Upgrade disaster 98 to XP

[Helpmeplease!]

Hello, I am not very much in the know about computers, and was given an old laptop that ran windows 98. Because it is not compatible with a large amount fo software on our network at university, I decided to upgrade it to XP with a reinstall disc I had. However, at the point of Installing Windows, when it has 35 odd minutes to go, it switches off and the screen goes blank. No matter how long you leave it, it does not come back on. If you switch in back on, it restarts Setup and then the same thing happens again. Obviously it is not very happy about the upgrade, however now it is stuck halfway through I can't see how to get it back to re-install Win 98 on it!

[rjfvillarosa]

Do you have a windows 98 boot disk? if not go to another machine running 98 preferably 98SE and

Click Start
Point to Settings and click Control Panel
Click Add/Remove Programs
Click the Startup Disk tab
Click the Create Disk button
When finished, click OK to exit the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box
Note: Whether or not you insert a disk before you start this procedure, you will receive an Insert Disk prompt. Insert a disk if you have not done so already and click OK to continue.
Go here and read the instructions on reformatting a hard drive
http://www.taillinks.com/pc_help.htm
There is an XP compatibilty wizard on the XP disk, try using this to make sure you don't have any hardware incompatibilty issues.

[sdkfz]

First - use the compatability wizard to very that the PC can handle XP

And then do not use a reinstall disk, these are OEM license disks that are to varying degrees of software changes by the OEM company tailored and customized for the machine that they came with. They can be so customized that they will not even install on any other PC that is not the same make and model . Then of course there is the legal aspect of the reinstall disk use which is contrary to the EULA of XP and the rules here.

You should be able to get XP at your university bookstore at a student discount or you can get about a 90.00 copy from newegg.com.

[Helpmeplease!]

Thanks guys. I have got hold of a Win98 boot disk but I've lost my old copy of Win 98. I'm getting another on monday though, so I'll reload that, because at the moment the setup for XP is stuck and I can't even get it to start of safe mode. After that I'll have a look at the compatibility and try again. I swear this is the last time I shoot myself in the foot by pressing buttons before I have any idea what is going on.

[rjfvillarosa]

How are you working in DOS?, if you have difficulties formatting the hard drive using the boot disk, you can use fdisk instead.
Come back and let me know how you get on.