Upgrade Q - File & Settings transfer

[R Mikawa]

Stupid question, but I'm planning to upgrade from ME to
XP, and I read somewhere that XP won't overwrite any of my
old files. So I read about the F&S Transfer option, where
it always says from 'old computer to new', which was
useful enough - except I'm not changing computers! Will
everything really be fine, or should I clean off the hard
drive and have a nice reformat before I upgrade? (I
intend to back up my email and various other important
things, of course, but I just want to be sure.)

[Sharon F]

On Sat, 30 Aug 2003 13:25:55 -0700, R Mikawa wrote:

> Stupid question, but I'm planning to upgrade from ME to
> XP, and I read somewhere that XP won't overwrite any of my
> old files. So I read about the F&S Transfer option, where
> it always says from 'old computer to new', which was
> useful enough - except I'm not changing computers! Will
> everything really be fine, or should I clean off the hard
> drive and have a nice reformat before I upgrade? (I
> intend to back up my email and various other important
> things, of course, but I just want to be sure.)

IF everything goes smoothly, then all of your files and programs will make
it through the upgrade. There's no guarantee that nothing will go wrong.
Taking some time before upgrading to make backup of files of anything you
don't want to lose is a good idea. That backup is your safety net in case
the dog trips over the computer's power cord in the middle of the upgrade.

The Files and Settings Transfer wizard (FASTW) can be used to transfer
files and settings on the same computer. When you run it the first time, do
so from your old setup and select "old computer." After the upgrade, run it
again telling it this is your new computer. Okay, you lied to FASTW but it
is a new setup and it will work. I've used FASTW successfully for several
upgrades on the same machine. Good article written by Gary Woodruff about
using FASTW can be found here: http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/fast.htm

--
Sharon F
MS-MVP - Windows XP Shell/User

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

Backup important stuff,. then do an upgrade. This should keep your
files/programs intact. You can always do a format/clean install later if
this doesn't pan out. You can use FASTWIZ if you like, but the effect will
be the same as if you did an upgrade.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Win98 Help - www.rickrogers.org

"R Mikawa" > wrote in message
...
> Stupid question, but I'm planning to upgrade from ME to
> XP, and I read somewhere that XP won't overwrite any of my
> old files. So I read about the F&S Transfer option, where
> it always says from 'old computer to new', which was
> useful enough - except I'm not changing computers! Will
> everything really be fine, or should I clean off the hard
> drive and have a nice reformat before I upgrade? (I
> intend to back up my email and various other important
> things, of course, but I just want to be sure.)