If I upgrade from XP home to Pro will I lose My Documents?

I know that a clean install probably would be better, but will I lose my programs and documents if I upgrade from Home to Pro?

Thanks

 

You could always just back up the documents onto a disc.

 

Most likely not (and Windows will warn you when your data will be erased by the type of installation you're doing).

However, as mentioned above, always backup your data and documents when upgrading your OS. Too many things can go wrong during such a sensitive procedure that otherwise would be fine (power outage, lightning strikes, hurricane, typhoon, political insurrection, acts of god, sky falling, harddrive failure, motherboard frying, etc.) and it'd be a hassle to have to recover your data.

 

What about the applications - would I need to reinstall these?

thanks for the quick replies

 

As long as you're not doing a clean install of Windows and you're staying within XP, your applications should carry over just fine.

In any case, even if they don't, you don't have many other options except to reinstall them since you can't really backup your program registry files with any degree of practicality. Installation isn't a huge deal though. What you may want to consider is backing up some of your preference and setting files for those programs, and of course any data files.

 

Welll - I did the install and the My documents folder was deleted. As for the apps, the folders were there but the apps, like office, wouldn't run saying I should reinstall.

So, I ended up doing a clean install. I had backed everything up, but it's still a pain do this...