Upgrading to Windows XP Professional

[Jim Finlayson]

My operating system is Windows 98SE. I have reached this
stage over a number of years by upgrading from Windows
95. When I get a new PC, I would like to upgrade to XP
Pofessional. Would it be necessary to install Windows
95,98, etc before updating the operating system to XP, or
is there an easier way to do it.

Jim

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

If you're getting a new PC, why not simply buy it with WinXP Pro
preinstalled, rather then jumping through the upgrade hoops?

To answer your question, though:

It is possible to perform a clean installation using an Upgrade
CD.

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.


Bruce Chambers

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