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zirtman

4 Posts

2681

June 24th, 2006 17:00

Upgrading to XP from MCE

I ma trying to upgrade to XP Pro SP1 from MCE.  Pro will not let me load over the top of MCE.  I have tried to boot form the Pro CD and get a STOP error that refers to pci.sys and tells me to check to be sure my hard drive is not full.  I was told I need to format the hard drive.  I do not have a boot disk and connot figure out how to make one.  Is there a way to format without a boot disk?  Is there a better way to kick off this upgrade?  Thanks in advance.

zirtman

4 Posts

June 24th, 2006 17:00

By the way, I've tried to format from my computer and also from the dos prompt and neither will allow as the drive is in use.

Mary G

4 Operator

 • 

20.1K Posts

June 24th, 2006 19:00

MCE is XP Pro with a few minor differences, so you really need to assess your needs for Pro. It's not really an "upgrade" but more of a lateral move. Your XP installation disk is your boot disk. You should use this guide: http://www.djdenham.com/Install Procedures.htm#Install It sounds like you have a computer with sata hard drive that needs special drivers to recognize your hard drive.

zirtman

4 Posts

June 25th, 2006 13:00

I need Pro as the PC will be used in a corporate environment and MCE does not have some of the capability required.  How do I get past the driver issue as I cannot boot on the XP Pro disk?

simpswr

3.2K Posts

June 25th, 2006 23:00

When you install MCE 2005, you will notice that it first installs XP Professional version . . then installs the MCE overlay.  When installing the MCE overlay, the ability to join a domain is disabled . . there is a registry hack that restores that ability.

jdwssll

373 Posts

June 25th, 2006 23:00

I don't know where the info is coming from that MCE is any more derived from XP Pro than XP Home Edition is. The price tag for XP Pro when building a new system is $149 greater than XP Home or MCE which are the "free" choices of OS's. http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DXPS600F3&s=dhs this link shows the pricing plus this claim:

All the features of XP Home PLUS enhancements for movies, music, photos and more at no extra cost!

Some one's information about MCE heritage is way off, Do a clean install of XP Pro and rid yourself of the bloatware. If you need any of those capabilities; you can download them from Windows update or at microsoft.com under the downloads section.

davejohn

2.5K Posts

June 26th, 2006 12:00

Q: Is media center a different operating system??
A: Media Center 2005 is built on Windows XP SP2 and offers all the features of Windows XP Pro except the ability to join a domain and credential caching. You get the great MCE experience which is great for a residential user.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/chats/transcripts/05_Jan20_mce.mspx

Why does Dell charge more for XP Pro?  Because they can.

Dave

simpswr

3.2K Posts

June 26th, 2006 12:00

Why does Dell charge more for XP Pro? 
 
Actually . . Microsoft does the same thing . . go figure . . but then . . what do you expect from a system that has you click on start to turn off?

jdwssll

373 Posts

June 26th, 2006 21:00

Good point and M$ charges what they want. I'll stay with XP Pro personally

zirtman

4 Posts

June 30th, 2006 13:00

In case anyone cares about the real problem I am having, this is what I have found:

I was trying to install XP Pro SP1.  SP1 is not compatible with the Dell Inspirion 9400.  Need SP1a or better is required.  I've ordered XP Pro SP2 from Newegg.com, $139 for an OEM version.  Cheaper than an upgrade from SP1 to SP2......

 

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