upgrade 98 to xp - plz help a newbie!

[ankur]

i had a problem doing this and lost some data, which i
think is still on my comp somewhere/in someform, for
several reasons- only 1.4 gb of dta was lost,and a backup
file awas made even though i didnt back any data up. to
cut a long story short someone on here suggested that :

"Easily resolved backup all of your important data and
format your drive and do a clean install, you'll see why
when it's done."

im grateful for any help i get but cant help feeling i
will definately lose any chance if i format my drive.can
anyone help?
if it helps a folder called user~tmp.@01 appeared on my
drive which i didnt make.
thanks

[Peter Hutchison]

On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 01:45:38 -0700, "ankur" >
wrote:

>i had a problem doing this and lost some data, which i
>think is still on my comp somewhere/in someform, for
>several reasons- only 1.4 gb of dta was lost,and a backup
>file awas made even though i didnt back any data up. to
>cut a long story short someone on here suggested that :
>
>"Easily resolved backup all of your important data and
>format your drive and do a clean install, you'll see why
>when it's done."
>
>im grateful for any help i get but cant help feeling i
>will definately lose any chance if i format my drive.can
>anyone help?

To work around this problem if you clicked "No, skip this step and
continue installing Windows" in the Get Updated Setup Files dialog box
during Setup, check for a User~tmp.@01 folder in the root of the drive
in which Windows is installed. If a missing user account folder exists
in the User~tmp.@01 folder but cannot be accessed in Windows XP
(because the folder name ends with a period (.) character), rename the
folder from a command prompt by using the 8.3 filename so that it can
be accessed in My Computer or Windows Explorer:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.

2. Type "cmd" (without the quotation marks), and then click OK.

3. Type "cd\" (without the quotation marks), and then press ENTER.

4. Type "cd\user~temp.@01" (without the quotation marks), and then
press ENTER.

5. Type "dir /x" (without the quotation marks), and then press ENTER.
Note the short file name for the user account folder. For example,
the short file name for "User Name, II." might be "USERNA~1".

6. Type "ren userna~1 username" (without the quotation marks), and
then press ENTER

7. Type "exit" (without the quotation marks), and then press ENTER.

8. Click Start, and then click Run.

9. Type "%homedrive%\user~tmp.@01\username" (without the quotation
marks), and then click OK. This folder and subfolders should contain
the files from the missing user account.

(From Missing Data or Program Settings After Upgrade to Windows XP
[Q312942])

Peter Hutchison
Windows FAQ
http://www.pcguru.plus.com/