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Free Upgrade From XP Home to XP Pro Lite

Posted by Zonk on from the think-these-things-through dept.

Novus writes "The Register reports that many of the features of Windows XP Pro, such as Remote Desktop and user management, can be enabled in Windows XP Home simply by changing two bytes in an installation data file. Another explanation can be found here."

13 of 540 comments (clear)

  1. Why not just download XP Pro, its just as illegal? by Novanix · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you are so bent on having the pro features and are willing to copy all the files off the CD, hack it, and then re-burn it (not to mention making sure not to screw up the bootable ability of the CD), why not just download Windows XP Pro? Both are illegal(take a look at the EULA), and downloading is easier and will still allow you to upgrade to SP2.

  2. Now it is proven by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    that Windows upgrades are cheaper than Linux

  3. Saturday Afternoon Flaimbait by suso · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's nothing, I heard that you can make Windows secure by changing 106,351,876 bytes before installing.

    Ta-dit-boom!

  4. wow those efficient MS coders by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Are you trying to tell me, MS coders are so amazing that it only took them 2 bytes of data to program all these features?

    -SJ53

    1. Re:wow those efficient MS coders by Cow+Jones · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, sounds impressive at first, but closer examination reveals that those 2 bytes are actually metric bytes with 10 bits each.
      Clever bastards.

      --

      Ah, arrogance and stupidity, all in the same package. How efficient of you. -- Londo Mollari
  5. Re:Why not just download XP Pro, its just as illeg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The EULA of Windows XP is not visible to the buyer before the sale, so it is not part of the contract in many countries. It's still borderline illegal, but the EULA has nothing at all to do with it.

  6. Re:Why not just download XP Pro, its just as illeg by m50d · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The EULA has no legal validity. As long as you don't violate the copyright (which you aren't, since the copy is transitory and for personal use only) or breaking any other laws, you can do what you like with the CD you own.

    --
    I am trolling
  7. Hmm... by iamdrscience · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is only a marginal improvement, I can already change "XP Home" to "XP Pro Lite" by changing only 4 bytes and adding 4 more to the end.

  8. No thanks.... by mangus_angus · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'd rather just go mug someone on the street and then go buy a Legal Copy.

  9. Priceless by VStrider · · Score: 5, Funny

    Price difference? £20.
    Product difference? 2 bytes.

    The look on a WinXP Pro user's face? Priceless!

    Microsoft - how do you want to be robbed today?

    --
    VStrider.
  10. Re:Why not just download XP Pro, its just as illeg by ahdeoz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hidden conditions are illegal in a contract, as are unnegotiable terms, changing terms, terms that violated enunicated rights, and just about everything else in an EULA. Hence, an EULA is not a legal contract.

  11. Re:Two things. by nxtw · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I just integrate SP2 into the install disc; problem solved.

    VNC is far better? *cough* RDP has a ton of features missing in VNC, such as:

    • Sound support
    • Automatic color depth and resolution changing support
    • Remote printer/serial port access
    • Client file access
    Remote Desktop is also much speedier. Even with the latest, greatest, fastest version of VNC, Remote Desktop is still much more responsive. On Windows XP, you can even use a certain file from an old Service Pack 2 beta and support multiple remote users on the same machine.

    and the eaiest way I've found to avoid getting "crap" is to not run as administrator. *poof*, no more problems. I'm surprised more people haven't figured that out yet.

  12. Who knows what hidden functionality there is? by Georules · · Score: 5, Funny

    How many bytes do I have to tweak to upgrade my XP Pro to Longhorn?