Upgrading Windows ME to Windows XP Professional

[Neil]

I am currently running Windows ME but having regular
error messages and lock-ups. Common problem with ME I am
told. I would like to upgrade to XP Professional, but I
have two questions: 1) I really only want to upgrade but
will my Windows ME problems continue to haunt me. (ie:
would a full install be better) and 2) Will my other
software (Excel, Word, etc.) continue to work. Thanks in
advance.

 

[Not so quick]

I am currently running Windows ME but having regular
error messages and lock-ups. Common problem with ME I am
told. I would like to upgrade to XP Professional, but I
have two questions: 1) I really only want to upgrade but
will my Windows ME problems continue to haunt me. (ie:
would a full install be better) and 2) Will my other
software (Excel, Word, etc.) continue to work. Thanks in
advance.

XP is an outstanding platform. There is a 30 day money back.
Check for sure. XP has a 'check for compatibility' program to
check before installation to see what software you have that
won't work and it has a compatibility mode. Not everything
will work in compatibility mode, though. There is no upgrade
break from XP home to XP pro, ie it is the same price to upgrade
from ME to pro as from home to pro.

ME, for me is a far less dependable o/s. I like 'drive image' a lot.
And recommend that you backup ME in case you want to
uninstall.

I have 3 computers. One has Pro as a clean install, one has
home on a dual system, and the other is home as a clean
install, so I can't address the upgrade problems. The dual
boot system works great, though.

good luck

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

I am currently running Windows ME but having regular
error messages and lock-ups. Common problem with ME I am
told. I would like to upgrade to XP Professional, but I
have two questions: 1) I really only want to upgrade but
will my Windows ME problems continue to haunt me. (ie:
would a full install be better) and 2) Will my other
software (Excel, Word, etc.) continue to work. Thanks in
advance.

Neil

Upgrading is the recommended procedure, however, if you are having major
problems with the current installation, it may be a good idea to perform a
clean install. You can purchase the upgrade version and perform a clean
install. This would require that you reinstall all of the existing software.

The first thing to do, and please don't skip this step, is to check and make
sure that the system is compatible with XP.

Number one is to get the XP Upgrade Advisor and run it. This will identify
possible incompatible components on the system. Get it here:

Description of the Windows XP Upgrade Advisor:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307726

Number two is to get a good solid overview of the upgrade process:

Article by Gary Woodruff:
Upgrading to XP: http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm

Make sure that you have checked the manufacturers websites for new, XP
compatible drivers and updates for all installed hardware and software
components, especially display and sound card drivers. Have all of these new
drivers/updates ready to install when you perform the upgrade. Perform a
complete backup of all important data that you cannot afford to lose.

--
Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP-Windows Shell/User

Please reply to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
http://www.dts-l.org
http://www.mvps.org

 

[Gary]

I am currently running Windows ME but having regular
error messages and lock-ups. Common problem with ME I am
told. I would like to upgrade to XP Professional, but I
have two questions: 1) I really only want to upgrade but
will my Windows ME problems continue to haunt me. (ie:
would a full install be better) and 2) Will my other
software (Excel, Word, etc.) continue to work. Thanks in
advance.

The clean install should solve your problems for a while, but you may end up
with the same thing in the future. I have machines on both platforms, this
one is a dual boot ME/XP, and I don't find any major difference in
stability...both platforms are stable if taken care of. WinME has system
file protection and restore, it's not as if you're gaining that by going to
XP.

If you allow junk parasiteware to invade your machine by accidentally
clicking the wrong place, and don't deal with it using AdAware and Spybot,
if you install the latest AOL or whatever instead of using the provided IE
and OE for internet access, if you pop in the cereal box CD that installs a
game and several other things that run needlessly on your system, if you let
every application you install put something extra and unnecessary in the
startup, which for some reason they all seem to want to do, if you don't
keep your drivers updated to the latest, , if you don't defrag and get rid
of leftover temp files, if you have hardware problems, and if you don't keep
current on the available updates, you'll probably have problems again. And
if you put up with the beginnings of problems until they get beyond a safe
system restore time, you'll lose that possible fix.

While I think XP is a good system, I also have a 3+ year old install of ME
that's used heavily everyday for some pretty heavy duty photo editing among
other things, that has withstood a motherboard swaps and hard drive
upgrades, and it runs great. On the dual boot, they both run fine. So if
you do an upgrade or clean install, instead of doing what many do and say "I
finally dumped ME which crashes all the time", realize that it's probably
the clean installation that's giving you the new start, not the getting rid
of ME. If you keep it in good shape, it should last a long time, regardless
of whether it's a clean install of ME or XP.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I am currently running Windows ME but having regular
error messages and lock-ups. Common problem with ME I am
told. I would like to upgrade to XP Professional, but I
have two questions: 1) I really only want to upgrade but
will my Windows ME problems continue to haunt me. (ie:
would a full install be better) and 2) Will my other
software (Excel, Word, etc.) continue to work.

I would do an upgrade in the first instance. XP and ME are so different
that to all intents and purposes the entire system is replaced, but
installed software retained - and so may be drivers for some older
items that do not have direct XP replacements. A little planning is
needed - Read Gary Woodruff's article on upgrading to XP at
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm

Then *if* it does not work out, you can still do the clean install - the
converse is *not* true