upgrade problem

[Robert Simmen]

I have been having problems with Win98 crashing a lot, and
purchased Win2000 Pro Upgrade. When I upload and start the
wizzard, it goes through a few preliminary functions and
then stops with the following warning: "Illegal Operation:
WINNT32 caused an invalid page fault in module KERNEL32.dll
at 017f:bff88396". Then there is a list of addresses under
REGISTER:.
I've tried this several times and always the same fault.
What do I need to do?

 

[Dan Seur]

Do a clean install of W2k. Boot from the CD, and if asked simply insert
the W98 CD as proof of eligibility. The W2k installation will proceed.
Back up any important files in the partition you'll format before you
start.

Upgrade installs are iffy at best, because too often the process carries
bad settings and other corruption forward into the new W2k. Upgrading
from a badly corrupted W98 would be a worse case than usual.

Unless you discover there's a hardware problem (like failing RAM)
causing those W98 crashes, if you do try an upgrade you'll likely sooner
or later, after lots of headaches, do a clean W2k install anyway. You
won't have saved time or effort.