Upgrading from Win98 to XP Pro

[Dennis]

Am I likely to get any problems with drivers etc., or will
XP Pro recognise the Win98 drivers and use/update them?

 

[Edward]

You are very likely to have problems, Dennis. Many people even advocate a
clean install which wipes the hard-drive as in reformating.


However, I suggest visiting all the progamme and peripheral manufactures and
checking for driver compatibility. Download their latest drivers into a safe
folder ready for use after installing XP. I also suggest you disconnect all
peripherals - printers, scanner etc. - before making the upgrade. This way,
you will minimize any conflict or incompatibility problems. In my own
experience, I had minimal problems.

Good luck,

Ed

 

[Len Segal]

Dennis,

Ed gave you some good advice.

In addition, I recommend that you run the MS WinXP Upgrade Advisor BEFORE
attempting to upgrade your system. It will identify any anticipated problem
areas that you'd need to address prior to successfully upgrading to WinXP.

Go to http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/upgrading/advisor.asp
to get this free utility.

 

[Michael Stevens]

Am I likely to get any problems with drivers etc., or will
XP Pro recognise the Win98 drivers and use/update them?

Click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into the address box
if using the web based newsgroup.
For upgrading to XP Home or Pro, see the links below.
http://aumha.org/a/xpupgrad.htm
XP Upgrade
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_2kupgrade.asp
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_9xupgrade.asp
See the link below for steps on performing a Clean Install.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
Known problems with XP upgrades.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/xpupgdissues.html
Known Problems with Clean installs.
http://www.labmice.net/WindowsXP/Install/installbugs.htm
Top 10 Reasons for Moving to Windows XP Professional
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/whyupgrade/top10.asp
Why Windows XP Professional?
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/whyupgrade/default.asp
Windows XP Professional Features
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/features.asp

--

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

 

[Alex Nichol]

Am I likely to get any problems with drivers etc., or will
XP Pro recognise the Win98 drivers and use/update them?

If it does not have native drivers of its own, it will *often* accept
ones that have been installed in win98 (I had it with a rockwell based
ISA modem for example). In those cases there will be a warning that the
drivers are not tested, and you say keep them anyway. You can then later
check out the makers site for XP (or perhaps Win2000) versions. But
there are some where the techniques used just do not work in XP - and
often these are devices where the makers consider them to be obsolete
and do not provide any XP ones. Parallel port scanners are the most
common, or ones where the scanner uses a cut down SCSI card. For those
I would check the maker in advance. Scanners in general have gone over
to USB and no-one is providing support for the old ones