Windows ME upgrade to Windows XP

[Guest]

I want to upgrade my system from Windows ME to Windows XP. Will I have to back-up all my files and will I have to re-install any other software programs that are installed?

Thanks mucho!

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I want to upgrade my system from Windows ME to Windows XP. Will I
have to back-up all my files and will I have to re-install any other
software programs that are installed?

Will you HAVE to backup all your files?

Have to - relative phrase. You don;t have to, but you are gambling - albeit
the odds are in your favor, they are just ODDS.

Same with your software - you likely WON'T have to re-install.. But you
might.

Go in expecting the worst, if it goes well, you just took the time to feel
more secure - if it goes bad - you are still "okay". =)

 

[Michael Stevens]

I want to upgrade my system from Windows ME to Windows XP. Will I
have to back-up all my files and will I have to re-install any other
software programs that are installed?

Thanks mucho!

Do some homework for best results.
Click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into the address box
if using the web based newsgroup.
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

--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
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[wayne]

You are much better off doing a clean install even doing a dual boot and
reinstalling stuff as required. Run the compatibility checker to see if your
hardware will even work. ME is kind of the Orphan OS it came out and went
so quick it has lots of quirks!

Burn a CD or copy the files to a different hard drive if you have anything
you really cannot afford to lose !
You may even want to look at getting a new hard drive you can find a 30 or
40 GB drive for 50 bucks so it would be cheap insurance just to do a clean
install on a new hard drive and use your old as a second. As long as you
have your ME disk to show upgrade eligibility you should not have any
problems!

Wayne

I want to upgrade my system from Windows ME to Windows XP. Will I have to

back-up all my files and will I have to re-install any other software
programs that are installed?

 

[Michael Stevens]

You are much better off doing a clean install even doing a dual boot
and reinstalling stuff as required. Run the compatibility checker to
see if your hardware will even work. ME is kind of the Orphan OS it
came out and went so quick it has lots of quirks!

Burn a CD or copy the files to a different hard drive if you have
anything you really cannot afford to lose !
You may even want to look at getting a new hard drive you can find a
30 or 40 GB drive for 50 bucks so it would be cheap insurance just to
do a clean install on a new hard drive and use your old as a second.
As long as you have your ME disk to show upgrade eligibility you
should not have any problems!

Wayne

You are living in the past when you recommend a clean install without even
trying the upgrade. The best strategy with XP is to prep your system for a
clean install, but first do an upgrade. I would bet 99% of the time the
upgrade when done properly is undetectable in functionality when compared to
a clean install. In my experience, one difference to influence a clean
install over an upgrade would in the install footprint would be smaller,
there is not much more.
When you do a proper upgrade, you remove the incompatible software and
hardware and backup all your important data not replaceable from other
media, just like you would do if you were doing a clean install. Do you now
see a logical approach here? If given the option of spending unknown
hours/days reinstalling software and tweaking settings and in some cases not
ever having the functionality restored after the clean install or spending
an hour or so upgrading to see if the upgrade is successful, which would you
choose?
--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
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[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

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. 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 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


Bruce Chambers

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You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

I want to upgrade my system from Windows ME to Windows XP. Will I

have to back-up all my files and will I have to re-install any other
software programs that are installed?

 

[Michael Stevens]

I am not quite sure what YOU do for a living but I provide desktop
support for a very large aerospace company we have an extensive test
lab which we use to test upgrades new software hardware etc... We
also test home versions of software, since we support home users who
dial up and have high speed access. We have found that ME is one of
the oddest and non-standard OS's Microsoft has produced. Problems we
have with ME as compared to 98 or 98SE are amazing. We even call ME
Mistake edition since if you look at release dates on software it did
not have the usual lifespan!

I am duly impressed, but with all that background, you still miss the
concept of the XP upgrade. It doesn't matter what XP upgrades, none of the
previous OS is carried forward, just the applications and settings that have
passed the compatibility check. I beta tested XP and did many clean installs
and upgrades over all kinds of situations. I could not tell a difference.
BTW, I beta tested Me and I didn't like it either.
--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
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