I have Windows 2000 NT - want to upgrade operating system.

[greg]

I have Windows 2000NT and need to upgrade my operating system. I do not want
to format my harddrive and loose all of my data and documents. What windows
operating system can I use to upgrade and not have to start with a clean
slate?

 

[RLAnderson]

I have Windows 2000NT and need to upgrade my operating system. I do not want
to format my harddrive and loose all of my data and documents. What windows
operating system can I use to upgrade and not have to start with a clean
slate?

How old is your box?

 

[Alias]

I have Windows 2000NT and need to upgrade my operating system. I do not want
to format my harddrive and loose all of my data and documents. What windows
operating system can I use to upgrade and not have to start with a clean
slate?

We need more information:

1. Processor
2. Amount of Ram
3. Video card specs.
4. Hard drive size.

The fact that you say you will "loose" all your data and documents
indicates to me that you don't have them backed up and if you don't have
them backed up, there will be a day when your hard drive dies and you
will have wished you had. Get an external case/hard drive and back up
your data and documents NOW!

Alias

 

[Erwin Moller]

greg schreef:

I have Windows 2000NT and need to upgrade my operating system. I do not want
to format my harddrive and loose all of my data and documents. What windows
operating system can I use to upgrade and not have to start with a clean
slate?

Hi Greg,

Since upgrading your current win2K is surely going to give all kinds of
problems, I advise you to do the following:
1) get a new HD (they are so cheap). Be sure the HD will fit into your
comp. eg: maybe you have an old computer that doesn't like SATA.
2) remove/unplug your current hd
3) reinstall on the new HD the OS of your choice (I recommend XP/SP3 if
you want to stick with M$. Vista gave me continously trouble, even after
SP1)
4) enable your old hd, simply by putting the plug back in.

Now you can read anything you need from the hd. No lost documents. No
unreliable hassle with 'upgrading' the OS, which in my experience never
works right.

just my 2 cent.

Regards,
Erwin Moller

--
"There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to
make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the
other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious
deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult."
-- C.A.R. Hoare

 

[RLAnderson]

greg schreef:

Hi Greg,

Since upgrading your current win2K is surely going to give all kinds of
problems, I advise you to do the following:
1) get a new HD (they are so cheap). Be sure the HD will fit into your
comp. eg: maybe you have an old computer that doesn't like SATA.
2) remove/unplug your current hd
3) reinstall on the new HD the OS of your choice (I recommend XP/SP3 if
you want to stick with M$. Vista gave me continously trouble, even after
SP1)
4) enable your old hd, simply by putting the plug back in.

Now you can read anything you need from the hd. No lost documents. No
unreliable hassle with 'upgrading' the OS, which in my experience never
works right.

just my 2 cent.

Regards,
Erwin Moller

Greg,

First off, I would like to acknowledge the excellent feedback given by
Alias and Erwin. Since I do not know how old your box is, I do not have
the foggiest idea on how big a drive it can natively support. So I may
be "shooting in the blind" here, but here is my suggestion.

1. Upgrade your BIOS (if possible).
2. Upgrade your RAM to, at least, 1GB (if possible). If not, 512/768MB
might be a "suitable substitute".
3. Get yourself a drive at least double the size you have now.
4. Set you new drive as Master (If IDE).
5. Disconnect your existing drive and set it as Slave (Again, if IDE).
6. Connect your new drive and do a clean install of Windows, without
connecting your old drive. After you have Windows up and running, shut
down your box and connect your old drive to your box, fire up Windows
and let it detect and install your old HDD. Your important files should
still be there.
7. Do this after Windows 7 becomes available. As I've been reading the
various blogs, I would bypass Vista and go to 7. I have heard, from
reputable sources, that, unlike Vista, Win7 works pretty good on older
hardware.

HTH

Rick