ME----> XP-HE upgrade?

[Guest]

Hi,
I'm running ME on my Toshiba 2805-S402. New business software requires
either Win 2000 or XP. I'd like to upgrade to XP, but when I posted a
question about it on a Compuserve forum, I got a reply saying "Don't upgrade
- do a full intall only". I've got way too many programs and not near enough
time or patience for considering a full install -I'd rather just wait another
year and buy a new computer than do that. My question is, is this really as
dangerous as this person says? Are there successful upgrade stories out
there?

Ed

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hi,
I'm running ME on my Toshiba 2805-S402. New business software requires
either Win 2000 or XP. I'd like to upgrade to XP, but when I posted a
question about it on a Compuserve forum, I got a reply saying "Don't upgrade
- do a full intall only". I've got way too many programs and not near enough
time or patience for considering a full install -I'd rather just wait another
year and buy a new computer than do that. My question is, is this really as
dangerous as this person says? Are there successful upgrade stories out
there?

Ed

Some people will recommend that you perform a clean installation,
rather than upgrade over an earlier OS. For the most part, I feel
that these people, while well-meaning, are living in the past, and are
basing their recommendation on their experiences with older operating
systems. You'd probably save a lot of time by upgrading your PC to
WinXP, rather than performing a clean installation, if you've no
hardware or software incompatibilities. Microsoft has greatly improved
(over earlier versions of Windows) WinXP's ability to smoothly upgrade
an earlier OS.

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 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 Windows Catalog:
(http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/default.mspx) 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/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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You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Chuck]

I'm speaking as one who has been thru all the major variations of windows
and upgrades thru Win XP.

First, you have a laptop. It will be necessary to obtain all needed upgraded
drivers for the laptop before you think about doing such an upgrade. Part
of this effort is making sure that your specific laptop has such drivers
available and is compatable with winXP. .

Next, you must understand that external devices will also require updated
drivers. Windows ME drivers are win9x drivers, and XP drivers are part of
the Win NT 2000 family.

Finally, It's quite possible that some of your current applications that run
properly under Win ME will not work correctly with win XP. Most will work,
and some require compatibility settings, however some will not without
updates. It's also possible that the XP SP2 updates will break applications
and drivers all over again that worked under win XP SP1a.

In other words, a full backup of your Win ME and applications is extremely
important.

Depending upon the size of your hard drive, and how much is on it, it may be
possible to setup a dual boot system with both ME and XP resident. This can
be complex, and as a result, is something that is one of the last resorts.
It's usually necessary to have FAT and a NTFS partitions for this to work.
In the case of laptops, this often increases the total number of partitions
to three or more. Laptops usually have a hidden partition that contains
laptop specific software, such as diagnostics and possibly a restoration
package.

I'm facing the same problem with an older (cerca 2000) HP laptop. Since the
applications work correctly under ME, and I have no pressing need to update,
other than to make it the same ops system that my other PC's use, It's still
using ME. I'll likely buy a new laptop before I seriously consider investing
the time and effort to upgrade the old laptop.

Upgrading from ME to XP may work well, and you might not have any major
problems. Or you may have so many problems that restoring the system to the
ME configuration is the only solution. The usual experience is somewhere
between these extremes.

XP may cause your laptop to run noticably slower than it does under ME. This
is a price that you pay for the additional features of XP.

 

[Guest]

Thanks to Bruce and Chuck for these excellent responses. I already ran the
XP comatablity check and found a couple programs that might not work, but
there are upgrades for them that should take care of that problem. The only
hardware problems I could identify from both MS and Toshiba were the bios, a
couple print drivers, and a USB external hard drive. I think I can get those
easily enough. Even though ME freezes up on me a least a few times a week, I
still would rather not upgrade at all unless I really have to. I have a call
into the software vendor of my business application to just make sure it
won't won't work under ME. If that's indeed the case, then I guess I'll have
to either upgrade or get a new machine.

Ed