98FE to SE using upgrade 98 CD

[vlacy]

I'm going to be upgrading 98FE to 98SE using a CD which only works with 98FE installed. I intend to make sure backups are current, run Scandisk (and maybe defrag).

It seems to be a good idea to reboot after disabling the processing of autoexec.bat, config.sys, and everything loaded at startup. This is easy enough to do since it just involves unchecking three boxes in msconfig. I also intend to disconnect the cable modem. Other suggestions?

I have seen recomendations to revert to IE4 before upgrading and to do a totally clean boot. It seems to me that trying to revert could cause problems (and a lot of work to restore settings) Also, since the disc seems to need to have 98FE installed, can you even do the upgrade with a clean boot?

Comments about anything else involved would also be appreciated.

[bailey]

if I remember correctly, you really do not need to do anything but run the cd, it will up date the system to se without any loss of data or anything else.

[glc]

Yes, you should revert IE back to 4.0 and disable your antivirus. Do the upgrade within Windows.

[vlacy]

Originally Posted by glc Yes, you should revert IE back to 4.0 and disable your antivirus. Do the upgrade within Windows.

Thanks to both of you for your quick replies.

Is just disabling the antivirus (Avast in my case) enough or should I also get rid of more startup entries? I would reboot without ZoneAlarm and Spybot (with Teatimer) of course, but what about all the other startup items? Or for that matter HIMEM and EMM386? Would not having them cause confusion to the upgrade program?

As to reverting to IE4, is it enough to download IE4 from, say, GreenApple, and just install it over 6, or should I do what little is possible in Add/Remove Programs and then install 4.0?

Please forgive me for asking so many questions. I have had two totally unnecessary system rebuilds in the last 8 months. One was because my ISP tech reps (that's right, plural) did not know how their own system provided DNS addresses (the system was providing the wrong address) and so advised me to rebuild MY computer. The other unnecessary rebuild was because of incorrect, paid advice from MicroSoft. At least they acknowledged that their rep didn't know what he was doing and refunded my card.

So I really want to avoid another rebuild. Thanks for your patience.

[edfair]

I would add a suggestion to rename autoexec.bat and config.sys to something else. Both end up as zero length files on a SE build if there isn't a previous file of the same name and unless you have something special there is no need to carry forward any junk from your FE build.

You might also want to consider using the "over the top" install method with the install files stored on the hard drive. Details in a FAQ by Gary Routh. Goes much faster and makes a cleaner install IMHO.

As to the clean install question, I don't remember. Perhaps GLC will. All the other upgrades work fine, just require the earlier CD as proof.

Rather than degrade IE in the similar situations I've taken to removing the programs associated and deleting the registry tieins. It doesn't like to degrade cleanly in all installations. Then after the subsequent install put in the IE of my choice.

[glc]

You should be able to revert IE easily by using add/remove programs, IE, remove, restore previous version. The 98SE upgrade will put IE5 on, but only a 40 bit security version. This will not get you into Windows Update so you need to have the IE 5.5 or 6 stub installer ready to go.

You can't clean install or do any of the other common tricks with the 98SE upgrade that's specifically for upgrading from 98FE only. That's why I said to upgrade from within Windows.

[vlacy]

I finally received the update cd I had ordered and have had a chance to use it.

It was not the product which MS describes on their support website (different readme texts, different instructions, etc.), but it did work fine.

A couple of observations about the process:
Reverting to IE4 did not happen. Using Add/Remove twice got me back only to IE5.2
with 128 bit encryption. The option to do anything further then disappeared from
Add/Remove;

The update did not zero out autoexec and config. It simply remmed out all the entries
I had which deleted temporary files, but left autoexec.bat and config.sys intact otherwise.
This struck me as surprisingly well behaved;

The update did not overwrite IE5.2.

I guess the point of these observations is that MS throws out so much stuff (remember Bob, anyone?) that even they can't track it all. And that makes everything guesswork.