Re: Hosed during upgrade install

[Brian C]

On Fri, 7 May 2004 19:41:09 -0700, "Thomas Andrews" >
wrote:

>Okay, I have a Windows 98 desktop, and, due to some stupidity on my part, I deleted some internet drivers. Since my dog recently ate some of my old install disks(*), and I had been thinking of upgrading, I bought the Windows XP Home upgrade, which said i
t would detect the version of the OS I had running on the system, and it included '98 as one of the supported OSes.
>
>So I go through the installation, and over an hour in, it tells me it can't detect a valid OS for upgrade. Please insert the disk from the previous OS.
>
>So, in short, I'm screwed. It has gotten far enough into the installation that '98 won't run, but I don't have the '98 disk.
>
>What kind of design is that, that it gets through trashing your previous system before it verifies it is able to install on the new system?
>
>=thomas andrews


>
>(*) Yes, this sounds fishy, but it's true - I'll post a picture of eaten disks if you like :-)
>

When xp ask for the location for the upgrade.
Type c:\windows\options\cabs
Or
C:\windows\cabs

This is only if you have the windows 98 setup files their.

Brian C.

[Harry Ohrn]

Your mistake was purchasing an Upgrade version of XP when you no longer had
a Windows 98 CD to satisfy the request. That's not Microsoft's fault.
However beyond that if you had a working Windows 98 Desktop then you should
have booted to the Desktop and popped the XP CD into the drive. From there
you could choose "Install"->"Upgrade" and XP would have immediately found
the files it needed and the install would have proceeded. But had you not
taken that route and chose instead to boot off the XP CD it would have taken
a few minutes to install some setup files and would have requested a
qualifying product like your Windows 98 CD before going any further. Your
problem with the request being made an hour into the setup is not the norm
at all.

--

Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell/User]
www.webtree.ca/windowsxp


"Thomas Andrews" > wrote in message
...
> Okay, I have a Windows 98 desktop, and, due to some stupidity on my part,
> I deleted some internet drivers. Since my dog recently ate some of my old
> install disks(*), and I had been thinking of upgrading, I bought the
> Windows XP Home upgrade, which said it would detect the version of the OS
> I had running on the system, and it included '98 as one of the supported
> OSes.
>
> So I go through the installation, and over an hour in, it tells me it
> can't detect a valid OS for upgrade. Please insert the disk from the
> previous OS.
>
> So, in short, I'm screwed. It has gotten far enough into the installation
> that '98 won't run, but I don't have the '98 disk.
>
> What kind of design is that, that it gets through trashing your previous
> system before it verifies it is able to install on the new system?
>
> =thomas andrews
>
>
> (*) Yes, this sounds fishy, but it's true - I'll post a picture of eaten
> disks if you like :-)
>
>

[billh]

"Brian C" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 7 May 2004 19:41:09 -0700, "Thomas Andrews" >
> wrote:
>
> >Okay, I have a Windows 98 desktop, and, due to some stupidity on my part,
I deleted some internet drivers. Since my dog recently ate some of my old
install disks(*), and I had been thinking of upgrading, I bought the Windows
XP Home upgrade, which said it would detect the version of the OS I had
running on the system, and it included '98 as one of the supported OSes.
> >
> >So I go through the installation, and over an hour in, it tells me it
can't detect a valid OS for upgrade. Please insert the disk from the
previous OS.
> >
> >So, in short, I'm screwed. It has gotten far enough into the
installation that '98 won't run, but I don't have the '98 disk.
> >
> >What kind of design is that, that it gets through trashing your previous
system before it verifies it is able to install on the new system?
> >
> >=thomas andrews
>
>
> >
> >(*) Yes, this sounds fishy, but it's true - I'll post a picture of eaten
disks if you like :-)
> >
>
> When xp ask for the location for the upgrade.
> Type c:\windows\options\cabs
> Or
> C:\windows\cabs
>
> This is only if you have the windows 98 setup files their.
>
> Brian C.

It apparently will accept a W95 CD also even though it specifies W98.
You have a W98 CD, regardless of condition, which entitles you to upgrade to
XP home. Borrow one from somebody, the way I see it you aren't doing
anything illegal because you are a legitimate W98 owner - it's just that
your media is screwed. Keep your chewed up CD because it is part of your XP
license package.
Billh

[Thomas Andrews]

Brian C wrote:
> On Fri, 7 May 2004 19:41:09 -0700, "Thomas Andrews" >
> wrote:
>
>
>>Okay, I have a Windows 98 desktop, and, due to some stupidity on my part, I deleted some internet drivers. Since my dog recently ate some of my old install disks(*), and I had been thinking of upgrading, I bought the Windows XP Home upgrade, which said
it would detect the version of the OS I had running on the system, and it included '98 as one of the supported OSes.
>>
>>So I go through the installation, and over an hour in, it tells me it can't detect a valid OS for upgrade. Please insert the disk from the previous OS.
>>
>>So, in short, I'm screwed. It has gotten far enough into the installation that '98 won't run, but I don't have the '98 disk.
>>
>>What kind of design is that, that it gets through trashing your previous system before it verifies it is able to install on the new system?
>>
>>=thomas andrews
>
>

>>
>>(*) Yes, this sounds fishy, but it's true - I'll post a picture of eaten disks if you like :-)
>>
>
>
> When xp ask for the location for the upgrade.
> Type c:\windows\options\cabs
> Or
> C:\windows\cabs
>
> This is only if you have the windows 98 setup files their.
>
> Brian C.

Thanks. Oddly, when I turned my computer back on to try this, XP just
installed without me entering any additional information. It Just
Worked. Bizarre, but better than not working.

=thomas

[Thomas Andrews]

Harry Ohrn wrote:
> Your mistake was purchasing an Upgrade version of XP when you no longer had
> a Windows 98 CD to satisfy the request. That's not Microsoft's fault.

The XP upgrade says on the box it "detects" a valid version of the OS.
But that's beside the point - I wouldn't have been *very* angry if the
XP install had stopped before nuking '98.

> However beyond that if you had a working Windows 98 Desktop then you should
> have booted to the Desktop and popped the XP CD into the drive. From there
> you could choose "Install"->"Upgrade" and XP would have immediately found
> the files it needed and the install would have proceeded. But had you not
> taken that route and chose instead to boot off the XP CD it would have taken
> a few minutes to install some setup files and would have requested a
> qualifying product like your Windows 98 CD before going any further. Your
> problem with the request being made an hour into the setup is not the norm
> at all.

I did insert the CD after booting '98. It never quibbled about the OS
until it was done destroying my '98 installation. (I skipped the step
where the software upgrades the setup files because my network card was
the problem that caused me to upgrade in the first place, and the
installation step seemed to require a network connection.)

[ The original problem was that my network card wasn't working. I had
been trying to fix it, and accidentally uninstalled some drivers,
disabling my network connection, making it impossible for me to download
the drivers, so I decided it would be easiest to upgrade. ]

=thomas