can i erase the old windows 98 after installing xp home edition

[bubba73]

can i erase windows 98 from my computer after i install my new windows Xp
home edition the one were you put it on top of 98, i need to free up more
space and this old file holds 395,737K thanks so very much i have all the
cds to reinstall if i ever have to

 

[Tim Meddick]

Yes, but you will also need to edit your [boot.ini] file, in the root
of your boot drive, to remove the entry for Win98.

You can edit the [boot.ini] file by right-clicking on 'My Computer' and
selecting 'Properties'.

Then click on the 'Advanced' tab across the top and press on the 'Start
up and Recovery' button.

In the top 'System Startup' section, click on the 'Edit' button to edit
the file manually.

Editing it in this way gets round the need to set and re-set the file
attributes on the file, which you may not even be able to see in
Explorer, unless you set 'Hidden files and folders' to 'Show...' and
also uncheck 'Hide protected operating system files' in 'Folder Options'
in the Control Panel.

Also, take care to delete only your Win98 installation. If it's on a
separate partition - then that will be easy. But a little care is
needed if it's on the same drive.

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

 

[Peter Foldes]

Bubba

What I would do is to reformat the computer and start the Windows XP clean
installation and when it asks for a qualifying product then stick in the Win 98 CD
as proof. Then you have a full XP install. This of course provided that none of your
CD's are OEM

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Bubba

What I would do is to reformat the computer and start the Windows XP clean
installation and when it asks for a qualifying product then stick in the Win 98 CD
as proof. Then you have a full XP install. This of course provided that none of your
CD's are OEM

Please note that you *can* do this with a Windows 98 OEM restore CD.
It's more complicated, but it *can* be done. First restore from the
Restore CD. Then run the XP upgrade CD from within that restored
system, and change from Upgrade to New Install. When it asks where,
press Esc to delete the partition and start over.

 

[Peter Foldes]

Ken

Forgot that one. Thanks Ken for refreshing my old memory.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Ken

Forgot that one. Thanks Ken for refreshing my old memory.

You're welcome, Peter. Glad to help.

 

[JS]

If you upgraded your PC from Windows 98 to Windows XP.
The $Win98UpdateUninstall$ can be deleted.

But as Ken mentioned a clean install would be better.

Just make certain that you have downloaded any XP
device drivers you need. Since you have already upgraded
check 'Device Manager' for any "Yellow" question marks and
then check you're PC manufacture's web site for XP drivers.
Download all the drivers into their own unique folders, if they are
compresses .exe files then expand them and then burn the entire
set of drivers to a CD so you have them after doing the "Clean Install".

 

[Olórin]

can i erase windows 98 from my computer after i install my new
windows Xp home edition the one were you put it on top of 98, i need
to free up more space and this old file holds 395,737K thanks so
very much i have all the cds to reinstall if i ever have to

If your computer *came with* Windows 98 you might want to check first that
it's physically up to the task of running the more demanding XP operating
system - that it meets the minimum specifications required.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

If your computer *came with* Windows 98 you might want to check first that
it's physically up to the task of running the more demanding XP operating
system - that it meets the minimum specifications required.

A good point, but let me add that the minimum specifications, as
stated by Microsoft, are nowhere near enough to run Windows XP with
acceptable performance. Bubba73 should tell us what his hardware specs
are.