xp pro upgrade

I need a little advice on if I should go with Windows XP pro upgrade or OEM.

I just got a dell Inspiron. For whatever reason Dell did not feel that I needed a OS desk or the program to make my own. It came with PC Restore recovery system by Symantec (which IMO seems like a fancy name for PC restore)

The thing is, I need WIndows XP pro for school as I'm about to start my Junior year of Elec Eng.

What is the best way to go about putting xp pro on this computer? I've never used the xp pro upgrade disk but I've been told that it will ask for the original OS disk when I go to boot from it to do a clean install. My sister does have a legal copy of home though, so is that usable?

Also, after I've got Pro on it, is there a way to restore it back to store specs so I can resell it later?

I'm completely clueless about current upgrades and oems. Most of my experience is with building everything from the ground up. I don't know anything about changing the OS of off the shelf computers.

 

hi! first of all i don't understand why do you want XP pro, i think home version is good enough.

 

I prefer to buy an inexpensive (or expensive) piece of hardware from one of the online retailers and purchase the XP Pro OEM version with it. It has always seemed like a good way to get a legal OS to me. I just don't like having to keep a previous version of Windows around just so that I can reload the OS if I want to.

Get the Pro and stick the sticker on your machine where it won't be damaged and keep the key with the disk also and don't let anyone else "use" it and you should be good.

I would rather have just the OS on cd. You have to have the drivers you need for your hardware also, so don't forget about that. Be sure and get your required drivers from Dell just in case you need them. Windows update may provide the drivers you need? I use Windows Update for driver updates when it provides them.

Just my opinion. I would get other people's opinions for sure and then decide.

 

=/ the eng department demands I have it. I need to try to get what they want because I know the second something goes wrong and I ask for help they will be like "well if you did what we told you to do...."