win98 upgrade

[Marc Seinna]

Hi,

We would like to upgrade a win98 machine to win2000, but are worried about
retaining important items such as email.

A complete copy of the win98 data including the registry has been made to an
external disk; we'd like to completely wipe the win98 disk and start with a
fresh install if possible. Is there a "howto" guide somewhere about
importing saved win98 email into win2000?

Alternatively, is it reasonable or even possible to insert the win2000 CD
and make a clean upgrade of the win98 system to win2000, retaining the email
and other documents? We've heard that this can result in a lot of "cruft" on
the upgraded system that interferes with performance of the new win2000.

Thanks.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hi,

We would like to upgrade a win98 machine to win2000, but are worried about
retaining important items such as email.

A complete copy of the win98 data including the registry has been made to an
external disk; we'd like to completely wipe the win98 disk and start with a
fresh install if possible. Is there a "howto" guide somewhere about
importing saved win98 email into win2000?

Alternatively, is it reasonable or even possible to insert the win2000 CD
and make a clean upgrade of the win98 system to win2000, retaining the email
and other documents? We've heard that this can result in a lot of "cruft" on
the upgraded system that interferes with performance of the new win2000.

Thanks.

You are focusing your concern to the wrong issue. Porting
EMail from one installation is easy - simply post your question
in the appropriate newsgroup - Outlook or Outlook Express,
and remember to state the exact version you use.

Upgrading from Win98 to Win2000 is a different matter. While
this is a supported upgrade path, the results are frequently far
from satisfactory. The reason is simple: The two OSs are radically
different beasts and many compromises must be made to make the
upgrade work. Furthermore your installation does not get "cleansed"
by the upgrade; instead it inherits all the bad stuff that has accumulated
over the years.

Far better to perform a clean installation of Windows, followed by
a re-installation of every application.

 

[Bill]

Hi, Marc:

Best thing to do is what I just did:

1.Keep your present Win98 hard drive.
2. Prep a brand NEW hard drive and install Windows 2000 on it
3. Update Windows 2000 with all service packs (that you downloaded separately)
I did this by downloading SP4 and SP4 rollup with another computer and then transferred
the programs over to the new install using a USB Flash key drive. DO NOT CONNECT TO THE
INTERNET UNTIL ALL SERVICE PACKS, AND IE6, HAVE BEEN INSTALLED!!!
3. Do a full download of IE6sp1 and install
4. Install your firewall and anti-spyware
5. Run Windows Update until you are completely current with your OS and browser and no
other updates are available. Don't go browsing. ONLY access the Microsoft site at this
point.
6. Install your programs - MS Office, text editors, Acrobat, printer drivers, Photoshop,
etc.
7. Copy over your files and settings.
8. Install your anti-virus
9. Begin using your new OS!

#7 is so far down the road for you that I'd advise completely forgetting about it now,
as #1-6 is your more immediate concern.

#6 - installing your programs - is much more tedious and time consuming. as you will be
tracking down install CDs and downloaded programs, and then upgrading them with the
latest patches.

Bill.

 

[Dave Patrick]

Be advised that upgrades from win9x almost always fail for any number of
reasons. Save yourself some time and trouble, given that you'll more than
likely end up with an unstable OS with all the remnants/ corruption left
behind from the upgrade. Best to blow it all away and go for the clean
install.

To do a clean install, either boot the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom or setup
disks. The set of four install disks can be created from your Windows 2000
CD-Rom; change to the \bootdisk directory on the CD-Rom and execute
makeboot.exe (from dos) or makebt32.exe (from 32 bit) and follow the
prompts.

Setup inspects your computer's hardware configuration and then begins to
install the Setup and driver files. When the Windows 2000 Professional
screen appears, press ENTER to set up Windows 2000 Professional.

Read the license agreement, and then press the F8 key to accept the terms of
the license agreement and continue the installation.

When the Windows 2000 Professional Setup screen appears, all the existing
partitions and the unpartitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard
disk. Use the ARROW keys to select the partitions Press D to delete an
existing partition, If you press D to delete an existing partition, you must
then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System
partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Repeat this
step for each of the existing partitions When all the partitions are deleted
press F3 to exit setup, (to avoid unexpected drive letter assignments with
your new install) then restart the pc then when you get to this point in
setup again select the unpartitioned space, and then press C to create a new
partition and specify the size (if required). Windows will by default use
all available space.

Be sure to apply these to your new install before connecting to any network.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/A/E6A04295-D2A8-40D0-A0C5-241BFECD095E/W2KSP4_EN.EXE
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-043.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-049.mspx

Then

Rollup 1 for Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...CF-8850-4531-B52B-BF28B324C662&displaylang=en

During Windows 2000 setup, at some point, will want to confirm the previous
operating system for the upgrade; at that point you'll simply insert the
qualified product install CD for it to verify. Then the install will
proceed.

Check the pc, mobo or hardware manufacturer's web site for the latest bios
and or Windows 2000 drivers for your devices.


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Hi,
|
| We would like to upgrade a win98 machine to win2000, but are worried about
| retaining important items such as email.
|
| A complete copy of the win98 data including the registry has been made to
an
| external disk; we'd like to completely wipe the win98 disk and start with
a
| fresh install if possible. Is there a "howto" guide somewhere about
| importing saved win98 email into win2000?
|
| Alternatively, is it reasonable or even possible to insert the win2000 CD
| and make a clean upgrade of the win98 system to win2000, retaining the
email
| and other documents? We've heard that this can result in a lot of "cruft"
on
| the upgraded system that interferes with performance of the new win2000.
|
| Thanks.
|
|

 

[Sid Knee]

Hi, Marc:

Best thing to do is what I just did:

1.Keep your present Win98 hard drive.
2. Prep a brand NEW hard drive and install Windows 2000 on it
3. Update Windows 2000 with all service packs (that you downloaded separately)
I did this by downloading SP4 and SP4 rollup with another computer and then transferred
the programs over to the new install using a USB Flash key drive. DO NOT CONNECT TO THE
INTERNET UNTIL ALL SERVICE PACKS, AND IE6, HAVE BEEN INSTALLED!!!
3. Do a full download of IE6sp1 and install
4. Install your firewall and anti-spyware
5. Run Windows Update until you are completely current with your OS and browser and no
other updates are available. Don't go browsing. ONLY access the Microsoft site at this
point.
6. Install your programs - MS Office, text editors, Acrobat, printer drivers, Photoshop,
etc.
7. Copy over your files and settings.
8. Install your anti-virus
9. Begin using your new OS!

#7 is so far down the road for you that I'd advise completely forgetting about it now,
as #1-6 is your more immediate concern.

#6 - installing your programs - is much more tedious and time consuming. as you will be
tracking down install CDs and downloaded programs, and then upgrading them with the
latest patches.

Add to this:

Install latest drivers for motherboard, video, soundcard etc.
Personally, I prefer to do this immediately after installation (between
2 and 3 above) but opinions vary.

Before I start, and while the old OS is still in place for reference, I
like to:

- check the installed apps/utilities to see which I want to re-install
on the new system (typically less that 50%). I also draw up a
prioritized list of those apps (primary, secondary, sometime)

- dig up the install disks for the apps.

- determine what drivers are required, get latest versions, burn to a
single CD (some of the apps/utilities like Winzip can conveniently go on
this CD too).

- depending on circumstances, I sometimes like to make image copies of
the installation at two points: immediately after the install plus
updated drivers; and after completeing all windows updates

 

[Todd]

Hi, Marc:

Best thing to do is what I just did:

1.Keep your present Win98 hard drive.
2. Prep a brand NEW hard drive and install Windows 2000 on it

You didn't say how big your old hard drive is.

Unless you have upgraded it, it is probably in the 500 meg to 2 gig range.

You will need a bigger hard drive. 10 or 20 gigs is probably big enough,
but 100 or 200 is better.

If you have programs on the WIN98 drive that you still want to run, and that
can't be installed on the WIN2000 system, then dual booting is ideal. Leave
the WIN98 system where it is, get a new big hard drive and do a clean
install of WIN2000 on it.

You will have the option of formatting the partition(s) as NTFS before
starting the installation. While it is true that you can change it later,
you will get a better installation if you change it first.

Todd

Todd

 

[Bill]

...

You didn't say how big your old hard drive is.

Unless you have upgraded it, it is probably in the 500 meg to 2 gig range.

Don't know what this has to do with anything, but my Win98SE laptop hard drive is 40G
and still has 5G free space. New laptop HD is 100G and FAST.

You will need a bigger hard drive. 10 or 20 gigs is probably big enough,
but 100 or 200 is better.

If you have programs on the WIN98 drive that you still want to run, and that
can't be installed on the WIN2000 system, then dual booting is ideal. Leave
the WIN98 system where it is, get a new big hard drive and do a clean
install of WIN2000 on it.

Already been through all of that, believe me. Truth is, with this ThinkPad 600X it's
ridiculously easy to swap hard drives - plus, I can install my original HD in the
UltraBay and access both my original drive and my new drive simultaneously. And thanks
to Win2K, my drive numbers are intact.

 

[Bill]

Oops, yeah, I forgot - between steps 2 & 3, add
2.5 Install all motherboard and hardware drivers
needs to be done BEFORE upgrades and service packs.

(thanks, Sid!)

 

[Sid Knee]

Which particular Step-3 would that be, Bill? (Sorry, couldn't resist).


Not to differ strongly, because I really agree completely in principle,
but you do stumble across the odd driver that demands a certain SP level
for installation and, in the case of video drivers, a certain Direct-X
level. In these cases you don't have much choice but to complete at
least some of the Windows Update process first.

Messy business, 'aint it?

 

[Bill]

Uh, the first "3...

I once did a Windows 98SE new install. I waited until all updates were installed before
installing the hardware drivers. Had to ditch the install, stability sucked.

Speaking as a hardware guy - remember that the software serves the hardware. My policy
is to make sure the hardware drivers are installed as soon as possible so that timing is
stabilized. Worst case, you can install the drivers again when you are done.

Bill.

 

[Sid Knee]

Uh, the first "3...

I once did a Windows 98SE new install. I waited until all updates were installed before
installing the hardware drivers. Had to ditch the install, stability sucked.

Speaking as a hardware guy - remember that the software serves the hardware. My policy
is to make sure the hardware drivers are installed as soon as possible so that timing is
stabilized. Worst case, you can install the drivers again when you are done.

Oh, I agree 100% and in most cases that's exactly what I do.... it's
just that some drivers refuse to install (or worse, install but screw up
the system) until a certain amount of update is done. And if the driver
supplier categorically states that (say) SP4 is required then I believe
the greater risk in that case is blindly following the drivers-first credo.

 

[Guest]

Ok, I did all of that and then some for the past 2 days and now this is the
problem that I have come across. I went to play some music for my son and it
started playing fast like when you change the speed on the old record
players. I have tried everything to fix this or at lease I'm hoping I haven't
and someone can tell me something else to try so my son and I can enjoy our
music and video's once again. This has also affected all of the games that I
re-installed and new ones that were installed the same way. I have played
with so many acceleration slide bars that it isn't funny. By chance, is there
one I might of missed somewhere?

Thank You,
MommaRules

Be advised that upgrades from win9x almost always fail for any number of
reasons. Save yourself some time and trouble, given that you'll more than
likely end up with an unstable OS with all the remnants/ corruption left
behind from the upgrade. Best to blow it all away and go for the clean
install.

To do a clean install, either boot the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom or setup
disks. The set of four install disks can be created from your Windows 2000
CD-Rom; change to the \bootdisk directory on the CD-Rom and execute
makeboot.exe (from dos) or makebt32.exe (from 32 bit) and follow the
prompts.

Setup inspects your computer's hardware configuration and then begins to
install the Setup and driver files. When the Windows 2000 Professional
screen appears, press ENTER to set up Windows 2000 Professional.

Read the license agreement, and then press the F8 key to accept the terms of
the license agreement and continue the installation.

When the Windows 2000 Professional Setup screen appears, all the existing
partitions and the unpartitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard
disk. Use the ARROW keys to select the partitions Press D to delete an
existing partition, If you press D to delete an existing partition, you must
then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System
partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Repeat this
step for each of the existing partitions When all the partitions are deleted
press F3 to exit setup, (to avoid unexpected drive letter assignments with
your new install) then restart the pc then when you get to this point in
setup again select the unpartitioned space, and then press C to create a new
partition and specify the size (if required). Windows will by default use
all available space.

Be sure to apply these to your new install before connecting to any network.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/A/E6A04295-D2A8-40D0-A0C5-241BFECD095E/W2KSP4_EN.EXE
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-043.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-049.mspx

Then

Rollup 1 for Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...CF-8850-4531-B52B-BF28B324C662&displaylang=en

During Windows 2000 setup, at some point, will want to confirm the previous
operating system for the upgrade; at that point you'll simply insert the
qualified product install CD for it to verify. Then the install will
proceed.

Check the pc, mobo or hardware manufacturer's web site for the latest bios
and or Windows 2000 drivers for your devices.


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Hi,
|
| We would like to upgrade a win98 machine to win2000, but are worried about
| retaining important items such as email.
|
| A complete copy of the win98 data including the registry has been made to
an
| external disk; we'd like to completely wipe the win98 disk and start with
a
| fresh install if possible. Is there a "howto" guide somewhere about
| importing saved win98 email into win2000?
|
| Alternatively, is it reasonable or even possible to insert the win2000 CD
| and make a clean upgrade of the win98 system to win2000, retaining the
email
| and other documents? We've heard that this can result in a lot of "cruft"
on
| the upgraded system that interferes with performance of the new win2000.
|
| Thanks.
|
|