Have Win98SE OEM on laptop, want WinXP Home upgrade now - Does OEM Qualify?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cheryl
  • Start date Start date
C

Cheryl

Hi,

I've been reading the archived posts (Google groups) and finding
conflicting/confusing answers. Maybe you can give me the definitive answer.

Toshiba Satellite laptop (bought in 2000) easily meets the hardware
requirements to install WinXP Home. Currently have Win98SE on it. I stopped
using the laptop some time ago because it kept crashing. Have recently done
a fresh install of Win98SE using this CD and am *still* not happy with its
performance (don't care to discuss it in this post). I simply don't want to
deal with Win98SE anymore since there is a more stable version of Windows
available.

I want to do a clean install of WinXP Home upgrade version. I have only a
Configuration Builder CD with the Win98SE software on it.

Went to MS website and found that Win98SE is a qualifying product for a
WinXP Home upgrade. Of, course the site doesn't specify (that I could find
anyway) whether the Win98SE can be the OEM version.

Question: May I or may I not use the Win98SE Configuration Builder CD as the
qualifying CD for a WinXP Home upgrade?

Thank you for reading this. Hope you can help.

Cheryl A.
 
If you do an upgrade installation, not a clean install, the existing 98 files on the hard drive will
qualify.
If you do a clean install (recommend as desired by you) your restore disks do not qualify as the
installation program can't find the files it needs off the Configuration disks.

If you have an OEM CD copy of Windows 98 (not a branded Restore only disk) it will work as the
qualifying software for a clean install.
If you have a friend with a copy of MS Windows 98 CD you can use it to get by the qualification test
for a clean install.

Remember, the XP upgrade disk will do either an upgrade installation or a clean installation.
 
Thanks for responding Joe. I REALLY don't want to do this... :-)

Is this what you mean by system specs?:

Toshiba Satellite 1605CDS (the info immediately below is combined from the
original sales ticket and the User Manual specs pages)

-466MHz AMD K6-2 Processor w/3DNOW technology
-Level 1 cache 32KB
-Level 2 cache 512KB on-die
-Bus clock speed 100Mhz front side speed
-32MB SyncDRAM (when new, added 128MB memory module for total RAM of 160MB)
-4.3GB HDD
-12.1" Color Bright DSTN Dual Scan Display
-4MB Video Memory
-ATI Rage LT Pro graphics controller
-Sound: Crystal 4281 PCI audio accelerator and 4279A Codec software wave
table, supporting 8-bit stereo, Windows Sound System and Soundblaster
Pro-compatible sound support; built-in stereo speakers, headphone and
microphone jack
-56K ITU v.90 Modem (not using - added SMC Ethernet card (LAN) to connect to
Linksys Router WRT54GX w/SRX 200)
-24X CD-ROM drive
-3.5" diskette drive
-USB 2.0 port
-Parallel port
-Serial port
-PS/2 port (MS PS/2 Intellimouse connected)
-Video port
-Modem port
-2 PC Card slots
-NiMH battery

History:

Tuesday - My very first fresh OS install ever (interesting learning
experience). Updated Bios (to improve thermal management). Rebooted.
Installed MS PS/2 Intellimouse. Rebooted. The mouse freezes or "sticks"
sporadically - just the same as it always did. I just put up with it.
Uninstalled Norton Anti-Virus via Add/Remove Programs. Rebooted. Installed
ZoneAlarm. Rebooted. Installed Firefox browser. Rebooted. Installed Ethernet
card & driver (to connect to existing LAN to gain access to internet for
updates). Launched Firefox to test for web connection. Success. Updated IE5
to 6. Rebooted. Updated Win98SE w/24 critical updates from MS. Rebooted
twice. Installed some software (Avast!, AdAware, Thunderbird, WinZip
6.3 -paid for) rebooting as necessary. Scanned with AdAware (found Alexa &
quarantined). Scanned with Avast! No virus found. Attempted to set up laptop
for file sharing with existing network - network currently consists of one
WinXP Pro machine (I will be wirelessly connecting our WinXP Media Center
laptop next week). Problem. Laptop and desktop can't see each other. Through
internet research, discovered mixed OS network not going to work. Tried to
undo "file sharing attempt" by deleting...protocols, I think - it was a long
day. BIG FIASCO. Whatever I did caused Windows to complain that Windows
configuration wasn't valid and to run setup again. Decided to start all over
and not do file sharing via existing network. (Did I tell you I REALLY don't
care to discuss this?)

Second fresh install Saturday. Much quicker the second time around! Did
everything the same but did not set up a network. Now, whenever I reboot the
system, a window pops up asking me for my name (currently it's "default")
and password in order to access Microsoft Network. I click Cancel or hit
Enter on the keyboard to continue with the bootup. Annoying. Why Windows
thinks there's a need for this after a fresh install of the OS is beyond my
comprehension. Weird thought: maybe there is some residual info on the PC
card that Windows is seeing (???). Maybe my thinking is way off... :-)

Sunday, I had the bright idea to use my USB flash drive to move files
between computers instead of file sharing over a network. So I found and
installed WIN98SE_Driver_Rev11.zip for PNY Attache 2GB USB flash drive (
http://www.pny.com/support/flash ). Windows recognizes the drive and it
appears to work fine so far.

Wanted to clean up the desktop's ugliness (teal boxes behind the desktop
icon's text), so I found a utility called "Disappear" that is placed into
the Startup folder ( C:\Windows\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup ).
Required the installation of vb40032.dll first (vb4rt.zip). Did this. I
noticed after the laptop came out of standby mode the screen refreshed and
the teal boxes are there again, so I removed the utility and the dll file.
hmmph.

I can't tell you which action initiates the "screen-freeze death" or the
"blue-screen death" (both requiring a hard boot) because I didn't pay much
attention, I just figured this was "normal" behavior for Win98SE because I
remember it always acting this way. :-/ The freezing and error messages (no,
I did not write them down) could be anything - the mouse driver, flash
driver,... Cheryl driver.

Notes:
All hardware is original except that I added hardware drivers for:

-PC card
-MS PS/2 Intellimouse
-Flash drive

Thanks, I think.

I REALLY don't care to discuss this..

BTW, I'm a two-finger typist. I'm seriously considering buying some voice
recognition software. :-)

Anyway, here ya go! If the laptop freezes again I'll pay attention and
document what action may have caused it.

Cheryl

| OK I know you didn't want to go over what is happening with windows 98 but
it
| may be a hardware issue that is causing the problem. Windows 98 will run
a
| lot smoother than windows xp on older hardware so if you are having
problems
| with 98 then you may have worse problems with XP. Let us know your exact
| system specs, now to answer your main question...
|
| Well chances are you can upgrade from windows 98 OEM but why get the
upgrade
| XP Home when it costs 99 dollars when you can get the OEM XP Home for 89
| dollars? If you just get the OEM XP you won't have to worry about whether
it
| will or will not upgrade from the 98 OEM Toshiba CD. You can purchase the
| Windows XP Home OEM from newegg.com here is a direct link to the OEM copy:
|
| http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16832116169
|
| Good Luck with your decision.
|
| Joe
|
| Kemco ITT
|
| "Cheryl" wrote:
|
| > Hi,
| >
| > I've been reading the archived posts (Google groups) and finding
| > conflicting/confusing answers. Maybe you can give me the definitive
answer.
| >
| > Toshiba Satellite laptop (bought in 2000) easily meets the hardware
| > requirements to install WinXP Home. Currently have Win98SE on it. I
stopped
| > using the laptop some time ago because it kept crashing. Have recently
done
| > a fresh install of Win98SE using this CD and am *still* not happy with
its
| > performance (don't care to discuss it in this post). I simply don't want
to
| > deal with Win98SE anymore since there is a more stable version of
Windows
| > available.
| >
| > I want to do a clean install of WinXP Home upgrade version. I have only
a
| > Configuration Builder CD with the Win98SE software on it.
| >
| > Went to MS website and found that Win98SE is a qualifying product for a
| > WinXP Home upgrade. Of, course the site doesn't specify (that I could
find
| > anyway) whether the Win98SE can be the OEM version.
| >
| > Question: May I or may I not use the Win98SE Configuration Builder CD as
the
| > qualifying CD for a WinXP Home upgrade?
| >
| > Thank you for reading this. Hope you can help.
| >
| > Cheryl A.
| >
 
Thanks Richard. That's very helpful information.

I'd prefer to do a clean install of WinXP Home. I am aware that upgrade CDs
allow one to upgrade existing software or to do a clean install. Joe
mentioned the OEM version ($89) which I never even thought about. That
sounds like a good idea.

Don't know anyone with a qualifying CD. Is using someone else's CD to
qualify proper?

Looks like Joe wants to troubleshoot my situation. I wonder how long I'll be
willing to travel on that road :-)

Cheryl

| If you do an upgrade installation, not a clean install, the existing 98
files on the hard drive will
| qualify.
| If you do a clean install (recommend as desired by you) your restore disks
do not qualify as the
| installation program can't find the files it needs off the Configuration
disks.
|
| If you have an OEM CD copy of Windows 98 (not a branded Restore only disk)
it will work as the
| qualifying software for a clean install.
| If you have a friend with a copy of MS Windows 98 CD you can use it to get
by the qualification test
| for a clean install.
|
| Remember, the XP upgrade disk will do either an upgrade installation or a
clean installation.
|
| > Hi,
| >
| > I've been reading the archived posts (Google groups) and finding
| > conflicting/confusing answers. Maybe you can give me the definitive
answer.
| >
| > Toshiba Satellite laptop (bought in 2000) easily meets the hardware
| > requirements to install WinXP Home. Currently have Win98SE on it. I
stopped
| > using the laptop some time ago because it kept crashing. Have recently
done
| > a fresh install of Win98SE using this CD and am *still* not happy with
its
| > performance (don't care to discuss it in this post). I simply don't want
to
| > deal with Win98SE anymore since there is a more stable version of
Windows
| > available.
| >
| > I want to do a clean install of WinXP Home upgrade version. I have only
a
| > Configuration Builder CD with the Win98SE software on it.
| >
| > Went to MS website and found that Win98SE is a qualifying product for a
| > WinXP Home upgrade. Of, course the site doesn't specify (that I could
find
| > anyway) whether the Win98SE can be the OEM version.
| >
| > Question: May I or may I not use the Win98SE Configuration Builder CD as
the
| > qualifying CD for a WinXP Home upgrade?
| >
| > Thank you for reading this. Hope you can help.
| >
| > Cheryl A.
| >
| >
|
|
 
Cheryl said:
Thanks for responding Joe. I REALLY don't want to do this... :-)

Is this what you mean by system specs?:

Toshiba Satellite 1605CDS (the info immediately below is combined from the
original sales ticket and the User Manual specs pages)

-466MHz AMD K6-2 Processor w/3DNOW technology
-Level 1 cache 32KB
-Level 2 cache 512KB on-die
-Bus clock speed 100Mhz front side speed
-32MB SyncDRAM (when new, added 128MB memory module for total RAM of 160MB)
Click to expand...

Marginal. 256 would be better. 128 is of course the minimum.
-4.3GB HDD
Click to expand...

Really small for XP. It'll WORK, but you won't have much left over.


If the disk itself won't qualify, your existing installation probably
will. The Upgrade CD will search your hard drive for win98, and find
it. You can then do a clean install.

PS, BOOT from the CD, it works better.
 
Thanks for responding Paul.

Doesn't my laptop have more of what Microsoft is recommending? Is your
advice based on your own experience?

From: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/upgrading/sysreqs.mspx

Here's What You Need to Use Windows XP Home Edition

..PC with 300 megahertz (MHz) or higher processor clock speed recommended;
233-MHz minimum required;* Intel Pentium/Celeron family, AMD K6/Athlon/Duron
family, or compatible processor recommended

..128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum supported;
may limit performance and some features)

..1.5 gigabyte (GB) of available hard disk space.*

..Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher resolution video adapter and monitor

..CD-ROM or DVD drive

..Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device

Cheryl

|
| Cheryl wrote:
| > Thanks for responding Joe. I REALLY don't want to do this... :-)
| >
| > Is this what you mean by system specs?:
| >
| > Toshiba Satellite 1605CDS (the info immediately below is combined from
the
| > original sales ticket and the User Manual specs pages)
| >
| > -466MHz AMD K6-2 Processor w/3DNOW technology
| > -Level 1 cache 32KB
| > -Level 2 cache 512KB on-die
| > -Bus clock speed 100Mhz front side speed
| > -32MB SyncDRAM (when new, added 128MB memory module for total RAM of
160MB)
|
| Marginal. 256 would be better. 128 is of course the minimum.
|
| > -4.3GB HDD
|
| Really small for XP. It'll WORK, but you won't have much left over.
|
|
| If the disk itself won't qualify, your existing installation probably
| will. The Upgrade CD will search your hard drive for win98, and find
| it. You can then do a clean install.
|
| PS, BOOT from the CD, it works better.
|
 
Cheryl said:
Thanks for responding Paul.

Doesn't my laptop have more of what Microsoft is recommending? Is your
advice based on your own experience?
Click to expand...

It'll WORK. But don't expect a speed demon. The K6-2 is a crappy chip.
Really, it's an overclocked pentium 1, performance wise. Microsoft
states that XP will work on 128MB, ram, and it will, but it REALLY
sucks. Once you install updates for XP, the hard disk space creeps up
to 2GB, and there isn't a lot of room for apps. And you can't fill the
hard dirve completely, or you get ODD errors. One or 2 major
applications, is all you get.

It is my opinion that XP will install, and run on your machine. But it
will be slow.

Windows 2000, if you can find it, would be a better choice for that
machine.
 
Thanks for the clarification. I do appreciate your help. Guess I need to
find 2000 (ME?) or a way to fix Win98.

Thanks for responding Paul.

Doesn't my laptop have more of what Microsoft is recommending? Is your
advice based on your own experience?
Click to expand...

It'll WORK. But don't expect a speed demon. The K6-2 is a crappy chip.
Really, it's an overclocked pentium 1, performance wise. Microsoft
states that XP will work on 128MB, ram, and it will, but it REALLY
sucks. Once you install updates for XP, the hard disk space creeps up
to 2GB, and there isn't a lot of room for apps. And you can't fill the
hard dirve completely, or you get ODD errors. One or 2 major
applications, is all you get.

It is my opinion that XP will install, and run on your machine. But it
will be slow.

Windows 2000, if you can find it, would be a better choice for that
machine.
 
Thanks Richard. That's very helpful information.

I'd prefer to do a clean install of WinXP Home. I am aware that upgrade
CDs
allow one to upgrade existing software or to do a clean install. Joe
mentioned the OEM version ($89) which I never even thought about. That
sounds like a good idea.

Don't know anyone with a qualifying CD. Is using someone else's CD to
qualify proper?
Click to expand...

<snip>

Since you do own Win98SE, just not in a form the upgrade will recognize for
a clean install, I don't see anything wrong with borrowing someone's Win98
CD and inserting that when asked for at the beginning of the clean install
with the XP Home upgrade. Or buy a copy cheap on EBay.
 
Thanks Joe!

| Definately NOT ME! Windows 2000 professional is a good Operating System,
ME
| is crap and will overload you with problem after problem. Here is a site
| where you can get Windows 2000 Pro w/ SP4 for $36:
|
|
http://www.ankhsoft.com/info-Microsoft_Windows_2000_Professional_with_SP4.html
|
| In the end it would work good with your computer better than 98 or XP wish
I
| had thought to mention it. Kudos to you paulmd.
|
| Joe
|
| Kemco ITT
|
| "Cheryl" wrote:
|
| > Thanks for the clarification. I do appreciate your help. Guess I need to
| > find 2000 (ME?) or a way to fix Win98.
| >
| > | >
| > Cheryl wrote:
| > > Thanks for responding Paul.
| > >
| > > Doesn't my laptop have more of what Microsoft is recommending? Is your
| > > advice based on your own experience?
| >
| > It'll WORK. But don't expect a speed demon. The K6-2 is a crappy chip.
| > Really, it's an overclocked pentium 1, performance wise. Microsoft
| > states that XP will work on 128MB, ram, and it will, but it REALLY
| > sucks. Once you install updates for XP, the hard disk space creeps up
| > to 2GB, and there isn't a lot of room for apps. And you can't fill the
| > hard dirve completely, or you get ODD errors. One or 2 major
| > applications, is all you get.
| >
| > It is my opinion that XP will install, and run on your machine. But it
| > will be slow.
| >
| > Windows 2000, if you can find it, would be a better choice for that
| > machine.
| >
| >
| > > From: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/upgrading/sysreqs.mspx
| > >
| > > Here's What You Need to Use Windows XP Home Edition
| > >
| > > .PC with 300 megahertz (MHz) or higher processor clock speed
recommended;
| > > 233-MHz minimum required;* Intel Pentium/Celeron family, AMD
| > > K6/Athlon/Duron
| > > family, or compatible processor recommended
| > >
| > > .128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum
supported;
| > > may limit performance and some features)
| > >
| > > .1.5 gigabyte (GB) of available hard disk space.*
| > >
| > > .Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher resolution video adapter and monitor
| > >
| > > .CD-ROM or DVD drive
| > >
| > > .Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
| > >
| > > Cheryl
| > >
| > > | > > |
| > > | Cheryl wrote:
| > > | > Thanks for responding Joe. I REALLY don't want to do this... :-)
| > > | >
| > > | > Is this what you mean by system specs?:
| > > | >
| > > | > Toshiba Satellite 1605CDS (the info immediately below is combined
from
| > > the
| > > | > original sales ticket and the User Manual specs pages)
| > > | >
| > > | > -466MHz AMD K6-2 Processor w/3DNOW technology
| > > | > -Level 1 cache 32KB
| > > | > -Level 2 cache 512KB on-die
| > > | > -Bus clock speed 100Mhz front side speed
| > > | > -32MB SyncDRAM (when new, added 128MB memory module for total RAM
of
| > > 160MB)
| > > |
| > > | Marginal. 256 would be better. 128 is of course the minimum.
| > > |
| > > | > -4.3GB HDD
| > > |
| > > | Really small for XP. It'll WORK, but you won't have much left over.
| > > |
| > > |
| > > | If the disk itself won't qualify, your existing installation
probably
| > > | will. The Upgrade CD will search your hard drive for win98, and find
| > > | it. You can then do a clean install.
| > > |
| > > | PS, BOOT from the CD, it works better.
| > > |
| >
| >
| >
 
Thanks for the link, Bob. Appreciate your help! I decided against installing
WinXP Home on the laptop.

Cheryl

| See Step 3 to see what it thinks about your system
| http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/upgrading/default.mspx
|
| Cheryl wrote:
| > Thanks for responding Paul.
| >
| > Doesn't my laptop have more of what Microsoft is recommending? Is your
| > advice based on your own experience?
| >
| > From: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/upgrading/sysreqs.mspx
| >
| > Here's What You Need to Use Windows XP Home Edition
| >
| > .PC with 300 megahertz (MHz) or higher processor clock speed
recommended;
| > 233-MHz minimum required;* Intel Pentium/Celeron family, AMD
K6/Athlon/Duron
| > family, or compatible processor recommended
| >
| > .128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum
supported;
| > may limit performance and some features)
| >
| > .1.5 gigabyte (GB) of available hard disk space.*
| >
| > .Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher resolution video adapter and monitor
| >
| > .CD-ROM or DVD drive
| >
| > .Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
| >
| > Cheryl
| >
| > | > |
| > | Cheryl wrote:
| > | > Thanks for responding Joe. I REALLY don't want to do this... :-)
| > | >
| > | > Is this what you mean by system specs?:
| > | >
| > | > Toshiba Satellite 1605CDS (the info immediately below is combined
from
| > the
| > | > original sales ticket and the User Manual specs pages)
| > | >
| > | > -466MHz AMD K6-2 Processor w/3DNOW technology
| > | > -Level 1 cache 32KB
| > | > -Level 2 cache 512KB on-die
| > | > -Bus clock speed 100Mhz front side speed
| > | > -32MB SyncDRAM (when new, added 128MB memory module for total RAM of
| > 160MB)
| > |
| > | Marginal. 256 would be better. 128 is of course the minimum.
| > |
| > | > -4.3GB HDD
| > |
| > | Really small for XP. It'll WORK, but you won't have much left over.
| > |
| > |
| > | If the disk itself won't qualify, your existing installation probably
| > | will. The Upgrade CD will search your hard drive for win98, and find
| > | it. You can then do a clean install.
| > |
| > | PS, BOOT from the CD, it works better.
| > |
| >
| >
|
 
Thanks Rock! Turns out my system won't support WinXP Home after all. I
appreciate your taking the time to respond.

Cheryl

| "Cheryl" wrote
|
| > Thanks Richard. That's very helpful information.
| >
| > I'd prefer to do a clean install of WinXP Home. I am aware that upgrade
| > CDs
| > allow one to upgrade existing software or to do a clean install. Joe
| > mentioned the OEM version ($89) which I never even thought about. That
| > sounds like a good idea.
| >
| > Don't know anyone with a qualifying CD. Is using someone else's CD to
| > qualify proper?
|
| <snip>
|
| Since you do own Win98SE, just not in a form the upgrade will recognize
for
| a clean install, I don't see anything wrong with borrowing someone's Win98
| CD and inserting that when asked for at the beginning of the clean install
| with the XP Home upgrade. Or buy a copy cheap on EBay.
|
| --
| Rock [MVP - User/Shell]
|
 
| Do not install XP on your Laptop Cheryl. It will run very poorly and you
| will have issues left and right. Windows 98 is still the best choice for
| your laptop. Windows XP will run on your laptop and it meets all of the
| minimum and some of the recommended system requirements. But! XP will
run
| fine on your system without any other software installed. Once you
install
| an antivirus like avast and zone alarm and other things like that the
laptop
| will be very slow and bogged down. You can tweak here and tweak there to
up
| the performance but tweaking doesn't allow full functionality of your
| programs. It's not just your memory it's your processor which completely
| clears the requirements but it will be very slow as windows xp is very
| tasking on the processor. Your Hard Drive just isn't anywhere near big
| enough as windows will use more than 1.5 GB's of it with the drivers you
load
| to make your computer run right. I am sorry to say that you are better
off
| sticking with Windows 98 and just getting a new laptop when you can no
longer
| handle windows 98.

I'm listening to everybody's advice and I won't be putting WinXP on the
laptop after all. That option is now nixed.

For myself, I have a WinXp Pro desktop running on a Pentium 4a 2800MHz
processor with 1GB DDR SDRAM. Plenty fast enough for me. I gave up using
Win98 about 2 years ago. :-)

I'm giving the laptop to my sister, who's disabled and on a fixed income.
She's 46, very smart, but has never used a computer before. She lives in a
different state. She'll be getting high-speed cable internet in a month or
two, and will wire it herself with a kit supplied from Comcast (sis is very
independent). I'll be coaching her on how to connect the router.

My other posts have more details on this. If you're up to it, see subject:
Currently Supported Software Firewall Solution for Win98SE? here:
http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...cc2-d505-4a9b-a31d-b81fa04c6639&lang=en&cr=US
:-)

Anyway, after the same problems started appearing on the laptop that were
there back when I had it new, I really didn't want to give my sister a
"broken" system and that's when I started looking at my options which *had*
included installing a newer version of windows.


| Now in Windows 98 to get rid of the pesky log on screen follow the last
set
| of instructions here under Windows 95/98/Me (If nothing else works):
|
| http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article04-103

Thanks! This worked. I forgot about the nifty "annoyances" website. I just
knew my thinking was off on this one - the logon window really had nothing
to do with my previous network fiasco after all. Red face matches my hair
now.

|
| Networking can be done between windows 98 SE and Windows XP wherever you
| were told that it won't work was wrong. If you wish to accomplish that we
| can help you as well but it would be best to go to the windows 98
newsgroup
| here:
|
|
http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...2e8-7af3-4b4e-8137-1fbe446bf8eb&lang=en&cr=US
|

I had planned to get file sharing going between my XP desktop and her 98
laptop to make it easier to transfer files, but don't need to anymore.
Thanks anyway. I'm now using a 2GB USB flash drive. Much easier.

Going back to the Win98 newsgroups. Thanks to all of you for your kind help!

Cheryl

| Newsgroup ID:
| microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
|
| Good Luck,
|
| Joe
|
| Kemco ITT
|
|
| "Cheryl" wrote:
|
| > Thanks for responding Paul.
| >
| > Doesn't my laptop have more of what Microsoft is recommending? Is your
| > advice based on your own experience?
| >
| > From: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/upgrading/sysreqs.mspx
| >
| > Here's What You Need to Use Windows XP Home Edition
| >
| > ..PC with 300 megahertz (MHz) or higher processor clock speed
recommended;
| > 233-MHz minimum required;* Intel Pentium/Celeron family, AMD
K6/Athlon/Duron
| > family, or compatible processor recommended
| >
| > ..128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum
supported;
| > may limit performance and some features)
| >
| > ..1.5 gigabyte (GB) of available hard disk space.*
| >
| > ..Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher resolution video adapter and monitor
| >
| > ..CD-ROM or DVD drive
| >
| > ..Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
| >
| > Cheryl
| >
| > | > |
| > | Cheryl wrote:
| > | > Thanks for responding Joe. I REALLY don't want to do this... :-)
| > | >
| > | > Is this what you mean by system specs?:
| > | >
| > | > Toshiba Satellite 1605CDS (the info immediately below is combined
from
| > the
| > | > original sales ticket and the User Manual specs pages)
| > | >
| > | > -466MHz AMD K6-2 Processor w/3DNOW technology
| > | > -Level 1 cache 32KB
| > | > -Level 2 cache 512KB on-die
| > | > -Bus clock speed 100Mhz front side speed
| > | > -32MB SyncDRAM (when new, added 128MB memory module for total RAM of
| > 160MB)
| > |
| > | Marginal. 256 would be better. 128 is of course the minimum.
| > |
| > | > -4.3GB HDD
| > |
| > | Really small for XP. It'll WORK, but you won't have much left over.
| > |
| > |
| > | If the disk itself won't qualify, your existing installation probably
| > | will. The Upgrade CD will search your hard drive for win98, and find
| > | it. You can then do a clean install.
| > |
| > | PS, BOOT from the CD, it works better.
| > |
| >
| >
| >
 
Cheryl said:
Thanks Richard. That's very helpful information.

I'd prefer to do a clean install of WinXP Home. I am aware that upgrade CDs
allow one to upgrade existing software or to do a clean install. Joe
mentioned the OEM version ($89) which I never even thought about. That
sounds like a good idea.

Don't know anyone with a qualifying CD. Is using someone else's CD to
qualify proper?

Looks like Joe wants to troubleshoot my situation. I wonder how long I'll be
willing to travel on that road :-)
Click to expand...

Hi Cheryl.

If you want you can do a clean install with the Upgrade CD. Just
boot from the CD and follow the prompts. It will "remember" that you
had Windows 98 previously installed and will not ask you for
qualifying media.

But I suggest that you try the upgrade install route first. I have
had a fair bit of experience with both upgrade installs and clean
installs and in my opinion the only substantive difference between
them is that a clean install is generally an absolute p.i.t.a. due to
the hours and hours and hours of work that it takes to reinstall all
of the applications, download sundry updates and patches, configure
all of the options in the applications, and restore all of the data
files from backups. Certainly I have never noticed any detectable
differences in performance or stability between upgrade installs and
clean installs.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
 
|
| >Thanks Richard. That's very helpful information.
| >
| >I'd prefer to do a clean install of WinXP Home. I am aware that upgrade
CDs
| >allow one to upgrade existing software or to do a clean install. Joe
| >mentioned the OEM version ($89) which I never even thought about. That
| >sounds like a good idea.
| >
| >Don't know anyone with a qualifying CD. Is using someone else's CD to
| >qualify proper?
| >
| >Looks like Joe wants to troubleshoot my situation. I wonder how long I'll
be
| >willing to travel on that road :-)
| >
|
| Hi Cheryl.
|
| If you want you can do a clean install with the Upgrade CD. Just
| boot from the CD and follow the prompts. It will "remember" that you
| had Windows 98 previously installed and will not ask you for
| qualifying media.
|
| But I suggest that you try the upgrade install route first. I have
| had a fair bit of experience with both upgrade installs and clean
| installs and in my opinion the only substantive difference between
| them is that a clean install is generally an absolute p.i.t.a. due to
| the hours and hours and hours of work that it takes to reinstall all
| of the applications, download sundry updates and patches, configure
| all of the options in the applications, and restore all of the data
| files from backups. Certainly I have never noticed any detectable
| differences in performance or stability between upgrade installs and
| clean installs.
|
| Good luck
|
| Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
| --
| Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
| On-Line Help Computer Service
| http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
| Syberfix Remote Computer Repair
|
| "Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
| has never been in bed with a mosquito."

Thanks Ron! I won't be upgrading 98 to XP on the laptop after all. Hardware
won't handle it. But, this info is still excellent if it will apply to my
updating my XP Pro desktop to Vista. :-)

Cheryl
 
Cheryl said:
Hi,

I've been reading the archived posts (Google groups) and finding
conflicting/confusing answers. Maybe you can give me the definitive
answer.

Toshiba Satellite laptop (bought in 2000) easily meets the hardware
requirements to install WinXP Home. Currently have Win98SE on it. I
stopped using the laptop some time ago because it kept crashing. Have
recently done a fresh install of Win98SE using this CD and am *still*
not happy with its performance (don't care to discuss it in this
post). I simply don't want to deal with Win98SE anymore since there
is a more stable version of Windows available.
Click to expand...


Although it's true that Windows XP is more stable than Windows 98, it is
also much more demanding of hardware. If you are unhappy with Windows 98's
performance on this machine, you will almost certainly be much *more*
unhappy with Windows XP's performance on it.

It is highly unlikely that doing this on a machine that old is a good idea.
If you want to run Windows XP, buy a more modern machine with a faster
processor, bigger hard drive, and especially more RAM (at the very minimum
256MB, and more might well be better, depending on what apps you run).
 
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