Windows XP Upgrade

[Minwah]

Just a quick one:

I'm considering using XP for my cabinet (OK Howard so it's not as bad as I thought )

Thing is, the XP upgrade seems to be the cheapest way of getting it (I don't know anyone who has it ).  My questions are: Will this upgrade from Win '98 OK?, Will I have to re-install my programs?, Will I lose anything from my drive?

Any advise would be great

[Bursar]

First things first, yes the Upgrade will work OK.

Now the really improtant part!! Do not perform a Windows upgrade from 98 to XP.

The same can be said about upgrading from any previous version of Windows to a new version.

You will be creating more problems than you will be solving. The best thing to do is to backup all your important data, format the disk, and then boot from the Windows XP CD. It will start to go through the install process, and it will then ask for the product you are upgrading from. Bung in your 98 CD, and after a few seconds it will spit it out and want the XP CD back.

After that, follow the prompts to install XP and enjoy

Just don't put the XP CD in and expect an upgrade to work like magic. Even if everything seems to be OK, you will run into problems. You'll have bits of drivers from Windows 98 left over, files here, files there, and it will generally be a mess.

Your life will be much simpler all round if you zap your hard disk and do a clean install.

[Howard_Casto]

What he said... NEVER upgrade....

The first thing you do before installing any windows version is to format the drive.  I've worked on computers for about 4 years and every IT I've talked to (including myself) suggests you do this.  

Carrying over junk from previous os's just gives windoze more of an excuse to break down.  The easy upgrade thing is merely a last ditch effort to keep your old files... it seldom works well and you have to format your drive soon after anyway.  

Sorry

[Minwah]

Thanks alot for the advise, that's exactly the kind of problem I didn't want to encounter.

My next questions then is:  How do I format my drive completely without booting in DOS?

The reason I ask is that I once installed Partition Magic 7 in order to partition my drive and run a Win 98 / 2000 dual boot.  But when my Win 2k disk didn't work, I removed the partition and un-installed Partition Magic.  BUT ever since I installed Partitoin Magic, I can no longer press F8 on boot-up and stay in DOS.

So what happens if you format C: while in Windows??

[D10]

When you put in your XP CD you will be given the option to format the hard, or upgrade.

[Minwah]

Ah I see.  Thanks alot