Win98 upgrade to XP Home,? Best to upgrade or new install?

[Guest]

I plan to upgrade from win98 to XP Home. Can I just put the XP Home CD in and then have the option of either an upgrade (that saves my settings and programs such as AutoCad and Outlook's address book) or a new installation that wipes out or reformats everything, in which case I then have to reinstall my other programs? Basically my question is, can I use the same CD of an XP Home Edition for an upgrade or a new installation
Thank yo
Ken

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

There are several reasons why performance for a clean installation will tend to
be superior to that for upgraded systems. An upgraded system will constrain the
placement of files and file system data. The old disk format may not use an optimal
file system cluster size. In a clean installation, the placement of file system data on
the disk and the internal organization of that data can be optimized, resulting in a
smaller system footprint and fewer and faster I/Os when using the system.

When performing a clean install, Microsoft recommends that NTFS be used and
that the system be installed in a single partition on each disk. Under Windows XP,
big partitions are better managed than in previous versions of Windows. Forcing
installed software into several partitions on the disk necessitates longer seeks
when running the system and software.

Benchmarking on Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hwdev/platform/performance/benchmark.mspx

NTFS Preinstallation and Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hwdev/tech/storage/ntfs-preinstall.mspx

Clean Install Windows XP
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

[Courtesy of MS-MVP Michael Stevens]

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

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"lostinspace" (e-mail address removed) wrote in message:

|I plan to upgrade from win98 to XP Home. Can I just put the XP Home CD in and then have the option of either
an upgrade (that saves my settings and programs such as AutoCad and Outlook's address book) or a new
installation that wipes out or reformats everything, in which case I then have to reinstall my other programs?
Basically my question is, can I use the same CD of an XP Home Edition for an upgrade or a new installation?
| Thank you
| Ken

 

[JAX]

You can do a clean install from an XP upgrade CD so long as you have a
qualifying OS disk for upgrade.

LOL, JAX

I plan to upgrade from win98 to XP Home. Can I just put the XP Home CD in

and then have the option of either an upgrade (that saves my settings and
programs such as AutoCad and Outlook's address book) or a new installation
that wipes out or reformats everything, in which case I then have to
reinstall my other programs? Basically my question is, can I use the same
CD of an XP Home Edition for an upgrade or a new installation?

 

[Sharon F]

I plan to upgrade from win98 to XP Home. Can I just put the XP Home CD in
and then have the option of either an upgrade (that saves my settings
and programs such as AutoCad and Outlook's address book) or a new
installation that wipes out or reformats everything, in which case I
then have to reinstall my other programs? Basically my question is, can
I use the same CD of an XP Home Edition for an upgrade or a new
installation? Thank you
Ken

Yes, the upgrade CD will perform a clean install or an upgrade install. If
you elect to do a clean install, the XP setup program will ask to see the
CD for the previous version of Windows. Follow the on screen prompts for
swapping the CDs around. Once the check is complete, setup will continue.

NOTE: If the CD for the old Windows has the standard Windows setup files,
it will work for this checkpoint. If it is a specialized OEM CD that does
not have those files, it will not work.

Upgrading: Since the kernels for 98 and XP are built on different
architectures. Consequently, most of 98 is replaced with an upgrade
install. If the results from the upgrade process are acceptable, you've
saved yourself a lot of work. If they're not acceptable, you can always
switch to Plan B and prepare the system for a clean install.

Upgrade installations do not ask for the old CD. Since you're starting
within Windows it is apparent to XP setup that you already have another
version of Windows.

For a clean install: If you start setup from within Windows, it will not
prompt for the old CD because again setup has "seen" your old Windows. Read
the installation option screens very carefully as you go. A wrong answer
here and you could end up with a second Windows on the same hard drive or a
dual boot setup that you weren't expecting.

You can also start a clean install by booting with the XP CD. You will need
the CD for the other Windows using this method. Not a big deal. Just a
slight difference in how the installation will proceed.

Whichever method you choose, do NOT go online with XP until you are secure.
It only takes a few seconds for the blaster virus to find and hit an
unprotected system. A firewall will keep you protected while you download
and install that update. However, you may want to consider downloading the
patch ahead of time and install it as soon as possible.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In

I plan to upgrade from win98 to XP Home. Can I just put the XP Home
CD in and then have the option of either an upgrade (that saves my
settings and programs such as AutoCad and Outlook's address book) or
a new installation that wipes out or reformats everything, in which
case I then have to reinstall my other programs? Basically my
question is, can I use the same CD of an XP Home Edition for an
upgrade or a new installation? Thank you

There are three kinds of XP CDs. Here are the answers for each:

Full Version. Yes, you can do either.

Upgrade Version. You can do an Upgrade. You can also do a clean
installation if you have a CD of a previous qualifying version to
insert when prompted to do so.

OEM Version. You can do only a clean installtion, not an upgrade.

Regarding which you *should* do, although many people will tell
you that formatting and installing cleanly is the best way to go,
I disagree. Unlike with previous versions of Windows, an upgrade
to XP replaces almost everything, and usually works very well.

My recommendation is to at least try the upgrade, since it's much
easier than a clean installation. You can always change your mind
and reinstall cleanly if problems develop.

However, don't assume that doing an upgrade relieves you of the
need to backup your data, etc. before beginning. Before starting
to upgrade, it's always prudent to recognize that things like a
sudden power loss can occur in eth middle of it and cause the
loss of everything. For that reason you should make sure you have
backups and anything else you need to reinstall if the worst
happens.