upgrade from ME to XP professional

[Steve James]

I currently run on Millenium Edition and purchased XP
Professional upgrade edition. Upgrade disk is in drive D
and when I click "install XP" I get a message "The file
D:\I386\WINNT32A.DLL could not be loaded or is corrupt.
Setup cannot continue." How do I proceed now as I am
given no options?

[R. C. White]

Hi, Steve.

It sounds like you may have a defective disk. It's rare, but it happens.
Can you exchange it at the store where you bought it?

Now I'll add some unsolicited advice...

There are basically 3 ways to go from WinME to WinXP:

1. Upgrade. Start with WinME only and end up with WinXP only, in the
original volume (primary partition or logical drive in the extended
partition). All your hardware and installed applications are migrated to
the new operating system.

2. Clean install. Start with WinME only and end up with WinXP only. You
can use the same volume or - recommended - reformat it and start clean.
WinXP Setup will detect all your hardware and install WinXP drivers for it,
but you will need to reinstall all your applications. You must backup any
data on the volume before you format it, of course, but not Windows and
apps, since they will be reinstalled from their original CDs or other media.

3. Dual boot. Start with WinME in one volume (usually C:) and clean
install WinXP in a separate volume (often D:, but that's optional). WinXP
Setup automatically detects WinME and creates a menu for you. Each time you
reboot, you choose whether to run WinME or WinXP for this session. As in
2., Setup installs new drivers, but you will need to reinstall your apps in
WinXP.

The first scenario is the quickest and easiest - in the short run. WinXP
Setup tries to migrate hardware drivers and applications, but the migration
is often less than perfect and you end up with nagging problems with devices
that work "almost right". Plus, we wind up carrying forward a lot of
garbage that we've been meaning to get rid of, anyhow. MANY upgraders have
reported that they got so frustrated that they reformatted and did a clean
install within a short time. They tell us that WinXP and all their
applications run much better after the clean reinstallation.

The dual boot lets you "have your cake and eat it, too". You must already
have a separate volume or be able to create one, because Microsoft and
nearly everybody else strongly advise against putting two Windows
installations in a single volume. With the dual boot, you can continue to
run your apps from WinME until you are sure that your WinXP device drivers
are working right and that your apps are running properly under WinXP.
(I've run a single copy of Word, Quicken, etc., while alternating between
Windows versions, with no problems.) When you are fully happy with WinXP,
you can delete WinME's boot folder (probably C:\Windows). Or you can
continue dual-booting indefinitely, if you choose.

The only difference between the upgrade and the "full" version of WinXP is
in the licensing, not the product. You can install the upgrade on a
computer with WinXP already installed, or you can boot from the WinXP
CD-ROM, let it repartition and reformat your HD, and simply "show it" the
WinME CD when it asks to verify that you qualify for the upgrade price.

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

Microsoft Windows MVP

"Steve James" > wrote in message
...
> I currently run on Millenium Edition and purchased XP
> Professional upgrade edition. Upgrade disk is in drive D
> and when I click "install XP" I get a message "The file
> D:\I386\WINNT32A.DLL could not be loaded or is corrupt.
> Setup cannot continue." How do I proceed now as I am
> given no options?

[R. C. White]

Whoops! Check that last paragraph:

> You can install the upgrade on a
> computer with WinXP already installed, or you can boot from the WinXP

Should have said "with WinME already installed", of course. ;^{

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

Microsoft Windows MVP

"R. C. White" > wrote in message
...
> Hi, Steve.
>
<SNIP>
>
> The only difference between the upgrade and the "full" version of WinXP is
> in the licensing, not the product. You can install the upgrade on a
> computer with WinXP already installed, or you can boot from the WinXP
> CD-ROM, let it repartition and reformat your HD, and simply "show it" the
> WinME CD when it asks to verify that you qualify for the upgrade price.
>
> RC
>
> "Steve James" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I currently run on Millenium Edition and purchased XP
> > Professional upgrade edition. Upgrade disk is in drive D
> > and when I click "install XP" I get a message "The file
> > D:\I386\WINNT32A.DLL could not be loaded or is corrupt.
> > Setup cannot continue." How do I proceed now as I am
> > given no options?