WIN98SE to XP Transition... Experiences?

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

I am considering (finally) transitioning from WIN98SE to XP. If you have done this transition (rather than a clean install), can you tell me if you had problems, and how successful you were in overcoming the issues? I really do not want to do a complete clean install and start over... So, any insight in to the upgrade approach would be appreciated.

[Guest Ken Meier]

Tom,When XP first came out I installed as an upgrade and all went very well, absolutly no problems. I ran that way for some time till I did something that required a format and then did a clean install.Of course systems are different and your milage may vary, but it worked fine for me. Just be sure to backup first.You are going to like XP.Ken

[Guest KenG]

Tom,I've heard from quite a few people that made the transition without incident. However, when I did it, I made a fresh install. That's something I always advise people to do when upgrading an OS, especially when the new OS has a substantitally different kernel as is the case with Win98 vs WinXP.In short, it can be done and you probably won't have too many problems, but a clean install is still preferrable.

[Guest wkzzo]

Tom I will give you one word of advice, do full format and a clean install with XP,or just get a new hardrive and dual boot to the second hard drive if you want to save the data. its never a good idea to install one o/s over a previous version ,even though microsoft tells you its ok ,your just asking for trouble down the road. Even though this may work ok ,you will possibly have performance issues, I know the prospect of reinstalling all you files is a pain ,but fundamentally a clean install is the best option. This is of course my own opinion ,other people will probably tell you different but thats my advice.

[Guest outtatimeiii]

I have a story of this LOL (true and funny story that happened a few months ago)I did a "upgrade" from Win98 (first edition) to XP on my older K6-400 system a while back. I can honestly say it was a disaster LOL. Before I did anything big, I backed up all the user's profiles and other important stuff, just in case (and if you read ahead, that was a good idea LOL). Upgrading it was simple and effortless, and within 2 hours I was on XP. Everything started running very very nicely for once, something I rarely seen on that computer LOL. Everything was going very smooth for 3 days. Then the day after, XP started to act up, badly.When I powered up the comp that day, I was welcomed by XP throwing up a blue screen of death at me. This was not your standard run-of-the-mill error either. It only had 2 words on the screen ..... "Unspecified Error". I thought I had a virus LOL. After 4 reboots, I finally got into XP. Greattttttt, my Voodoo Banshee quit working in XP. I was presented with VGA mode (640x480x16 colors). I wasn't in safe mode either. I ran a virus check, and found none. I powered down the machine (which was the last time I saw XP for a while) and called my friend and let him look at it, since I am known to break something when I "fix" it LOL. When we powered the computer up again, XP did not boot at all. Just a blank, black screen. My HD did not fail either. XP just died. Not even safe mode got it back. The bootloader WAS working, since my friend added a "Boot into DOS" option and after rebooting it showed XP and DOS in the menu. Booting into DOS showed everything was still there.To make a long story short, I gave up with XP for a while on that comp and my dad requested that I put Win98 back on it and to "leave the comp alone" LOL. After a month or 2 (and after getting my dad to have another go on this expensive OS), I formatted (after backing up of course) and put XP back on. Its still running to this day smoothly on XP. I learned the hard way.....some computers can handle a OS upgrade better than others. I heard some great success stories about people upgrading Win98, SE, or Me to XP. It can be a good experience, or in my case, a bad one LOL. I really recommend anyone to backup their stuff when they do an upgrade to another OS, because bad things CAN happen LOL.

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Tom,I won't bore you with all the painful details but finally I resolved the FS2002 + numerous addons reinstallation issue by simply purchasing a decent second drive. XP Home was installed on that drive after creating a 5Gig partition. FS2002 was reinstalled out-of-the-box on the remaining D: partition to set up the registry references.My old drive became the E: drive with all my pre-existing software, configuration data, etc. I then simply copied across my original stable FS2002 folder and subfolders on top of my new installation. FS2002.cfg was then moved out of the root folder and, after running FS2002 for the first time, rebuilt its contents by referencing the original file.A great deal of FS2002 addons do not need registry references. Those that do can simply be reinstalled on top of their originals - usually not a problem as the installers will find no previous reference in the XP registry.I was amazed how quickly I got back on my feet again. Some addons do not install into the FS2002 folder but the principle remains the same.The other advantage of doing it this way is it allows you to reinstall other programs at your leisure and you still have the original installations for reference. Once done you can delete what you no longer need on the old drive. Mike :-wave

[Guest]

Unless you're extremely lucky, I would strongly advise against it.The first time I installed XP (professional edition in my case) I did it as an upgrade to my existing 98 installation.It didn't work well at all. XP endeavours to translate drivers etc. but ultimately, I had all sorts of nightmares with a variety of programs.I eventually re-formattted and did a clean installation. All problems solved. Beware though, If you have a scanner and printer attached, go hunt down XP drivers BEFORE you consider a clean install. Otherwise you may come a cropper - particularly with the scanner.Good luck.

[Guest]

Tom:Here is my advice..1) Uninstall everything you will no longer be using before you upgrade.2) Use Norton Utilities to fix any obscure windows problems you may have (i.e. Active X pointers, orphan files, invalid shortcuts, etc.)3) Defragment you drive using Norton Utilities.Once you have done these things you are free and clear to load up Win XP and you will have no problemsThe biggest catalyst for problems seems to be WinXP trying to update files that were invalid in Win98/ME in the first place and there you run into a problem or two.However, I upgraded WinME when XP was still called Whistler :-) and I have not had a burp or hiccup and of course, the stability and lack of the dreaded BSOD will make your life easier.HTH,Mike T.

[Guest]

Tom, I'm not advising for or against it, just relaying my experience. When I upgraded my motherboard and processor without a clean format, that was bad news. Terrible, horrible news. The upgrade from 98se to XP pro without a format went fairly painlessly. It took me about a week to work out the teething problems. I updated all the drivers post-facto. A few programs needed to be reinstalled, such as my MS FFbk software. I am finding that most of my programs run just fine without being "installed".The only actual problem I have is with Gmax. After I installed XP, it wouldn't run correctly. I can't reinstall it, because something's wrong with the installation, and I can't uninstall it, because there's something wrong with the installation. Go figure. I've got a tech support issue logged with MS, but I just haven't had the time to try their solution. Otherwise, it runs like a charm.BTW, I'm still running FAT32. I haven't been gutsy enough to make the switch to NTFS yet. :)

[Guest]

Psychophant1 just reminded me...Unless you have a particular need for file security within where you have your P.C. situated, I'd recommend sticking with FAT32.NTFS has certain issues running some games and isn't easy to uninstall once you've formatted.FAT32 runs everything fine for me.

[michal 44]

>NTFS has certain issues running some games and isn't easy to >uninstall once you've formatted. On this subject it is good to read this opinion as well...http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/DCForumID8/14421.htmlMichael J.

[Guest Fortress]

How about installing XP in a dual-boot config (idealy different partition or 2nd drive). Help you iron through whatever driver problems you may or may not have, etc etc... At least you'll have one good windows version in which to use until XP is up and running and all hardware works as expected.After that... just get rid of W98. Easy.....!Cheers,Paulhttp://www.strontiumdog.plus.com/sbird.jpgOfficially licenced by British Airways plc for use of name and logo

[Guest]

Tom, why the upgrade? To be able to fly the PSS dash 8? See this thread if you wish to get her in the air now, with Windows 98..http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/DCForumID30/4991.html