Upgrade from Windows 98

[Guest]

I am considering upgrading from Windows 98 to Windows XP. After the first
installation and upgrade to XP is it possible to create a single disk for
installation should you need to install XP again. i.e. can you create a
single disk to boot from that will give a complete installation of XP?

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

You would have to use some type of drive imaging software to create an image of the hard disk/partition. It won't fit on a single CD, but most packages allow for spanning multiple discs, or even burning to DVD media.

 

[Sky King]

I am considering upgrading from Windows 98 to Windows XP. After the first
installation and upgrade to XP is it possible to create a single disk for
installation should you need to install XP again. i.e. can you create a
single disk to boot from that will give a complete installation of XP?

Hi;

If I understand the question, you'd like to create a new CD that has Windows
XP with SP2 already applied. If so, the process is called "slipstreaming"
and can easily be done. You will need your original XP CD and the full
download of SP2.

There are several ways to do this, and some good utilities around that help
with creating the final product. I like one called nLite, and you can
download it from here: http://nuhi.msfn.org/ (Don't worry about the fact
that the latest is Beta <g>). You will end up with an .ISO file that you
can burn to a CD with any software the supports it. For ease of use, I like
MVP Alex Feinman's ISORecorder: http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/beta.htm
(again don't worry about the "beta" part...I've been using it on XP SP2 for
quite a while and it works great).