Windows XP installations
 

Okay so somehow, and I have no clue how, but Windows XP Home installation got fucked up. It kept rebooting after the startup screen. I couldn't find my XP Home CD to repair it. So I went to my school and bought a copy of XP Pro for $15. I was an idiot and bought the full version instead of the upgrade, so I had to install Pro in another directory. I was able to recover my files, but now how do I get rid of the XP Home installation. I don't think I can just delete my c:\Windows directory (Pro is in c:\Windows2). Also is there any was of salvaging any of my programs from XP Home. It's just gonna be a pain to install them again.

damn.. I have a full version of Pro and I just applied it to my Home edition and it upgraded just fine. and I didn't have to reinstall any files.... it just upgraded the OS.

That's what should've happened. Right Click My Computer -> manage -> disk management then format the Widnows Home partition. Since you installed two OSes you have to have atleast two partitions, one for Home edition, and the other for pro. Another option is to back up your data onto an external HDD or CD/DVD and just format the whole drive by reinstalling XP pro.

Yes, since Windows2 is now your system directory the Windows directory is essentially irrelevant. Unfortunately, it's also the home of many of your apps. Libraries & various system files get installed or modified during app installs and those apps are therefore married to that system directory. You either have to reinstall those apps to the new system, or reinstall XP again, upgrading the original Home version of XP.

Your choice. I'd bite the bullet and install the apps. It can certainly work but upgrades can be problematic, especially if the original install has lots of miles.

Don't worry about partitions. Multiple installs can exist on one with care. When you're happy with the one you want for your real install, boot it and delete the other. If you're bothered by the boot prompt for which version, pick your default operating system here: control panel->System->Advanced->Startup and Recovery->System Startup. This modifies the lines in the hidden boot.ini file at the top of your boot drive.