List of Programs that will or won't work with XP Pro SP2 ?

[Bill Watt]

I bought XP Pro Upgrade and am considering upgrading my Win98 SE PC.

I need to know which of my programs will or won't work. I found an
area on the MS site but only found one, MS Office 97, and it needs a
free upgrade. I can use Works instead.

I could not find Front Page 2000, Quicken 99, Photo Shop 6,
Greeting Card Deluxe 3 and some others.

Is there a list somewhere that's easy to access?

I could install them on my XP Pro Notebook to see if they work but
that will be involved. I want to use the PC for the important stuff
anyway.

Would appreciate any suggestions.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Your best bet would be...

Description of the Windows XP Upgrade Advisor:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307726

 

[Lil' Dave]

I bought XP Pro Upgrade and am considering upgrading my Win98 SE PC.

I need to know which of my programs will or won't work. I found an
area on the MS site but only found one, MS Office 97, and it needs a
free upgrade. I can use Works instead.

I could not find Front Page 2000, Quicken 99, Photo Shop 6,
Greeting Card Deluxe 3 and some others.

Is there a list somewhere that's easy to access?

I could install them on my XP Pro Notebook to see if they work but
that will be involved. I want to use the PC for the important stuff
anyway.

Would appreciate any suggestions.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

Unless the platform has to have internet access, consequently, current virus
protection and a firewall; leave it alone. If the hardware is more than 3
years old, you may be terribly displeased with performance due to all the
overhead.

 

[Alias]

I bought XP Pro Upgrade and am considering upgrading my Win98 SE PC.

I need to know which of my programs will or won't work. I found an
area on the MS site but only found one, MS Office 97, and it needs a
free upgrade. I can use Works instead.

I could not find Front Page 2000, Quicken 99, Photo Shop 6,
Greeting Card Deluxe 3 and some others.

Is there a list somewhere that's easy to access?

I could install them on my XP Pro Notebook to see if they work but
that will be involved. I want to use the PC for the important stuff
anyway.

Would appreciate any suggestions.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

What are the hardware stats of this computer? You will need at least
512MB RAM, 64MB graphics card and an 800Mhz processor.

Frontpage 2000 will work fine as will PhotoShop 6. I don't know about
the other programs but they probably will work.

Alias

 

[Unknown]

Your first task should be to verify your hardware devices are XP compatible.

 

[Stephen Harris]

What are the hardware stats of this computer? You will need at least
512MB RAM, 64MB graphics card and an 800Mhz processor.

Frontpage 2000 will work fine as will PhotoShop 6. I don't know about
the other programs but they probably will work.

Alias

Yes, that is true through SP2, I'm not so sure about SP3,
sort of because Photo Shop 6 does not work on Vista. XP
has a compatibility wizard (Start->Help and Support, then
type "getting older programs to run under Windows XP" into
the search bar, will bring you to the run compatibility wizard,
for Greeting Card Deluxe 3 (I can't remember the version I had).

 

[Bill Watt]

Thanks for the info Bear. I put in the XP Pro Upgrade CD and
selected Check Compatibility. Then selected to do the compatibility
check automatically. It went for a short time then a Window came up
saying that the system files may need updating since I purchased the
CD. There was an option to download updated files. I'd like a
compatibility check of the system and not download anything at this
time. The files are on the CD where would the download go? I was
afraid it would start the install and I need to do some backups
before I try the install. So I cancelled.

Any ideas?

Thanks again.

Bill
_____________________________________________________

 

[Bill Watt]

A big hello, Bill. I haven't seen you since the W98 gen. discussion NG!
Take care!

Yes, been awhile Curt. Wish this was as easy as 98x.

Later,

Bill

 

[Bill Watt]

I don't see the post by Alias. Have 512 Ram, 1GB processor, DVD and
CDRW drives. 2 80 GB Hard drives, Floppy and 1 yr old flat screen.
Also 64MB graphics card. The External 80 GB USB drive works on XP
Notebook.

Thanks for program info.

Bill

Yes, that is true through SP2, I'm not so sure about SP3,
sort of because Photo Shop 6 does not work on Vista. XP
has a compatibility wizard (Start->Help and Support, then
type "getting older programs to run under Windows XP" into
the search bar, will bring you to the run compatibility wizard,
for Greeting Card Deluxe 3 (I can't remember the version I had).

Good info, thanks.

Bill

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Here's what I'd recommend:

1. Purchase a new machine with WinXP SP2/SP3 preinstalled, Bill. (Act
quickly!)

Before You Connect a New Computer to the Internet
http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/before_you_plug_in.html

2. Use FAST wizard to transfer the Win98 data (but not any applications) to
the WinXP machine.

Using WinXP's FAST Wizard, by MVP Gary Woodruff
(Please read the caveats about Outlook Express)
http://aumha.org/win5/a/fast.htm

 

[Bill in Co.]

I agree. If his computer is so old he's been running Office 97, it may not
even be up to the task of running Windows XP decently. Maybe Dell is
still selling a few with Windows XP? But time is running out.

 

[Bill Watt]

I agree. If his computer is so old he's been running Office 97, it may not
even be up to the task of running Windows XP decently. Maybe Dell is
still selling a few with Windows XP? But time is running out.

Hi Bill,

The machine is a Systemax and I ordered it 6/8/01. It came with Win
ME that I got rid of. I already had Office 97 and installed it on
the new machine. I have the driver CD for it.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

 

[Bill in Co.]

Well, but my point is, your computer may not be fully up to it. As a rough
guideline, I'd suggest at least 512 MB of RAM, and perhaps a 1 GHz CPU.
(Now, that isn't a hard and fast rule, but still I think it's a fair
assessment. I'm assuming you don't want to run a borderline system).
And your motherboard is pretty old (2001), so the somewhat newer things
(like SATA, for example) become problematic, if even attainable.

I was faced with a similar decision earlier this year. I had (and still
have) an older Dell with Win98SE, and about the same age as yours, with a
800 MHZ CPU, and 512 MB RAM (and that's ALL it could ever take), and was
thinking about upgrading it too, like you. But with the prices of the new
Dells coming out with Windows XP (basic only - not top end), it just didn't
seem worth upgrading, and then having to live with a substandard machine
(and that's assuming that the upgrade even worked out). But it's getting
harder to find computers with XP anymore, as Vista is becoming the norm for
the new ones (and I DON'T WANT VISTA!!!).

 

[Bill Watt]

Well, but my point is, your computer may not be fully up to it. As a rough
guideline, I'd suggest at least 512 MB of RAM, and perhaps a 1 GHz CPU.
(Now, that isn't a hard and fast rule, but still I think it's a fair
assessment. I'm assuming you don't want to run a borderline system).
And your motherboard is pretty old (2001), so the somewhat newer things
(like SATA, for example) become problematic, if even attainable.

I was faced with a similar decision earlier this year. I had (and still
have) an older Dell with Win98SE, and about the same age as yours, with a
800 MHZ CPU, and 512 MB RAM (and that's ALL it could ever take), and was
thinking about upgrading it too, like you. But with the prices of the new
Dells coming out with Windows XP (basic only - not top end), it just didn't
seem worth upgrading, and then having to live with a substandard machine
(and that's assuming that the upgrade even worked out). But it's getting
harder to find computers with XP anymore, as Vista is becoming the norm for
the new ones (and I DON'T WANT VISTA!!!).

Amen on Vista !!!
I have 256 Ram, 1GB processor, DVD and CDRW drives. Two 80 GB Hard
drives, Floppy and 1 yr old Dell flat screen. I could add more
memory. Also 64MB graphics card. The External 80 GB USB drive works
on XP Pro Notebook. As does the printer.

My real problem, even with a new XP Pro machine is installing all my
programs. I have a ton of them including some Dos stuff that I use.
This would take forever. The machine meets or exceeds the
requirements listed on the XP box. Things would be so much easier
and save a lot of time if I can do the upgrade.

Your info is well taken. I was planning to upgrade and if there are
too many problems then I would restore my full system backup.

I think I'll download the Compatibility Advisor from the site Bear
supplied and try that. Then it shouldn't try to install the OS or
update any files that could cause problems if the upgrade doesn't
work like what the CD tried to do, and I cancel it.

Thanks,

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

 

[Bill in Co.]

Bill, FWIW:
I used Laplink's PC Mover to move my stuff over from the old Win98SE
computer to the new Dell XP computer, and it saved me a LOT of time! A
few apps had to be reinstalled, but other than that, it worked out pretty
well. Like you, the idea of reinstalling everything from scratch seemed
like a real PIA! (but of course, that would be the best way, if you ever did
it).

 

[John Marion]

I also didn't want to reinstall programs when I upgraded. I took a 533mHz
Celeron with maxed out 256MB ram and upgraded 98 to XP a couple of years
ago. It's kinda slow but at least it runs the latest browsers and A/V and
iTunes etc. Broadband helps.

 

[Alias]

I don't see the post by Alias. Have 512 Ram, 1GB processor, DVD and
CDRW drives. 2 80 GB Hard drives, Floppy and 1 yr old flat screen.
Also 64MB graphics card. The External 80 GB USB drive works on XP
Notebook.

Thanks for program info.

Bill

Up the RAM to 1 gig. You'll be glad you did.

Alias

 

[Bill Watt]

Your best bet would be...

Description of the Windows XP Upgrade Advisor:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307726

I looked all over the site for the Advisor download but couldn't
find it. I thought there was a download that would let you know if
the system could be upgraded and provide a text file with the
information. ??

Do you happen to know if there is one and where it is?

Thanks

Bill Watt

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

I looked all over the site for the Advisor download but couldn't
find it. I thought there was a download that would let you know if
the system could be upgraded and provide a text file with the
information. ??

Do you happen to know if there is one and where it is?

I'm sorry to have to inform you that the WinXP Upgrade Advisor is no longer
available, Bill. My bad for even mentioning it.

 

[Bill Watt]

I'm sorry to have to inform you that the WinXP Upgrade Advisor is no longer
available, Bill. My bad for even mentioning it.

I found it at PC World.
http://tinyurl.com/5pc69y

It's the same as on the CD so I dunno. It says it also updates
necessary files. If it does that and then won't upgrade I'm
concerned that my existing Win98 SE will be in trouble. I would
think it would upgrade files only after it found it could upgrade,
not before. Yet that is what it appeared to want to do.

I'll make a full system backup just before try it.

Thanks for the help and info Bear.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/