upgrading to XP

[DW]

I have an old Win98Se system with 512 mb of ram. I am thinking of upgrading
to WinXP. The HDD has been partitioned (with Partititon Magic v.6) into five
drives.

I am wondering what the best way to go about upgrading is? Can I upgrade to
XP without losing my programs and files? Without losing my partitioning?

Should I do a "clean" install? And does that mean formating C:? If a clean
install is recommended...are there any "gotchas" that I should be aware of?

 

[Ted Zieglar]

You should think twice before upgrading a Windows 98 vintage computer. You
may have sufficient RAM, in terms of megabytes, but your processor, RAM and
hard disk are old, as is your video card. You may get acceptable
performance, depending on what you feel is 'acceptable', but you're not
going to be thrilled with the results. Consider also, that the next version
of Windows is only a year away.

If you want to go ahead nonetheless, an upgrade installation is easiest and
will not touch your partition structure or your programs and files. That is,
provided your computer is presently problem free and you do the upgrade
correctly. A clean install is always preferable, but that means erasing your
hard disk.

As for 'gotchas' - you'll need to upgrade your drivers to XP SP2 compatible
versions, and you'll need to upgrade much of your software to XP SP2
compatible versions, e.g. your antivirus software. I would check to make
sure that XP will install on Partitions created with such an old version of
Partition Magic, just to be sure.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I have an old Win98Se system with 512 mb of ram. I am thinking of upgrading
to WinXP. The HDD has been partitioned (with Partititon Magic v.6) into five
drives.

Have 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.

You should, before proceeding, take a few minutes to ensure that
there are WinXP device drivers available for all of the machine's
components. There may not be, if the PC was specifically designed for
Win98/Me. 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

I am wondering what the best way to go about upgrading is? Can I upgrade to
XP without losing my programs and files? Without losing my partitioning?

WinXP is designed to install and upgrade the existing operating
system while simultaneously preserving your applications and data, and
translating as many personalized settings as possible. The process is
designed to be, and normally is, quite painless. That said, things can
go wrong, in a small number of cases. If your data is at all important
to you, back it up before proceeding.

Should I do a "clean" install? And does that mean formating C:? If a clean
install is recommended...are there any "gotchas" that I should be aware of?

Many uninformed people do recommend that one always perform a clean
installation, rather than upgrade over an earlier OS. For the most part,
I feel that these people, while usually well-intended, are living in the
past, and are basing their recommendations on their experiences with
older, obsolete operating systems or hearsay. One would save a lot of
time by upgrading a PC to WinXP, rather than performing a clean
installation, if there're no hardware or software incompatibilities.
Microsoft has greatly improved (over earlier versions of Windows)
WinXP's ability to smoothly upgrade an earlier OS.


--

Bruce Chambers

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