Win 98se to XP

[Kickass]

IHi,
my friend wants to upgrade Win 98se to Xp, does he need to do a full format, or just stick in the disc?
I do not have his laptop to see what is going on, just wondering if you guys have had the experience.

He doesn't care about losing stuff in a full clean format.

Thanks
Charles

 

[Sharkfood]

It would be HIGHLY preferrable if he simply wiped the machine out totally and performed a fresh, full install of XP. The best results are obtained from going this route versus simply upgrading.

Of course, this will be limited to the version of XP installation CD's he may have. Some versions of "XP Upgrade" are not bootable and therefore wont be a simple process. If he has the FULL version of XP (not an upgrade), he should consider doing an FDISK and deleting all partitions, then booting off the XP installation CD and repartitioning the DISK for a total install.

 

[alidabiri]

your best bet in keeping your files, documents and what not, is to let xp know that you already have an OS on the system. it's smart enough to do the install, and keep your files, etc. this way, you can always revert back to your reliable 98 os if you encounter a problem. when you wipe out your hdd, you're stuck.

 

[iss]

If he doesnt care about loosing files then do the clean install. it is always the best option.

 

[N3051M]

But either way, tell him to backup any important stuff first...

Pro's and Cons..
Clean install:
Pro - Makes sure everything works, Clean slate to begin with. Preffered method usualy..
Con - Deletes everything on that hdd/partition, deletes your custom settings etc, may take a while..

Upgrade:
Pro - Can run installer inside windows while it is running, when you reboot, it just overwrites the windows98 files and settings you choose it to, slightly faster.
Con - Sometimes Win98 and XP has some unresolved issues. Makes a mess of your system folders, especialy those made redundant by the upgrade.

You may also want to ask him for his system specs, to make sure he has ample pc power to run XP smoothly, in terms of low specs (P3 1ghz, 128-256mb Ram etc) you may want to consider turning off all the eye candy/visual effects etc, just to squeeze that bit more out of it.

 

[alidabiri]

Pro - Makes sure everything works, Clean slate to begin with. Preffered method usualy..
Con - Deletes everything on that hdd/partition, deletes your custom settings etc, may take a while..

how do you make sure everything works? after you delete all the crap, if the cd burps or has a scratch, you're screwed. you can never go back to your previous os.

Upgrade:
... it just overwrites the windows98 files and settings you choose it to, slightly faster.

xp does no such thing. it actually backs up your 98 os, in case you want to un-install xp and re-install 98.

Con - Sometimes Win98 and XP has some unresolved issues. Makes a mess of your system folders, especialy those made redundant by the upgrade.

there are no unresolved issues with an upgrade. maybe drivers may have to be updated, but in most cases, xp installs them anyway.

to make sure he has ample pc power to run XP smoothly..

power supply has nothing to do with xp running smoothly. it's a hardware issue that relates to mobo. if mobo works fine and psu meets its requirements, then xp should run. in any case, even $MS doesn't require a particular power supply unit.

actually, i'm really getting sick and tired of all the people "recommending" to do a "clean" install for every kind of crap that's wrong with somebody's pc. can anybody find a solution for a problem and come up with the cause of a particular problem rather than just "do a clean install". come on, guys, let's notch up the knowledge and skills here. let's see if we can come up with a solution other than just a "clean install".
cheers.

 

[N3051M]

Bad me, summerising things again lol..

how do you make sure everything works? after you delete all the crap, if the cd burps or has a scratch, you're screwed. you can never go back to your previous os.

Maybe i should've said "better chance of it working properly, minus hardware difficulties". And hence why i've also advised backing up as you do before doing something as major as this.

xp does no such thing. it actually backs up your 98 os, in case you want to un-install xp and re-install 98.

Even so it backs up win98, but in essence you are replaceing the current folders that run win98 with those to run winXP (get it?), since XP has similar, but way different protocols, registry, etc.. to the 98. Especialy with SP2..

Unresolved issues being settings that you choose to transfer over to XP, which dont aggree with it, especialy program related issues. Of course, like anything drivers would most probably need updateing after switching OS's.

PC Power, not PSU. PC Power as in the grunt the system can provide or your overall specs of your system, such as: mobo, cpu, ram, storage mediums such as HDD (the core), then video/audio, Human Interface Devices, Optical drives etc. PSUs off course come into play after hardware is taken account for.

We arn't saying that a upgrade wont work, off course it does and is designed to, hence why MS makes Windows OS Upgrade Cds. Its an option. And i didnt see anything in our original post' about only one thing, just an opinion on what our experiences are regarding OS upgrades, nor does he care about a clean install. Its the same with RAM. You try to match things to get the most out of it, but it doesnt mean that two different RAM modules won't work.

Off course, if it comes down to the troubleshooting from an Upgrade or Clean install, if need be, then when the time comes then well we'll help getting it working..

 

[alidabiri]

here's the result of google for "clean install"+techspot:
Results 1 - 10 of about 12,600 for "clean install"+techspot.
good god! is there another way of doing this? like maybe finding the problem?

 

[N3051M]

here's the result of google for "clean install"+techspot:
Results 1 - 10 of about 12,600 for "clean install"+techspot.
good god! is there another way of doing this? like maybe finding the problem?

My reply:
Googled: "clean install" site:techspot.com
Results 1 - 10 of about 1,710 from techspot.com for "clean install". (0.46 seconds

Maybe you should try filtering, such as using site: to restrict the search on one domain (techspot.com), instead of documents that also happen to have "techspot" "clean" and "install", eg on XYZ.com

Also, have you considered that there are times where it is not possible to continue troubleshooting because windows have become that badly damaged, and do require a "clean install" to fix. Such can be caused by various Virii and corrupted files, or maybe the hdd got screwed?

Dont try and heat things up, coz i'm flame retardant . And i'm just pointing out that you do have to take all considerations into account before making any judgement on whether a clean install is advised, or another method since its usualy a "last option "thing.

 

[alidabiri]

i'm not trying to heat things up, dude. cheer up. i just think this "clean install" is getting out of hand. even through it's supposed to be the last option, it's usually the first option and "recommended". why would anybody recommend that you wipe everything out and try for days to install the things one at a time? it's insane. as you said, and i agree, it sould be the last resort, not the first.
another reason "clean install" is so chic and fashionable, is that it produces quick results and makes a consultant out of every 14 year old and his brother who tries this crap for fun every 2 or 3 weeks.
let's come up with genuine solutions. answers, if you will.

 

[Kickass]

are you two ok?
sheesh

 

[Superinc]

What are the specs.?

if its running win 98 , I would take a wild guess , and says its an oooolllddd laptop. Might not have the power to run XP properly .

 

[CrossFire851]

There is a little symbol on the pentium 3 sticker, that will allow it to run xp. Without such logo, no go.

(sorry m8 couldn't find a link)

By the way, please tell us your sytem spec like, CPU Clock Speed :MHz/GHz, How Many Megabytes (MB) of RAM you have, how many GB/MB you have on you harddrive.

If you can't tell us that give us a make and model name/number. So we may know if that sytem can even handle windows and if there are even XP Drivers made for that hardware.

BTW we are here to help you, you came here asking for help. Please just be nice and don't so oh I wasn't/was flamming feffasdfsdfwsfgse. OK Thank you