Linda33592 said:
upgraded from 98 to xp home - (upgrade cd). Could not access firewall
settings, user accounts or system restore. Performed inplace upgrade -
using
same cd, but fails with stop error c2 (bad pool caller) when installing
drivers. Reboots and setup restarts again , over and over. How do i
break
this or revert back to 98?
Linda
It sounds like perhaps there were some incompatible apps existing at the
time of the upgrade. Often, things like anti-virus and firewall apps (and
some CD-burning software) and printer drivers have to be removed prior to
upgrading, then reinstalled afterwards. Their code is not always the same
for 98 and XP versions, and their installers should put in the correct
versions.
The Upgrade Advisor, on the XP install CD, should list them for you, so you
know what to delete.
IAre you able to start the system at all, in Safe Mode? If so, you can try
to uninstall those apps there. Remove any hardware that isn't directly
essential to running the system- leave only the graphics card, monitor,
keyboard and mouse, no printers or scanners or any other devices that attach
to any other ports.
Unfortunately, it isn't always easy to uninstall after the fact, stuff that
should have been removed prior to an upgrade install. It can be easier to
bite the bullet, reboot from the CD, and install clean, wiping the drive in
the process. You will need to have the 98 install media on hand as the XP
installer will ask for it. You can borrow a 98 CD if you can't find yours.
You do NOT neeed to install 98 first.
This will also require you to reinstall all applications.
You should at this point consider whether you've got data on that drive that
isn't backed up, and that is of value to you. If you do, stop now.
Find a friend with another XP system that has enough drive space, remove
the drive from your system, attach it to theirs as a secondary disk (USB2
drive cases are great for this, and can be had for around $20) and just copy
your data to their drive.
If you can't do that, consider popping in a new hard disk - I see 80 gig
drives for around CDN$50, and they're pretty easy to install. Remove your
drive, set the jumpers the same on the new one, and reattach the cables.
Later, you can attach the old drive as a secondary disk and recover your
data. Yes, this is a few dollars, but probably less than your data is
worth.
HTH
-pk
