re-use XP

[bhk]

My current computer line up

1. 2007 box with VISTA
2. 1999 box originally with Win98 but changed in 2005 to XP using a retail
XP upgrade disk.

My proposed future line up

1. 2007 box with VISTA
2. 1999 box scrapped
3. 2008 iMac with OS X and XP dual boot.

Question

Am I right in thinking that the upgrade disk will not install on the iMac
(because it won't find a qualifying product) even though there is a full OS
on the disk?
If so is there any method of converting the disk, perhaps by buying a new
license, or is the only option to buy another full disk?

Andereida

 

[philo]

My current computer line up

1. 2007 box with VISTA
2. 1999 box originally with Win98 but changed in 2005 to XP using a retail
XP upgrade disk.

My proposed future line up

1. 2007 box with VISTA
2. 1999 box scrapped
3. 2008 iMac with OS X and XP dual boot.

Question

Am I right in thinking that the upgrade disk will not install on the iMac
(because it won't find a qualifying product) even though there is a full
OS on the disk?
If so is there any method of converting the disk, perhaps by buying a new
license, or is the only option to buy another full disk?

Andereida

You can perform a clean install with an XP upgrade cd.
Your old win98 cd will serve as a qualifying product (if you still have it)

 

[bhk]

You can perform a clean install with an XP upgrade cd.
Your old win98 cd will serve as a qualifying product (if you still have
it)

Very much obliged to you for that answer. Yes, I still have the original
Win98 CD.

cheers

Andereida

 

[philo]

Very much obliged to you for that answer. Yes, I still have the original
Win98 CD.

cheers

Andereida

Ok good luck...
you should be able to just begin the install...then feed it the win98 cd
when asked

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Not on his iMac, Philo.

Look for the cd eject button on a Mac optical drive. Guess what? There
isn't one. Mac users use the Eject key on the Mac keyboard to eject cds and
dvds.

There is no way to perform the shiny media check because the Eject key on
the keyboard is not supported by the Windows Setup keyboard driver. That
key is not enabled until the Macintosh drivers for Windows are installed
once XP itself is installed. There is no way to swap cds during the
installation of XP. That's the only reason an XP upgrade edition cd cannot
be used with Boot Camp.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

You cannot use the Win98 cd for the shiny media check on your iMac because
there is no eject button on your cd drive like there is on other Windows
machines. The Eject key on the iMac keyboard is not functional during
Windows installation. You just can't make the cd swap.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

No he isn't, Philo. He just can't do what you suggest.

 

[philo]

You cannot use the Win98 cd for the shiny media check on your iMac because
there is no eject button on your cd drive like there is on other Windows
machines. The Eject key on the iMac keyboard is not functional during
Windows installation. You just can't make the cd swap.

I went back and read the original post and see the OP is using a 2008 iMac.

The truth is I have not worked on any macs that new so if you say there is
no eject button...
I believe you. I wonder if the old "paperclip" hole has been removed from
the drive too...
as that may work.

The alternative would be to actually install Win98 first
then perform the upgrade from within the OS.

Though upgrading win98 to XP is generally going a bad idea...
it will work fine from a fresh and unmodified installation

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Look closely at the iMac pictured here:
http://www.apple.com/imac/
Notice the disc slot in the side of the monitor? No button, no paperclip
hole.

There is no mechanical means to eject a disc on a Mac. Any Mac. Not even a
paperclip hole. The reason is the Apple operating systems require closing
of files prior to ejection so to protect the user from inadvertantly
ejecting without first closing files, the user is prevented from doing it
mechanically. The Eject key on the keyboard closes any files on the disc
that are open before ejecting the disc. The user can also eject a disc from
a program menu. In the event a disc gets stuck, it is necessary to shut
down the Mac and then restart while holding down the mouse key.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Boot Camp supports installing Windows XP and Vista only.

 

[philo]

Look closely at the iMac pictured here:
http://www.apple.com/imac/
Notice the disc slot in the side of the monitor? No button, no paperclip
hole.

There is no mechanical means to eject a disc on a Mac. Any Mac. Not even
a paperclip hole. The reason is the Apple operating systems require
closing of files prior to ejection so to protect the user from
inadvertantly ejecting without first closing files, the user is prevented
from doing it mechanically. The Eject key on the keyboard closes any
files on the disc that are open before ejecting the disc. The user can
also eject a disc from a program menu. In the event a disc gets stuck, it
is necessary to shut down the Mac and then restart while holding down the
mouse key.

Thank you for spotting the error I made.

Unless the windows installer ejects the CD automatically (which I don't
think is the case)
The OP would have to install Win98 first...then upgrade to XP from within
Win98

 

[philo]

Boot Camp supports installing Windows XP and Vista only.

How about installing Win98 in a virtual machine...then upgrading that to XP?



I did not see where the OP specified they were going to be using Boot Camp

Of course it would be better to run the OS native

 

[bhk]

Not on his iMac, Philo.

Look for the cd eject button on a Mac optical drive. Guess what? There
isn't one. Mac users use the Eject key on the Mac keyboard to eject cds
and dvds.

There is no way to perform the shiny media check because the Eject key on
the keyboard is not supported by the Windows Setup keyboard driver. That
key is not enabled until the Macintosh drivers for Windows are installed
once XP itself is installed. There is no way to swap cds during the
installation of XP. That's the only reason an XP upgrade edition cd
cannot be used with Boot Camp.

Thanks fellows. Seems I am stuck with trying to find a full edition from
somewhere or going to the Mac forum for an alternative suggestion.

Very grateful for your help Colin.

Andereida

 

[philo]

Thanks fellows. Seems I am stuck with trying to find a full edition from
somewhere or going to the Mac forum for an alternative suggestion.

Very grateful for your help Colin.

Andereida

I also thank Colin for correcting my errors. The only way I can think of
would be to install
Virtual machine software, install win98 in that...and then upgrade to XP...

So it would of course be easier to just get the full version of XP
or possibly find someone who is willing to trade CD's assuming all are legal

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

XP upgrade setup instructs the user to swap cds. It does not eject the cd
itself.

Win98 probably won't install. You are forgetting that the memory limit for
Win9x/ME is 512mb. I have heard of it running stably on up to 768MB, but no
further. He would have to have a stable OS (no BSODs) before he could
launch the XP upgrade setup from the Win98 desktop. The iMac has way too
much ram. He would have to remove some.

While a Windows PC would probably have settings to remap memory in the BIOS,
Macs don't have a BIOS. Mac's use EFI instead. This is one of the reasons
new computers don't have motherboard drivers for Win9x/ME. They ship with
too much ram.

If he had a W2k cd he could install W2k and then upgrade.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Too much ram in the iMac. See my previous clarification.

He has to use Boot Camp or a virtualizer like Parallels.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

He could use a virtualizer and install XP upgrade edition clean and do the
cd swap when required because at that point the emulated cd drive is under
the control of the virtualization software and not OS/X. He wouldn't need
to install Win98 first.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Your're welcome.

There is a section on the Apple forums for Windows stuff, including Boot
Camp. Consider purchasing a system builder version of XP. An OEM cd does
not do a shiny media check and you can save some money over a retail full
edition. One source is NewEgg, but don't wait too long. Sales will end on
June 30. After that you would have to purchase XP on a site like eBay.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116400
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116056

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Correction. He could upgrade to XP Pro that way because an upgrade-in-place
from W2k to XP Pro is supported, but not XP Home. That would require a
clean installation of Home and he would be right back where he started with
the shiny media check.

 

[philo]

Too much ram in the iMac. See my previous clarification.

Actually you can run win98 with more than 512 megs of ram...
first one needs to boot to safe mode...
then there is a vcache setting one can tweak. (I've done it years ago)

Also, if the OP does run win98 in a virtual machine...
virtual machines generally have a setting for how much ram you want to
assign to the guest OS...
by default, the setting is fairly low.

At any rate you have made some very good observations...
ones that I missed