upgrade from win 98

[gimp]

I understand that win 98 qualifies for an upgrade to win
xp pro. If I have a old comp I am retiring and a new box
I am building can I put win 98 on the new comp without
violating the liscense? Better yet will a upgrade version
of xp pro install on the new box that I built without
installing win 98 first? It would be a shame to clutter
up the new system with a OS that I plan on removing right
away.

Or, do I need to buy a brand new full version? Would like
to avoid spending $300 on a new copy of win xp pro if I
can use my old win 98 in some way to upgrade.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

I understand that win 98 qualifies for an upgrade to win
xp pro.

Yes.


If I have a old comp I am retiring and a new box
I am building can I put win 98 on the new comp without
violating the liscense?

If it's a retail version yes. If it's an OEM version, no; that
would be a license violation.

But it's not necessary, see below.

Better yet will a upgrade version
of xp pro install on the new box that I built without
installing win 98 first?

Yes. The requirement to use an upgrade version is to *own* a
previous qualifying version's installation CD (with an OEM
restore CD, see below), not to have it installed. When setup
doesn't find a previous qualifying version installed, it will
prompt you to insert its CD as proof of ownership. Just insert
the previous version's CD, and follow the prompts. Everything
proceeds quite normally and quite legitimately.
You can also do a clean install if you have an OEM restore CD of
a previous qualifying version. It's more complicated, but it
*can* be done. First restore from the Restore CD. Then run the XP
upgrade CD from within that restored system, and change from
Upgrade to New Install. When it asks where, press Esc to delete
the partition and start over.

It would be a shame to clutter
up the new system with a OS that I plan on removing right
away.

Right, and it's completely unnecessary.

Or, do I need to buy a brand new full version? Would like
to avoid spending $300 on a new copy of win xp pro if I
can use my old win 98 in some way to upgrade.

By the way, are you sure you need XP Professional rather than XP
Home? XP Professional and XP Home are exactly the same in all
respects, except that Professional has a few features (mostly
related to networking and security) missing from Home. For most
(but not all) home users, these features aren't needed, would
never be used, and buying Professional instead of Home is a waste
of money.
For details go to

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_home_pro.asp

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/whichxp.asp

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.asp

Also note that Professional allows ten concurrent network
connections, and Home only five.

 

[Guest]

"By the way, are you sure you need XP Professional rather
than XP Home?"

Am I sure? No, but I am setting up a fairly decent gaming
system for online games and have read a few boards
recomending XP Pro because it handles the network traffic
better.

Oh and thanks for the response...good news for me.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

I understand that win 98 qualifies for an upgrade to win
xp pro. If I have a old comp I am retiring and a new box
I am building can I put win 98 on the new comp without
violating the liscense? Better yet will a upgrade version
of xp pro install on the new box that I built without
installing win 98 first? It would be a shame to clutter
up the new system with a OS that I plan on removing right
away.

Or, do I need to buy a brand new full version? Would like
to avoid spending $300 on a new copy of win xp pro if I
can use my old win 98 in some way to upgrade.

If the Windows 98 disk is a retail version, this will qualify for the
upgrade to XP.

 

[Ken Blake]

In (e-mail address removed)

"By the way, are you sure you need XP Professional rather
than XP Home?"

Am I sure? No, but I am setting up a fairly decent gaming
system for online games and have read a few boards
recomending XP Pro because it handles the network traffic
better.

Nope, not true. There should be no difference.

Oh and thanks for the response...good news for me.

You're welcome. Glad to help.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

 

[AK]

I upgraded a Dell P3 from WinME (which was an upgrade from Win 98) to WinXP
HE and it works almost perfectly. The only problem I have encountered is
that Task Scheduler does not work, and endless efforts to fix it don't seem
to help. But I think part of the problem is due to the fact that I didn't
erase everything on the disk first, reload the older OS's, and then
upgrade - I think thee is something residual from my earlier stuff that has
it confused.

One word of caution - for whatever reason, the upgrade took about 12 hours
to run. I think the combination of old hardware and the search for
compatible drivers may have been to blame.

Rgds

Alan

 

[Barry Watzman]

XP upgrade version will install without installing 98 first, BUT you
must have the original 98 CD, which it will want to look at early in the
installation. It doesn't actually copy files from that CD, but it does
verify the CD as a legal prerequisite to installing XP on the computer.