Switching to XP Pro from Win.98SE

[KennyG 0]

This has probably been asked numerous times sorry to take up your time.I am going to do an upgrade from Win.98 SE to XP Pro just wondering if anyone who has done the same had any problem running FS2002 after the upgrade.Thanks in advance for any replys.Kenny G. :)

[Guest DanWalloch]

I built myself a new pc and have WinXP Pro running on it. I have had no problems running FS. And Since XP uses less system resources, you might even notice improvements.

[Guest]

Hi Kenny,Your best bet is not to "upgrade" your existing 98, but do a fresh install of XP. While many have no problems when they upgrade over top of 98, there are many that do - for a variety of reasons.If you decide to do a full install of XP instead of an upgrade, there are two ways to proceed:1) install XP onto another partition (drive letter) and keep your existing 98 as a dual-boot option. You'll have to boot the XP CD (by changing your BIOS to allow booting from CDs) for this option to be provided to you during XP's setup procedure.2) delete your existing Windows 98 folder (and all the folders it contains) completely using a DOS boot disk prior to installing XP - this too will require you to boot your XP CD with the above BIOS change.The first option may be the best if you have the 2Gigs of extra hard drive space XP will require since you'll be guaranteed a working and known OS while you take the time to re-install your apps and games into XP. The second option is of course the cleanest if you'll have no need for 98 after XP is up and running.Do a search in the Hardware forum for posts on installing XP - there are detailed procedures posted there that you'll be interested in. Both methods are much easier than they might sound.Good luck,Elrond---MS Flight Simulator Tips and TricksEnthused AVSIM Peon - with minor Bucket and Mop duties (they only let me roam near the AVSIM toilets!)

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

My preferred way... buy a new harddrive for XP and install as the master.Keep the old harddrive on the other IDE connector.Over time, you can move files around to suit your needs.I still believe you get better performance overall if you have FS2002 on a separate harddrive from the operating system..

[Guest Hugo]

This is an option that pleases me as, anyway, I'm getting short on drive space. Presently I have Win98 2nd ed on drive C and FS on this drive as well.Should the old C drive be connected as a slave prior installing WinXP onto the new C drive, thus detecting FS (and Win98 as well??) or should it be connected only after XP installation? In the latter case will it detect FS properly? If not, then maybe then a simple reinstallation of FS2K2 over the former one would do, yet protecting all addons. Does this make sense?Tks, Hugo

[Dillon 2,197]

You will have to reinstall FS2k2. If you do an upgrade XP will not convert the necessary registry information to run FS2k2. You should rename your FS directory to something like, 'FS2002 Old'. Once you reinstall FS2k2 copy over your old 'Gauges', 'Aircraft', 'Sound', and 'Scenery' folders. Keep your old FS98 install folder of Flight Simulator 2002 just in case there is other information that needs to get copied over. This is the most painless way to convert to XP and not throw away all your old FS2k2 settings.

[Guest]

Hugo - I would connect the old drive as the slave prior to installing WinXP. But, in either case, WinXP will not detect nor recognize your FS2002 installation on the old drive. To solve this problem, and to get the correct WinXP registry entries, you can create the proper registry entries and avoid the need to reinstall FS2002. To create these entries copy everything between the dotted lines below into a text file and name it FS2002 Registry Entries.txt (Notepad works fine).-------------------------Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftMicrosoft GamesFlight Simulator8.0]"Zone"="http://zone.msn.com/asp/fs02redir.asp""Version"="8.0""Retail"="1""Launched"="1""PID"="55411-442-5576822-48455""EXE Path"="E:FS2002""CDPath"="F:""VersionType"="RetailVersion""InstalledGroup"="34359681309""LangID"=dword:00000009-------------------------IMPORTANT: You MUST change the lines "EXE Path" and "CDPath" to match the location of your FS2002 installation on the old drive and the drive letter of the CD drive on your machine. When you are ready to actually update the WinXP registry all you need to do is change the extension on this file from .txt to .reg and double-click. The file will self-execute and patch the WinXP registry.(The key location is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftMicrosoft GamesFlight Simulator8.0)Trip

[Guest Hugo]

Tks guys for these infos. I've copied them and will use them when I will proceed to the changes in about 2 months.Hugo