john said:
I purchased a copy of windows xp professional upgrade and I'm upgrading an
PII-400 w/512 mg of ram. No hardware problems the advisor says. But it
crashes when I try to install.
"Glacial" is the term that comes to my mind, I'm afraid. If you
turn off all of WinXP GUI eye-candy, it will still be very slow, but it
might usable for simple word processing, email, web-browsing, etc. It
won't be any good for graphics-intensive applications, and most newer
games. (During the public preview period, I tested WinXP on a 500 MHz
machine with 256 Mb of RAM, and it was slower than I like.) Of course,
"adequate performance" is a subjective standard. Performance that I
would find wholly inadequate might seem just fine for you. (Or
vice-versa.) Also, the hard drive really is too small. WinXP will need
to use 1.5 Gb or more, just for the OS. If you're planning on
installing any applications, there won't be much room left for data.
1) Right-click the Task Bar > Properties > Start Menu, ensure "Classic
Start menu" is selected.
2) Right-click an empty spot on the Desktop > Properties > Themes >
select "Windows Classic."
3) Right-click My Computer > Properties > Performance > Settings >
Visual Effects, ensure "Adjust for best performance" is selected.
However, with a PC this old, it's essential to make sure it's
components are WinXP-compatible _before_ proceeding. Have you ensured
that all the PC's components are capable of supporting WinXP? This
information will be found at each of the PC's component's manufacturer's
web sites, and on Microsoft's Catalog:
(
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/default.mspx). Computer components
designed for use with Win9x/Me very often fail to meet WinXP's much more
stringent hardware quality requirements.
Can you obtain OS-specific device drivers for your PC's components,
and any necessary motherboard BIOS updates? Additionally, you can
download and run Microsoft WinXP Upgrade Advisor to see if you have any
incompatible hardware components.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/upgrading/advisor.asp
I have windows 98 se upgrade with the original path being windows 95. I know
the drill on that one.I own a windows 98, 4.10 disk, also.
Did you made sure that your PC's hardware components are
capable of supporting WinXP? This information will be found at the PC's
manufacturer's web site, and on Microsoft's Windows Catalog:
(
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/default.mspx) Additionally, run
Microsoft WinXP Upgrade Advisor to see if you have any incompatible
hardware components or applications.
Also bear in mind that PCs designed for, sold and run fine with
Win9x/Me very often do not meet WinXP's much more stringent hardware
quality requirements. This is particularly true of many models in
Compaq's consumer-class Presario product line or HP's consumer-class
Pavilion product line. WinXP, like WinNT and Win2K before it, is quite
sensitive to borderline defective or substandard hardware (particularly
motherboards, RAM and hard drives) that will still support Win9x.
HOW TO Prepare to Upgrade Win98 or WinMe
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q316639
Upgrading to Windows XP
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm
HOW TO Troubleshoot Windows XP Problems During Installation When You
Upgrade from Windows 98 or Windows Me
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q310064
My question is can I do a clean install without installing my windows 98
disk, first? Will the windows xp upgrade ask for my original windows 98 disk
during the install like previous versions of windows did.
It's quite possible to perform a clean installation using the
Upgrade CD, provided you have the true installation CD for the earlier
OS.
Simply boot from the WinXP Upgrade CD. You'll be offered the
opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part of the
installation process. The Upgrade CD checks to see if a qualifying OS
is installed, and, if it finds none, it asks you to insert the
installation media (CD) of that OS. Unfortunately, an OEM
"Recovery/Restore" CD will not work for this purpose; you must have a
true installation CD, complete with the "\Win98" folder and *.cab
files, or the "\i386" folder of WinNT/2K.
I want to try it but I have alot of hardware installed on this machine and
it was a mess getting windows 98 to see it all (photo media system).
Make sure that you've disconnected all non-essential peripheral
hardware components (scanners, printers, external storage devices, etc.)
before attempting the OS installation. Then, reconnect these devices,
one at a time, after you've successfully installed and updated the OS.
--
Bruce Chambers
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