Dell XP Home -> XP pro upgrade not working

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Hi,

I have a Dell 8400, XP Home Edition SP 2 that came pre-installed.

I purchased a retail XP Pro SP2 upgrade. It won't install. I get the
message:

The pid is not valid for this version of Windows XP. Provide the pid that
came with the Windows XP upgrade CD.


I know its not from the Product Key I'm giving it being invalid, because
when I intentionally type it in wrong, I get another kind of error message
about a bad PID. Also, I purchased the retail from a large office supply
chain.

So, why can't I use a retail upgrade XP Pro on top of a OEM XP home?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

New Guy wrote:

>
> Hi,
>
> I have a Dell 8400, XP Home Edition SP 2 that came pre-installed.
>
> I purchased a retail XP Pro SP2 upgrade. It won't install. I get the
> message:
>
> The pid is not valid for this version of Windows XP. Provide the pid
> that came with the Windows XP upgrade CD.
>
>
> I know its not from the Product Key I'm giving it being invalid,
> because when I intentionally type it in wrong, I get another kind of
> error message about a bad PID. Also, I purchased the retail from a
> large office supply chain.
>
> So, why can't I use a retail upgrade XP Pro on top of a OEM XP home?

My guess is that you are trying to upgrade from within Windows and that
the OEM version installed by Dell is not compatible with the retail Pro
upgrade. This is just a guess, mind you. I would back up your data,
have the Dell drivers for that machine on hand, and boot with the new
XP CD. I'd delete the existing partitions, create new ones, format, and
clean install the Pro. During the early stages of installation, you'll
be asked to provide qualifying media. I would think your Dell Home cd
would be qualifying media, but if you have a Win98 install disk you
might consider using that instead to be sure.

http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

You understand that this is going to completely void your warranty with
Dell. Are you sure you need Pro? You might also want to call Dell tech
support and ask why you are having trouble.

Good luck,

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User