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Question

OEM WIndows XP Home SP3 upgrade to XP Pro

May 28, 2012 12:51PM PDT

Here is a compilation of posts from another forum
regarding my problem:
---------------------------------------------------------------

I'm trying to upgrade an OEM Windows XP Home Sp3
system to Windows XP Pro.(There are a couple of
features in Pro that are not available in Home that I now
need: (1) Offline Files and (2) a freely available add-on to
Onenote 2007,Top2onenote, requires Pro).I do not want
a clean install but an upgrade. I purchased a Windows
XP Pro upgrade CD over Ebay which turned out to be
Windows XP Pro Gold (v2002).I'm sure its genuine for
the following reasons:

It was listed as an upgrade, but the CD is not
labeled "Upgrade".
It looks very genuine with all the Microsoft holography.
It came in the standard Windows XP packaging
(minus the box), and it was sealed.
The volume label for the CD is WXPFPP_EN. From
the Internet, that is Windows XP Pro RTM (Gold)
Retail !!!!

Here are the things I tried initially.

1) I tried to upgrade to Pro from the purchased CD. It
immediately refused to upgrade stating the upgrade OS
(Pro) was older than the installed OS (Home)..

2) I read up on slipstreaming. Slipstreaming allows one
to incorporate a service pack with an earlier version of an
OS. I created an image of a slipstreamed upgrade XP
Pro SP3 CD using Nlite (and later Autostreamer, but it
made no difference) from the purchased CD and a file
containing SP3.

After burning the CD and starting the upgrade
installation (from Windows), the upgrade process
proceeds through "Collecting Information",
"Dynamic Update", and "Preparing Installation" with
no problems. My machine rebooted and returned to
"Preparing Installation". A progress bar titled "Progress"
quickly filled to about 90% and the system hung
at that point for about 15 minutes.
Next, I received the following error:

Setup cannot set the required Windows XP configuration
information. This indicates an internal setup error.

This is where I'm stuck. I had to quit Setup at this point.
My hard drive was unbootable and I had to restore a backup.


3) Just for the heck of it, I formatted my hard disk and
reinstalled my original OEM XP Home SP3 OS (clean,
no user files). I immediately used my slipstreamed XP
Pro CD to attempt an upgrade to XP Pro and IT
WORKED!!! I need to discover why the clean XP Home
OS successfully upgraded to XP Pro but my preexisting
(with user files,drivers, etc.) XP Home OS will not
upgrade successfully to XP Pro.

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

From another post:

Again, today I installed a fresh copy of OEM Windows XP
Home Sp3. I followed that with an installation of all
essential and add-on drivers (essentially all my original
version drivers). Next, I configured a network connection
and firewall. With this setup, I ran the XP Pro
slipstreamed SP3 CD. The upgrade to XP Pro was
successful (even though the upgrade did not configure
my graphics card correctly). I guess my current problem
is either the registry,the WINDOWS folder, or some user
file or setting.
---------------------------------------------------------------

From another post:

I've made a file and folder backup of the C:\Windows folder on my preexisting system (OEM XP Home Sp3).
I've also made a separate backup of the "System State"
on my preexisting system.These are in addition to my full
image backup of the preexisting system from a month
ago.

I've made an image backup of my minimal system
(Fresh OEM XP Home SP3 with all original drivers
installed plus a configured network connection, and a
configured firewall). This system will upgrade
successfully to XP Pro with the slipstreamed XP Pro
SP3 CD.

Experiment 1:

I restored my minimal system. I then restored the C:/Windows folder and the System State from the
preexisting system backup. A bootup was successful
(with a minor irritant). I had to activate Windows.
Next, I tried the upgrade with the slipstreamed XP Pro. It
paused at the same place during the upgrade and gave
the same error as before:

Setup cannot set the required Windows XP configuration
information.This indicates an internal setup error.

Experiment 2:

I restored my minimal system. I then restored only the
System State from the preexisting system backup. After
bootup I was asked to activate Windows, but answering
yes to the question would log me off the system. I could
not get logged in to try the XP Pro upgrade.

Experiment 3:

I restored my minimal system. I then restored only the
C:/Windows folder from the preexisting system backup.
Again, as in Experiment 1, the upgrade failed at the
same point with the same error message.

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

Before Experiment 3, I hoped that Experiment 3 would
succeed so I could conclude I had a registry problem. I'm
not so sure now. I don't know what to try next. Taking the
minimal system and reinstalling my user files is not an
option as my hard disk has over 200GB ofprograms!!! If I
restore all the files and folders from my preexisting
backup I would still have to restore a reliable System State (read registry).
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry for the length! If anyone has any ideas I'd appreciate replies.

Thanks,

Discussion is locked

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Answer
From what I've been able to determine, you may not have what
May 29, 2012 8:29PM PDT

you think you have. The XP "Gold" version appears to be some early release to PC makers and not the retail version that eventually came out. For your information, I do have a retail copy of XP pro Upgrade. It's clearly marked on the disk. It also mentions SP1, version 2002. The volume label is X1APCCP_EN. I also have the 3-way folded packaging with the PID code on an orange sticker. Mine is real and yours may be not. The upgrade version was intended to allow for owners of Win98 SE, ME or XP Home, as I recall. It could do an in place upgrade or a clean installation. A clean installation could be done by presenting a qualifying CD during the process...a practice not allowed with Win7 upgrade. In any event, I do wonder if your copy wasn't meant for OEMs and not end users. As such, OEM and retail disks don't always play nice together.

I do wonder if your version is actually RTM because, if so, it's not the official XP retail upgrade for end users.

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I may be wrong about something here
May 29, 2012 9:04PM PDT
http://xcorats-tech.blogspot.com/2008/08/installing-xp-oem-with-retail-key-or.html

This lists the volume labels of various versions of XP. Yours lists as XP Pro with no later service pack. It's a full version and not an upgrade. As far as I know, full versions cannot be used as upgrade versions...at least by standard methods. I can't explain your clean install scenario but, technically, a retail copy is not intended to upgrade an OEM version.
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Answer
Not absolutely positive
May 30, 2012 12:01AM PDT

Not absolutely positive, but pretty sure there is no method for doing this short of a clean install. At least with XP. If it were Vista or 7, then you've got the Anytime Upgrade feature that does exactly what you want, but with XP I'm thinking you're basically screwed.

Long ago I do remember reading about some registry hacks that could effectively turn XP Home into Pro, and so if you have a legal copy of XP then that MIGHT work, but as far as Microsoft is concerned it would be a pirated copy unless you were using the Pro key, and I don't know enough about the XP installer to know if there was any real difference between the Home and Pro media and it just worked it out based on the key you entered, or if the Home installer would only accept Home keys and the same for Pro. So even if those registry hacks were real -- I never looked into them -- there'd be potential legal issues with doing it.

Your one and only real hope as I can see it, is to create a SP3 slipstreamed install disc and hope that it will offer some kind of upgrade option. I just wouldn't get my hopes up.

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Answer
Re: over 200 GB of programs
May 30, 2012 12:35AM PDT

How long would it take to reinstall all of them?
And how long did you spend already trying this dead-end road?

Anyway, for $262 with a 30 day refund option if it doesn't work you can buy an official XP CD with SP3 included. It just might make the difference with your own slipstreamed version.
That's only $1.28 per GB of programs you have. Quite cheap. And if it doesn't work, you get your money back.
See http://www.discountmountainsoftware.com/miwixpprofuv1.html?cmp=nextag

Kees


Kees

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Wrong link.
May 30, 2012 12:37AM PDT
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Answer
Downgrade From SP3 Before Upgrading to XP Pro
May 30, 2012 4:38PM PDT

I performed this upgrade a long time ago...I went through several steps, some interrelated, and I no longer remember whether it was one magic procedure or a combination that produced the miracle--but here they are:

FIRST: Back up your registry. If you've already been at this for a while, you already know how to do this--or you're one foolhardy motherwhucker. Please follow the following steps in order (stopping, of course, when you've successfully installed XP Pro):

DOWNGRADE INTERNET EXPLORER: If you have upgraded Internet Explorer, the application's directory path is no longer compatible with IE6; If Windows does not refuse XP Pro installation until Internet Explorer has been reverted, the system be left with a browser that is un-usable and un-fixable.

DOWNGRADE FROM SP3: According to your post, your XP Pro upgrade disc (v2002) seems to predate SP3 (April 2008), SP2, (August 2005), and even SP1a (February 2003). Laying the upgrade over a system that did not exist at the time your Pro disc was published may be problematic. Of particular concern is Service Pack 2c (August 2007), Service Packs can be uninstalled from XP via Control Panel; however, it may be more effective to revert all SP's using a non-slipstreamed copy of your OEM Windows XP Home installation disc. Remember to re-install SP3 after upgrade to XP Pro.

TRY WINDOWS XP AUTOMATED SYSTEM RECOVERY: Yeah, yeah...it's not supposed to work with XP Home. Microsoft endorses a workaround which they have published at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302700. It works a treat, but it will take some time--200GB is a big disc--but it should take no longer than a defragmentation.
• Create a backup using your OEM XP Home disc:\Valueadd\MSFT\Ntbackup (per procedure at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302700);
• Perform the successful clean install procedure you have described above;
• Restore with Ntbackup (per procedure at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302700)

THE REGISTRY HACK WORKS: Why didn't I mention this first? Aside from being dangerous,--and a pain--you'll still have to download, install, and configure remote desktop after you've made Windows XP Home think that it's Windows XP Professional. Also, it may not work if you re-install SP3 before you wade into the registry. If I were you, I'd be hell-bent on making the upgrade (for which I had paid good money) work before I tried this...but it does work:
• Reboot your computer
• Open Registry Editor (regedit).
• Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/ControlSet00X/Control/ProductOptions, where ControlSet00X is the one with for the "Last Known Good" configuration (Identify the "X" for the "Last Known Good" configuration by inspecting the HKLMSystemSelect key for "ControlSet00X")
• Delete the ProductSuite registry key.
• Then, create a new DWORD value and name it Brand.
• Set the "Brand" value data as 0.
• Reboot the system.
• On boot up after the BIOS screen, press F8 to display Windows XP Startup Menu.
• Choose Last Known Good Configuration (LNG) and hit Enter.
TO AVOID DIFFICULTIES WITH SERVICE PACK UPGRADES: apply similar registry hacks before installation; slipstream with SP3 onto a new XP installation disc and perform a Repair Installation:
• Copy the root directory and the i386 directory of your OEM Windows XP Home installation disc to hard drive
• Extract the Bootsector of XP Home CD
• Change 2 Bytes in i386\Setupreg.hiv :
--Open Regedit
--Highlight HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
--Menu: File -> Load Structure -> i386\Setupreg.hiv
--Assign an arbitrary name to the imported structure e.g. "Homekey"
--Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Homekey\ControlSet001\Services\setupdd
--Edit the binary key "default": change "01" to "00" and change "02" to "00"
--Highlight "Homekey" and select menu: File -> unload structure
• Slipstream SP3
• Burn your new Windows XP Pro Installation disc
• Perform Repair Installation