Win98 Upgrade to WinXP

Check the Hardware Compatibilty List on Microsoft's website. Also, check all software applications to see if their compatible with XP. I would assume you are upgrading to XP Pro and NOT home addition. If for some reason each computer is getting upgraded to Home Edition of XP you will NOT be able to logon to a Domain, End of story. I would be conserned about networking and any connection issues that might be involved. If any computers belong to a wireless network then upgrading to XP is an excellent option for it's easy installation and connection of wireless technology. Be sure that each computer has a minimum of 128MB of RAM. Otherwise, the upgrade will be nowt (for nothing).

I would have to ask WHY you would want to ditch a solidly patched OS for WinXP (I also assume you mean XP Pro, because with XPHome you'll be out of work in no time.)
All things aside, if you REALLY think you'll gain any sort of benefit by upgrading(post back here if you will benefit, I'd be interested to see if there is one), your will probably have problems with the older P2's and some P3's as far as driver compatibility. Visit this URL to see just ONE of the many incompatibility issues we see here daily, http://tinyurl.com/gk5a

although they say it is eamless and MS supposedly has a driver compaibility chart, you have your work cut out for you. If your company is willing to invest a sizable amount of time and money into this issue,go for it, personally I'd suggest that you run away screaming.

Closely check the HCL and manufactures sites for hardware compatibility.

MANY printers and scanners are not fully supported in XP.
Unless the manufacture has a XP driver for you to download, assume that printer or scanner WILL need to be replaced.

Same for sound and video cards.
If the card or chip manufacture is out of business, assume that the card will not have proper support in XP.
A few victims:
3dfx
Aureal
Diamond
Tseng Labs

My personal rule of thumb for ANY software is that the system must have a minimum of twice Microsoft's minimum hardware requirements for the system to function effectively.
At a minimum, you will need to add RAM and new hard drives to many of the older systems.

I will not install XP with less than 256MB of RAM, and 2GB of free hard drive space.

Chas

As the answers go, hey it's guarrenteed employment and you will have your work cut out for you. Good Luck and God speed to ya. As stated above watch your minimum requirements and 256 does run it nicely, 128 is a tad slower and MS says you could load it in parts if you only have 64meg of ram. If they're doing image/video work or graphical work at all better to update to 1gig of ram or more if possible. As for issues, ya you'll have those for sure, write back as they occur. Good luck again.

It is not recommended to upgrade a Win95/98 OS to WinXP. If you desire to go to WinXP, you should do a clean install, after formatting the hard drive. If you do decide to upgrade and are running a Novell network you will experience problems with Novell Client that will cause you to format the hard drive anyway.

angielyn@hotpop.com A question

You have no contact info listed in the peer directory so I'll ask you here. Why would you say not to upgrade from 98SE to XPPro? (I wouldn't use XP Pro myself but it sounds like you have info I don't)

Secondly,why would a Netware client install require a reformat if done on XPPro (I know that XPHOME doesn't accept a domain login). I've done at least 40 Netware client installs on XPPro for another office and never had a problem?

This question was closed by the author