New XP Home cd with SP2... fresh install problems?

[Charles Gillen]

At last I'm going to update my Win98se desktop but my local comp store
sells ONLY the latest XP cdroms with SP2 already integrated.

I plan on re-formating my existing Win98 partition for a clean full
install of XP Home on NTFS, rather than try to overlay my old 98SE.

I've already collected XP drivers for my peripherals.

Do you think I'll suffer the SP2 problems I've read about here?

Will I be able to remove SP2 from my desktop machine even though in my
case it did not come as a separate upgrade to XP? (I downloaded SP2 to
upgrade my XP laptop but didn't like the security hassle, so removed it).

With fingers crossed...

You may ask why I'm upgrading from 98se... well, the system has gotten a
bit flakey (Explorer likes to crash) and crudded up after so many years,
and rather than try a fresh re-install of 98 I figure XP is better... and
there are some things I like about XP (once you restore the "classic"
look).

 

[Curt Mueller]

If your Win98 PC has the original hardware then XP will
reconize it and install default "native" drivers during
setup. Most new monitors have drivers that will be
available at Windows Update. It should be easy man!!

Curt Mueller

 

[Andy]

You will not be ablee to uninstall sp2 as it is already
integrated into xp.

Many MVPs do not recommend downloading drivers from the MS
site. You should try to get them from the manufacturer's
site if possible.

Hope this helps.

 

[Hi]

Since this will be a fresh install, especially after you
reformat the hard drive, you should have no problems. I
suggest you do not use MS update site for device drivers
though, the manufacturer`s driver is recommended.

Jeff

 

[Alex Nichol]

At last I'm going to update my Win98se desktop but my local comp store
sells ONLY the latest XP cdroms with SP2 already integrated.

I plan on re-formating my existing Win98 partition for a clean full
install of XP Home on NTFS, rather than try to overlay my old 98SE.

I've already collected XP drivers for my peripherals.

Do you think I'll suffer the SP2 problems I've read about here?

Will I be able to remove SP2 from my desktop machine even though in my
case it did not come as a separate upgrade to XP? (I downloaded SP2 to
upgrade my XP laptop but didn't like the security hassle, so removed it).

You will have it all as a single consistent installation. You would
only have trouble if you then go out and install the awful mixes of bad
and incompatible programs that seem to underlie much of the trouble in
upgrading to SP2.

But - first make sure your hardware is adequate. The 'recommended'
128MB of RAM in particular is not enough, and I would want at least a
450MHz CPU and about 5GB free disk space before considering it; below
that you are better on 98 until you can manage a major upgrade. And
Read Gary Woodruff`s article on upgrading to XP at
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm