Greetings --
You can use the full version to perform an upgrade.
Some people will recommend that you perform a clean installation,
rather than upgrade over Win98. 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 Win98 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. And if the upgrade doesn't perform up to your
expectations, you can always perform the clean installation later.
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 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
Stephen Patterson said:
I have recently purchased windows XP home edition (full version). I
plan to upgrade my existing PC from windows 98 but now realise that I
should have purchased the XP upgrade pack. Is it possible to continue
installation without losing my win98 files or should I return the full
version for the upgrade?
