what is correct?

[John D]

I have been considering upgrading my W98 to XP. Seems
that it is not as easy as it was from W95 to W98. I've
done some of the study, including the 'upgrade report'.
What I can't understand is that in the upgrade report it
says that when installing XP, "Setup removes Windows 98
from your computer'. Yet in other places it implies that
if there are problems, you can tell it to run in 98. How
is that? Also, must this thing about making the disk into
two partitions be done? I don't understand that stuff.
I'm at the point that it just may not be worth all of the
bother to upgrade to XP.
Any help?
John D

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

If you choose to Upgrade to Windows XP, then 98 is backed up, at your
option, and as long as you don't convert your hard disk to NTFS format, you
can uninstall XP and go back to 98.

The other scenario that you're talking about is "dual booting", where XP and
98 coexist on the same computer, but different partitions or hard drives.
You will be given an option at system boot to choose which OS to boot.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/default.asp

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi John,

It's really not that difficult, but your interpretation of the report is a
bit skewed. The upgrade itself will remove Win98 completely (there is an
option to backup the existing system should you later change your mind).
However, once you are running in WinXP, you can run a program in
"compatibility mode" for Win98 (or Win95, or Win2000, etc.) if it won't run
natively. Do not confuse this with ms-dos compatibility mode in Win98, which
is generally a bad thing (in this case it's a good thing). It's called
backwards-compatibility, and it's there to make your migration to a newer
operating system easier. The compatibility mode wizard will be under
start/all programs/accessories.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Alex Nichol]

I have been considering upgrading my W98 to XP. Seems
that it is not as easy as it was from W95 to W98. I've
done some of the study, including the 'upgrade report'.
What I can't understand is that in the upgrade report it
says that when installing XP, "Setup removes Windows 98
from your computer'. Yet in other places it implies that
if there are problems, you can tell it to run in 98.

There are three ways of installing:

As an Upgrade, which removes the 98, (with an option to back up its
files so you could Uninstall). It is cleaner and less tricky than from
95 to 98 and is what I would suggest, unless you want to go to the
trouble of a dual boot - see below, You run the XP CD *from* the 98

As a 'clean' install, in which the drive is formatted, all trace of
anything there before being removed

As a New install to a second partition, running the XP CD from the 98
and changing Upgrade to new install. You have to have the spare space,
for a new partition or a second one already around. That may mean
getting third party software to make that space available. This
method sets up a dual boot so you can select on booting which system to
use.

Read Gary Woodruff's article on upgrading to XP at
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm