Migrating from Windows 95 to Windows XP

The main concern here would be the hardware drivers on the current systems to be upgraded to Windows XP

See the following sites for more info
1)http://howto.lycos.com
2)http://support.microsoft.com
Microsoft Knowledgebase article 316639
3)www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp
4)www.supersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_foundations
5)www.utexas.edu/computer/xp

www.nhboston.com/courses/outlines/kmig98toxp.htm
www.utexas.edu/computer/xp/migrating.html
www.jamesboydassociates.com/Jan2002.htm
www.winplanet.com/winplanet/subjects/122/

WinXP on 64MB - Don't go there. You won't enjoy the experience. I'm running XP with 128MB on the laptop I'm using to write this. With only Outlook and 2 browser windows open, the computer is using 133MB (which means it is using the swapfile constantly).

Software compatibility: Use the Upgrade Advisor (available on either the XP Pro CD or as a download from Microsoft). This will check installed software against a database at Microsoft that contains a listing of software with known compatibility issues. It will also tell you if compatibility can't be guaranteed because the software isn't recognized (which should prod you to specifically test that software). The Upgrade Advisor will allow you either print the results of its test or save those results to a text file. If most of your computers are running approximately the same software mix, you would only need to run the Upgrade Advisor on a couple of computers to see what you are up against.

Since you stated that you planon doing clean installations (which means you really aren't doing an "true" migration), you are avoiding a lot of potential problems that can crop up when doing an in-place upgrade. Clean installs tend to go much smoother than upgrades. The downside, of course, is that you need to reinstall all the applications.

Make sure you have a good listing of hardware for each computer and have current XP-compatible hardware drivers available "just in case" XP doesn't include the drivers for your specific hardware (usually this isn't a problem as XP includes drivers for a wider range of hardware than did previous versions of Windows).

The more common the hardware and software you are currently running across all your computers, the less testing you will need to accomplish before going "live".

Good luck.

I heartily recommend that you up your minimum memory to 256MB. You will see a major performance improvement.

Double check your HP printer models for XP support at HPs web site.
Many HP printers have reduced features when used with XP.
Users have lost large paper sizes, and double-sided printing when they switched to XP.

Since some of your PCs have only 64MB of RAM, I also assume that they have older (slower) CPU's.
I do not install any Windows version on a system that is slower than double the stated minimum CPU speed and RAM.

Check all systems for free HDD space before upgrading.
XP needs several times the HDD space as W95.
If a user has a nearly full drive now, they will need a bigger drive for XP.

Chas

MORE RAM

As others have mentioned you should use at least 256MB RAM. At 128 some options and/or svcs will not load or run. I would test 1 each of the systems and ghost/image the drive before you get started just in case. The HD footprint for XP generally is 1.5 gigs. With apps its going to be much bigger. I would have at least a 10 gig drive bare minimum(recomend at least 20gig for better breathing room). Go with what you can afford to though. Keep in mind the more cramped you make things the worse your headache and day will be.

You seem to be on a right track but just need to think about more RAM if possible.

Jason

Speaking to your question about using XP with 64MB of RAM. I have setup a Toshiba laptop with a 233MHZ processor and 64MB Ram and a 2 GB harddrive setup as FAT32.

The operating system alone was very sluggish. When installing programs the higher end programs, such as CAT software, were for all intents and purposes un-usable because of the extremely slow performance. Simple programs were OK but they were also slow. I added the memory upgrade Toshiba sells to bring the laptop to 128 MB RAM and it was a slight improvement but still not anything a serious user could work on.

Loading XP on a 433MHZ system with 128MB of RAM and a 6 GB hard drive (of course) made a huge difference. Peformance was acceptable in most programs. Still nobarn burner but it was usable.

I have a wide range of desktops and laptops that I deal with on a daily basis. If there is anything I can help you with let me know I would be happy to do whatever I can. I do not deal with many, if any, Netware networks so I can't help you there. I do deal with NT 4.x, W2K netwroks with mixes of W98, W2K, and XP workstations if you need any evaluations in those areas feel free to contact me.

TUFOP

IMHOP;

Stay away from XP. Unless you have a program in the near future that will require XP, don't go there. If the only thing (Software) that you are going to is XP office version, then go with Win2K. It will work better and faster with your older harware. Unless your hardware is less than 2yrs old, I recomend do not go with XP. Just my 2cents.