Re: Will A WindowsXP Upgrade Repair Win98 Problems

The best bit of advice so far is to ensure you have backups of all Data and
the originals of any software you will need in future.

98 Uses FAT format on hard drives, it cannot read or write the newer and
more secure NTFS format, so the first issue will be what file format you
want to use and for this reason I would generally perform a totally clean
install. The hardware certainly sounds like it can handle XP, I have a
number of machines that are older and slower and they do quite well
considering, however RAM is very helpful and I think 512 is the minimum.
Sure it will work with less but then you tend to experience slower
performance due to any data swapping.

I think you have to consider the "Upgrade" option as being a gamble in any
circumstances. In that regard I don't see the current problem you have as
making a lot of difference to your chances of it being successful. There is
almost nothing in common between 98 and XP so whatever drivers / system
files are causing the errors will be replaced. Nothing will fix broken
hardware of course.

There is also the possibility that this is a malware issue, how confident
are you that there's nothing nasty on the system? A clean format with an XP
CD will almost certainly avoid the possibility of something nasty being
"Carried over", I am not at all sure an upgrade would do so, and if you
choose to do the switch remember you will have to spend quite some time
downloading updates and patches. If your CD is not XP / SP2 I suggest you
first download and burn SP2 onto CD so you can install that before even
connecting back to the internet.

I just installed XP on a test machine and I think there were about 65
updates after SP2 :)

Charlie

<Jim Lang> wrote in message
news:spo4m21n24v6p8dq9js5r0fminu5rvvcvl@xxxxxxxxxx
I want to thank everyone for taking the time to provide opinons on how
i should go about taking care of my problem. I should have mentioned
that the computer is an IBM thinkpad A20m with a P III 850, 512K and a
60 gig HD.

If i'm not mistaken, it should handle XP? If not, i guess i'll first
try reinstalling 98 over my existing installation, and if that doesn't
work, reformatting and installing 98 fresh.

Any additional comments would also be greatly appreciated.



On Mon, 20 Nov 2006 15:54:09 -0500, "Anna" <myname@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:


"Anna" <myname@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message > Jim:
Malke is making an assumption that you're dealing with a failing PC
(hardware-wise). That may well be a valid assumption and to the extent
that it is I would agree that an XP upgrade would be a useless
endeavor.

But on the other hand...

VxD error messages in the Win9x/Me environment can arise from a whole
host of reasons - both software & hardware. Misconfiguration of
components, conflicting device drivers, defective equipment, software
conflicts - the list goes on & on. In our experience we frequently
found
that a reinstallation of the OS was all that was necessary to correct
the
problem (even when we couldn't track down the precise cause of the
problem).

So if you are unable to resolve the problem within your current OS and
and assuming your basic hardware has the "horsepower" to run XP, i..e,
processor power, sufficient RAM, etc. - which you can check out - I'm
wondering whether it might be worthwhile to at least try to "upgrade"
your system to XP and hopefully resolve the problem that way.

If you decide to go that route, it would be prudent (I would even say
essential) to backup whatever files are important to you before
undertaking the XP upgrade process. There's no guarantee that data
won't
be lost as a result of doing this. And a strong possibility that you
might have to reinstall programs even if the upgrade is successful.
Best
of all would be for you to use a disk imaging program to create a clone
of your HDD before undertaking the upgrade.
Anna



"Jupiter Jones [MVP]" <jones_jupiter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ehAPGsNDHHA.1220@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I don't think Malke assumed any such thing..
If the hardware is failing, there would be no reason for Malke to
suggest
a Clean Installation of Windows 98.

"failing computer" is extremely vague and can mean hardware or software.
The OPs issues suggest a failure, specific cause as hardware or software
yet unknown.

In any case, an upgrade should not be performed to repair software
issues.
All problems should be resolved before the upgrade is attempted.

--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
http://www.dts-l.org


Jupiter Jones:
The advice I provided was based on my experience with dealing with the
raft
of VxD problems we frequently experienced when dealing in an Win9x/Me
environment (the OPs current environment). Unfortunately, these VxD
problems
were not an infrequent occurrence in those pre-XP operating systems and it
was not unusual, indeed it was common, that we frequently were unable to
track down the precise cause of the problem even to the extent that we
could
not determine whether it was definitively caused by software conflicts of
one kind or another, OS corruption, or hardware-based.

In many cases the problem resolved itself through no user intervention for
reasons that we could never discern. This, of course, was where the
problem
did not affect the system boot.

But in many cases where we simply couldn't resolve the problem, the only
practical expedient left to us was a reinstall of the OS where in most
cases
the existing data was retained. Did it always work? Of course not. And the
user was warned to back up his or her data before undertaking the
reinstall
process assuming the data was accessible.

In the present case the OP apparently is not averse to "upgrading" his/her
system to XP should that possibly solve the problem. I indicated to the OP
that if he/she is unable to resolve the problem with his/her current
system
then it might be worth a try to install XP over his/her present Win9x/Me
system. I pointed out that this assumed his/her present hardware was
sufficient to accommodate an XP OS and that his/her data should be backed
up, or better to create a disk clone, prior to undertaking this XP
install.
I trust I made it clear to the OP that this process might not work but I
thought it might be worth the risk given a situation where the problem
cannot be resolved within his/her present system.
Anna




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