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I want to recover my windows home edition using an xp pro cd I got. Is this possible? I have a dell Inspiron 8600. Also why doesn't dell use the hidden partition drive to store prefactory settings on the computer like HP/Compaq. That's pretty useful when u lose ur cd or don't have it with u. Is it a copywrite thing with ms or something? Thanks.
Have you got a Dell recovery CD? I doubt if the XP Pro one will work unless you replace the Home edition with it.
I guess that Dell haven't got quite as far as HP, with their recovery drive. I believe that the deal with MS is to reduce the potential for piracy. In return, they get the OS at a much lower price than you or I would pay for an OEM edition.
Can you do a system restore?
Yea, i would have to agree that using a Pro CD to recover home wont work. however, its worth a shot.
If its problems with the partition and certain areas of the OS, ie, MBR or drivers, then the repair / recovery console should work regardless of which CD. however, no guarantees.
If you cant recover your OS, then with that new Pro CD, why dont you slap that on??
CTO
sorry i should have clarrified. That is what I wanted to do, to do a restore but to restore it to xp. That will work ok?
no it will not work because the files are different -- home is a limited version of pro (features are stripped out) your best bet would be installing pro, recovering your data, and then possibly doing a clean rebuild so that your machine doesn't act weird (ghosts of previously installed programs in home affecting pro's performance)