Graphic Card Question

[peomp]

If i buy a new graphic card for my 4yr old desktop,(XP SP2 Home Edition).
Do I need to reformat my computer from Home to Pro edition.
1st. install graphic card then 2nd reformat or the other way around?
if make the computer into XP Pro with a new installed ATI graphic card, will my systems performance improve?

[steveryan]

1, I know some bods recommend re-formatting if changing from Nvidia to ATI or vice versa. If you want to change from home to pro then it's totally upto you.
2, Re-format then install new card, there's no point installing the card if you intend to re-format anyway.
3, Depends which ATI card you go for and which card you currently have.

[Krispy Kritter]

You don't need to reformat. It can be helpful and will most likely greatly increase the performance (boot times for example) of your pc. But you can change video cards anytime.

You won't see any performance difference between Home and Pro. Pro just has easier access to core components.

[yoda313]

I switched from a ati radeon 9250 to a nvidia gforce 5500 with no problem on my xp home pc. No reinstall needed.

The only glitch I seem to have is my hdtv capture software. The analog mode is just fine but I can't watch hdtv. I think I have to reinstall the software but I just haven't gotten around to it. I have too much to record off of analog cable to bother reinstalling the software right now.

BUT no reinstall was needed - I just plopped in the new one after uninstalling the ati drivers and I was good to go. By the way I have an older 2.66ghz celeron emachine fyi.