Upgrade WIN 2kPro -- concerns

[JClark]

Hello group:
Apologies if this seems redundant. I did review all the posts under
this topic, but I'm still a little nervous and seeking advice.
I have upgraded several of my family's computers from WIN2K to XPPro,
but all with clean install, using OEM XPPro/SP2 bought from a
reputable reseller.

I need to upgrade my office machine, but it's a bit more complex, with
RAID-1 array of two hard drives, and a third hard drive to which I
back up data files. As I remember when I installed 2K, the RAID thing
was a bit dicey. Will XP upgrade deal with that since it's already
established and loads in the pre-Windows boot phase?

Of course I can do a clean XP install for this system, but it will be
a big job getting all the programs installed and configured. It's
certainly tempting to try the upgrade version of XP Pro. The only
downside I see is that if it doesn't work, I'm out the cost of the
retail upgrade version plus the cost of the OEM full install version.
Not a tragedy, but to be avoided if possible. Are there any other
pitfalls lurking there? I plan to run the WIN XP upgrade advisor.

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.

Jack

 

[Jerry]

You cannot install an OEM version of XP Pro on anything but a clean system
so, if you want to save the stuff on your office system you will have to use
either the upgrade version of XP Pro or the full retail version. Just make
sure you have downloaded all the drivers for the hardware already on this
system, including having a floppy ready with the RAID drivers as the install
of XP will ask for them. (You can run the Upgrade Advisor ahead of the
install to get a list of any hardware/software incompatibilities.)

 

[JClark]

You cannot install an OEM version of XP Pro on anything but a clean system
so, if you want to save the stuff on your office system you will have to use
either the upgrade version of XP Pro or the full retail version. Just make
sure you have downloaded all the drivers for the hardware already on this
system, including having a floppy ready with the RAID drivers as the install
of XP will ask for them. (You can run the Upgrade Advisor ahead of the
install to get a list of any hardware/software incompatibilities.)

Thanks, Jerry. I guess it's just a bit of a financial gamble. The full
retail package would solve my dilemma, but I think I'll take a chance
with the upgrade. Thanks for the tip about having the raid drivers of
floppy. I recall now that I needed that when I did the original W2K
install. I hope I saved the floppy.

Jack

 

[JClark]

You cannot install an OEM version of XP Pro on anything but a clean system
so, if you want to save the stuff on your office system you will have to use
either the upgrade version of XP Pro or the full retail version. Just make
sure you have downloaded all the drivers for the hardware already on this
system, including having a floppy ready with the RAID drivers as the install
of XP will ask for them. (You can run the Upgrade Advisor ahead of the
install to get a list of any hardware/software incompatibilities.)

Jerry: The upgrade went fine. First non "clean-install" I've ever
done. Install did ask for the usual F6 SCSI or RAID drivers, but I let
it go ahead without providing them, and the install went fine and the
RAID array is working as it was. So Windows apparently didn't need
them. The system is running a bit slowly, although I did run chkdsk /r
and defrag before the upgrade. I seem to remember seeing in another
post that this is temporary, but I've forgotten the reason for it.
Thanks again.

Jack