? :7

[IronLionZion]

13. XP home is descended from DOS, XP Pro is from NT

So even though they look similar, they are based on completely different platforms. The stability, driver base, and networking power of XP will rock your world.

If you're not afraid, give Linux a try on a separate hard drive. I use Red Hat 9, its free from redhat.com

[BlueJazz]

15. You can get Windows XP Pro for about 98 bucks

on E-Bay (upgrade version)

[scottcsmith]

16. Something strange...

...I don't see how it is possible to access a wireless network via XP Pro and not XP Home.

You may need to download the WiFi update for Win XP Home to use the wireless connection. You can get it from the Windows update site.

[Sentath]

18. server side black magic

they've locked anyone not capable of certain esoteric security protocols out of any useful contact with the services of the network.

So while _anything_ with an antenna can listen to the radio waves, only some software is listened to in return.

[hlthe2b]

19. Yes, it appears to be on this particular Universities' server...

as I can access wireless at the two other campuses I work with, no problem. They told me that they don't believe Win xp home to be secure enough, even though I have the full suite of Norton firewall, antivirus, the works. So, yes it appears to be blocking. I tried it in their library. Their home page came up automatically, so no problem getting a wireless connection, but it wouldn't let me go beyond that home page nor anywhere else on the internet.

[peacebuzzard]

22. NOT a guru but I paid 130 bucks to upgrade

by buying a pack of software that had Powerpoint, Outlook Express (which is taking a while to get used to, still am not) and some office stuff: Excel and Word. my instructor at a Gateway class suggested it for a class I was taking in Powerpoint. (I had signed up for all the classes they offered.) I purchased the edition for students and teachers and maybe that is why the price was less.:*

[hlthe2b]

23. You bring up a good point.... academic discounts...

I'm faculty at one university and student at two others (sheesh, I MUST be schizophrenic by now!). I bet there may be academic discounts, that I'll check out Monday. I know I've gotten other software about half price that way.