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Upgrading to XP. What should I be afraid of?


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I upgraded our WIn98 to WinXp.. I'd built a new PC and certain drivers wouldn't install because we didn't have Win 2k or XP, so we upgraded and they installed...

 

what can I say, it has run damn fine and hasn't froze on me once, I'm surprised. I had a few program crashes, but they don't take the OS with.

 

A definite must is to download all the security updates, but at that rate you'll be downloading 528525025852 per week :mad:

 

The XP activation stuff is no sweat, I did it online and you get like a 30 day grace period before you must register.

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Upgrading to XP. What should I be afraid of?
Answer: MicroSoft :D

 

Just make sure you download ALL of the updates and service packs directly from the MS site in the section "Windows Update".

 

Just make sure you Mother board is compatible with the automatic IRQ assignments from Windows XP. If not, several problems might come...

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at Fender Musical Instruments Company

 

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As long as the system resources are adequate, the other question is whether you have any old hardware you want to keep using - there may not be XP compatible drivers for things like scanners, TV cards, extended features on other cards.

I like any box where I can plug-in and remove my numerous USB devices whenever I want.

It's OK to tempt fate. Just don't drop your drawers and moon her.
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I agree about the clean install to a formatted drive. Just make certain that you have all the drivers you need before you proceed. there's nothing more frustrating than finding out that your old graphics card is obsolete and there are no drivers for XP. This has happened to me with some old NIC cards which were easily replaced for $10 so it was no big deal but it's best to find out before you have the drive wiped clean.

Mac Bowne

G-Clef Acoustics Ltd.

Osaka, Japan

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I'd also recommened doing a clean install of XP. In addition, it couldn't hurt to make sure that your motherboard has the latest BIOS installed before running the install. Otherwise, kick back and enjoy a rock solid OS!
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Clean install, all updates, musicxp.net and www.blackviper.com to stop all xp services you don't need running and hogging all of your precious memory!! Great site on xp services and what they are for and whether you need them or not...really does make a difference...
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Originally posted by gtrmac:

I agree about the clean install to a formatted drive. Just make certain that you have all the drivers you need before you proceed. there's nothing more frustrating than finding out that your old graphics card is obsolete and there are no drivers for XP. This has happened to me with some old NIC cards which were easily replaced for $10 so it was no big deal but it's best to find out before you have the drive wiped clean.

Reformatting is a pain in the butt. I do it on occation and then do a new clean install of my os and programs. What I find the easiest is to use a win 98 boot disk, then format. It is good to have your 6 win xp install disks at the ready. An upgrade is simply the easiest, just not the cleanest.

bbach

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

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What with all the reviews I do, I abuse the daylights out of XP -- beta software, different sound cards, you name it. After two years plus, no reinstalls, no major problems. Then again, my music computer never touches the internet.
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There's some little utility which I can't remember the name of that you can run before you install XP, and it will alert you to any hardware or software conflicts.

 

Thing is to download the latest drivers for all your hardware before you install XP, and burn them to CD, then you can install those once the OS is installed, if you need to.

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Originally posted by Dylan PDX:

I'd also recommened doing a clean install of XP. In addition, it couldn't hurt to make sure that your motherboard has the latest BIOS installed before running the install. Otherwise, kick back and enjoy a rock solid OS!

Latest BIOS, could be very important. That should come before anything.
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Here's a link to that program- XP Advisor

 

See, possible problem here is, you do a clean install, but the drivers for your modem are not included in XP, and then.....you're screwed, because you now can't get online to get the drivers. Worse case scenario, but you gotta think about that.

 

If you're really paranoid as hell you could create a seperate partition on your hard drive and install XP to that, and see how it works before you do a clean install.

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Originally posted by cwfno:

Reformatting is a pain in the butt. I do it on occation and then do a new clean install of my os and programs. What I find the easiest is to use a win 98 boot disk, then format. It is good to have your 6 win xp install disks at the ready. An upgrade is simply the easiest, just not the cleanest.

Every XP (Home + Pro) CD that Ive used is bootable and doesnt require boot floppy disk as long as your BIOS supports booting from CD. Also, the XP setup CD can reformat your hard drive (and quickly too) during setup, so FDISK and the Format command shouldnt be needed. Another tip Id recommend to anyone running XP is to download Microsofts Baseline Security Analyzer, which is free. Here\'s the link.
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I'm afraid of that Paperclip Guy who keeps popping up offering to help when I'm trying to do something.
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Originally posted by Dylan PDX:

Originally posted by cwfno:

Reformatting is a pain in the butt. I do it on occation and then do a new clean install of my os and programs. What I find the easiest is to use a win 98 boot disk, then format. It is good to have your 6 win xp install disks at the ready. An upgrade is simply the easiest, just not the cleanest.

Every XP (Home + Pro) CD that Ive used is bootable and doesnt require boot floppy disk as long as your BIOS supports booting from CD. Also, the XP setup CD can reformat your hard drive (and quickly too) during setup, so FDISK and the Format command shouldnt be needed. Another tip Id recommend to anyone running XP is to download Microsofts Baseline Security Analyzer, which is free. Here\'s the link.
Sometimes you have to go into your BIOS and change it to......BOOT FROM CD, as the first choice.

 

Why the hell does this crap have to be so complicated? Most people who have computers have no fucking idea, how to set it up, reformatt, or anything. I blame MicroShaft! :D

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Lots of very good advice. Thank you all.

 

This whole thing started because I was abusing the shit out of 98SE and it crashed hard. I had to do a re-install and accidentally grabbed my old 98 (1st edit.) disks. That f'd it up real good. Now Explorer periodically causes page faults and crashes. After enough of these, the blue screen of death pops up. It's getting to be a real pain in the ass. I've been backing up all of the data files on my 40g drive for the past few days and am finally ready to proceed. The one fear I have is that much of the software that I know and love was downloaded and is no longer available. Therefore I will be doing the upgrade instead of a fresh install and I hope it goes smoothly.

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If you're just doing the upgrade, run that UPGRADE ADVISOR, then you're pretty much assured of not having any problems. That will tell you what drivers you need.

 

There's also a utility in XP called Program Compatibility Wizard that may help you run some of your older programs in XP. Thanks MicroShaft!

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