XP Pro SP2 to VISTA ULTIMATE - Am I ready?

[paul]

I'd like some advice please.

I'm currently on a DELL 8400 w/XP Pro SP2 and Office 2003 Pro; I am waiting
for a new DELL XPS 720 w/VISTA Ultimate and Office 2007.

1. Is there a complete list of files that I must transfer to the new
machine for Office to make sure that my contacts, emails and archived
folders are safe and what about my email rules?
2. I use a Data Base called Paradox Ver. 4.x and Ver 7.x will this still
work as I write code in PAL for systems we still use. 4.x (could be) is
considered a DOS program.
3. I use Netscape 4.7 to write HTML pages at times will this still work?
4. I have a 10,000 RPM C drive that I would like to utilize to keep the
machine's speed up and a 750 GB D drive. Is there a good way to optimize
the use of both drives with the OS and programs?
5. I've setup static IP addresses for scanners and printers anything special
here?
6. The current machine is on NORTON and the new machine is McAffe, any
considerations here?
7. Any general advice and things to watch out for on this upgrade would be
greatly appreciated. If this works for me then 7 others in my work group
will be doing the same thing

Needless to say I'm very excited about the new Microsoft Software and
machine.

I know I've asked a lot but this is very important to me and I ordered the
best that Microsoft has to offer because I want quality.

Thank you very much,

Paul

 

[paul]

HELLO,

Is this the wrong newsgroup for installs?

 

[Paul Randall]

I'm no expert, so here is my two cents worth, inline. No professionals are
assigned to these newsgroups -- everyone volunteers their time and
knowledge.

I'd like some advice please.

I'm currently on a DELL 8400 w/XP Pro SP2 and Office 2003 Pro; I am
waiting
for a new DELL XPS 720 w/VISTA Ultimate and Office 2007.

1. Is there a complete list of files that I must transfer to the new
machine for Office to make sure that my contacts, emails and archived
folders are safe and what about my email rules?

Try the Office newsgroups for this question -- much more Office specific
help there.

2. I use a Data Base called Paradox Ver. 4.x and Ver 7.x will this still
work as I write code in PAL for systems we still use. 4.x (could be) is
considered a DOS program.

Use M$'s Vista Upgrade Advisor to get good advice on which of your current
software may be problematic. Note that it is only advice -- there may be
other problematic software or in your particular situation, something
advised against may work OK.

This could be hit or miss. Some DOS programs work well, others don't. If
they are misbehaved in how they access certain resources, UAC may interfere.
Hopefully you can find a Paradox newsgroup or forum for more info. There is
also the possibility that you could run WXP or its command line interface
or DOS 6.22 in a virtual PC window to run these programs. Another
alternative is to set up a dual boot system for your legacy apps, but you
would need drivers for your legacy OS. Some new PCs are optimized for Vista
and their mfg doesn't supply WXP or earlier drivers.

I think Dell provides a full OEM Vista installation CD. Perhaps you will be
able to do some 30-day trial installations without activating to experiment
until you get all your legacy stuff running properly. Some programs may
need to be installed by running their setup routine as administrator and
then their executable must also be run as administrator.

3. I use Netscape 4.7 to write HTML pages at times will this still work?

Try things from #2

4. I have a 10,000 RPM C drive that I would like to utilize to keep the
machine's speed up and a 750 GB D drive. Is there a good way to optimize
the use of both drives with the OS and programs?

Access time and transfer rates are more related to I/O speed than RPM. Your
mix of programs and data will determine what to do to optimize speed.

5. I've setup static IP addresses for scanners and printers anything
special
here?
6. The current machine is on NORTON and the new machine is McAffe, any
considerations here?

Many people here advise complete removal of retail level Norton & McAfee
security software. Norton business level software generally doesn't have as
many critics. Often they are nearly impossible to remove completely.
Browse the vista setup and general newsgroups for recommended replacements.

7. Any general advice and things to watch out for on this upgrade would
be
greatly appreciated. If this works for me then 7 others in my work group
will be doing the same thing

I would strongly suggest that you use a DOS version of Norton Ghost (don't
know if Acronis True Image can do images in DOS) to create an image of your
system drive PRIOR to your first booting it up. Put a different hard drive
in and restore the image to that drive and run the system to be sure you
have a good image. Any time in the future, you will be able to use this
image to bring your system back to a truely out of the box experience in as
little as 15 minutes. Note that the 2003 version of Norton Ghost doesn't
properly recover the MBR, but a free DOS program named MBRWizD can both save
it and restore it. The 2003 version of Norton Ghost, can create bootable
floppies that can give access to external USB and firewire drives and to
network shares for making and restoring the images from DOS, and they can be
used to create bootable CDs to do this too.

-Paul Randall

 

[Director Personnel]

Hi Paul, Thanks for the note.

Just for fun.... I'm running an entire company on 20-30MB of PAL code using
Paradox. Marketing, Sales, Accounting, Billing, Personnel all running on
20-30MB of PAL code.

If Goggle ever builds a calendar that can be used in real time and shared as
a workgroup Microsoft is cooked and fried.

Best regards.....