answer this question please

[chris]

i would like to know that since i have win98 se right now,
if i upgrade to winxp, do i lose all my data on my hard
drive or is it just an upgrade and i still have everything?

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Chris;
Data should be safe during an upgrade.
However it is always a good idea to have back-ups of important data.

--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
An easier way to read newsgroup messages:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/newsgroups/setup.asp
Please respond to newsgroup only for everyone's benefit.


"chris" > wrote in message
...
> i would like to know that since i have win98 se right now,
> if i upgrade to winxp, do i lose all my data on my hard
> drive or is it just an upgrade and i still have everything?

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Chris,

While I agree with JJ, I suggest that it is *critical* to backup any data to
removable media *before* you upgrade - I have seen some instances of data
loss during an OS 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

"chris" > wrote in message
...
> i would like to know that since i have win98 se right now,
> if i upgrade to winxp, do i lose all my data on my hard
> drive or is it just an upgrade and i still have everything?

[R. C. White]

Hi, Chris.

There are 3 common ways to get from Win9x/ME to Win2K/XP:

1. Upgrade. You end up with only WinXP. Setup tries to migrate all your
hardware device drivers and installed applications to the WinXP versions.
Your data should be untouched.

2. Clean install. You end up with only WinXP. To make a stable foundation
for WinXP, you let Setup reformat your HD before installing WinXP. The
reformat, of course, wipes out Win98, plus all your applications and data on
that volume.

3. Dual boot. You end up with both Win98 and WinXP and can boot to either,
choosing from a menu each time you start you computer. You should not put
both OSes in the same volume (primary partition or a logical drive in an
extended partition), so you must have a second volume available for WinXP
before you run Setup. If you choose to reformat that volume, you will lose
anything that was there.

Option 1 is the easiest - in the short run. But the migration is not always
successful. WinXP handles hardware so much differently from Win98 that new
device drivers are needed for everything. Some applications need to be
tweaked differently in WinXP than Win98. And all that garbage that you've
been meaning to clean out gets carried along into your new system. Many
upgraders report nagging problems that get to be so irritating that they
wind up reformatting and doing a clean install later, anyhow.

Option 2 gets you a fresh start. Yes, you do need to backup and restore
your data. Win98, of course, does not need to be backed up, since you will
be replacing that. Your applications don't need to be backed up; you will
be reinstalling those from their original CDs or other media. If you want
to preserve your "tweaks", you can use the Files and Settings Transfer
Wizard (FAST) to save the old settings and transfer them into your
applications after the installation. Your data, of course, can be restored
after WinXP and the apps are installed.

Many of us prefer Option 3. This was especially useful in the early days of
Win2K, when many hardware manufacturers had not yet produced Win2K drivers
for their products. But that was over 3 years ago and WinXP has drivers for
almost all hardware now, either on the WinXP CD or on the Internet. With
the dual boot, we can continue running under Win98 until we have WinXP
running the way we want it, then delete Win98.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP


"chris" > wrote in message
...
> i would like to know that since i have win98 se right now,
> if i upgrade to winxp, do i lose all my data on my hard
> drive or is it just an upgrade and i still have everything?