OEM and upgrading

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

Cary Shultz - 28 Apr 2006 10:56 GMT

Good morning!

Just a couple of quick questions for this group:

If I purchase a laptop on which Windows XP Media Center is installed can I
"upgrade" to Windows XP Pro?

----------------------------R A N T--------------------------
I ask this question because here in Roanoke, VA you can not go to a major
retail chain store and find a laptop (shoot, or Desktop for that matter)
that comes with Windows XP Pro. Best Buy? Nope. Circuit City? Nope.
OfficeMax? Nope. OfficeDepot? Nope. Staples? Nope. Well, you can not
buy one off of the shelf. They can special order one for you. But what if
you need it right now?

Now, here comes the reason to my question: in each of the stores mentioned
above the very young sales staff members will eagerly tell you that you can
purchase the laptop with Windows XP Media Center and then "upgrade to
Windows XP Pro".

Now, for those of us in IT we know that it would be, technically speaking, a
downgrade to go from Windows XP Media Center to Windows XP Pro. And that it
is not possible to "upgrade". But how about the person who does not work in
IT? What about the business owner that has a small environment (domain) and
is going to hire someone who will need a laptop? Is he or she going to know
that you can not join Windows XP Media Center to a domain? Granted, if he
or she is buying something then he or she should educate himself/herself
first. But, really, how many people do that? Most just rely on the advice
of the salesperson (enough said).

I manage an environment where my contact purchased a laptop with Windows XP
Media Center because the overzealous VERY YOUNG sales person (who did not
even know what a domain is) told him that he could upgrade to Windows XP
Pro. Obviously, you can not join Windows XP Media Center to a domain. The
next day I went to the same store and spoke with the sales person who told
my contact this. He stuck to his guns. He swears you can do this! Anyway.
And then we went to several other stores. We were told the same thing
everywhere ("you can upgrade to Windows XP Pro").
-------------------------E N D O F R A N T------------------------------

Now, let's say that we have a laptop on which there is an OEM Version of
Windows 2000 Pro installed. Can we upgrade this to the OEM version of
Windows XP Pro?

Thanks,

Signature

Cary W. Shultz
Roanoke, VA 24012

Reply to this Message

Larry Samuels - 28 Apr 2006 12:43 GMT

Comments inline

> Good morning!
>
> Just a couple of quick questions for this group:
>
> If I purchase a laptop on which Windows XP Media Center is installed can I
> "upgrade" to Windows XP Pro?

No--you can wipe the laptop and clean install XP Pro

snip rant

> Now, let's say that we have a laptop on which there is an OEM Version of
> Windows 2000 Pro installed. Can we upgrade this to the OEM version of
> Windows XP Pro?

No--OEM versions will only do clean installs or repair installs You cannot
perform an upgrade with an OEM disk.

> Thanks,

Signature

Customers in the U.S. and Canada can receive technical support from
Microsoft Product Support Services at 1-866-PCSAFETY. There is no charge for
support calls that are associated with security updates
Larry Samuels Associate Expert
MS-MVP (2001-2005)
Unofficial FAQ for Windows Server 2003 at
http://pelos.us/SERVER.htm
Expert Zone- www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Reply to this Message

Cary Shultz - 29 Apr 2006 01:15 GMT

Larry,

It is nice to receive confirmation on this. There are a couple of people
who did not believe me.

Thank you,

Signature

Cary W. Shultz
Roanoke, VA 24012

> Comments inline
>
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
>> Thanks,

Reply to this Message

Larry Samuels - 29 Apr 2006 01:24 GMT

You're welcome!

Signature

Larry Samuels Associate Expert
MS-MVP (2001-2005)
Unofficial FAQ for Windows Server 2003 at
http://pelos.us/SERVER.htm
Expert Zone- www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

> Larry,
>
> It is nice to receive confirmation on this. There are a couple of people
> who did not believe me.
>
> Thank you,

Reply to this Message

Carey Frisch [MVP] - 28 Apr 2006 13:02 GMT

In order to upgrade an existing Windows 2000 installation to
Windows XP Professional, you'll need to purchase a "Retail
Upgrade Version" of Windows XP Professional.

An "OEM Version" cannot be used to upgrade since it must
be installed as a "clean install".

Signature

Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User
Microsoft Community Newsgroups
news://msnews.microsoft.com/

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| Good morning!
|
[quoted text clipped - 41 lines]
|
| Thanks,

Reply to this Message

Cary Shultz - 29 Apr 2006 01:17 GMT

Carey,

Thank you. This is a perfect explanation.

Signature

Cary W. Shultz
Roanoke, VA 24012

> In order to upgrade an existing Windows 2000 installation to
> Windows XP Professional, you'll need to purchase a "Retail
[quoted text clipped - 67 lines]
> |
> | Thanks,

Reply to this Message

DL - 28 Apr 2006 13:17 GMT

As I understood it xp media edition is pro with some media extras.
you might want to check on MS site for the *exact* differences

> Good morning!
>
[quoted text clipped - 41 lines]
>
> Thanks,

Reply to this Message

Ian - 28 Apr 2006 20:56 GMT

You could always try MyLogon and see if it works on the Media Centre Edition
(of which I don't have access to a copy so it's never been tested on that
platform)

One of its purposes is to allow non-domain computers to access resources.

Bug-repots welcome. -Well, as long as they're not too scathing, anyway. ;-)

-------------------------------

An alternative approach to XP network logon - http://mylogon.name

Reply to this Message

Adam Leinss - 30 Apr 2006 15:19 GMT

> I manage an environment where my contact purchased a laptop with
> Windows XP Media Center because the overzealous VERY YOUNG sales
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> And then we went to several other stores. We were told the same
> thing everywhere ("you can upgrade to Windows XP Pro").

So your "contact" goes out and buys software to use in a domain
environment and never consults his IS staff. He buys a laptop strictly
on the advice of someone making $7/hour and your rant is with the
retail industry?

Perhaps your rant would be better directed at your "contact" for
failing to do his homework before purchasing the equipment!

The next time he goes looking for a car or truck, I really hope he
doesn't take everything the sales person says at face value.

Adam

Signature

Visit my PC Tech blog at www.leinss.com/blog

Reply to this Message

Cary Shultz - 30 Apr 2006 17:23 GMT

Adam,

Point well taken. He did ask me. I told him that he needed Windows XP
Pro - so that we could join this laptop to the domain. I also specifically
told him not to purchase XP Home or XP Media Center. I absolutely agree
with you that he should have educated himself before going (which he did -
when he asked me. Obviously, I am a lousy teacher!). Apparently that was
not enough.

There is a whole lot more behind my rant with the retail industry. I will
not go into it here as it does not apply (and is not going to resolve
anything anyway). And I do become very annoyed with people who do not do
their homework before making a purchase and who base their purchase on the
"information" that they get from - as you put it - someone making $7 an
hour. I think that this all goes back to no one wanting to take the time to
educate him/herself so that he/she has an out. "Well, the sales guy told me
I could do this....". Can you say "accept responsibility" or "be held
accountable"?

And, I am trying very hard to take a softer stance with "people making $7 an
hour". Sometimes I do not do very well with that. My rant was a perfect
example of my failure.

Signature

Cary W. Shultz
Roanoke, VA 24012

>> I manage an environment where my contact purchased a laptop with
>> Windows XP Media Center because the overzealous VERY YOUNG sales
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
> Adam

Reply to this Message