Upgrade to XP from ME

[Jim]

I currently have ME and M/S Office Pro 2000 loaded on my
Dell 8100. I would like to upgrade to XP via the purchase
of XP Professional Upgrade 2002 Version, and Office XP
Standard Upgrade 2002 Version.

Questions:

1) Are the XP Software packages listed above the correct
ones to use for an upgrade from ME and M/S Office Pro 2000
to the XP Professional upgrade, and Windows Office XP for
Excel, Word, Access, PowerPt?

2) Are there any complications with this upgrade I should
be aware of?

3) I have heard that the ME Operating System has had some
challenges, and we have had some with ours. Would it be
better to change out the ME with XP vs the upgrade, or
does the upgrade do the same as a change out where your
hard drive is wiped clean? I would prefer not to wipe the
Hard Drive Clean unless this is an absolute requirment,
due to games etc. currently on the hard drive.

4) Any pointers that might improve the operation after
upgrade to XP?

Thank you for your help, and could you provide an 800
number if I have additional questions.

Jim Moczarny

 

[R. C. White]

I currently have ME and M/S Office Pro 2000 loaded on my
Dell 8100. I would like to upgrade to XP via the purchase
of XP Professional Upgrade 2002 Version, and Office XP
Standard Upgrade 2002 Version.

Questions:

1) Are the XP Software packages listed above the correct
ones to use for an upgrade from ME and M/S Office Pro 2000
to the XP Professional upgrade, and Windows Office XP for
Excel, Word, Access, PowerPt?

2) Are there any complications with this upgrade I should
be aware of?

3) I have heard that the ME Operating System has had some
challenges, and we have had some with ours. Would it be
better to change out the ME with XP vs the upgrade, or
does the upgrade do the same as a change out where your
hard drive is wiped clean? I would prefer not to wipe the
Hard Drive Clean unless this is an absolute requirment,
due to games etc. currently on the hard drive.

4) Any pointers that might improve the operation after
upgrade to XP?

Thank you for your help, and could you provide an 800
number if I have additional questions.

Jim Moczarny

 

[Jim]

Did not receive the msg. from RC White, Please repost or
send (e-mail address removed)........

Thank you!!

Jim

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Jim.

First, let me clarify that you have NOT reached Microsoft Tech Support.
Although Microsoft calls them Communities, these really are peer-to-peer
newsgroups. In other words, we're just users like you and don't speak for
Microsoft. Some of us have spent more time on this endless learning curve
and we try to help out to repay the help we've received from others. We
don't have an 800 number; the rule for newsgroups is: ask your question
here, come back here for any responses. Email (and 800 numbers) can't
benefit anyone except for the two parties involved; newsgroup posts can
benefit many people. Also, if you get bad advice in email (or the phone),
you're just stuck with it; in a newsgroup, others can correct or expand on
the advice.

I've never had a Dell, so I can't speak about any quirks of their OEM
versions of Windows, but it shouldn't matter in your situation. Many others
here do have Dell experience and can fill in the gaps for us.

See below for specific comments on your questions.

I currently have ME and M/S Office Pro 2000 loaded on my
Dell 8100. I would like to upgrade to XP via the purchase
of XP Professional Upgrade 2002 Version, and Office XP
Standard Upgrade 2002 Version.

Questions:

1) Are the XP Software packages listed above the correct
ones to use for an upgrade from ME and M/S Office Pro 2000
to the XP Professional upgrade, and Windows Office XP for
Excel, Word, Access, PowerPt?

For Windows, the package is the Upgrade of Windows XP Professional. The
name does not include "2002". For Office, the package is Microsoft Office
XP; individual components are MS Word 2002, MS Excel 2002, etc. There are
several versions of the suite; Standard does not include Access. You
probably need the Professional version, but be sure to read the contents to
be sure it includes all the components you need. With both WinXP and Office
XP, the upgrade version is identical to the full version except for the
pricing; the upgrade version will look for a qualifying earlier version
already installed or will ask you to briefly insert the qualifying CD-ROM.
(As you probably know, Office 2003 will be on sale soon. There is a review
in PC World's October 2003 edition.)

2) Are there any complications with this upgrade I should
be aware of?

These are two separate upgrades (WinXP and Office), but there should be no
complications with either.

3) I have heard that the ME Operating System has had some
challenges, and we have had some with ours. Would it be
better to change out the ME with XP vs the upgrade, or
does the upgrade do the same as a change out where your
hard drive is wiped clean? I would prefer not to wipe the
Hard Drive Clean unless this is an absolute requirment,
due to games etc. currently on the hard drive.

You can choose to either "upgrade" or "clean install" WinXP. Many upgraders
have reported satisfaction with WinXP Setup's migration of their hardware
drivers and applications. Others have reported that they had so many
"almost-but-not-quite-right" annoyances that they have wound up doing a
clean install later after all. Most everybody agrees that the absolute best
result is by backup up your data, then letting WinXP Setup reformat the
drive to NTFS and install WinXP from scratch. Then they install their
applications from CDs or other original media and restore their data. This
way they don't carry forward any garbage from the prior installation and
WinXP runs right from the beginning.

Unless you plan to install Win9x/ME on this computer, there's no reason to
keep FAT32. NTFS is more secure, both in the sense of security from prying
eyes and in the sense of security from data loss caused by hard drive
problems.

4) Any pointers that might improve the operation after
upgrade to XP?

Be sure to first get your firewall and antivirus in place, then visit
Windows Update as soon as you get online to get SP1 and all the other fixes
to be sure you're leaving no security holes unplugged. Also visit the
Office update page.

Thank you for your help, and could you provide an 800
number if I have additional questions.

Jim Moczarny

You're welcome, Jim.

RC

 

[R. C. White]

Hmmm... I didn't realize that I must have hit the Send button prematurely
on my first Reply. But, see the second one.

Sorry 'bout that. ;^{

RC