Urgent!! XP Pro vs Home

[pjordan]

Sorry, I know it is the wrong place to post this question, but I need a speedy answer please. Should I pay $80 to get Pro or should I just get Home. I want to be able to share a cable connection, two printers, a scanner, and transfer files between two or three different computers. Thx!

 

[pjordan]

Would I be able to do all that with either Pro or Home? I take it that only with Pro can I right click a file or folder and encrypt it under the advanced tab? This makes it so only my logon can load that right?

 

[Cybercraig]

You're doing exactly what I'm doing with Home. I like all PC's running the same software so I can have common drivers which is less hassle when sharing printers, scanners, etc. You should be good for up to 5 networked PC's with Home.

Abit IS7 - 2.8C @ 3.4 - Mushkin PC4000 (2 X 512) - Sapphire 9800Pro - TT 420 watt Pure Power
Samsung 120gb ATA-100 - Maxtor 40gb ATA - 100
Sony DRU-510A - THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!

 

[pjordan]

So I take it I should get Home and all those things will still work? How about firewall and file encrypting? I might want to be able to have different logins be able to access different things. And I don't want to get hacked into! But I think that I might have a McAffee firewall that should work.

 

[Mr5oh]

I recommend you use an actual firewall (Norton or Mcafee) instead of just relying on the built in firewall anyways, it is not as good as a true third party firewall.

Also I don't think you should use the file encryption as a reason to spend extra money on the Pro version. I personally have Pro and I don't use the file encryption at all, stuff that I really want encrypted I use a third party app, which makes the file more secure, however it is not avaible right away like the windows system, you have to un-encrypt it first. There are several really good freeware encryption programs out there.

I think you might as well save yourself some money and get Home.

My Desktop: <A HREF="http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html" target="_new">http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html</A>

 

[Cybercraig]

The new service pack from MS is going to have a good firewall built in. The Norton version is great too!

Abit IS7 - 2.8C @ 3.4 - Mushkin PC4000 (2 X 512) - Sapphire 9800Pro - TT 420 watt Pure Power
Samsung 120gb ATA-100 - Maxtor 40gb ATA - 100
Sony DRU-510A - THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!

 

[phial]

I like all PC's running the same software so I can have common drivers which is less hassle when sharing printers, scanners, etc.

i dont believe xp home requires different drivers than xp pro

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[Cybercraig]

Right you are, but having three or four XP Home machines versus three or four XP Pro machines is cheaper! My post was in relation to what I used to have; one Win 98 Notebook, one back-up PC running 98SE, and the main PC running XP Home.

Abit IS7 - 2.8C @ 3.4 - Mushkin PC4000 (2 X 512) - Sapphire 9800Pro - TT 420 watt Pure Power
Samsung 120gb ATA-100 - Maxtor 40gb ATA - 100
Sony DRU-510A - THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!

 

[phial]

oh, duh, yea i see what your saying now @_@

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<A HREF="http://www.subhi.com/keyboard.jpg" target="_new">This is you, interweb junky</A>

 

[P4Man]

There is not much point in paying extra for the Pro version. The only advantages are:
1) it sounds cooler
2) it supports 2 (actual) cpu's (HT enabled P4s work fine on XP home)
3) it supports networking stuff you don't need at home (domain controllers and all that)
4) it supports some features you wouldn't want windows to handle in the first place since there are far superior 3rd party apps.

I may have missed some, but IMHO, a home user only requires XP home. For a corporate user running a single cpu machine, the only real reason is the domain support.

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

 

[pjordan]

Thx guys, I ended up getting XP Home.

 

[Mr5oh]

I noticed you kept pointing out the file encryption for Pro, you might look at this link, at the site they list all sorts of encryption programs, this link however lists all the free ones.

http://www.spychecker.com/software/freeware_encrypt.html

My Desktop: <A HREF="http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html" target="_new">http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html</A>

 

[Mr5oh]

I noticed you kept pointing out the file encryption for Pro, you might look at this link, at the site they list all sorts of encryption programs, this link however lists all the free ones.

http://www.spychecker.com/software/freeware_encrypt.html

My Desktop: <A HREF="http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html" target="_new">http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html</A>

 

[pauldh]

Can't password protect folders in XP home like in pro or even Win 98. If it is shared, anyone on the network has access to it. Very weak feature to leave out of XP home, when Win 98 even had it.

Also, once you go over 5 PC's on your home LAN, XP home gets a bit buggy in file sharing and although rare, occasionally finding/ connecting to games through ingame browser. And PC building is addicting right, so it's simple to go over 5 PC's. XP Pro on the other hand is good up to 10 PC's peer to peer, and yes also on a domain based network as you stated. If you are a college student and hope to connect at school without hassle, you would want pro.


ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 1GB Corsair XMS 4000 Pro Series, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt

 

[overclockerkenny]

Upgrade to pro, dude. Home is crap. Pro is A LOT more stable for one. Because of all of the holes in windows, encryption is nice to have...

Overclock 'round the Clock!
Hard core intel fanboy!

 

[P4Man]

> Pro is A LOT more stable for one.

Nonsense. They are the exact same OS's with some registry tweaks to dis/enable some features. You can even hack XP Home into XP Pro afaik.

> Because of all of the holes in windows, encryption is nice
>to have...

Hmm.. First, if you want encryption, download any of a gazillionn tools. Secondly, this is ironic, cause it doesnt help a whole lot. If I'm not mistaken, the encryption is transparent on an application level once you're logged in, since the OS/FS handles it, so it wouldn't bother a hacker or virus much if anything once your system is compromised. Encrypting your files also seems to be potentially disasterous to recover your data when you get a disk corruption/crash. I see no point in using it at home, unless perhaps you want to encrypt your illegally downloaded files from the RIAA/FBI.






= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

 

[Kanavit]

Get Home edition, it doesn't have the same license restrictions regarding dual cpus with hyperthreading technology! Professional does!

plus HOme is virtually the same as Professional without the XP professional wallpaper and blue progress bar logging screen.

but lord behold!! I downloaded SP2 RC2 and it turned my home edition to professional for free! Yes, I have the blue progress bar now, plus all the extra firewall, security features!! Me loves Windows XP home!!

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Prescott 3.0E 1MB L2 HT
1GB PC 3200 Dual channel(PAT)
Asus P4P800 Bios 1016
PNY Geforce 6800 GT 256MB DDR3
58,556 Aquamarks

 

[pauldh]

You can hack XP Home into Pro and lose the 5 peer-to-peer PC limit? Wow, I never heard that. I wonder if it effects updates or activation at all. (Can they tell you did the hack if because of hardware upgrade you have to call and reactivate XP?)

ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 1GB Corsair XMS 4000 Pro Series, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt

 

[Guest]

I personnaly miss some feature in home...I use nothing but PRO and about lciensing, you call MS and they let you activate it on other computer as well maybe not 5 but at least 2 of hem...

Asus P4P800DX, P4C 2.6ghz@3.25ghz, 2X512 OCZ PC4000 3-4-4-8, Leadtek FX5900 w/ FX5950U bios@500/1000, 2X30gig Raid0