Hi, Kathleen.
You have 3 basic options:
1. Upgrade
2. Clean install
3. Dual boot
The upgrade is quickest and easiest and, if you opt to keep your old Win9x
files, you may be able to revert to that if you change your mind quickly
enough. But the "migration" of device drivers and installed apps can't be
perfect because the DOS-based versions of Windows (Win9x/ME) handle hardware
SO differently from the NT-based versions (Win2K/XP/2K3). So, upgraders
usually have to deal with niggling problems of things working "just not
quite right". Many (most?) wind up reformatting and doing a clean install
later, anyhow, meaning they've had to deal with the installation process
twice to get to where they want to be. Also, the upgrade carries over all
the accumulated garbage that we've been meaning to get rid of anyhow.
The clean install is the most traumatic in the beginning, because you must
backup your data first and restore it after you've reinstalled all your
applications. But this gives you a fresh start with a clean system that is
well worth the extra effort. Even with the extra steps, you should be up
and running in half a day and fully re-tweaked in a day or two.
Dual boot lets you take a "belt and suspenders" approach and WinXP handles
the mechanics automatically, so long as you have a second volume (primary
partition or logical drive in an extended partition) to install WinXP into.
Just boot from the Win2K CD-ROM and follow the prompts to do a clean install
alongside Win9x. Each time you boot, you will see a menu to choose which
Windows to use for that session, and you can set the default to either.
After a few weeks, when you are sure your WinXP drivers and applications are
working properly, you can delete Win9x. (Actually, many of us like to
continue dual-booting, perhaps with a second copy of WinXP to be used for
maintenance or testing of new software - or as insurance in case we have a
problem with our main copy.)
The choice is up to you, but I don't think you will consider going back to
Win9x after using WinXP for a month. ;<)
RC
