Upgrading Windows 2000 to Vista

[Guest]

Simply put:

Can I upgrade Windows 2000 Professional to Windows Vista Business or Home
without deleting any files besides the OS files?

 

[Mr. Arnold]

Simply put:

Can I upgrade Windows 2000 Professional to Windows Vista Business or Home
without deleting any files besides the OS files?

I suggest you back up any data files and wipe out the HD and then install
Vista fresh. The second thing is this.

Is the machine Vista compatible and is the software Vista compatible,
because if they are not, then you might or more like you will have trouble
with Vista?

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Windo...5ea7-4ad3-be3f-af29f7b48dde1033.mspx?mfr=true

http://kb.wisc.edu/helpdesk/page.php?id=5175

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the advice. Though I have not bought windows Vista yet I plan to
and need to be as safe as possible when installing. Also, I think my system
needs a good clean sweep anyway, I recently got a nasty little adware virus.

Thanks again.

 

[AJR]

No - On a Win2k computer - only clean install possible - as Mr. Arnold
suggests.

 

[Mr. Arnold]

No - On a Win2k computer - only clean install possible - as Mr. Arnold
suggests.

I would suspect the same thing would apply to XP and moving to Vista is to
wipe out the O/S, to reduce problems.

Ya know, the upgrade CD's use to give you that option for a clean install,
but MS has become so chicken-sh*t about trying to get its money, and they
check first to see if the O/S on the machine such as XP is valid. They
disabled the clean install option off of Vista Upgrades.

MS left the consumer hanging in this area as the consumer is running into
lots and lots of problems on an upgrade over XP.

 

[R. C. White, MVP]

Hi, Hatchet.

Can I upgrade Windows 2000 Professional to Windows Vista

Simply put:

No. :>(

You haven't told us anything about your present computer except that it is
running Win2K Pro, and that it "needs a good clean sweep anyway". The
minimum requirements for Vista (CPU, hard drive, graphics, and RAM) are much
more than for Win2K. And you probably won't be happy with Vista performance
on "minimum" hardware.

My advice would be to study the hardware requirements and recommendations
for Vista and be sure that your current system would be adequate. Start
your research on the Windows Vista home page:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/default.mspx

Click "Know your options for upgrading" on that page and you will see a
chart that tells you that the move from Win2K to ANY version of Vista
"Requires clean install." It also says, "If you are currently using Windows
2000 Professional or Windows XP Professional x64, you are eligible for an
upgrade copy to a corresponding or better edition of Windows Vista, but a
clean install is required." In other words, you can save money by buying
the Upgrade retail package, but you must use it to perform a clean install
of Vista, not an upgrade from Win2K.

Even for WinXP systems that are eligible for upgrade to Vista, a clean
install is usually the best way to go. It cleans out the deadwood, installs
new Vista drivers, and gives a fresh start. Many users who upgraded from
Win9x to Win2K or WinXP (including myself) later wiped their new
installation and did a clean install, because the upgrade often accomplished
a less-than-perfect migration of applications and - especially - hardware
drivers from the old system to the new.

So, first check the recommended hardware requirements, not just the
minimums. Make sure that there are Vista drivers from the manufacturers for
all your hardware. If all that checks out, buy the upgrade version of Vista
and clean install it. But if you must spend a lot to upgrade your hardware
to run Vista, then consider buying a new computer with Vista already
installed.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Mail in Vista Ultimate x64)

 

[don't look]

No - On a Win2k computer - only clean install possible - as Mr. Arnold
suggests.

That's what MS says,but even though Windows 2000 Pro is a qualified upgrade
path,MS doesn't give you any way to do a full install of Vista from an
upgrade version. There is a workaround published on many tech sites that
involves doing a full install(all Vista versions are on the DVD) of the
version you bought without activatinng it,then installing the upgrade
version over it. Sounds stupid.