Windows FAQ
Q: What's the difference between the Home and Pro versions of Windows XP?
A: Basically, Windows XP Home is Windows XP Pro with only a few features left off, mostly features designed for use in a corporate environment.
For instance, XP Home cannot connect to a corporate domain or support multiple processors (dual core CPUs are fine though). Windows XP Home also has simplified networking options, but still has all the important networking, sharing, firewall, and routing functions that Pro has.
Simply put, if you don't need to connect to a corporate network, then you don't need XP Pro.
Q: What will happen to any data that is already on my hard drive?
A: Installing Windows XP OEM will replace
the operating system on the target drive (well, technically
only the partition, but most PCs only have one drive and
one partition). So you will want to back up your data first.
Also, you may want to consider
using the Windows XP Upgrade version to migrate from an
older operating system. But be warned: if your old operating
system has problems, like spyware or viruses, then you could
lose your data if the upgrade fails.
Q: Does Windows XP include
MS Word or Excel?
A: No. No version of Windows includes or has ever included
Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Publisher, or any other
part of Microsoft Office, which is a separate product
which just happens to be made by the same company and is
often bundled together by PC manufacturers.
Q: How does Windows XP
activation work?
A: First, a Windows XP license is only
meant to be used on 1 (one) computer. How do they enforce
this? Well, your installation key is tied to the unique
set of hardware in your system. Therefore you could reinstall
XP on your system and reactivate over the internet with
no trouble.
You'd only have trouble
activating if you tried installing on a different PC or
if you significantly change the hardware in your system.
In that case you would have to call the activation 800 number
and explain that you have done a system upgrade and need
to reactivate. We've done this countless times on systems
we've upgraded for customers and it generally only takes
about 5 minutes.
