Upgrading 98SE to Win XP

[Guest]

I would like to know..

I have a new computer & an existing 98SE disk from previous computer
I assume that I can install 98SE on the new machine, and buy the upgrade version of XP which will be cheaper than the full edition. Should I install 98SE just as it comes, then install the XP upgrade, or should I download all Windows updates for 98 first, or does it not really matter

I have installation disks for some of the drivers (eg network, USB, graphics, sound)...these need to be installed from the CD ROM once Windows is installed. I know that the USB driver at least requires XP SP1 to be installed....so I guess I should refrain from loading these drivers on 98 and put them straight onto the new system

Thanks for advice

 

[Michael Stevens]

I would like to know...

I have a new computer & an existing 98SE disk from previous computer.
I assume that I can install 98SE on the new machine, and buy the
upgrade version of XP which will be cheaper than the full edition.
Should I install 98SE just as it comes, then install the XP upgrade,
or should I download all Windows updates for 98 first, or does it not
really matter?

I have installation disks for some of the drivers (eg network, USB,
graphics, sound)...these need to be installed from the CD ROM once
Windows is installed. I know that the USB driver at least requires XP
SP1 to be installed....so I guess I should refrain from loading these
drivers on 98 and put them straight onto the new system?

Thanks for advice

You don't need to install 98 first if you have a retail Win 98 CD. Follow
the steps in the link below.
You boot from the CD and do a clean install.
Click on or copy and paste the link below into your web browser address bar.
How to clean install XP.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
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[Guest]

Thanks Michael

I had a look at your site (quickly)
Scanned down to where you said about swapping the 2 CD roms to validate the product key
Is all of what went on before with the floppies and smartdrv.exe necessary
I have previously installed XP (full version) on another computer and all I did here was put the (bootable) XP CD in the drive and it did the rest. Will this not work with the Upgrade version? I.e. I can't just start off booting from the upgrade CD & continuing to the swap section? Or does it not boot

 

[Guest]

It would appear that I owe you an apology, Michael..

A slower reading of your site suggests to me that if I have a bootable CD drive (which I do) that I should be able to insert the XP upgrade CD ROM & speed along to the part where I swap CD disks. (Sorry I speed-read through not realising there were alternatice steps
Is this correct

Also I gather that By doing a clean install, I can set up the NTFS file system, whereas if I put 98 on first it would probably go on FAT 32 & then I'd have to reformat anyway to put Xp on NTFS....??

 

[Patti MacLeod]

Yes, by doing the clean install you can format NTFS from the get-go, but if
you installed 98 first and then upgraded, you could convert from FAT32 to
NTFS.......see this MSKB article for more information about this conversion
utility:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=314097

In your situation (new computer, fresh hard drive, nothing already installed
on 98 that you want to hopefully carry over to XP), installing 98 first and
then peforming the upgrade to XP would be a waste of time.


Regards,

 

[Guest]

|It would appear that I owe you an apology, Michael...
|
|A slower reading of your site suggests to me that if I have a bootable CD
| drive (which I do) that I should be able to insert the XP upgrade CD ROM &
| speed along to the part where I swap CD disks. (Sorry I speed-read through
| not realising there were alternatice steps)
|Is this correct?
|
|Also I gather that By doing a clean install, I can set up the NTFS file
| system, whereas if I put 98 on first it would probably go on FAT 32 & then
| I'd have to reformat anyway to put Xp on NTFS....??

It is possible to convert FAT32 to NTFS without reformatting (via the
CONVERT.EXE command). I have read reports that this will cause fragmentation,
etc., but I am not sure if there is much harm in doing it this way.
The original WinNT4 install procedure always did this, I believe - made it
FAT16 (there was no FAT32 in NT4) first, and then did a conversion. This is
possibly why there was a 4GB limit on the system partition, since it was
created as FAT16.

If you do not have Win98 already installed, there is probably no point to
putting it on first - just extra time/effort, and you will get some stuff left
over from the Win98 install that is unneccesary and/or undesirable. If you
had a running Win98 system, it _may_ be worth doing it as an upgrade to save
the effort of reinstalling all your other software.

You should be able to boot from the XP install CD, and go though the setup on
a fresh hard disk. The upgrade version will prompt you for the location of
your previous windows install, and you just have to "show" it your Win98 CD.

It should perhaps be mentioned that having a Win98 disk from a previous
computer does not necessarily mean that you can legally use it on another
machine - it depends upon the licence agreement. There is no mechanism that I
know of that will actually stop you, but if you want to be strictly legal...

 

[Guest]

Thank you!

 

[Patti MacLeod]

You're welcome!

 

[Guest]

Thanks to all for your help