Memory above 512 MB

Papa wrote:

I will be installing two 256 MB chips into my daughter's Windows 98SE system
soon. It will be in addition to the two 64 MB chips in there now. So she
will have a total of 640 MB of RAM. Then I intend to upgrade her system to
Windows XP Pro. Her CPU is running at 1.3 GHZ and her HD has 40 GB and is 10
percent full.

Can I expect any problems with Windows XP in going to 640 MB of RAM? I know
there are some steps that need to be taken with W98 operating systems when
512 MB is exceeded.

No problems from XP with this amount of RAM.
--
Tom Porterfield
MS-MVP MCE
http://support.telop.org

Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup only.

Great advice. I'll do a backup and then do a clean install, which, as you
well know, prevents the system from inheriting old problems, among other
things.

And thanks for answering the memory question.

Regards.

"S.Heenan" wrote in message
news:JNxLc.72445$Mr4.47946@pd7tw1no...
Papa wrote:
I will be installing two 256 MB chips into my daughter's Windows 98SE
system soon. It will be in addition to the two 64 MB chips in there
now. So she will have a total of 640 MB of RAM. Then I intend to
upgrade her system to Windows XP Pro. Her CPU is running at 1.3 GHZ
and her HD has 40 GB and is 10 percent full.


Do not upgrade from Windows98SE to Windows XP. Backup her data and perform
a
clean install of Windows XP. The upgrade version of WinXP may be used for
this purpose. Simply insert the qualifying Win98 CD when prompted by
setup.
The OEM version will allow only a clean installation.

Can I expect any problems with Windows XP in going to 640 MB of RAM?
I know there are some steps that need to be taken with W98 operating
systems when 512 MB is exceeded.

You should not have any problems regarding the amount of memory.

"Papa" wrote:

Great advice. I'll do a backup and then do a clean install, which, as you
well know, prevents the system from inheriting old problems, among other
things.

And thanks for answering the memory question.


Windows XP basically does a clean install, even in an upgrade
situation. It starts by renaming the existing Windows folder and then
installing a clean copy of Windows XP in a new Windows folder. It
then imports only what it needs (registry entries, application DLLs,
fonts, etc) from the old Windows folder and deletes it.

Because Windows XP is based on the NT kernel very little if anything
of the system files from Windows 98 will be carried forward by the
upgrade.

And if you try the upgrade and it turns out to be problematic then you
still have the option of doing a clean install. But the vast majority
of upgrades from Windows 9x to XP do turn out well, and by doing so
you will save a great deal of work, and there is always something that
gets missed from the data file backup when you prepare for a clean
install.

Before doing the upgrade install you should read the article on
upgrading to Windows XP by former MVP Gary Woodruff at
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm

And if you do opt for the clean install route you should consider
using the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard from the Windows XP CD to
back up your Windows 98 information to another hard drive partition, a
network drive, or a removable backup device. Gary Woodruff also has
an article on using FASTW which you will find at
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/fast.htm


Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

Thanks, Tom

"Tom Porterfield" wrote in message
...
Papa wrote:

I will be installing two 256 MB chips into my daughter's Windows 98SE
system
soon. It will be in addition to the two 64 MB chips in there now. So she
will have a total of 640 MB of RAM. Then I intend to upgrade her system
to
Windows XP Pro. Her CPU is running at 1.3 GHZ and her HD has 40 GB and
is 10
percent full.

Can I expect any problems with Windows XP in going to 640 MB of RAM? I
know
there are some steps that need to be taken with W98 operating systems
when
512 MB is exceeded.

No problems from XP with this amount of RAM.
--
Tom Porterfield
MS-MVP MCE
http://support.telop.org

Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup only.