XP Home to XP Pro hack -- anyone tried this?

From http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/software/howto-change-windows-xp-home-to-windows-xp-pro-105486.php :

"yes indeed, you can't change an installed Windows but only your Installation CD
(or even a recovery CD in case the manufacturer had not left out important parts)

Here's the detailed breakdown you asked for.

1. Copy the root directory and the i386 directory of the WindowsXP CD
to your harddisk
2. Extract the Bootsector of your WindowsXP CD
3. Change 2 Bytes in i386\Setupreg.hiv :
a) Open Regedit
b) Highlight HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
c) Menu: File -> Load Structure -> i386\Setupreg.hiv
d) Assign an arbitrary name to the imported structure e.g. "Homekey"
e) Goto HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Homekey\ControlSet001\Services\setupdd
f) edit the binary key "default" and change "01" to "00" and "02" to
"00"
g) Highlight "Homekey" and select menu: File -> unload structure
4. Burn your new XP Pro CD
5. Install WindowsXP as usual. Your XP Home Key will work.

Note: You cannot apply SP2 to such a WindowsXP Pro, so step 1.b)
might be to integrate SP2 in your Installation CD

Please check the menu-entries as I don't owe an English copy of
XP and have to guess them."

 

The Windows XP Home Edition with SP2 installation CD
consists of 556MB files. Windows XP Professional with
SP2 consists of 579MB of files. Making those hacks is
not going to make up for the 23MB of additional required files
required for XP Pro!

Also, it is an illegal to "reverse engineer" the Windows XP
operating system. Chances are it will not activate and may
cause the forfeiture/termination of your Windows XP license.

From the EULA:

4. LIMITATIONS ON REVERSE ENGINEERING,
DECOMPILATION, AND DISASSEMBLY.
You may not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the
Software, except and only to the extent that such activity
is expressly permitted by applicable law notwithstanding
this limitation.

15. TERMINATION.
Without prejudice to any other rights, Microsoft may
terminate this EULA if you fail to comply with the terms
and conditions of this EULA. In such event, you must
destroy all copies of the Software and all of its
component parts.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxp/choose.mspx

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| "yes indeed, you can't change an installed Windows but only your Installation CD
| (or even a recovery CD in case the manufacturer had not left out important parts)
|
| Here's the detailed breakdown you asked for.
|
| 1. Copy the root directory and the i386 directory of the WindowsXP CD
| to your harddisk
| 2. Extract the Bootsector of your WindowsXP CD
| 3. Change 2 Bytes in i386\Setupreg.hiv :
| a) Open Regedit
| b) Highlight HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
| c) Menu: File -> Load Structure -> i386\Setupreg.hiv
| d) Assign an arbitrary name to the imported structure e.g. "Homekey"
| e) Goto HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Homekey\ControlSet001\Services\setupdd
| f) edit the binary key "default" and change "01" to "00" and "02" to
| "00"
| g) Highlight "Homekey" and select menu: File -> unload structure
| 4. Burn your new XP Pro CD
| 5. Install WindowsXP as usual. Your XP Home Key will work.
|
| Note: You cannot apply SP2 to such a WindowsXP Pro, so step 1.b)
| might be to integrate SP2 in your Installation CD
|
| Please check the menu-entries as I don't owe an English copy of
| XP and have to guess them."

 

Ignore Carey Frisch, he isn't a real MPV. He even misspelled it as "MVP" !
Furthermore, he also poasted your original poast in his sig, which makes him
even more suspicious. I personally think he is a troll.

As an answer to your question: Yes, it will work. Don't forget to download
and install Service Pak 2 after the hack.

HTH and HAND.

 

HOW TO Change Windows XP Home to Windows XP Pro...
http://www.microsoft.com/products/i...ovr&pcid=2abf99cd-a5e4-469c-802e-55ca8ec542d5

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

Frank DeLucca = Phoney

 

Frank is the only *real* MPV in this group, unlike you. Frank also has
great knowledge of Windows XP and is a valuable support engineer, providing
lots of help here. Just what are your contributions to the group?

 

|>From http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/software/howto-change-windows-xp-home-to-windows-xp-pro-105486.php :
|>
|>"yes indeed, you can't change an installed Windows but only your Installation CD
|>(or even a recovery CD in case the manufacturer had not left out important parts)

Thread here:
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/04/1944213&from=rss

Haven't tried this as I have the Pro version, I used to do close to
the same thing with NT to get it to do what I want'd.

 

Mail-To-News-Contact:

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

Actually, modifying a few bytes is not reverse-engineering, decompiling,
or disassembling the software in any way. It's just editing existing
code. The EULA should specifically state that editing is forbidden,
but it doesn't...

 

Interesting...
Barring the implications with the EULA, etc - very interesting.
Almost interesting enough to test, just to see.

Come on people, you know your curiosity is tweaked as well... Don't lie.
The subject of this post is misleading, however. The actual claim is:

Free Upgrade From XP Home to XP Pro Lite
-------------------------------------------------------
'... many of the features of Windows XP Pro, such as Remote Desktop and
user management, can be enabled in Windows XP Home simply by changing two
bytes in an installation data file ...'

So not XP Home to a full fledged XP Professional.
Somehow I doubt the changes dictated would enable even the simplest of XP
Professional functions - but I have been wrong before..
(That time I thought I was wrong.. But it turned out I was right.. So I was
wrong about being wrong. *grin* Yeah.. uh huh)