Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (
More info?)
"Bruce Chambers" <bruce_a_chambers@h0tmail.com> wrote in message
news:%23JkgX8DHFHA.2420@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> philo wrote:
>
>
> >
> > first off...
> > a direct upgrade of win98 to XP *can* certainly work...
> > but it is less likely to.
> >
>
> Again, what documentation or evidence can you provide to support this
> claim? *Why* is it less likely to work? Nothing you've said below even
> applies.
>
>
> > win9x opertating systems
> > are quite different from NT-based operating systems
>
>
> Obviously.
>
>
> > and only *rarely* would use the same drivers.
>
>
> That should read "never..."
>
>
Nope, i once could not find an XP or win2k driver for a modem...
and tried a win98 driver...it worked fine.
Note: that was a one time only experience!
> > and yes, the drivers are supposed to be replaced during an upgrade...
>
>
> Not only "supposed to be," but have to be, if the device is to work
> under the new operating system. WinXP won't even attempt to use the
> Win9x device drivers, even if the files do remain on the hard drive.
> The worst problem the Win9x drivers can cause is a the waste of a small
> amount of hard drive space.
>
>
> > but in actual practice there are often compromises made that leave one
with
> > an unsatable
> > system
> >
>
>
> "Unsatable?" Does an upgrade somehow make the computer hungry? (And
> the correct word would be "insatiable.") If you mean "unstable," this
> would occur only if the original OS were problematic to start with, if
> other installed applications were incompatible with the new OS, or if
> the hardware platform were incompatible, defective, or sub-standard.
>
>
you know darn well that's a typo. *unstable*
> > to upgrade win95 to win98 for example is quite safe
> >
>
>
> Assuming there are no problems with the original OS, that all of the
> Win95 device drivers were compatible with Win98 (which was often not the
> case, if memory serves), other installed applications were compatible
> with the new OS, and if the hardware platform is compatible,
> non-defective, and not sub-standard, and there is no malware installed.
>
>
> > to upgrade win2k to XP is quite safe...
> >
>
>
> Again, assuming there are no problems with the original OS, that all of
> the Win2K device drivers were compatible with WinXP (or were replaced by
> WinXP-specific drivers), other installed applications were compatible
> with the new OS, and if the hardware platform is compatible,
> non-defective, and not sub-standard, and there is no malware installed.
>
> Do you notice a trend, yet? Any upgrade can be problem-free, if the
> underlying hardware is fully compatible with the new OS, if the existing
> applications are fully compatible, and if the computer user properly
> prepares and plans for the upgrade. Conversely, any upgrade over a
> problematic OS, onto incompatible, defective, or sub-standard hardware
> is likely to fail.
>
>
> > but it's not a good practice to attempt an upgrade from a win9x based OS
to
> > an NT based OS
>
>
> Again, can you produce any industry white-papers to this affect? On
> what do you base your opinion?
>
> >
> > FWIW: i have done well over 500 installations (of various operating
> > systems... not all microsoft)
>
>
> Relevance? What percentage of these were properly prepared and
> performed upgrades? What percentage were ill-prepared and poorly
> performed upgrades? What, specifically, went "wrong" in the majority of
> cases? What single common factor applies universally, to lead you to
> summarily conclude that all upgrades are "bad?"
>
Note: none of my statements have been an opinion. I have emperical results
for
anything I have posted. If I've ever posted on usenet something that I have
not personally
tested I've said so. Now, to answer your question...I did not want to imply
that I've attempted 500
upgrades of win98 to XP...I just wanted to say that I have a lot of
experience with installing operating systems in general...and of the many
installs i've performed...maybe only 50 involved an upgrade of win98 to XP.
The first time I did it (my own system)...I thought...well why not just take
the easy route and just directly
upgrade the win98 to XP? I checked compatability and uninstalled one app
that was questionable...
then did the upgrade. It all was quite simple and painless and seemed to all
go well. *However*
even though the win98(se) installation had been working well ...my XP
experience was not a good one. There were occasional crashes and subtle
system instabilites
which led me to question whether or not XP was really as good as I was told.
Anyway...since I has already backed up my data, I decided to just do a fresh
install , then reinstall all the same apps...That was two years ago or so
and my XP installation
has been rock stable.
Anyway...since i am an experimentor by nature...I have done perhaps 20 or so
direct upgrades of win98 to XP on either test machines...or for other
people...and found
approx half of them to be less than desirable . Although for the most part,
the upgrade
did work...the system was not as stable as it was after I formatted the
drive and just did a clean
install. After that, I decided to just stick to clean installs and have had
virtually no problems since.
That's why I always recommend a clean install.
Additionally: How likely is it that the win98 installtion is 100 % trouble
free?
Doing a fresh install of XP pretty much eliminates that unknown.
Also, with a clean install, the drive is formatted again...and if there were
any drive problems...
that should also be taken care of.
Plus, it turns out that to do a completely fresh installation really does
not take all that long...
even including re-installing the apps.
I still recall the time I had spent over 4 hours trying to rid someone's
machine that was plagued
with viruses...And ending up just formatting the drive and reinstalling
their apps...all
within 90 minutes!
for more reading see this:
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_9xupgrade.asp
Note: on google, if you look for problems upgrading from Win98 to XP
you will get thousands of hits. Most of the experts advise to perform a
clean install.
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