XP - Upgrade or Start Over?

[Rick]

I have an older desktop that was originally loaded with
Windows 95, but was upgraded to W98 several years ago.
With the various problems I have had with W98 (blue
screens, system lockup, etc.), I can't help but wonder if
I would not be better off by reformatting my hard drive
and installing XP from scratch versus buying the upgrade
and installing it on top of W98. Pardon my lack of
understanding, but if I buy the XP upgrade, will it
resolve the problems I have been having with W98?
Upgrading is certainly the least expensive route, but I am
tired of the problems and want to do it right. Appreciate
all guidance/recommendations. Thanks.

[Joe727]

You can buy the Retail XP Upgrade and do a clean installation. After =
you reformat your hard drive and insert the XP CD, at an early point in =
the installation process, the XP installation wizard will ask you to =
insert your Windows 98 CD in order to verify that you are eligible for =
the upgrade.

This is how I upgraded to XP.

Joe

"Rick" > wrote in message =
...
> I have an older desktop that was originally loaded with=20
> Windows 95, but was upgraded to W98 several years ago. =20
> With the various problems I have had with W98 (blue=20
> screens, system lockup, etc.), I can't help but wonder if=20
> I would not be better off by reformatting my hard drive=20
> and installing XP from scratch versus buying the upgrade=20
> and installing it on top of W98. Pardon my lack of=20
> understanding, but if I buy the XP upgrade, will it=20
> resolve the problems I have been having with W98? =20
> Upgrading is certainly the least expensive route, but I am=20
> tired of the problems and want to do it right. Appreciate=20
> all guidance/recommendations. Thanks.

[Joe727]

P.S. just make sure your PC hardware is capable of properly running XP.

Joe

"Joe727" > wrote in message =
...
You can buy the Retail XP Upgrade and do a clean installation. After =
you reformat your hard drive and insert the XP CD, at an early point in =
the installation process, the XP installation wizard will ask you to =
insert your Windows 98 CD in order to verify that you are eligible for =
the upgrade.

This is how I upgraded to XP.

Joe

"Rick" > wrote in message =
...
> I have an older desktop that was originally loaded with=20
> Windows 95, but was upgraded to W98 several years ago. =20
> With the various problems I have had with W98 (blue=20
> screens, system lockup, etc.), I can't help but wonder if=20
> I would not be better off by reformatting my hard drive=20
> and installing XP from scratch versus buying the upgrade=20
> and installing it on top of W98. Pardon my lack of=20
> understanding, but if I buy the XP upgrade, will it=20
> resolve the problems I have been having with W98? =20
> Upgrading is certainly the least expensive route, but I am=20
> tired of the problems and want to do it right. Appreciate=20
> all guidance/recommendations. Thanks.

[Rick]

Thanks for your help.

>-----Original Message-----
>You can buy the Retail XP Upgrade and do a clean
installation. After you reformat your hard drive and
insert the XP CD, at an early point in the installation
process, the XP installation wizard will ask you to insert
your Windows 98 CD in order to verify that you are
eligible for the upgrade.
>
>This is how I upgraded to XP.
>
>Joe
>
>"Rick" > wrote in message
...
>> I have an older desktop that was originally loaded with
>> Windows 95, but was upgraded to W98 several years ago.
>> With the various problems I have had with W98 (blue
>> screens, system lockup, etc.), I can't help but wonder
if
>> I would not be better off by reformatting my hard drive
>> and installing XP from scratch versus buying the
upgrade
>> and installing it on top of W98. Pardon my lack of
>> understanding, but if I buy the XP upgrade, will it
>> resolve the problems I have been having with W98?
>> Upgrading is certainly the least expensive route, but I
am
>> tired of the problems and want to do it right.
Appreciate
>> all guidance/recommendations. Thanks.
>.
>

[Graham]

"Rick" > wrote in message
...
> I have an older desktop that was originally loaded with
> Windows 95, but was upgraded to W98 several years ago.
> With the various problems I have had with W98 (blue
> screens, system lockup, etc.), I can't help but wonder if
> I would not be better off by reformatting my hard drive
> and installing XP from scratch versus buying the upgrade
> and installing it on top of W98. Pardon my lack of
> understanding, but if I buy the XP upgrade, will it
> resolve the problems I have been having with W98?
> Upgrading is certainly the least expensive route, but I am
> tired of the problems and want to do it right. Appreciate
> all guidance/recommendations. Thanks.

With what you describe as an older system that had 95 out of the box, I
would not recommend putting XP on it. It is a very intensive OS and needs
faster components to work to its best ability. With the cost of prebuilt
systems inc. XP home being so low right, the money spent on the upgrade XP
would be better spent on a new)er) system. Just MHO. Post back with what you
now have and the regulars here may be better able to help you.

Also, it is better to view this (these) newsgroups using the Newsreader
included in Outlook Express as you can get back much easier. Here are the
details needed to be added to the program. Open OE, click tools, accounts,
add, news, then put your display name in, email if you want to, then add
this as your news server msnews.microsoft.com and click ok.

[Ken Blake]

In , Rick wrote:

> I have an older desktop that was originally loaded with
> Windows 95, but was upgraded to W98 several years ago.
> With the various problems I have had with W98 (blue
> screens, system lockup, etc.), I can't help but wonder if
> I would not be better off by reformatting my hard drive
> and installing XP from scratch versus buying the upgrade
> and installing it on top of W98. Pardon my lack of
> understanding, but if I buy the XP upgrade, will it
> resolve the problems I have been having with W98?
> Upgrading is certainly the least expensive route, but I am
> tired of the problems and want to do it right. Appreciate
> all guidance/recommendations. Thanks.


No, upgrading is *not* "the least expensive route." The price is
the same either way.

The first thing for you to realize is that if go to you XP. you
should buy a copy of the Windows XP upgrade, since it's the
chepaest way to go, and as an owner of Windows 98, you qualify to
use it. That's true whether you decide to upgrade over the top of
98 or do a clean installation.

The requirement for the upgrade version is to *own* a previous
version, not to have it installed, and you can install the
upgrade on a freshly-formatted hard drive by inserting the
qualifying versions' media when it prompts you for it.

So now your question is, should you do a clean installation (with
the upgrade CD) or an upgrade. Normally, my advice is for almost
everyone to at least try the upgrade first. It often works very
well, and worst case, if it doesn't and you have problems, you
can always revert to a clean installation. On the other hand, if
you are currently having problems, it's possible that some of
those problems might survive the upgrade and you would have been
better off clean installing from scratch.

Another very important consideration for you is your statement "I
have an older desktop that was originally loaded with Windows
95." You need to realize up front that a Windows 95-era computer
does not have a very good chance of running XP successfully.
Besides possible having incompatible hardware (and software),
your hard drive is likely too small, the processor too slow, and
you don't have sufficient RAM. You can't get away with much less
than a 400MHz processor with 256MB of RAM, and a 10GB hard drive.
My guess is that you probably don't come up to those minimums and
therefore shouldn't go to XP unless you're willing to first spend
some money on new hardware. It may well be cheaper and easier to
buy an entire new computer rather than to try to upgrade almost
everything (which would likely be necessary).

One of the first things for you to do is evaluate your hardware
and software at
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/advisor.asp


--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup

[sqr [MVP] [MSFT] etc.]

>Normally, my advice is for almost
>everyone to at least try the upgrade first.

OH MAN

<shakes head>

always backup your inportant stuff and alway perform a clean install.

if the older os especially ME has something wrong in it this will transfer
during the upgrade to give you grief. Then they will come in here again
stating XP is a complete waste of time.

--
sqr
Overseer: alt.os.windows-xp
--
"Ken Blake" > wrote in message
...
> In , Rick wrote:
>
> > I have an older desktop that was originally loaded with
> > Windows 95, but was upgraded to W98 several years ago.
> > With the various problems I have had with W98 (blue
> > screens, system lockup, etc.), I can't help but wonder if
> > I would not be better off by reformatting my hard drive
> > and installing XP from scratch versus buying the upgrade
> > and installing it on top of W98. Pardon my lack of
> > understanding, but if I buy the XP upgrade, will it
> > resolve the problems I have been having with W98?
> > Upgrading is certainly the least expensive route, but I am
> > tired of the problems and want to do it right. Appreciate
> > all guidance/recommendations. Thanks.
>
>
> No, upgrading is *not* "the least expensive route." The price is
> the same either way.
>
> The first thing for you to realize is that if go to you XP. you
> should buy a copy of the Windows XP upgrade, since it's the
> chepaest way to go, and as an owner of Windows 98, you qualify to
> use it. That's true whether you decide to upgrade over the top of
> 98 or do a clean installation.
>
> The requirement for the upgrade version is to *own* a previous
> version, not to have it installed, and you can install the
> upgrade on a freshly-formatted hard drive by inserting the
> qualifying versions' media when it prompts you for it.
>
> So now your question is, should you do a clean installation (with
> the upgrade CD) or an upgrade. Normally, my advice is for almost
> everyone to at least try the upgrade first. It often works very
> well, and worst case, if it doesn't and you have problems, you
> can always revert to a clean installation. On the other hand, if
> you are currently having problems, it's possible that some of
> those problems might survive the upgrade and you would have been
> better off clean installing from scratch.
>
> Another very important consideration for you is your statement "I
> have an older desktop that was originally loaded with Windows
> 95." You need to realize up front that a Windows 95-era computer
> does not have a very good chance of running XP successfully.
> Besides possible having incompatible hardware (and software),
> your hard drive is likely too small, the processor too slow, and
> you don't have sufficient RAM. You can't get away with much less
> than a 400MHz processor with 256MB of RAM, and a 10GB hard drive.
> My guess is that you probably don't come up to those minimums and
> therefore shouldn't go to XP unless you're willing to first spend
> some money on new hardware. It may well be cheaper and easier to
> buy an entire new computer rather than to try to upgrade almost
> everything (which would likely be necessary).
>
> One of the first things for you to do is evaluate your hardware
> and software at
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/advisor.asp
>
>
> --
> Ken Blake
> Please reply to the newsgroup
>
>

[Malvern]

This has been cussed and discussed about before on other groups... Start
over.
1)Upgrades are problems waiting to happen as they exacerbate those from the
system being upgraded.
2) And I agree with comment that a new PC is probably in order as anything
that had Win 9x will NOT have either HD or RAM capacity required by XP.
(This was definitely true in my case.) Computer prices aren't as high as
back then either.

Malv

"Rick" > wrote in message
...
> I have an older desktop that was originally loaded with
> Windows 95, but was upgraded to W98 several years ago.
> With the various problems I have had with W98 (blue
> screens, system lockup, etc.), I can't help but wonder if
> I would not be better off by reformatting my hard drive
> and installing XP from scratch versus buying the upgrade
> and installing it on top of W98. Pardon my lack of
> understanding, but if I buy the XP upgrade, will it
> resolve the problems I have been having with W98?
> Upgrading is certainly the least expensive route, but I am
> tired of the problems and want to do it right. Appreciate
> all guidance/recommendations. Thanks.

[Donald Link]

Good lord, several years old is your problem whether you run win98 or not.
You surly could not run xp on such a old system. The way to resolve your
problems is to retire the OLD system. Period. The best upgrade you could
do would be to go back to Win95. Your problems are probably cause by
failing hardware such as memory or any number of components. Walmart is
currently selling and XP2200 ADM loaded and with a 17 inch monitor for $499
including xp.




"Rick" > wrote in message
...
> I have an older desktop that was originally loaded with
> Windows 95, but was upgraded to W98 several years ago.
> With the various problems I have had with W98 (blue
> screens, system lockup, etc.), I can't help but wonder if
> I would not be better off by reformatting my hard drive
> and installing XP from scratch versus buying the upgrade
> and installing it on top of W98. Pardon my lack of
> understanding, but if I buy the XP upgrade, will it
> resolve the problems I have been having with W98?
> Upgrading is certainly the least expensive route, but I am
> tired of the problems and want to do it right. Appreciate
> all guidance/recommendations. Thanks.