loading XP over 98

  • Thread starter Thread starter Wichita
  • Start date Start date
W

Wichita

Can I load XP Pro over 98 and retain the programs as
installed on my computer when I bought it? If so, do I
need to delete 98 and then load XP Pro? What do I need to
do?
 
Hi, Wichita.

Well, probably.

There are basically 3 ways to transition from Win9x/ME to Win2K/XP.

1. Upgrade. Start with Win98 and end up with only WinXP in the same
partition. WinXP Setup tries to migrate all your device drivers and
applications to WinXP.

2. Clean install. Start with Win98 and end up with only WinXP in the same
partition. Accept WinXP's offer to reformat this partition and you get a
clean start. Be sure to backup your data files before you reformat. Don't
bother to backup Win98 itself. Also, don't bother to backup your
application files; you'll be reinstalling them in WinXP anyhow.

3. Dual Boot. Start with Win98 and at least one additional volume
(partition or logical drive) with enough room to install WinXP (either one
with unused space or one that can be reformatted. Tell WinXP Setup to
install WinXP in this second volume. Setup will automatically create the
dual-boot system, including an opening menu from which you will choose Win98
or WinXP each time you reboot.

Upgrade is the quickest and easiest in the short run. We can't predict how
it will work out in your situation. Many users report that the migration
works beautifully. Many others have problems and wind up doing a "clean
install" later.

The dual boot lets you continue to boot into Win98 during the transition
period. When you are comfy with WinXP, with all your device drivers and
applications working smoothly in WinXP, you can delete Win98 to recover the
disk space that it uses.

WinXP is built on the NT platform and deals with hardware much differently
than Win9x/ME, where were built on MS-DOS. Device drivers that made your
hardware work with Win98 almost certainly won't work with WinXP. Drivers
for most hardware (all except the very old or exotic) are on the WinXP
CD-ROM, so most users don't have to go looking for drivers; if you do, the
hardware maker's website is the place to start. Almost all software that
runs on Win9x/ME also runs on WinXP.

Common advice here in these newsgroups is to try the Upgrade first. If you
end up with problems, or you want to dump the garbage that has accumulated
on your HD over the years, then backup your good data and do a clean
install.

RC
 
Greetings --

Some people will recommend that you perform a clean installation,
rather than upgrade over Win98/Me. For the most part, I feel that
these people, while well-meaning, are living in the past, and are
basing their recommendation on their experiences with older operating
systems. You'd probably save a lot of time by upgrading your PC to
WinXP, rather than performing a clean installation, if you've no
hardware or software incompatibilities. Microsoft has greatly
improved (over earlier versions of Windows) WinXP's ability to
smoothly upgrade an earlier OS.

WinXP is designed to install and upgrade the existing operating
system while simultaneously preserving your applications and data, and
translating as many personalized settings as possible. The process is
designed to be, and normally is, quite painless. That said, things
can go wrong, in a small number of cases. If your data is at all
important to you, back it up before proceeding.

Have you made sure that your PC's hardware components are capable
of supporting WinXP? This information will be found at the PC's
manufacturer's web site, and on Microsoft's Windows Catalog:
(http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/default.mspx) Additionally, run
Microsoft WinXP Upgrade Advisor to see if you have any incompatible
hardware components or applications.

You should, before proceeding, take a few minutes to ensure that
there are WinXP device drivers available for all of the machine's
components. There may not be, if the PC was specifically designed for
Win98/Me. Also bear in mind that PCs designed for, sold and run fine
with Win9x/Me very often do not meet WinXP's much more stringent
hardware quality requirements. This is particularly true of many
models in Compaq's consumer-class Presario product line or HP's
consumer-class Pavilion product line. WinXP, like WinNT and Win2K
before it, is quite sensitive to borderline defective or substandard
hardware (particularly motherboards, RAM and hard drives) that will
still support Win9x.

HOW TO Prepare to Upgrade Win98 or WinMe
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q316639

Upgrading to Windows XP
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm


Bruce Chambers
--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH
 
Can I load XP Pro over 98 and retain the programs as
installed on my computer when I bought it? If so, do I
need to delete 98 and then load XP Pro? What do I need to
do?
Click to expand...

I believe (check microsoft.com) that there is no upgrade path from
Windows 98 and Windows 98SE to XP Pro; only from Windows 98 to XP Home
Edition. I could be wrong; double check. Like in the old days, you
could upgrade from Windows 95 and 98 to NT Workstation, but not to NT
Server.

My own experience has been; it's better to just get the full install
cd and do a clean install. It's more work, but your new OS doesn't
"inherit" any problems or buggy device driver or OS behavior that may
have been plagueing the old one; plus you get rid of all the orphan
dll's and files and registry settings left over from long dead
programs that never properly uninstalled, and which may have been
causing system and registry bloat. (And practically *none* of them
properly uninstall.) Back up all the stuff you want to keep, then
clean install and reinstallation of apps. One trick I've done with
reinstalling apps on a new clean install that, if you have room in the
back up medium, back up the Program Folders folder tree in it's
entirety; when reinstalling the apps, browse to the already
transferred apps folder; setup runs and exits quickly, because it
finds that all the files are there already; it simply enters the
registry information for the app (you may lose settings and options
already configured in the apps; you may have to redo those). Apps
that use an ini file to save options don't need to have their options
reset afterwards; they are not dependent (usually) on registry
settings for their options settings (Sound Forge, WinRAR and Photoshop
are examples of this type).

______________________________________

"I cannot and will not cut my conscience
to fit this year's fashions."

--- Lillian Hellman
 
Back
Top