Jamesgang wrote:

> I purchased a Dimension E520 from Dell recently and it came with Xp
> Home. I tested it by starting it up making sure the home edition was
> running ok. Our company had purchaed several copies of full version xp
> pro from a different source and I had planned to use one of those to
> upgrade this E520 to Xp Pro. As I have done with numerous other
> computers, I booted using the xp pro cd and it started setup process. I
> get the normal blue screen and it starts to copy the setup files. As
> soon as it finishes copying the files I see a "starting windows setup"
> at the bottom of the screen. At this point I get a blue screen of death
> and it tells me that windows has been shut down to prevent damage. I
> have tried 3 different cds (including one oem xp pro from dell) and had
> the same result. If I put in the xp home cd that came with the setup
> works and I can continue with the setup it works. Is there some sort of
> new proprietary issue here?
>
> Tks, Sam
>

And from where did the company purchase the Windows XP Pro? If
they are non-branded version of XP Pro from other OEM's or the
retail version or VLK version, then the installation/upgrade
would work. If not, then branded OEM versions, especially, are
specific to the brand. The other alternative is to obtain the
Dell Windows XP Pro installation cdrom (not the recovery disc).