installation question

[Guest]

I just bought a laptop which has windows 98. I want to upgrade to XP. Will I
lose any of my files, e.g mp3's, photo's, by doing this.

 

[Rob Giordano \(Crash\)]

Back them up to CD then you don't have to worry. Make sure your laptop is
upgradeable to XP.


|I just bought a laptop which has windows 98. I want to upgrade to XP. Will
I
| lose any of my files, e.g mp3's, photo's, by doing this.

 

[philo]

I just bought a laptop which has windows 98. I want to upgrade to XP. Will I
lose any of my files, e.g mp3's, photo's, by doing this.

In theory...if you do an upgrade...you will not loose your data...
however you should really back up all your data anyway...just as a
precaution.

BTW: Although upgrades can work ok...you will probably be better off with a
fresh install.

Finally...if the machine is old enough to have had win98 on it...chances are
it will
run XP rather poorly...so you may just want to stick with win98

 

[Brian A.]

Upgrading from Previous Versions of Windows
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/matrix.asp

Never mind the XP Pro mentioning, the requirements for Home and Pro are
basically the same.
System Requirements:
Windows XP Professional System Requirements
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/sysreqs.asp

And to further the process, your hardware/software may not be up to date for XP.
You can check by using the upgrade advisor download indirectly here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/upgrading/checkcompat.asp

or here directly
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/upgrading/advisor.asp

However I would suggest, if you have a friend with an XP CD you can run the
advisor from it, the download is approx. 32MB.

or check here by typing in the hardware you want to check:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/upgrading/compat.asp

Windows XP Professional Upgrade Center
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/upgrading/default.mspx

Quick Upgrade to Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/getstarted/installquick.mspx

--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

 

[Harry Ohrn]

check here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/upgrade_tips.htm

 

[Ken Blake]

I just bought a laptop which has windows 98. I want to upgrade to XP.
Will I lose any of my files, e.g mp3's, photo's, by doing this.

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.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I just bought a laptop which has windows 98. I want to upgrade to XP. Will I
lose any of my files, e.g mp3's, photo's, by doing this.

WinXP is designed to install and upgrade the existing operating
system while simultaneously preserving your applications and data, and
translating as many personalized settings as possible. The process is
designed to be, and normally is, quite painless. That said, things can
go wrong, in a small number of cases. If your data is at all important
to you, back it up before proceeding.

Have you verified that all of your PC's hardware components are
capable of supporting WinXP? This information will be found at the PC's
manufacturer's web site, and on Microsoft's Windows Catalog:
(http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/default.mspx)

You should also take a few minutes to ensure that there are
WinXP-specific device drivers available for all of the machine's
components. There may not be, if the PC was specifically designed for
Win98/Me. Also bear in mind that PCs designed for, sold and run fine
with Win9x/Me very often do not meet WinXP's much more stringent
hardware quality requirements. This is particularly true of many models
in Compaq's consumer-class Presario product line or HP's consumer-class
Pavilion product line. WinXP, like WinNT and Win2K before it, is quite
sensitive to borderline defective or substandard hardware (particularly
motherboards, RAM and hard drives) that will still support Win9x.

HOW TO Prepare to Upgrade Win98 or WinMe
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q316639

Upgrading to Windows XP
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm


--

Bruce Chambers

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Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrum Russell

 

[Bernard W Joseph]

In theory...if you do an upgrade...you will not loose your data...
however you should really back up all your data anyway...just as a
precaution.

BTW: Although upgrades can work ok...you will probably be better off with a
fresh install.

Finally...if the machine is old enough to have had win98 on it...chances are
it will
run XP rather poorly...so you may just want to stick with win98

I like this answer. I have Win98 that runs perfectly with everything
that I want to do. The only thing is that it doesn't have USB2, but so
what? Who of home users can tell the difference between USB1 and USB2.
There is the difference between FAT32 and NTFS on the hard drives, but
who can tell?

Very good answer.

Bernard