i had that aswell dsmith.

But when i got new 2k discs off Microsoft they send me the propper version so i dont need to put 98 i anymore

[Edited by super_si - 9/8/2002 9:02:20 AM]

 

Hi all
Just got WIndows Xp Pro, upgrade, and about to install it.
I bought a new 80GB hard disk to, so Im going to have to intall my copy of Win 98 SE and then upgrade from that.
Anyone got any important leasons learnt / pointers?
Whats all this about the activiation key and putting new hw on board the PC?
Thought I would ask before I wasted a load of time.
Brett

 

Dont upgrade!

Fresh install

 

dunno if you can have a fresh install since you got the upgrade. just give it a try as a fresh install is always better.

if your copy of XP is legit, then no worries about the activation. if you are thinking of adding new hardware, do it now before installing XP.

 

The copies legit, but the old hard drive is only 30GB, and I want my primary to be the 80GB
Why install the hardware beofore the installation?
Brett

 

In order to use XP indefinitely you have to activate the copy by contacting Microsoft, otherwise the install will stop working after a set number of days.

Certain types of hardware will cause the activation to become invalid and Microsoft then have to be contacted again to activate the copy. Activation can only be done a set number of times, I believe this is 3.

Changing a motherboard, but keeping the rest of the computer, is an example where the activation will be invalidated as XP will detect this change and it will think that it has been installed onto another machine.

It is probably safer to have most hardware installed during the XP install or adding it before you contact Microsoft to activate your copy to prevent you loosing one of these activation 'lifes'.

This whole activation thing is Microsofts anti-piracy thing.

If at all possible do a clean install of XP as in the short. medium, and long term it is likely to cause you less hassle and there is less to go wrong on a clean install than a upgrade.

It is normally possible to do a clean install using a Upgrade product, just make sure that you your original Win98 CD handy as you should be prompted to inserted this during the installation.

Nigel

 

Hi BLP.

I upgraded a pc from 98SE no probs.
But be aware, if you have old hardware on the system; XP may not
have the drivers within the setup. You may have to download;
which on a 56k modem setup is painful( ask my m8)
Luckily all my hardware was ok, including :
Plug-in sound, network adaptor, video; even self configured
as a client for ICS. I was amazed at that.
Overall i found it easier than Win98SE install.
I know its a preference to use your 80 Gig as the primary.
But wouldnt do that myself.
I would install on the 30, (its plenty anyway).
Partition up the 80 into 2(or more if required)
The reason being, store data on 80 Gig(docs, etc); i would also
use ghost(norton) or drive image(powerquest), to image your drive
(30 gig) with system on, onto the 2nd part of 80 gig disk.
The reason being, if you have a crash, install software that buggers it, virus...etc etc. You can re-image from your 80 gig disk
in under 10 mins. That is a lot less hassle than reinstalling from scratch 1-3 hrs ????
But thats just my point of view.. cheers

 

Don't know if it applies to XP pro Upgrade but i have certainly done a fresh install with a 2K Pro upgrade. As far as i remember you have to stick the Win98 disk in at some point to get the "upgrade" to accpet you used to have a prev version.

 

Thats really great guys.
By the looks of it as well, I dont actually have to do a 98SE install on my HD as it will simply ask for my old 98SE disk as proof for an upgrade.

Thanks for disk size comment on Norton Ghosting. One of the reasons I have a such a large disk is I do digital video editing, so I do actually need rather a lot of space.

Any other thoughts? I shall post my results here.

By the way, Im also installing a wireless network and connecting to a 512k cable connection, not to metion the DV stuff!

 

Erm, if you have xp pro, then win98 cannot be used as an upgrade path, its win98 to win xp-home, or nt4/win2k to win xp-pro,
fairly sure about that, you may need to borrow a 2k/nt4 disc from someone.

Also Pro only requires a serial number, not the full-on WPA cobblers that you get on xp-home, so hardware fitting in future isn't an issue.

If you make your boot device the cd rom instead of A drive, then keep the upgrade disc in your drive it will auto install on reboot.
Dont forget master/slave settings on your hd's + cd roms.

 

Nope, thats not right Goon.
On the side of my box it clearly says you must have one of the follow products:
Win 98
Win 98 SE
Win ME
Win NT 4
Win 2000 Pro

However, I didnt realise that you could boot from the install CD and go from there, so thats a useful bit of info. Thanks for your comment.

 

K m8ty, coulda sworn it was that way round, must be something else I'm thinking of, good luck