Help In Restoring XP Pro To XP Home Edition

DumNDuMMerDumNDuMMer New
edited July 2006 in Science & Tech
I was wondering if I could restore XP Professional back to XP Home Edition. I wanna do this because upon installing XP Pro, I think I did something wrong (a fresh or clean install, beats me) and now I have no programs whatsoever, ej. Microsoft Works or any other programs that come with a PC. So I'm left wondering if I can fix this or if I would have to reinstall XP Home Edition? The thing is that I don't have a CD for XP Home Edition, as it came pre-installed on the machine, and the XP Pro that was installed initially, err.. um.. was from a legit copy :eek3: Although I do have the key for the XP Home Edition. Any help? Suggestions? Ideas? (Other than advising not to install "non-legit" software, I learned my lesson here, thanks!) Any help is always appreciated!:aol:

Comments

  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited June 2006
    Did the machine come with recovery disc(s)?
  • DumNDuMMerDumNDuMMer New
    edited June 2006
    I'm sure it did, but this was a while back and I don't have no recovery discs for this machine (eMachine T2200)
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited June 2006
    By "fresh or clean install", do you mean that you formatted the drive? Are the other programs (like Works) still on the hard drive?

    Your options at that point would be to either try to get a replacement set of discs from eMachines or buy a legit copy of Windows. You'd need to buy Works or another office suite, too, or go with something like Software for Starving Students.
  • DumNDuMMerDumNDuMMer New
    edited June 2006
    I guess you could say I formatted the hard drive, because I've usually noticed that an XP Install normally uses up to 9-10 gigs from the total (maybe more or less, I don't know) The Hard Drive on the eMachine is only showing about 3gigs from the total, plus I'm missing just about all the basic programs that came with the PC which is what I want to get back, like the bundled-programs that come pre-installed in most new computers, like for example Microsoft Works among many others. Would the recovery discs bring those back? Or Since I guess I formatted the hard drive, would I have to do reinstall XP Home Edition?
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited June 2006
    I'd contact eMachines and see about getting the recovery discs replaced. They should include the bundled software, but I'd make sure about that before paying for them.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited June 2006
    A great alternative, which is FREE, to MS Works is Open Office. You can get it at OpenOffice.org. For the most part, it's compatible with Microsoft Office and is superior to Microsoft Works.
  • airbornflghtairbornflght Houston, TX Icrontian
    edited June 2006
    Leonardo wrote:
    A great alternative, which is FREE, to MS Works is Open Office. You can get it at OpenOffice.org. For the most part, it's compatible with Microsoft Office and is superior to Microsoft Works.

    Yup:rolleyes2

    Open office is really nice, I have it on a few friends computers that can not afford office, and a side from a few UI differences, they like it. I use office mainly for access and because I got it at the student prices which turned out to be less than $50.:tongue2:
  • DumNDuMMerDumNDuMMer New
    edited July 2006
    Honestly, I just wanted to restore the machine to XP Home Edition because it's not mine (lol) and I think I was the moron who installed XP Pro (a bootleg copy) a few years ago back, I messed around with it, and it wouldn't start. With no recovery discs for that eMachine, or no original copy for XP, I had to reinstall XP Pro (the bootleg copy) to get it in working again.
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