Looking For Idiots Guide To Upgrade Process

[Guest]

Hi, My new PC has XP MCE, and came with an upgrade voucher for Vista (which
should arrive in a few months time). Can anyone point me at a "idiots guide
to the process I should follow when installing it. To give a few example
questions:

a. Presume I should delete my copy of Norton Internet Security before the
upgrade? Anyother similar products to remove as well.

b. The Upgrade Advisor has flagged up Activsynch as an incompatible program
(its used by my in-car GPS tool). Understand that Vista as a better
alternative - should I remove Activesynch before the upgrade?

c. Upgrade Advisor also highlighted problems with my NVidia 8800 GTX
graphics card and Creative X-Fi sound card. For these, should I remove the XP
drivers before attempting the upgrade or leave them as is and search for
Vista drivers afterwards.

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi Bob,

Hi, My new PC has XP MCE, and came with an upgrade voucher for Vista
(which
should arrive in a few months time). Can anyone point me at a "idiots
guide
to the process I should follow when installing it. To give a few example
questions:

This may help:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/windowsvista/ballew_upgrade.mspx

a. Presume I should delete my copy of Norton Internet Security before the
upgrade? Anyother similar products to remove as well.

Uninstall, not delete, it. There is a major difference. And, I would also
suggest that you run Symantec's clean up tool to prevent any remnants from
being carried forward.
http://service4.symantec.com/SUPPORT/nsw.nsf/docid/2001101612274407

b. The Upgrade Advisor has flagged up Activsynch as an incompatible
program
(its used by my in-car GPS tool). Understand that Vista as a better
alternative - should I remove Activesynch before the upgrade?

You'll have to, this a well documented incompatibility. Check with the
manufacturer of the tool for updated support software or that it will work
within Vista. If not, you may have to decide how important this feature is
to you as you may not be able to use it.

c. Upgrade Advisor also highlighted problems with my NVidia 8800 GTX
graphics card and Creative X-Fi sound card. For these, should I remove the
XP
drivers before attempting the upgrade or leave them as is and search for
Vista drivers afterwards.

Check for drivers before upgrading, as if they don't exist you may well be
stuck between a rock and a hard place. Once upgraded, there is no
uninstalling Vista and returning to XP. You'd be required to do a clean
install. You don't need to uninstall the current drivers and supporting
software, as Vista replaces the OS, not just overwriting existing files with
newer code.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Bob Huntley]

Thanks for the help.

Bob,

Hi Bob,


This may help:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/windowsvista/ballew_upgrade.mspx


Uninstall, not delete, it. There is a major difference. And, I would also
suggest that you run Symantec's clean up tool to prevent any remnants from
being carried forward.
http://service4.symantec.com/SUPPORT/nsw.nsf/docid/2001101612274407


You'll have to, this a well documented incompatibility. Check with the
manufacturer of the tool for updated support software or that it will work
within Vista. If not, you may have to decide how important this feature is
to you as you may not be able to use it.


Check for drivers before upgrading, as if they don't exist you may well be
stuck between a rock and a hard place. Once upgraded, there is no
uninstalling Vista and returning to XP. You'd be required to do a clean
install. You don't need to uninstall the current drivers and supporting
software, as Vista replaces the OS, not just overwriting existing files
with newer code.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

I would like to add that the nVidia 88xx line is a work in progress as far
as the drivers are concerned. There have been lots of discussion in this
and the hardware_devices ng on the 8800.