I use Windows XP Home and want to upgrade to Windows XP professional
so I can disable automatic 'shared folders'
Will this disturb my folders and files?
will I have to save them and reload them?
Will programs transfer or will they have to be re-installed?

Hi there,

The answer to all three of your questions is no! As noted below in the
comments the operating system is basically the same, with XP Pro
having more features. Therefore, if you upgrade from Home to Pro you
shouldn't encounter any problems. You can find on Microsoft's website
a matrix chart that describes which operating systems can be upgraded
to Windows XP Professional while still "keeping your existing
settings, programs, and data," and an XP Home to Professional upgrade
is one that is supported.

Upgrading from Previous Versions of Windows
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/upgrading/matrix.mspx
http://www.mcse.ms/archive65-2004-3-518685.html

As well, advice from a Microsoft MVP indicates that it would be a good
idea to uninstall any anti-virus and firewall software, as well as
disconnect any peripheral hardware as it may interfere with the
installation of XP Pro. Also, when you insert the XP Pro CD be sure to
select the Upgrade Windows option rather than the New Installation
option.

Upgrading from Windows XP Home to Professional
http://www.mcse.ms/archive65-2004-3-521915.html

I hope this answers your question! If not, please feel free to ask for
clarification.

Thanks
-Deadlychiapet

Search terms used:
xp "home to professional" upgrade

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Request for Answer Clarification by perplexed-ga on 24 Jul 2004 06:14 PDT

thanks deadlychiapet (?). answer has all i need to know
Sorry for delay  -been away
AtB
perplexed

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Clarification of Answer by deadlychiapet-ga on 24 Jul 2004 14:00 PDT

No problem. Glad to have helped!

excellent. thanks.

As long as you just run the upgrade all your programs and files will
be fine. That is assuming that no giant errors occur during install
etc. There should be a very small chance of that happening so you
should be fine.

forge

forge is correct.  The core operating system is pretty much the same
with XP Home and XP Professional.  The upgrade should go very
smoothly.  Below is a list comparing the features in Windows XP Home
and XP Professional:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.mspx