Any tips in XP PRO installation

[budz]

Today I'm waiting for FED EXPRESS to come yelling or knocking on my door.
Yuh, I finally broke down and purchased XP PRO a OEM versionl I dunno why NEWEGG.com charges so much for it. I purchased mine from COMPUPLUS.COM for $30.00 less than NEWEGG.com. I'll be installing it sometime this weekend on one of my pc's. I just dunno which pc will be the guinea pig for it.

Any tips on installing XP PRO? I've heard it's best to do a clean installation rather than doing the upgrade from windows 2000. I would appreciate any help or comments. As always it will be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[stiltman]

just as easy as win2k install
Never do upgrades unless you have too

[BJ_M]

clean install is always the best --

[budz]

thanks for the replies....if i have any glitches i'll be sure to ask for help.

[stiltman]

throw in the dsc, boot from it
delete any exesiting partition (unless you need to save info on them)
install

[budz]

is it necessary to have a administrator password? i'm looking at blackviper's installation guide on xp pro. it says to choose a administrator password. on my win2k pc's i didn't choose a administrator password.

[BJ_M]

nope - you dont need

[budz]

BJ_M & stiltman thanks for the replies.

[jimmalenko]

You don't have to create an administrator password, but you DO have to create a user profile, that isn't administrator and can't be the same as the name of your PC. You can delete this user afterwards if you log in as administrator.

[ViRaL1]

Today I'm waiting for FED EXPRESS to come yelling or knocking on my door.
Yuh, I finally broke down and purchased XP PRO a OEM versionl I dunno why NEWEGG.com charges so much for it. I purchased mine from COMPUPLUS.COM for $30.00 less than NEWEGG.com.

And you call yourself a newegg.com whore.

Although you don't NEED to create an admin password, I'd strongly suggest it. No password is always my first try when I come across a system. At least with XP Home you have to boot into safe mode to access it. It's just good practice to have an admin password. I have one and I live alone.

[budz]

viRaL1 wrote:

And you call yourself a newegg.com whore.

yuh i go where i can save money then go to NEWEGG.COM to buy more computer stuff later on.

[freestyler]

Is it SP2?

You might want to create a slipstreamed install disc if it isn't.

[budz]

Is it SP2?

You might want to create a slipstreamed install disc if it isn't.

nope it doesn't have SP2 ....i'm gonna have to download sp2 from microsoft....what is slipstreamed install disc? is that necessary for the installation? i'd like to get as much info on this before i install it in one of my pc's.

[ViRaL1]

I'm curious to see what all you get when your order comes. $30 is a pretty significant difference. Newegg sells Pro for more than Media Center, yet Comp-U-Plus' price for an MCE 3-pack is MORE than 3 individual Pro packs. I have to say I'm a bit skeptical. I'm also curious to see how that 'Print-on-Demand' COA works. I read a bit here...

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/msit/crm/gsupchnv.mspx#EHAA

but I'm still a bit foggy on it. If it's not a huge headache, I could use a couple XP Home packs for the systems I built for xmas.

Also, it mentions downloading SP1 (and I'm assuming SP2). They'r probably closing these out. If I had to guess I'd say by the end of Q2, you'll have a much harder time finding a copy of XP WITHOUT SP2 integrated.

[budz]

oopps i goofed....i just looked at the xp pro cd and it says INCLUDES SERVICE PACK 2. so i am assuming SP2 is there....on another forum site someone else mentions newegg.com selling their xp pro oem at such higher cost than some other online sites....i purchased my windows 2000 pro cds from compuplus last year....i've purchased software and other computer components from compuplus in the past and had no problems.

so do i need that slipstreamed installation you mentioned?

[ViRaL1]

I'd recommend slipstreaming it as a timesaver. You should just be able to include SP2 and not bother with SP1, unless you want SP1 instead.

Did they require you to buy anything else?

[budz]

I'd recommend slipstreaming it as a timesaver. You should just be able to include SP2 and not bother with SP1, unless you want SP1 instead.

Did they require you to buy anything else?

Yes, I had to buy a piece of hardware.... a mouse pad that cost $1.99....

I'd like to try out SP2 since I've read it suppose to clear out the bugs and provide more security.....But yet I've also heard horror stories about SP2......So it's safe to say all I will do is boot to xp pro cd and do a clean installation.....SP2 should automatically install right?

[ViRaL1]

It will eventually download on its own once you've turned on automatic updating. It's large so it may take a while. I've run it and haven't encountered any issues; I'd recommend it. If you're installing from scratch anyway, I don't see any reason for conflicts. I'd download it and install it once you've got all your drivers loaded, before you start installing your apps.

[bunyip]

I think what budz is saying is that SP2 is already incorporated into the version of XP he just got, so installing XP in the normal manner will install XP SP2 by default.

[ViRaL1]

The link on the site he bought from (Comp-U-Plus) didn't mention SP2. The link at Newegg says it includes SP2. I'm not 100% sure, but I think he'll be getting an RTM version. Come to think of it, this may be why it's cheaper than the Newegg version. M$ is discontinuing RTM support for Window$ Update coming up sometime soon. There's a link on the Window$ Update page about it. Once that happens, anyone who has an RTM copy will either need to download a service pack from M$ support site or slipstream an SP with their original CD.

[bunyip]

Budz has already said it's there ..

oopps i goofed....i just looked at the xp pro cd and it says INCLUDES SERVICE PACK 2. so i am assuming SP2 is there

So budz - what you need to determine is whether it's part of the install or is it just included in a seperate directory?

[budz]

bunyip wrote:

So budz - what you need to determine is whether it's part of the install or is it just included in a seperate directory?

I guess the only way to find out if it's part of the install is to install it and see what happens.....I'll do it sometime this weekend and post the outcome or problems if I come across any.....

to ViRal1: the link you provided in your earlier post to see the microsoft COA, it does match the xp pro oem I got from compuplus.com. I think compuplus.com just did not update their website to indicate SP2 was included. In fact from what I remembered when ordering windows 2000 pro OEM from them their website did not indicate it would be with SP4, although it was with SP4.

thanks for the replies.