Upgrade or Clean Install?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

No, absolutely not.

You can do a clean install as easily using the upgrade as the full version
if you have your ME disk. The only difference is that when using the upgrade
version it will ask for a qualifying product during the initial portion of
setup. At this time you insert the ME disk and it checks. You then replace
it with the XP upgrade disk and the installation you end up with is
identical.
Why spend the extra money for effectively nothing if you have the ME disk
(or any of the other qualifying product disks)

Now, for a clean install VS an upgrade - I have done both from win98SE and
ME.

Clearly, there are some advantage when installing a new operating system to
make a clean install.

1. You can reformat the disk (and change partition layouts ) during
preliminary install. You can start off with NTFS (some advantage over
converting later)
2. You do not end up having leftovers from previous operating system on the
disk on the disk. Makes for a cleaner and potentially less troublesome
installation at times and maybe a better and faster running system in the
end (PS - When I did these trials, I never saw any significant difference
except disk space)
3. You get to start from Scratch - get rid of old stuff you may not need,
may not want and may not even know is there

The main benefit of an upgrade is that it allows you to save all the data
and applications you have. You do not need to reinstall everything again.
You could leave FAT32 or convert to NTFS after the upgrade.
Again, I have never had any significant problems after upgrading either.

--
Jon Hildrum
DTS MVP
Jon_Hildrum@msn.com
www.hildrum.com
"3B" <nivver@hame.com> wrote in message
news:Xns96395ABA8BCC4nivverhameatall@216.196.97.136...
> ME to XP: I am under the impression that in going from FAT32 to NTFS,
> there
> have been significant 3rd party software problems and it would be better
> to
> purchase the full version of XP and do a clean install vs. using the
> upgrade package. Any truth to this?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

3B wrote:
> ME to XP: I am under the impression that in going from FAT32 to NTFS, there
> have been significant 3rd party software problems and it would be better to
> purchase the full version of XP and do a clean install vs. using the
> upgrade package. Any truth to this?

The upgrade package should let you do a clean install as well if you
have the original WinME CD; either full, upgrade or OEM; note that a
"recovery disk" isn't upgradeable except through the original supplier
(usually at a much lower cost, btw)

When you switch from FAT32 to NTFS you *really* want to reformat the
disk yourself, otherwise you could end up with itty bitty 512 byte
sectors that are a pain to defrag.


Rick

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

If you have a Win Me CD rather than a "recovery" CD then you should still
be able to clean install XP using an upgrade CD it's just that you will be
asked to insert the Win Me CD during the installation to verify your
eligibility to be using an upgrade version of XP.

Whilst I have upgraded Win me to XP on a number of occasions without
problem I would suggest that if you are changing to using NTFS rather than
FAT32 it is probably best to bite the bullet and clean install.
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP
mike.maltby@gmail.com


3B <nivver@hame.com> wrote:

> ME to XP: I am under the impression that in going from FAT32 to NTFS,
> there have been significant 3rd party software problems and it would
> be better to purchase the full version of XP and do a clean install
> vs. using the upgrade package. Any truth to this?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

I would back up, format the drive and clean install an OEM XP. YMMV.

Alias

"3B" <nivver@hame.com> wrote

> ME to XP: I am under the impression that in going from FAT32 to NTFS,
> there
> have been significant 3rd party software problems and it would be better
> to
> purchase the full version of XP and do a clean install vs. using the
> upgrade package. Any truth to this?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

With all respects to my learned colleagues, a fact they did not mention ...
when installing Windows XP as an upgrade, all Windows 98/SE/Me components
are REMOVED from the system as part of the "upgrade". Thus, as far as
Windows is concerned, it makes no difference whether you do an upgrade or a
clean install - you'll still get the same thing.

That said, any problems with software already on the system (including,
sadly, any viruses or worms or adware or spyware) will remain despite the
upgrade. So that would be one possible reason to prefer a "clean" install
over an "upgrade" - wipe the system and you wipe any existing problems.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] rgharper@gmail.com
* In fond memory ... Alex, you shall be sorely missed
* http://www.aumha.org/alex.htm



"3B" <nivver@hame.com> wrote in message
news:Xns96395ABA8BCC4nivverhameatall@216.196.97.136...
> ME to XP: I am under the impression that in going from FAT32 to NTFS,
> there
> have been significant 3rd party software problems and it would be better
> to
> purchase the full version of XP and do a clean install vs. using the
> upgrade package. Any truth to this?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

Note that it *is* possible to do a clean install using an Upgrade MS XP CD
(sometimes I hate acronyms!<g>) from almost any qualifying system - however,
the problem may come during any subsequent attempt to reinstall the XP OS -
it may require the prior reinstall of the 'qualifying' OS - which may not be
possible (without again doing a clan install)!!

Personally, I recommend to everyone that they

1) check their system first with the Upgrade advisor, to see whether they
are equipped to run XP in the first place!!
(http://www.microsoft.com/windowsme/upgrade.asp)
2) back up their data to a safe place (NOT on the target HD for the new
OS!!!)
3) ensure that their hardware is supported by the system manufacturer for XP
(most are/do, but there are one or two notable exceptions where
manufacturers have gone out of business!)

and then proceed with the upgrade - ensuring that before they connect to the
Internet for the first time after the upgrade, they have the Windows
firewall (as a minimum requirement) enabled, and SP2 (preferably) also
installed.


--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"Rick T" <plinnane3REMOVE@NOSPAMyahoo.com> wrote in message
news:e6Ty76eQFHA.2748@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> 3B wrote:
>> ME to XP: I am under the impression that in going from FAT32 to NTFS,
>> there have been significant 3rd party software problems and it would be
>> better to purchase the full version of XP and do a clean install vs.
>> using the upgrade package. Any truth to this?
>
> The upgrade package should let you do a clean install as well if you have
> the original WinME CD; either full, upgrade or OEM; note that a "recovery
> disk" isn't upgradeable except through the original supplier (usually at a
> much lower cost, btw)
>
> When you switch from FAT32 to NTFS you *really* want to reformat the disk
> yourself, otherwise you could end up with itty bitty 512 byte sectors that
> are a pain to defrag.
>
>
> Rick

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

Richard G. Harper <rgharper@email.com> wrote:

> With all respects to my learned colleagues, a fact they did not
> mention ... when installing Windows XP as an upgrade, all Windows
> 98/SE/Me components are REMOVED from the system as part of the
> "upgrade". Thus, as far as Windows is concerned, it makes no
> difference whether you do an upgrade or a clean install - you'll
> still get the same thing.
> That said, any problems with software already on the system
> (including, sadly, any viruses or worms or adware or spyware) will
> remain despite the upgrade. So that would be one possible reason to
> prefer a "clean" install over an "upgrade" - wipe the system and you
> wipe any existing problems.

Richard,

But what about FAT32 to NTFS? Personally I've found this to be less of a
problem with a clean install but appreciate that others have had no
problems by upgrading to XP and then converting to NTFS.
--
Mike M

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

"Mike M" <No_Spam@Corned_Beef.Only> wrote:

>Richard G. Harper <rgharper@email.com> wrote:
>
>> With all respects to my learned colleagues, a fact they did not
>> mention ... when installing Windows XP as an upgrade, all Windows
>> 98/SE/Me components are REMOVED from the system as part of the
>> "upgrade". Thus, as far as Windows is concerned, it makes no
>> difference whether you do an upgrade or a clean install - you'll
>> still get the same thing.
>> That said, any problems with software already on the system
>> (including, sadly, any viruses or worms or adware or spyware) will
>> remain despite the upgrade. So that would be one possible reason to
>> prefer a "clean" install over an "upgrade" - wipe the system and you
>> wipe any existing problems.
>
>Richard,
>
>But what about FAT32 to NTFS? Personally I've found this to be less of a
>problem with a clean install but appreciate that others have had no
>problems by upgrading to XP and then converting to NTFS.

The only substantial concern regarding converting to NTFS is ensuring
the proper alignment of the NTFS partition so as to attain 4K
clusters. FAT32 partitions are most often not properly aligned for
NTFS conversion and therefore end up using a 512 byte cluster size
when converted.

Partitions alignment can be corrected prior to conversion by using
Partition Magic or BootItNG.


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

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

Ron Martell <ron.martell@gmail.com> wrote:

> The only substantial concern regarding converting to NTFS is ensuring
> the proper alignment of the NTFS partition so as to attain 4K
> clusters. FAT32 partitions are most often not properly aligned for
> NTFS conversion and therefore end up using a 512 byte cluster size
> when converted.

Which was the reason for my comment

> Partitions alignment can be corrected prior to conversion by using
> Partition Magic or BootItNG.

Tools not necessarily available to the average user wishing to upgrade
from Win 9x to XP. I do appreciate though that BING's licence does allow
30 days free use which is more than sufficient for the job but then again
I feel BING isn't necessarily the easiest of tools for the inexperienced.
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP
mike.maltby@gmail.com

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

Excellent info here and I thank everyone who took the time to give their
input.

For those who are interested, it seems to me that a clean install would be
the more advisable path for me to take. I'm pretty sure the disk that came
with the system is a full version and not a recovery, but I'll have to dig
it out to make sure. The deciding factor is the warm and fuzzies I'll get
knowing that everything on the disk has been wiped. While I try to be
vigilant about keeping the system free and clear of old programs and other
such flotsam, I know I'm not perfect.

Again, thanks to all.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

You can clean install with the upgrade. Have your ME disk handy for the
compliance check.
Windows XP can run on a Fat32 drive and I don't know why any trouble would
be experienced with NTFS format since it has been used since the days of
Windows NT.

"3B" <nivver@hame.com> wrote in message
news:Xns96395ABA8BCC4nivverhameatall@216.196.97.136...
> ME to XP: I am under the impression that in going from FAT32 to NTFS,
> there
> have been significant 3rd party software problems and it would be better
> to
> purchase the full version of XP and do a clean install vs. using the
> upgrade package. Any truth to this?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

Andrew Murray <admurray@iinet.net.au> wrote:

> You can clean install with the upgrade. Have your ME disk handy for
> the compliance check.
> Windows XP can run on a Fat32 drive and I don't know why any trouble
> would be experienced with NTFS format since it has been used since
> the days of Windows NT.

However converting FAT32 to NTFS can lead to problems with 512 byte
cluster sizes leading to much slower disk access than otherwise.
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP
mike.maltby@gmail.com