Upgrade to XP

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If I upgrade to Windows XP from 98se, will the 98se registry (which is
bloated) be carried over into XP intact, or will a new registry be installed
with XP? Is there any way to clean the registry of the many uninstalled or
unused programs in it? I've had to reinstall 98se recently and it is now
shown on Explorer as 'Windows.000'. I'm concerened that some of my past
problems with 98se will be carried over to XP.
 
You may prefer a clean install, since none of your Win 98 problems will
be carried over. A clean install is always leaner than an upgrade.

The second rule of upgrading is: Never upgrade over a problem. An
upgrade is never a fix.

So what's the first rule? See my signature below.
 
For best performance, a "clean install" of Windows XP
on a hard drive formatted NTFS would be best.

Clean Install Windows XP
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

Please read the following:

NTFS Preinstallation and Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/winpreinst/ntfs-preinstall.mspx

Limitations of the FAT32 File System in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314463/EN-US/

Windows XP's Built-In Optimization
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1149277,00.asp

Windows XP Performance
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/evaluate/xpperf.mspx

Benchmarking on Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/sysperf/benchmark.mspx

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User

Enjoy all the benefits of genuine Microsoft software:
http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/default.mspx

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| If I upgrade to Windows XP from 98se, will the 98se registry (which is
| bloated) be carried over into XP intact, or will a new registry be installed
| with XP? Is there any way to clean the registry of the many uninstalled or
| unused programs in it? I've had to reinstall 98se recently and it is now
| shown on Explorer as 'Windows.000'. I'm concerened that some of my past
| problems with 98se will be carried over to XP.
 
Thanks. This raises another question. Should I be buying an XP upgrade or a
retail box full program? Or does it matter?
 
Thanks. Another question now: How can I find out if my hard drive is
formatted NTFS? And what if it isn't?
 
Sailor said:
Thanks. This raises another question. Should I be buying an XP
upgrade or a retail box full program? Or does it matter?
Click to expand...


Since the cost of the Upgrade is much less than a Full retail version, it
matters a great deal to your pocketbook.

Anyone who qualifies for the Upgrade (owns a previous qualifying version)
should buy the upgrade. Even if you don't own a previous qualifying version,
you can buy a used copy very cheaply and qualify for the Upgrade version.

And, despite what many people think, you *can* do a clean installation with
an Upgrade version. The requirement to use an upgrade version is to *own* a
previous qualifying version's installation CD (with an OEM restore CD, see
below), not to have it installed. When setup doesn't find a previous
qualifying version installed, it will prompt you to insert its CD as proof
of ownership. Just insert the previous version's CD, and follow the prompts.
Everything proceeds quite normally and quite legitimately.

Certainly buy an Upgrade rather than a Full version.
 
Sailor said:
Thanks. Another question now: How can I find out if my hard drive is
formatted NTFS?
Click to expand...


In Windows Explorer or My Computer, right-click on the drive and choose
Properties. It will tell you on the General tab

And what if it isn't?
Click to expand...


You can convert it. To convert to NTFS, you use the CONVERT command. But
first read http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.htm because there's an issue
regarding cluster size that isn't obvious.

Also note that conversion is a big step, affecting everything on your drive.
When you take such a big step, no matter how unlikely, it is always possible
that something could go wrong. For that reason, it's prudent to make sure
you have a backup of anything you can't afford to lose before beginning.
 
Sailor said:
Thanks. Another question now: How can I find out if my hard drive is
formatted NTFS? And what if it isn't?
Click to expand...

If you have Windows 9x, you are most assuredly do NOT have NTFS.
Steve
 
Sailor said:
If I upgrade to Windows XP from 98se, will the 98se registry (which is
bloated) be carried over into XP intact, or will a new registry be
installed with XP? Is there any way to clean the registry of the many
uninstalled or unused programs in it? I've had to reinstall 98se
recently and it is now shown on Explorer as 'Windows.000'. I'm
concerened that some of my past problems with 98se will be carried
over to XP.
Click to expand...


For upgrading to XP Home or Pro, see the links below.
http://aumha.org/a/xpupgrad.htm
XP Upgrade
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_2kupgrade.asp
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_9xupgrade.asp
See the link below for steps on performing a Clean Install.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
Known problems with XP upgrades.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/xpupgdissues.html
Known Problems with Clean installs.
http://www.labmice.net/WindowsXP/Install/installbugs.htm
Top 10 Reasons for Moving to Windows XP Professional
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/whyupgrade/top10.asp
Why Windows XP Professional?
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/whyupgrade/default.asp
Windows XP Professional Features
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/features.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/upgrading/matrix.mspx
--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm
 
I'll disagree with the clean install advocates. First, the XP install will
be replacing the entire operating system file set as well as the registry.
The only "leftovers" will be entries that exist for your personal settings
and installed software (these are imported into the new registry files
during setup). Problems with the operating system will not be carried over
(though any malevolent spyware and adware will be, you do want to make sure
the system is clear and free of these first).

Also, XP does not suffer from registry bloat as did Win98, if there are dead
entries that get through the upgrade they will simply be meaningless in the
new system and have zero effect on performance. Try it, as you can always go
back and do a clean install if the results are not to your liking (but you
can't do a clean install, then decide to go back and do an upgrade instead).
This will preserve your user settings, programs, and data (though there is
still no excuse for not backing up to guard against disaster).

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Rick said:
I'll disagree with the clean install advocates. First, the XP install
will be replacing the entire operating system file set as well as the
registry. The only "leftovers" will be entries that exist for your
personal settings and installed software (these are imported into the
new registry files during setup). Problems with the operating system
will not be carried over (though any malevolent spyware and adware
will be, you do want to make sure the system is clear and free of
these first).
Also, XP does not suffer from registry bloat as did Win98, if there
are dead entries that get through the upgrade they will simply be
meaningless in the new system and have zero effect on performance.
Try it, as you can always go back and do a clean install if the
results are not to your liking (but you can't do a clean install,
then decide to go back and do an upgrade instead). This will preserve
your user settings, programs, and data (though there is still no
excuse for not backing up to guard against disaster).
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree with you, the upgrade should be the first choice when it is
an option. Prep the system as if you were doing a clean install before
running the upgrade.

--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm
 
"Chacun sont gout" as the French say, so permit me to disagree. The
number one advantage of an upgrade is convenience. Once you've
sufficiently prepared you just pop in the CD, answer a few questions and
in about 30 minutes' time you're back in the saddle. Can't beat that.
And if you're missing install CDs for your software or didn't keep the
installer for downloaded programs, an upgrade is the only way to go.

On the other hand, if you're a savvy user then with the same amount of
preparation you can start from scratch and end up with a brand new
config unaffected by whatever mistakes or questionable practices you've
committed in the past, when you didn't know what you know now. You also
get a chance to revisit changes or choices you made in the past that you
wish you hadn't and would change today if only you could remember what
they were.

When you're finally done, you can make an image of your disk (or system
partition) to which you may return at any time in a matter of minutes.

There's a cost for all this: It's a good way to kill a weekend. But if
you're particular about your system, or just an aficionado, a clean
install is the way to go.
 
Ted said:
"Chacun sont gout" as the French say, so permit me to disagree.
Click to expand...
There's a cost for all this: It's a good way to kill a weekend. But if
you're particular about your system, or just an aficionado, a clean
install is the way to go.
Click to expand...


I agree with Rick and Michael. An upgrade is for most people the best
choice. Unlike with previous versions of Windows, an upgrade to XP replaces
almost everything, and usually works very well.

My recommendation is to at least try the upgrade, since it's much easier
than a clean installation. You can always change your mind and reinstall
cleanly if problems develop.

The one time I agree with your point of view is if the existing system is
experiencing problems. Some people upgrade in that situation in the hope
that the new operating system will fix the problems. But it's more likely
that upgrading an existing problem-ridden computer will exacerbate the
existing problems. But if the computer is working well with the old
operating system, trying the upgrade makes sense. If it works well (and it
probably will) you've saved a lot of time. If it doesn't work well and you
then decide to reinstall cleanly, you're out only the short time it took for
the upgrade.

Michael's point "Prep the system as if you were doing a clean install before
running the upgrade" is a key one. That means, for example, be sure you have
a backup of any data you can't afford to lose. That way if the upgrade
doesn't go well and you decide to reinstall cleanly, you're ready for that
eventuality.
 
Ted said:
"Chacun sont gout" as the French say, so permit me to disagree. The
number one advantage of an upgrade is convenience. Once you've
sufficiently prepared you just pop in the CD, answer a few questions
and in about 30 minutes' time you're back in the saddle. Can't beat
that. And if you're missing install CDs for your software or didn't
keep the installer for downloaded programs, an upgrade is the only
way to go.
On the other hand, if you're a savvy user then with the same amount of
preparation you can start from scratch and end up with a brand new
config unaffected by whatever mistakes or questionable practices
you've committed in the past, when you didn't know what you know now.
You also get a chance to revisit changes or choices you made in the
past that you wish you hadn't and would change today if only you
could remember what they were.

When you're finally done, you can make an image of your disk (or
system partition) to which you may return at any time in a matter of
minutes.
There's a cost for all this: It's a good way to kill a weekend. But if
you're particular about your system, or just an aficionado, a clean
install is the way to go.
Click to expand...

I see it as a partial disagreement. 8-) I will concede that a clean install
is noticeably faster when initially setup, but I have not seen much
difference between a clean XP install and an XP upgrade after all the
software, updates and tweaks have been applied to the clean install. The XP
upgrade when done properly is very, very close to the same performance and
stability to the clean install after the clean install is configured to the
same level of hardware, software and configuration of the software and
hardware.

--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm
 
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