Need Help Upgrading from 2K Pro to XP

[nickib]

My PC is about 5 years old - I know, a true dinosaur in this electronics age, but it works just fine except for the fact that now I have an iPod and I have trouble with it freezing whenever I try to use iTunes. I "believe" it's due to the 2k, so I think I want to upgrade to XP - not Vista.

I bought an upgrade disk - legit - which is "version 2002" and when I checked the system with it, etc., apparently this particular version upgrade will only upgrade from 98 or ME (what the heck happened to 2k - isn't it between those two??).

Anyway, purchasing a new PC is not an option, but I am not 100% certain that I don't just need to get more service packs, etc., for 2k which might fix the problem.

Any thoughts or suggestions for my dilemma? If the concensis is that I should upgrade (either to XP or Vista - gulp!) - where would I find the most cost effective (cheap) price?

Thanks for any help!

 

[lopdog]

Hi!

Have you bought XP home or professional?
Apparently you can only upgrade from 2K if you have XP Pro, at least that's what I found here:

Question: Can the current operating system be upgraded to Windows XP?
Answer: Just because you have Windows already installed it doesn’t mean you have a clear upgrade path to XP. If you’re still on Win95 or anything earlier, stop reading now. There is no upgrade path to XP. For Win 98, 98SE, and Me users, you can upgrade to either XP Home or Professional versions. Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 and XP Home users can upgrade to XP Professional but not to XP Home.

If your upgrade disk is XP Home you have to go back to Win98/Me first, and then do the upgrade.
I would suggest you do a clean install (formating you HDD) if possible, that would get rid of a lot of system garbage and obsolete files. I might be wrong, but I think you can do a clean install from an upgrade disk - you will be asked to insert the original Win98/2K disk during installation.
You can read more about doing a clean XP upgrade at http://www.duxcw.com/faq/win/xp/clean.htm.

Good luck!

 

[gguerra]

There is a version of itunes made especially for Win2k. You must user an older version. Check this page
http://www.oldapps.com/itunes.php

 

[SNGX1275]

Lopdog is right, you can only go to XP Pro from 2k. 2k was meant for businesses rather than home users, 9x was meant for home users, so that is why the upgrade path is the way it is.

If you can get XP Pro I think you should be able to do a straight upgrade without any problems since XP is pretty much identical to 2k.

I'm not sure that you can do a clean install from an upgrade disk though... I know you could on the 9x disks, and you can with Vista, but not sure about XP.

I wouldn't consider Vista, it just is too demanding for a 5 year old PC to run reasonably well.

Check from within iTunes (probably the help menu) to see if there are any newer versions available. I know that the newest iTunes won't run on 2k, but if you check through the iTunes program itself it will let you know if there is a newer one that will work for you. Alternatively there are other softwares available that will sync to your iPod so you don't have to use iTunes. That may be the best solution yet.

 

[nickib]

I think I will Stick with 2K Pro

Thanks for all of the help - I am so glad I found this site! Based on what you have recommended and the links which have been very informative, I think it's best for me all around to just stay with 2K Pro. I guess now the thing I have to figure out is if iTunes is going to work for me (2K Pro with 5th Generation iPod Classic) and if it is not, what I should choose as an alternative.

As always, if anyone has any suggestions, I am very appreciative.

In the meantime, thank you ALL for all of your help - I am sure glad I did not do anything to my PC (at least at this point in time!) that would cause me grief!

 

[SNGX1275]

Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes? iTunes for Windows 2000 is at version 7.3.2, if you don't have that it should upgrade you from within iTunes (by checking for upgrades through the help menu). If you can't get that to work, or just want a standalone install after uninstalling you can get it here.

This will not remove your mp3s, purchased stuff, ect. But to keep your library set up the way you have it you may want to export your library before uninstalling. That should be in the File Menu and then Library -> export. It should make a .xml file. I don't know 100% if the locations and directions are going to be exactly the same for you since I'm currently looking at iTunes 8 on a Mac, but they should be similar enough that you can figure it out.

 

[Fiery_WA]

Easy fixed delete Itunes!! I myself am a fan of win2k pro, I still use it, even though my PC isn't a dinosaur.

Alas however at the end of this year, we will be forced to upgrade our OS *spit* *growl* at microflacid.