upgrade from 98 to xp

[drb46]

Well, I am working on someone else's computer and they want to use a XP upgrade cd to install xp on a 98 machine. I have never done that, does anyone have any helpful hints? I read that it's best to install xp using the fat 32 file system and then if things are working right use the convert command to convert to ntfs file system, correct??

Thanks for any hints.....

[Kareeser]

I'm very sure that most of the members here would agree that a fresh re-install is preferable to an upgrade. With an upgrade, you risk having bugs from Windows 98 transferred over to Windows XP (or something like that).

You can have your friend copy all of his crucial data onto separate media, and then format and install XP using the NTFS file system.

I believe you can do a complete reinstall using the upgrade CD...

[pam123]

No.
If they have the 98 cd you can use the upgrade version of XP to do a clean install (Upgrades over previous operating systems are so trouble prone that, in my opinion, you'd need an outstanding reason for doing one.).
Back up the files they want saved and then do a fresh install of XP, it will ask you to insert the 98 cd so it can verify that you have a copy, and then move the files back.
Chose ntfs from the beginning, it's the better system by far and it won't have any problems with the FAT32 files.

[drb46]

Thanks, the owner of the machine has everything backed up on an external hard drive using LaCie backup software. So if we do a fresh install of xp, and then reinstall the LaCie backup software, would he be able to restore his programs from there? Thanks, I really don't want to screw this up for him. And I find it's better to ask questions first rather than later......

[Powertrip]

As long as he has the LaCie backup software ready to reinstall and it will work ok with windows XP you should be ok. I have always been a little suspicious as to some backup software so I would try to install it on another xp machine and then make sure the files transfer ok before going through with the format.

Syncback is a good utility but not sure about it's windows 98 support, and just copy and paste is a surefire way to have things work out.

[pam123]

Will that software run on XP ?
The site just says Windows or MAC so the rest of the info should be in the readme/manual, depending on what he bought (Along with instructions on how to use it, which you should read carefully.).
If it says XP then he's good to go.

[drb46]

OK, thanks for all of the hellp, I know what I'm going to tell the owner now.