Google for "XP homepage" which will show you the Microsoft
site and then follow the links.
--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
| Hi, Gordon.
|
| Welcome to the 21st Century! ;^}
|
| I'm not aware of a FAQ, as such, but there are tons of
information on the
| net, in the bookstores, etc., on WinXP, as well as here in
the newsgroups.
|
| In my opinion, based on experience, the most important
thing in making the
| transition to WinXP is to shift from the MS-DOS/Win9x
mindset. Don't expect
| everything to work the way it did before, even though many
things will.
| WinXP is not built on MS-DOS. There's no way to boot to
MS-DOS, unless you
| hang onto a boot floppy (or let WinXP make a new one -
there's just enough
| of MS-DOS here to do that). WinXP handles hardware much
differently
| (through the HAL - Hardware Abstraction Layer) than MS-DOS
(and Win3x/9x),
| so any device driver that worked in Win98 almost certainly
won't work in
| WinXP. The WinXP CD-ROM includes drivers for nearly all
hardware except the
| very new, the very old and the exotic. These drivers will
get you started,
| but you will want to visit the websites for the makers of
your peripherals
| to get the latest, most full-featured drivers for each
device (modem,
| printer, graphics card, and so on).
|
| There are 3 ways, generally speaking, to transition from
Win98 to WinXP:
|
| 1. Upgrade - Start with Win98 only and end up with WinXP
in the same
| volume. WinXP Setup will attempt to migrate each of your
device drivers and
| applications to WinXP; this attempt is usually successful,
but not always.
|
| 2. Clean install - WinXP Setup will offer to repartition
and reformat your
| HD; Win98 will disappear and WinXP will be installed "from
scratch". Before
| you do this, back up all your data (pictures, financial
data, etc., that
| don't exist anywhere in the world except in your
computer). Don't bother to
| back up Win98, because you won't need this anymore. Don't
bother to backup
| your applications, because you will need to install them
in WinXP; even if
| you preserve the executable files, you will have to run
their Setup programs
| so that they can make the proper entries in the WinXP
Registry.
|
| 3. Dual boot - Start with Win98 only; end up with both
Win98 and WinXP in
| separate volumes. This was especially useful when Win2K
debuted, because it
| took a year or more for many Win2K device drivers to
arrive; booting into
| Win98 allowed me to use my printer (and ADSL modem) before
the Win2K drivers
| were available. WinXP has drivers for just about
everything now, so dual
| booting is less popular. If you DO choose dual booting,
you will need to be
| sure that the "system partition" (almost always Drive C
is formatted
| FAT32, and that any other volume that will be accessed by
Win98 is also
| FAT32, because MS-DOS/Win9x cannot read, write, boot from
or even SEE an
| NTFS volume. If you choose to dual boot, just leave Win98
in place (or
| reinstall if you choose to reformat), then boot from the
WinXP CD-ROM and
| tell it to clean install WinXP on a different volume from
Win98. WinXP
| Setup will detect Win98 and create the dual-boot menu that
will ask you to
| choose each time you reboot. If you don't plan to install
Win9x/ME on this
| computer, then go NTFS all the way - except see below.
|
| To partition or not? How big? You'll get lots of
different opinions.
| Here's my preference:
|
| Only one primary partition; everything else in logical
drives in an extended
| partition. "Drive" letters actually are assigned, not to
drives or even to
| partitions, but to volumes, which can be either primary
partitions or
| logical drives in an extended partition. The first
partition on the first
| physical drive (Drive C
must be primary and Active
(bootable), but can be
| quite small (under 1 GB; maybe the 8 MB minimum; mine is
715 MB and that's
| comfy). Format it FAT(16) for maximum compatibility with
all operating
| systems. Nothing goes in here but the "system files"
(NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM
| and Boot.ini for WinXP; add io.sys, msdos.sys and
bootsect.dos if you are
| dual booting Win98); there's room for a few gut-level
MS-DOS programs, such
| as the older Norton Utilities, if you still have them,
BIOS flash files,
| etc.
|
| The first logical drive (D:?) should be at least 5 GB; 10
GB if you have
| plenty of room. Install WinXP here (the system files will
ALWAYS go into
| the Root of the System Partition (C:\)); Setup will create
the "boot folder"
| (\Windows, by default) and this (D
will become the "boot
volume". Yes,
| it's counterintuitive; as many writers have pointed out,
we boot from the
| system partition and keep the operating system files in
the boot volume.
| :>{
|
| Create one or more other volumes to fit your own way of
doing business. I
| like to put applications (MS Office, Quicken, games, etc.)
on E:, while
| keeping their data on F:.
|
| Only the System Partition (C
and Boot Volume (if
different) need be
| created during Setup. One of the first things you should
do after getting
| WinXP installed is to find Disk Management (type at the
Run prompt:
| diskmgmt.msc). This tool (which first appeared in Win2K
nearly 5 years ago)
| replaces the old FDISK and Format.com utilities from
MS-DOS, and the disk
| letter assignment function from Win98's Device Manager.
Use Disk Management
| to, well, manage your disks. Use it to create partitions
and logical
| drives, delete them, format them, and assign drive letters
of your choosing
| so that WinXP won't be tempted to shuffle them each time
you reboot. Also
| read the Help file from here; it explains many disk
mysteries that even
| experienced Windows users have often wondered about. Disk
Management can't
| do much with the System Partition and Boot Volume, but it
handles the rest
| of our disk chores.
|
| Post back with any further questions. I think you'll like
WinXP, as soon as
| you get over the mindset threshold. Enjoy!
|
| RC
| --
| R. C. White, CPA
| San Marcos, TX
| (e-mail address removed)
| Microsoft Windows MVP
|
| | > 1.4gig athelon, 384 megs mem, 80gig (w/C:, E:,
F
artitions) and 120gig
| > (D:,G:,H
hds.
| >
| > Fairly computer literate.
| >
| > I have only been lurking a short time. I still have 98se
on my computer
| > and XP in the box, waiting for me to get a bit more up
to speed.
| >
| > If there is a FAQ, could you point me there?
| >
| > I intend to do a clean install. Some questions on this-
| >
| > What size should the XP partition be? I usually install
all the most used
| > programs on the C: drive with the OS, but My Documents,
Mozilla profiles
| > and any other "volatile" info on another partition for
easy backup and one
| > more level of protection. I am a experimenter, so the C:
drive can get
| > cluttered with "new, exciting" programs that sit around
for a while, often
| > forever, since I find a better program to do the job of
the old one, but
| > keep the old one, "just in case". Which is the main
reason for the clean
| > install. (Yes, I do "uninstall many of them, but only
after a while.)
| >
| > What is most secure method of installing XP (does not
have SP2 so will
| > have to install it too along with all other upgrades)?
(I intend to
| > disconnect my cable modem until I can install ZA, spybot
and adaware, then
| > go for updates. What is best way to do this- since I do
not know what
| > issues may result with XE during the install?)
| >
| > What is XP method of shifting My Docs to another
partition?
| >
| > That is a start. Interesting that most issues I have
seen on this NG are
| > virus/spyware/trojan related, which is also what I get
most calls from
| > others asking for my help on 98se. I give them the same
advice you give
| > for XP- I like free stuff so, Grisoft, lavasoft, spybot
websites and shift
| > to Moz/FF. Any other freeware in this category that is
essential for
| > secure XP?
| >
| > GA
|
