Some people will recommend that you perform a clean installation,
rather than upgrade over an earlier OS. 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. And if, for some reason, the
upgrade doesn't pan out, you can always perform a clean installation later.
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
You can perform an upgrade from Win98 using either the WinXP Pro
Upgrade or the WinXP Pro Full Retail versions. It's even possible,
should it ever become necessary or desirable at some future time, to
perform a clean installation using the Upgrade CD. (The Upgrade CD
checks to see if a qualifying OS is installed, and, if it finds none,
asks you to insert the installation media (CD) of that earlier OS.
Unfortunately, an OEM "Recovery/Restore" CD will not work for this
purpose; you must have a true installation CD, complete with the
"\Win98" folder and *.cab files.) That being the case, the more
economical option would be to purchase an Upgrade license.
Not unless you elect to further cut costs by purchasing an OEM license.
There are some very important reasons that an OEM license costs so
much less than a retail license. OEM licenses are very limited:
1) OEM versions must be sold with a piece of non-peripheral
hardware (normally a motherboard or hard drive, if not an entire PC,
although Microsoft has greatly relaxed the hardware criteria for WinXP)
and are _permanently_ bound to the first PC on which they are installed.
An OEM license, once installed, is not legally transferable to another
computer under any circumstances. This is the main reason some people
avoid OEM versions; if the PC dies or is otherwise disposed of (even
stolen), you cannot re-use your OEM license on a new PC. The only
legitimate way to transfer the ownership of an OEM license is to
transfer ownership of the entire PC.
2) Microsoft provides no free support for OEM versions. If you
have any problems that require outside assistance, your only recourse is
to contact the manufacturer/builder of the PC or the seller of the OEM
license. This would include such issues as lost a Product Key or
replacing a damaged installation CD. (Microsoft does some make
allowances for those instances when you can prove that the OEM has gone
out of business.) This doesn't mean that you can't download patches and
service packs from Microsoft -- just no free telephone or email support
for problems with the OS.
3) An OEM CD cannot be used to perform an upgrade of an earlier
OS, as it was designed to be installed _only_ upon an empty hard drive.
It can still be used to perform a repair installation (a.k.a. an
in-place upgrade) of an existing WinXP installation.
4) If the OEM CD was designed by a specific manufacturer, such as
eMachines, Sony, Dell, Gateway, etc., it will most likely only install
on the same brand of PC, as an additional anti-piracy feature. Further,
such CDs are severely customized to contain only the minimum of device
drivers, and a lot of extra nonsense, that the manufacturer feels
necessary for the specific model of PC for which the CD was designed.
(To be honest, such CDs should _not_ be available on the open market;
but, if you're shopping someplace on-line like eBay, swap meets, or
computer fairs, there's often no telling what you're buying until it's
too late.) The "generic" OEM CDs, such as are manufactured by Microsoft
and sold to small systems builders, don't have this particular problem,
though, and are pretty much the same as their retail counterparts, apart
from the licensing, support, and upgrading restrictions.
Correct, in essence, although it's "Activation" that's required;
registration is entirely optional. If you see someone selling an OEM CD
without the CoA and Product Key, all they're really selling is a rather
over-priced, non-absorbent coaster. No CoA and Product Key = No
License. The CD by itself is useless. If you're shopping on eBay, be
very careful, as eBay makes no prior effort to ensure that such sales
are legitimate; they react only when someone files a complaint. (And
then all that really happens is the seller of the pirated software
returns using a different alias, to continue selling illegitimate copies.)
--
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
