98SE to XP

[Patrisha]

I reformatted my hard drive, then restored my Ghost image
files (I renamed Windows to Win98SE, before backing up).
I then installed XP as a new install instead of
upgrading. Can I now copy all my icons/shortcuts from
Win98 Desktop to the
Desktop of XP and get them to work? Some of my older
programs I don't have the orginial programs disk to
install and some are on old 360k floppies which I don't
have the old floppy drive. I didn't have any problems
when upgrading all my windows version before doing it
this way, but XP is a different animal!
Any help or suggestion will be greatly appreciated.
Patrisha

[Nicholas]

Why did you select "New Installation" rather than the default
"Upgrade" setup option? If you installed Windows XP on the
same partition as Windows 98SE, you're headed for problems.

--=20
Nicholas

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Patrisha" > wrote in message:
...

| I reformatted my hard drive, then restored my Ghost image=20
| files (I renamed Windows to Win98SE, before backing up). =20
| I then installed XP as a new install instead of=20
| upgrading. Can I now copy all my icons/shortcuts from=20
| Win98 Desktop to the=20
| Desktop of XP and get them to work? Some of my older=20
| programs I don't have the orginial programs disk to=20
| install and some are on old 360k floppies which I don't=20
| have the old floppy drive. I didn't have any problems=20
| when upgrading all my windows version before doing it=20
| this way, but XP is a different animal!
| Any help or suggestion will be greatly appreciated.
| Patrisha

[Sharon F]

Patrisha wrote:
> I reformatted my hard drive, then restored my Ghost image
> files (I renamed Windows to Win98SE, before backing up).
> I then installed XP as a new install instead of
> upgrading. Can I now copy all my icons/shortcuts from
> Win98 Desktop to the
> Desktop of XP and get them to work? Some of my older
> programs I don't have the orginial programs disk to
> install and some are on old 360k floppies which I don't
> have the old floppy drive. I didn't have any problems
> when upgrading all my windows version before doing it
> this way, but XP is a different animal!
> Any help or suggestion will be greatly appreciated.
> Patrisha

When you chose new install, you essentially told XP setup to ignore your
Win98 installation. That includes any information those programs need and
store in the Win98 registry. The files those apps may keep in the Windows
folders are currently in a black hole too.

If you want the old programs to migrate to WinXP, take the upgrade option
instead of new install. May want to run the upgrade advisor first to get a
report. It will tell you which programs (if any) are not suitable for the
migration. Even after a good report from the advisor and after upgrading,
there may be one or two apps that will need a repair installation to get up
to snuff.

While you could work at repairing what you have going so far, you may as
well start over with the ghost image and run XP setup again. Considering the
amount of time required and the likely results from each approach, starting
over is the path I would choose for my system.


--
Sharon F
Microsoft MVP, Windows - Shell/User

[Patrisha]

Several people, including a computer salesperson at
COMPUSA, told me that doing the upgrade is asking for
headaches, that it was better to format and do a new
install. Before backing up, I changed the new of
windows, so when I installed XP it would not go in the
same directory and overwrite any files. So you are
saying just the opposite! Since you have so much more
experience, I'll take your advice and reformat and do the
upgrade.
Thank You
Patrisha

>-----Original Message-----
>Why did you select "New Installation" rather than the
default
>"Upgrade" setup option? If you installed Windows XP on
the
>same partition as Windows 98SE, you're headed for
problems.
>
>--
>Nicholas
>
>---------------------------------------------------------
---------------
>
>"Patrisha" > wrote in message:
> ...
>
>| I reformatted my hard drive, then restored my Ghost
image
>| files (I renamed Windows to Win98SE, before backing
up).
>| I then installed XP as a new install instead of
>| upgrading. Can I now copy all my icons/shortcuts from
>| Win98 Desktop to the
>| Desktop of XP and get them to work? Some of my older
>| programs I don't have the orginial programs disk to
>| install and some are on old 360k floppies which I
don't
>| have the old floppy drive. I didn't have any problems
>| when upgrading all my windows version before doing it
>| this way, but XP is a different animal!
>| Any help or suggestion will be greatly appreciated.
>| Patrisha
>.
>

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

WinXP's upgrade process is significantly better than that of
earlier versions of Windows, so problems are less likely. Of course,
upgrading a problematic OS with WinXP is likely to propagate and
sometimes even exacerbate those problems.

You can perform an upgrade, or you can perform a clean
installation. The choice is yours. If you've been having no problems
with the Win98 installation, an upgrade has a very good chance of
being successful and trouble-free. If, however, you've been
experiencing problems with Win98, such as frequent crashes and/or
lock-ups, a clean installation of WinXP might be the better idea.

That said, the second worst place in the world to get computer
advice, right behind Best Buy, is from a CompUSA sales clerk.

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
----
You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH


"Patrisha" > wrote in message
...
> Several people, including a computer salesperson at
> COMPUSA, told me that doing the upgrade is asking for
> headaches, that it was better to format and do a new
> install. Before backing up, I changed the new of
> windows, so when I installed XP it would not go in the
> same directory and overwrite any files. So you are
> saying just the opposite! Since you have so much more
> experience, I'll take your advice and reformat and do the
> upgrade.
> Thank You
> Patrisha
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >Why did you select "New Installation" rather than the
> default
> >"Upgrade" setup option? If you installed Windows XP on
> the
> >same partition as Windows 98SE, you're headed for
> problems.
> >
> >--
> >Nicholas
> >
> >---------------------------------------------------------
> ---------------
> >
> >"Patrisha" > wrote in message:
> > ...
> >
> >| I reformatted my hard drive, then restored my Ghost
> image
> >| files (I renamed Windows to Win98SE, before backing
> up).
> >| I then installed XP as a new install instead of
> >| upgrading. Can I now copy all my icons/shortcuts from
> >| Win98 Desktop to the
> >| Desktop of XP and get them to work? Some of my older
> >| programs I don't have the orginial programs disk to
> >| install and some are on old 360k floppies which I
> don't
> >| have the old floppy drive. I didn't have any problems
> >| when upgrading all my windows version before doing it
> >| this way, but XP is a different animal!
> >| Any help or suggestion will be greatly appreciated.
> >| Patrisha
> >.
> >

[Sharon F]

You have two install options available to you:
1) Upgrade: migrates existing programs and data. Not so bad going from Win98
since almost *all* of the operating system and the drivers will be replaced
(XP is very different than Win98).
2) Clean install: Installs only Windows. Everything else has to be added.

There are pros and cons to each method. If you have the time, the install
media for all your programs and all hardware is XP compatible - the time
spent performing a clean install (on an empty hard drive!) is, IMHO,
worthwhile.

On the other hand, I've upgraded well maintained and stable Win98 systems
and have seen very good and decent results. Side note: We've seen posts
about some older hardware that only settles in under XP if it is an upgrade
install. I haven't run into any machines like that but have read the posts
in these newsgroups.

You mention having no way of reinstalling some of your favorite programs. If
you want them to hang around - the upgrade install is method you would use
to preserve them.

--
Sharon F
Microsoft MVP, Windows - Shell/User

Patrisha wrote:
> Several people, including a computer salesperson at
> COMPUSA, told me that doing the upgrade is asking for
> headaches, that it was better to format and do a new
> install. Before backing up, I changed the new of
> windows, so when I installed XP it would not go in the
> same directory and overwrite any files. So you are
> saying just the opposite! Since you have so much more
> experience, I'll take your advice and reformat and do the
> upgrade.
> Thank You
> Patrisha
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> Why did you select "New Installation" rather than the default
>> "Upgrade" setup option? If you installed Windows XP on the
>> same partition as Windows 98SE, you're headed for problems.
>>
>> --
>> Nicholas
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------------- ---------------
>>
>> "Patrisha" > wrote in message:
>> ...
>>
>>> I reformatted my hard drive, then restored my Ghost image
>>> files (I renamed Windows to Win98SE, before backing up).
>>> I then installed XP as a new install instead of
>>> upgrading. Can I now copy all my icons/shortcuts from
>>> Win98 Desktop to the
>>> Desktop of XP and get them to work? Some of my older
>>> programs I don't have the orginial programs disk to
>>> install and some are on old 360k floppies which I don't
>>> have the old floppy drive. I didn't have any problems
>>> when upgrading all my windows version before doing it
>>> this way, but XP is a different animal!
>>> Any help or suggestion will be greatly appreciated.
>>> Patrisha
>> .