Installing XP

[Cathy]

I currently have Windows ME on my machine and would like
to put on XP. What do I need to know in order to wipe out
my hard drive and start over with XP?

Thanks

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

If you want to wipe out everything, just boot from the XP CD and run setup
from there. As part of the install, you'll be offered the chance to format
your hard drive. If there's anything you need to save, make sure you back it
up first.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Have you made sure that 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 Hardware Compatibility
List: (http://www.microsoft.com/hcl/default.asp) Additionally, run
Microsoft WinXP Upgrade Advisor to see if you have any incompatible
hardware components or applications.

You should, before proceeding, take a few minutes to ensure that
there are WinXP device drivers available for all of the machine's
components. There may not be, if the PC was specifically designed for
Win98. 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 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


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[ERNIEOSD]

I have this same problem. However, when I attempted to
reinstall on the same drive as a new install, after
document save and file building, it came back to me and
said that i could not do it because there were temp files
that could not be deleted.

I would just like to clean the hard drive and start over
so that i can get the "c" drive letter assigned instead
of "h". I created the "h" problem by being to eager and
isntalling a multiple card reader before I had the XP
installed.

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

When you boot from the XP CD, you'll be given the chance to format/partition
your hard drive as part of setup.

If you're installing from DOS, you can format and partition the drive using
FDISK for partitioning and FORMAT for formatting. If your disk is NTFS
format, you'll have to use FDISK to "remove the non-DOS partition", then
recreate it.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I currently have Windows ME on my machine and would like
to put on XP. What do I need to know in order to wipe out
my hard drive and start over with XP?

Unless you specifically want to throw out all the software you currently
have and start over, I would start with an U;pgrade install, running the
XP CD from the existing system. That replaces the whole system, but
brings forward installed software and settings. If it does not work out
you can go back to do a clean install, but it is not likely. Read Gary
Woodruff's article on upgrading to XP at
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm

If you *do* want to start over from scratch, read Gary Woodruff's
article on Files and settings Transfer at
http://aumha.org/win5/a/fast.htm

Then boot the XP CD direct. Enter Setup, and after the license
agreement take New Install. When it asks you to confirm where, hit ESC;
select and delete the current partition and make a new RAW one to be
formatted at the next stage

The important point is the delete. Without that it will just go ahead
and make a new install over the top of the old one