can anyone answer this??

[Brett Steinberg]

to anyone out there....


I was wanting to install windows xp professional on my older
computer....keep in mind it is about 3 years old...but really fast....and i
have enough ram and memory.....

but....Someone was telling me that if i install xp professional on to my
computer as an upgrade....you will lose all your old files such as stuff
that i have saved for the past couple of years....plus i have mega music
files that i do not want to lose.....now....is it true that i will lose that
stuff..or do i just need to make sure that all the files are out of the my
documents folder and any other folders concerned w/ possible
erasure....should i just make sure everything is in a c: drive folder of my
own naming or on the desktop or what....

because then i talked to someone else and they just said that as long as i
have it out of the my documents folders and my pictures folders etc. then i
should be okay....and that i will probably have to install certain programs
downloaded from the internet etc. but that it should be no problem..

someone give me a real answer...

thanks
steinway

 

[davetest]

to anyone out there....


I was wanting to install windows xp professional on my older
computer....keep in mind it is about 3 years old...but really fast....and i
have enough ram and memory.....

but....Someone was telling me that if i install xp professional on to my
computer as an upgrade....you will lose all your old files such as stuff
that i have saved for the past couple of years....plus i have mega music
files that i do not want to lose.....now....is it true that i will lose that
stuff..or do i just need to make sure that all the files are out of the my
documents folder and any other folders concerned w/ possible
erasure....should i just make sure everything is in a c: drive folder of my
own naming or on the desktop or what....

because then i talked to someone else and they just said that as long as i
have it out of the my documents folders and my pictures folders etc. then i
should be okay....and that i will probably have to install certain programs
downloaded from the internet etc. but that it should be no problem..

someone give me a real answer...

thanks
steinway

No, an upgrade preserves everything - I did it myself from
Windows ME. Just boot your existing system, insert the Xp
CD and continue from there.
Dave

 

[Jim Macklin]

Folders do not protect files, separate physical or logical
drives (partitions) protect data if it necessary to format
drive C: during the install. But an upgrade of W98 or ME
that is properly planned and prepped usually will result in
no loss of data files.

There are steps to doing a trouble-free upgrade, these
include doing the upgrade system check that is available on
the XP CD before you begin the installation. You can also
download the test from MS XP web page and there is a test
that you can run at www.pcpitstop.com

The safest thing is to copy all you data files, etc. to a CD
before you begin the upgrade. If you have more than one
drive or partition you can copy those files to "safe"
partition/drive.

There are instructions in the MS Knowledge Base and several
MVPs have very good and easy to understand step by step
instructions.
You should check these sites out...

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316941
http://www.aumha.org/index.php
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_setup.htm

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341

These are not all that you could or should understand, but
they are a good start.


| to anyone out there....
|
|
| I was wanting to install windows xp professional on my
older
| computer....keep in mind it is about 3 years old...but
really fast....and i
| have enough ram and memory.....
|
| but....Someone was telling me that if i install xp
professional on to my
| computer as an upgrade....you will lose all your old files
such as stuff
| that i have saved for the past couple of years....plus i
have mega music
| files that i do not want to lose.....now....is it true
that i will lose that
| stuff..or do i just need to make sure that all the files
are out of the my
| documents folder and any other folders concerned w/
possible
| erasure....should i just make sure everything is in a c:
drive folder of my
| own naming or on the desktop or what....
|
| because then i talked to someone else and they just said
that as long as i
| have it out of the my documents folders and my pictures
folders etc. then i
| should be okay....and that i will probably have to install
certain programs
| downloaded from the internet etc. but that it should be
no problem..
|
| someone give me a real answer...
|
| thanks
| steinway
|
|
|

 

[Jack]

Dear Steinway,
Go out and buy some floppy disks and save all the stuff
you want to keep onto the disks. You might need quite a
few disks but it is worth it. Then just save everything
back onto the computer when you have installed windows XP
Pro.
From,
Jack P.S. (im pretty smart for a 10 year old ha!

 

[Gordon Burgess-Parker]

Dear Steinway,
Go out and buy some floppy disks and save all the stuff
you want to keep onto the disks. You might need quite a
few disks but it is worth it. Then just save everything
back onto the computer when you have installed windows XP
Pro.
From,
Jack P.S. (im pretty smart for a 10 year old ha!

Huh - not that smart - why not buy a Zip drive or CD RW instead of 20,000
floppies ('cos that's about what you'll need....)

 

[Wesley VogelX]

Gordon;
Hey, I have Maxell stock. 20,000 floppies would be pretty good.

Wes

 

[Ron Sommer]

There are several problems with using floppies:
1.38 MG is smaller than some files. You would need to use a file splitter.
Even new floppies can have bad sectors.
A floppy will cost 22 cents. A CD will cost 20 cents.
Writing and reading the floppies will take a long time.

 

[Alex Nichol]

to anyone out there....


I was wanting to install windows xp professional on my older
computer....keep in mind it is about 3 years old...but really fast....and i
have enough ram and memory.....

Answered to your post of yesterday, as under: *Please* give things at
least 24 hours, preferably 36 before posting a question again: people
answering are all round the world, and many will only look in once a
day, if that.

Someone was wrong. The point of an upgrade is that you do *not* lose
installed programs (with one or two exceptions that do not work in XP),
let alone data (though it is always as well to have a back up just in
case of say power failure at a critical moment). Basically you run the
XP retail upgrade CD from the present system, take install and continue
into Upgrade. The variant that does not do upgrades at all is the
cheaper 'OEM' CD that is often for sale with a minor piece of hardware.
Marked 'for supply only with a new computer'

Read up Gary Woodruff's article on upgrading to XP at
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm

 

[Ken Blake]

In

but....Someone was telling me that if i install xp professional on to
my computer as an upgrade....you will lose all your old files such as
stuff that i have saved for the past couple of years....plus i have
mega music files that i do not want to lose.....now....is it true
that i will lose that stuff..

By definition, an "upgrade" (as opposed to a clean installation)
means that all data, programs, etc. are kept intact.

However there are no guarantees that it always works perfectly.
However unlikely, it's always possible that something might go
wrong. For that reason it's prudent to be sure you have a backup
of anything you can't afford to lose before beginning.