I needed a way to be able to install a legitimate XP Professional Open-License version over top of an XP Home without losing programs and data, etc.
This is the registry hack to do it:
Open Registry Editor (regedit).
(N.B: I am in no way condoning doing this for illegitimate purposes but purely to save yourself time in not having to save the customers data and re-install programs)
This is the registry hack to do it:
Open Registry Editor (regedit).
- Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/ControlSet00X/Control/ProductOptions, where ControlSet00X is the one with the highest number.
- Delete the ProductSuite registry key.
- Then, create a new DWORD value and named it as Brand.
- Set the “Brand” value data as 0.
- Reboot the system.
- On boot up after the BIOS screen, press F8 to display Windows XP Startup Menu.
- Choose Last Known Good Configuration (LNG) and hit Enter.
- Voila! Now it's XP Professional (as far as the XP Pro installer is concerned).
(N.B: I am in no way condoning doing this for illegitimate purposes but purely to save yourself time in not having to save the customers data and re-install programs)