Win 98 to XP based PC

[News]

My PC, >seven years old, is in dire need of upgrading. As I see it, my
options are;
1. Replace mother board & processor and uprate to 256MB memory (current
motherboard limited to 64MB memory and a 166mHz MMX) and stay with Win 98SE
(the disk is "only" 6GB) or
2. For not much more money buy a Win XP machine with adequate processor,
memory and disk space.

With option 1, I could add a second hard drive to get more storage, but if I
take option 2 can XP read my current Fat 32 disk? How would I get all the
current programs registered in Win 98? After seven years, it is highly
likeley that I won't be able to find all the sources, some of which run in
98's DOS mode/partition - and, for the original disks/cds I can find there
will be years of updates to be applied.

The main use of the PC is MS Word, Excel, simple web site creation/updating
using 1stPage and WS_FTP/SmartFTP and JAlbum, so vast power is not required.

Keith

 

[Andre Da Costa]

See link:
Preparing to move from 98
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=316639

Andre

 

[Guest]

There's even more options:
Change the motherboard and processor, add a larger Hard disk, 1GB of memory.
Move programs to larger HD, then upgrade to Win XP.
XP can read Fat32 and you can transfer your data, but you'd have to
re-install all programs on a new PC. XP also has compatability mode, but it
may not work with all your programs.

 

[Britt Dickson]

Win XP can read your FAT32 drive, but you will have to add memory for a WinXP
upgrade, as you'll be
very unhappy with a slow processor and only 64 MB of RAM, and an upgrade is the
only way to avoid
having to reinstall all your apps. Note that some of them may not run under XP
anyway.

XP does have the files settings transfer wizard which you run on the old
machine, and then transfer the
results to the new one. Also, given that upgrades always are less than optimal,
and hardware is so incredibly
cheap right now, I would strongly suggest option 2. Chances are you'll be
pleased enough to look for some new
software as well. You can get Office XP Academic version for $100 +, and the
others you list are also still around.,
in newer versions, or have been superseded by better programs.

Britt Dickson


| My PC, >seven years old, is in dire need of upgrading. As I see it, my
| options are;
| 1. Replace mother board & processor and uprate to 256MB memory (current
| motherboard limited to 64MB memory and a 166mHz MMX) and stay with Win 98SE
| (the disk is "only" 6GB) or
| 2. For not much more money buy a Win XP machine with adequate processor,
| memory and disk space.
|
| With option 1, I could add a second hard drive to get more storage, but if I
| take option 2 can XP read my current Fat 32 disk? How would I get all the
| current programs registered in Win 98? After seven years, it is highly
| likeley that I won't be able to find all the sources, some of which run in
| 98's DOS mode/partition - and, for the original disks/cds I can find there
| will be years of updates to be applied.
|
| The main use of the PC is MS Word, Excel, simple web site creation/updating
| using 1stPage and WS_FTP/SmartFTP and JAlbum, so vast power is not required.
|
| Keith
|
|
|

 

[Guest]

Keep W98. Buy a new box later.

 

[D.Currie]

My PC, >seven years old, is in dire need of upgrading. As I see it, my
options are;
1. Replace mother board & processor and uprate to 256MB memory (current
motherboard limited to 64MB memory and a 166mHz MMX) and stay with Win
98SE
(the disk is "only" 6GB) or
2. For not much more money buy a Win XP machine with adequate processor,
memory and disk space.

With option 1, I could add a second hard drive to get more storage, but if
I
take option 2 can XP read my current Fat 32 disk? How would I get all the
current programs registered in Win 98? After seven years, it is highly
likeley that I won't be able to find all the sources, some of which run in
98's DOS mode/partition - and, for the original disks/cds I can find there
will be years of updates to be applied.

The main use of the PC is MS Word, Excel, simple web site
creation/updating
using 1stPage and WS_FTP/SmartFTP and JAlbum, so vast power is not
required.

Keith

If you have to have all of those old programs, and you don't have the
original disks, you're best off not doing too much fiddling. Sooner or later
something will break, and you'll need to format and reinstall, and that will
be the end of it.

After 7 years, though, you're running the risk that something in the
computer WILL break, and then it's going to be really ugly trying to get
replacement parts.

If you upgrade the motherboard and processor, you're going to need different
RAM for sure, and a new case and power supply as well. Anything you have in
ISA slots will need to be replaced. What's left to save? Floppy drive, old,
slow CD, and a small hard drive. Not much. If you go that route, you're
going to end up with a new computer, whether you do it in one shot, or piece
by piece as the old parts are incompatible, don't have new drivers, or die
of old age.

My vote would be to get the new computer, run whatever programs you have
disks for to reinstall, and start figuring out what you're going to do about
the programs you don't have disks for. Use the old computer for what you
have to use it for, minimally, to keep it alive for as long as you can in
the meantime, and figure out how you're going to convert whatever data you
have on the old computer to run with whatever new programs you're going to
have on the new computer. If you plan for it, it won't be as painful as
having the old machine die one day, and then you start researching what's
new that will do the same things.

If you HAVE to run the old programs and they won't run on new technology,
start shopping garage sales to buy up enough old stuff to keep you running
when you need to replace parts. And learn how to do your own repairs. A lot
of shops will simply refuse to work on older computers.

 

[Andre Da Costa]

Yes, sometimes the best install of Windows XP you do, is the one you never
have to do. If there are programs you need to run that are 16 bit and can
only run on 98, I would recommend you purchase both XP and Virtual PC:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx


Andre

 

[Alex Nichol]

My PC, >seven years old, is in dire need of upgrading. As I see it, my
options are;
1. Replace mother board & processor and uprate to 256MB memory (current
motherboard limited to 64MB memory and a 166mHz MMX) and stay with Win 98SE
(the disk is "only" 6GB) or
2. For not much more money buy a Win XP machine with adequate processor,
memory and disk space.

With option 1, I could add a second hard drive to get more storage, but if I
take option 2 can XP read my current Fat 32 disk?

Yes it could.

How would I get all the
current programs registered in Win 98?

You would have to reinstall them. One possibility if you made sure the
machine came with a 'proper' XP CD and not some makers restore one,
and ideally with no system on it at all, would be to install your old HD
as a slave. Then use a tool like BootIT NG, from
http://www.BootitNG.com ($35 shareware - 30 day full functional trial)
which boots direct from its floppy, to 'clone' the 98 partition onto the
new big one, and suitably resize it. Write the MBR boot code to the
disk and you could then boot that 98 on the big disk and run an upgrade
of XP over it. An upgrade XP Home CD would be enough as you have a 98
no longer in use

But either way I would start over. Running 98 on an old machine is
fine, spending money on it to remain with a restricted machine does not
really make sense

 

[Keith]

Thanks to all for your suggestions. After my original post, I ran a virus
check (Norton), which said something about fixing the boot record. PC
subsequently refused to boot correctly, but as the hard drive is readable
(demonstrated by local PC shop) I've decided on a new XP machine and will
use the Gateway HD as a secondary disk (to get the data across) then shove
it back in the Gateway and reload/re-install Win 98SE and use the Gateway as
a spare (keeping the grandchildren away from the new PC).
Keith

 

[Keith]

Thanks to all for your suggestions. After my original post, I ran a virus
check (Norton), which said something about fixing the boot record. PC
subsequently refused to boot correctly, but as the hard drive is readable
(demonstrated by local PC shop) I've decided on a new XP machine and will
use the Gateway HD as a secondary disk (to get the data across) then shove
it back in the Gateway and reload/re-install Win 98SE and use the Gateway as
a spare (keeping the grandchildren away from the new PC).
Keith

<Snip>

How would I read/import Win98SE OE6 folders (from windows\application
data\identities\{..}\microsoft\outlook express .DBX files into XP? Can I
copy the address books (*.wab) and open/import them into the XP OE6? This
is because the Win98 machine won't boot up, so I can't use OE6 to export the
files.

TIA,
Keith

 

[D.Currie]

<Snip>

How would I read/import Win98SE OE6 folders (from windows\application
data\identities\{..}\microsoft\outlook express .DBX files into XP? Can I
copy the address books (*.wab) and open/import them into the XP OE6? This
is because the Win98 machine won't boot up, so I can't use OE6 to export
the
files.

TIA,
Keith

It's a lot easier if the original installation is running, because then you
can export to a file that you can find, then import it into the new version.
But it still can be done. The first trick is finding the files. Seems like
every version of OE likes to stash files in a different place (sometimes in
very odd locations), and you might find that you have several versions of
the mail/addresses/contacts on your computer. And maybe it's me, but the
prompts to import the files seem counterintuitive. Seems that the last time
I did an import, the proper choice was to import from another program, which
seems the wrong choice when importing from the identical version of the same
program.

Fortunately, there's plenty of help, and there are newsgroups that can help
you if you get stuck. As long as you still have the files, you can do the
importing, so just don't delete anything from that original drive until
you've got everything you need.

And be sure that you have your AV software updated and running before you
open those old emails. If your original problem was a virus, you may have
one saved in your email, and you don't want that infecting your new
computer.