Upgrading to win xp

[Fred Scharmann]

I have an 80gb harddrive and using Win 98.

1. Would I be better off formatting my drive to NTFS, then reinstalling Win
98, then upgrading to Win XP?

2. Or should I just keep using the old file system, reinstalling Win 98,
then upgrading to Win XP?

3. Or just upgrade to Win XP?

Thanks,

Fred

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Fred,

If there are no current issues with your Win98 installation, then #3. #1 and
2 are pointless, there would be no sense in reinstalling Win98 first as you
can just do a clean install with the upgrade disk if this is what you want.
There are no particular benefits to doing a clean installation, though it is
often mistakenly recommended as the "way to go". An upgrade of this nature
entirely replaces the system set, very little of Win98 outside of the user
profile is carried forward. You can convert to NTFS after if you like, but
be aware any uninstall option to revert back to Win98 will be lost if you
do. This way you keep everything the way you have it. Doing a clean install
means you have to redo everything. Some articles for you to read first:

Upgrading to WinXP:
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm

Converting to NTFS:
http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Tom Porterfield]

I have an 80gb harddrive and using Win 98.

1. Would I be better off formatting my drive to NTFS, then reinstalling Win
98, then upgrading to Win XP?

You can't install 98 on a partition that is formatted NTFS.

2. Or should I just keep using the old file system, reinstalling Win 98,
then upgrading to Win XP?

Why would you want to first reinstall 98 and then XP.

3. Or just upgrade to Win XP?

Try this first. If that doesn't work or doesn't produce desirable results,
install XP clean.
--
Tom Porterfield
MS-MVP Windows
http://support.telop.org

Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup only.

 

[Fred Scharmann]

The reason for the win98 install was from the Restore disk, so all of the
drivers would be in place before upgrading to in XP. Win 98 is presently
acting funny, that was why I was going to install clean. I did not want
some garbage from the registry to be carried to the new install.

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Note: Drivers for Windows 98 are not compatible with XP. XP will attempt
to reconfigure with compatible drivers. Also note that the XP Upgrade CD
will not allow you to do a "fresh" installation since the upgrade process
will not be able to read the recovery CD. If you do want to upgrade,
Windows 98 needs to be "replaced" back onto your hard drive.

One consideration about the upgrade to Window XP: If you currently have
problems with Windows 98, the upgrade may not correct them and the problem
could follow into XP.

 

[JerryMouse]

I have an 80gb harddrive and using Win 98.

1. Would I be better off formatting my drive to NTFS, then
reinstalling Win 98, then upgrading to Win XP?

2. Or should I just keep using the old file system, reinstalling Win
98, then upgrading to Win XP?

3. Or just upgrade to Win XP?

Thanks,

Fred

None of the above. Do a clean install from the XP CD, specifying NTFS
formatting.

A. #1 is impossible.
B. FAT32 is less efficient than NTFS
C. You can upgrade to XP, then convert to NTFS, but the converted NTFS
system is not as efficient - due to fixed block sizes - as you can get with
a clean install.

 

[Tom Porterfield]

The reason for the win98 install was from the Restore disk, so all of the
drivers would be in place before upgrading to in XP. Win 98 is presently
acting funny, that was why I was going to install clean. I did not want
some garbage from the registry to be carried to the new install.

That being the case, just go with a clean XP install. The 98 drivers won't
work with XP so you will need XP drivers anyway.
--
Tom Porterfield
MS-MVP Windows
http://support.telop.org

Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup only.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Fred,

The reason for the win98 install was from the Restore disk, so all of the
drivers would be in place before upgrading to in XP.

The drivers will all be replaced, as the ones used in Win98 will likely not
be compatible with WinXP. Most will have something on the XP disk, those
that aren't will need to be downloaded from the manufacturer. The first part
of setup runs a compatibility test that will warn you of these.

The restore disk may be an issue. If you have an upgrade disk, then the
Win98 installation needs to be on the system. If it's a full version then it
won't care.

Win 98 is presently acting funny, that was why I was going to install
clean.

Irrelevant as Windows is going to be totally replaced with a new system file
set anyways.

I did not want some garbage from the registry to be carried to the new
install.

Irrelevant as Windows is going to be totally replaced with a new system file
set anyways. Also, the registry works a bit differently in WinXP, and bloat
is not an issue.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Ken Blake]

Also note that the XP Upgrade CD will not allow you to do a
"fresh" installation since the upgrade process will not be able
to read the recovery CD. If you do want to upgrade, Windows 98
needs to be "replaced" back onto your hard drive.

Not quite correct. You can also do a clean install if you have an
OEM restore CD of a previous qualifying version. First restore
from the Restore CD. Then run the XP upgrade CD from within that
restored system, and change from Upgrade to New Install. When it
asks where, press Esc to delete

 

[Alex Nichol]

I have an 80gb harddrive and using Win 98.

1. Would I be better off formatting my drive to NTFS, then reinstalling Win
98, then upgrading to Win XP?

2. Or should I just keep using the old file system, reinstalling Win 98,
then upgrading to Win XP?

3. Or just upgrade to Win XP?

Just upgrade - provided CPU and RAM are adequate. In particular the
'recommended' 128 MB RAM should not be seen as enough. Read Gary
Woodruff's article on upgrading to XP at
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm

Upgrade, then when you are happy you will be staying with XP, consider
conversion to NTFS (and see precautions at
www.aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm) to avoid 512 byte clusters - not a
good thing