Upgrade from Windows 2000 to XP

[Upgrades]

I am currently running windows 2000 professional and would like to upgrade to
XP professional, What are the necessary steps?

 

[JS]

How to install or upgrade to Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316941

Paul Thurrott's article:
"Upgrading to Windows XP Pro from Windows NT/2000"
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_2kupgrade.asp

 

[philo]

I am currently running windows 2000 professional and would like to upgrade
to
XP professional, What are the necessary steps?

I advise you to backup all your data and settings
then perform a clean install.

If you insist on trying to upgrade win2k directly to XP...
you still should backup your data first.

Next do a full scan for malware and viruses
You will need to uninstall your anti-virus and firewall,
then do a disk cleanup.

Now from within Win2k just pop in your XP cd and go ahead and upgrade.


FWIF: I recently upgraded two Win2k machines to XP...
in both cases the machines were in perfect working order.


On one of the machines I simply did a clean install,
then reinstalled my apps and data...
total time was about 4 hours.


The other machine...I did an upgrade from within Win2k...
by the time I got all the bugs worked out...it was an 8 hours job!

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I advise you to backup all your data and settings
then perform a clean install.

Then let me point out to "Upgrades" that I advise exactly the
opposite.

Unlike with previous versions of Windows, an upgrade to XP replaces
almost everything, and usually works very well.

My recommendation is to at least try the upgrade, since it's much
easier than a clean installation. You can always change your mind and
reinstall cleanly if problems develop.

However, don't assume that doing an upgrade relieves you of the need
to backup your data, etc. before beginning. Before starting to
upgrade, it's always prudent to recognize that things like a sudden
power loss can occur in the middle of it and cause the loss of
everything. For that reason you should make sure you have backups and
anything else you need to reinstall if the worst happens.

If you insist on trying to upgrade win2k directly to XP...
you still should backup your data first.

Absolutely. I completely agree with that, as I said above.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

The easy way out is not always a prudent game plan.

The reason I recommend a clean install is because I have *never* had one
fail.

Same here, of course. Clean installations don't fail if you have
everything you need (which not everyone does; sometimes finding all
the needed drivers is a problem for some people).

Unless there is a H/W problem a clean install is as close to a sure thing as
you can get.
As to upgrades...few if any have worked 100% correctly...

That's not my experience at all. In fact, I have *never* had an
upgrade fail. Unless you are upgrading an installation that has
existing problems, upgrades to Windows XP are almost always
successful.

Moreover, the rates of success and failure were not my primary point.
My point is a simple one: an upgrade is almost always *much* easier
that a clean installation, and if it fails, the clean installation
remains as an fallback procedure.

Note: and that's on systems that were clean and "prepped". Properly
"prepping" the old OS takes a lot of time and expertese...
and is still a gamble.

One think I hate is gambling.