Benefit of XP Pro over XP Home?

What are the benefits of XP Pro over XP Home. I have a new or never opened OEM version of XP Pro that I had purchased for another computer and never installed it. The computer I have now has XP Home. Should I upgrade?

If I upgrade I need to back up what I currently have on this system correct? To do a ghost back up on a backup hard drive do I need to create a partition on that drive?

Thanks for your Help.

Cheers,
Jeb

 

XP pro has remote desktop and other networking tools that XP home does not have. However there are very few day to day differences.

A ghost backup will allow you to restore the entire OS and all files, not just backup your files. And yes, you need a partition on the drive.

 

Thanks collins,

Any recommendations for the software? I believe there are free downloads correct?

 

if you have a single pc for home use then xp home is the one,
if you have multiple pc's, say on a home network, then xp pro is the one, as it allows you to join and manage a domain, with most/all the tools you need built in,

windows 2000 pro can be upgraded to xp pro as a lot of the networking 'details' are the same, xp home cannot,

xp home needs to be registered, along with the pc its installed on, xp pro does not (this is not the same as activation),
both need to be activated,

i would go for xp pro

 

Thank's for the clarification Hawklord,

I have a small business but I don't know that I need the XP Pro. Would I be correct that the activation is a one time thing for like one machine. Once done I can also use this for reinstalls on the same machine?

Thanks,
Jeb

 

Hello jebadia_64, I am currently using XP Pro, with SP3, and really do enjoy it.. My last OS was a home edition, so this is a really nice upgrade..I am sure you will like it..

 

Not much of a difference in my case. Unless you use the technical features which most people doesn't use, go for XP Pro.

 

i'm no expert on this but i believe you can image the drive and use it as many times as you want on the same machine,

on clean re-installs i think that there are a number of times you can do this - but i don't realy know how many times,

if it doesn't go on the web then it can't be validated and under certain circumstances it may begin to touch on piracy - but thats just a guess

(its not much help, sorry)

 

This applies to XP Retail:
Activation is done every time you reinstall the operating system (OS) on a PC, and every time the OS detects a significant hardware change within the PC. Note: this is not the same as re-imaging. Activation sends the serial key of the OS and a hardware profile to Microsoft. Thus, if you reinstall the OS on a different PC or on different hardware within the PC the OS will attempt to re-activate and this may fail as you may be breaking the terms of the licence. However, a phone call to Microsoft will normally get you an activation code. In the case of activation, a significant hardware change is changing a motherboard or more than a set number of system components (I think) at once. With XP retail you are allowed to install the OS on one computer (normally, there were three-licence packs available) and as long as the OS is only on one computer it should not fail to activate. As the OS is not tied to a specific computer you can reinstall it as meny times as you want, as long as it is only installed on one computer.

This applies to XP OEM:
Activation is done every time you reinstall the operating system (OS) on a PC, and every time the OS detects a significant hardware change within the PC. Note: this is not the same as re-imaging. Activation sends the serial key of the OS and a hardware profile to Microsoft. Thus, if you reinstall the OS on a different PC or on different hardware within the PC the OS will attempt to re-activate and this may fail as you may be breaking the terms of the licence. However, a phone call to Microsoft will normally get you an activation code. In the case of activation, a significant hardware change is changing a motherboard or more than a set number of system components (I think) at once. The XP OEM licence allows you to install the OS onto one computer (there were three licence packs available), but the OEM licence states that the version should be tied to a specific major component set. Vista OEM takes this one step further as it is locked to one motherboard. As the OS should be tied to a hardware profile (major component set), you can reinstall it as many times as you want as long as long as the major components are the same.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a legal professional nor am I affiliated in any way with Microsoft or any of it's employees. The text above was written from memory and as such I cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies or omissions. You use the information above at your own risk.

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Hope this helps explain activation,

 

All versions of XP require activation unless you have a volume license purchased from Microsoft. If you have a pre-built PC from Dell or HP or Gateway, etc, and it was shipped with an XP disc with the company name on it (for example: Gateway ships blue XP Home CDs with some of their machines) then you will not need to activate if you install using this CD. If you use any other XP disc and install with the product key on the sticker on the PC, then you will have to activate. No versions of XP require registration. As stated above, activation and registration are different.

But the topic of this thread has nothing to do with activation, registration, or product keys.

For 90% of home users, Windows XP Home is fine. Most people cannot tell the difference between an XP Pro PC and an XP Home PC if they are running side-by-side. XP Pro includes more networking/domain features, and more group policy and permission type settings....