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Upgrade FROM Win98 to what OS?

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by rivrbyte

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Ok Hi to all and THANK YOU for all who reply,

I have had Windows98 for about five years now and did not expect to upgrade to 98SE,2000,ME, or even XP..with all it's quirks and crashes from what I hear from friends..SO...Given that my CD-RW burner went Bye Bye,and with all the new DVD-R/+R Burners, like (SONY 710A) they mostly require newer Operating Systems like 2000, Me,or XP. Even the software like Pinnacle or Dazzle for Video capture and editing requires this as well. These do not work with Windows98 OS's.

I wanted to install a DVD Burner first, to get everything off my Drive brefore I have to f-disk this Hard Drive,but these burners require a newer OS to work with. OR When / If I upgrade to a newer OS from Win98, without f-disking and do a wipe out, Do I lose all my Data and applications on the hard Drive? or is better to do a Clean Install?

I want to be able to capture Video from analog Camcorder and edit titles,music,special effects on to a DVD to play in most DVD players,BUT it gets confusing with the -R and +R that can only play on certain players with this new technology. Still with me?

Can anyone tell me which OS would be ideal for the newer DVD burners,and software? I've been looking at OS's to buy on E-bay and some say "Windows XP PRO Operating System, upgrade, or CLEAN INSTALL* !!! " Does this mean I should first Wipe out the hard drive for a clean install? OR "Win ME OS....For PC's withoput windows ....." As far as a upgrade from Win98, is it better for a clean install,or just upgrade straight to Me or 2000? I think a while back I tried to upgrade to XP from win98,but for some reason, it did not let me.

I have GeforceMX440 Starforce,and Creative SB Live! Sound Card ? From what friends have told me,in win98, I am not getting the full benefits of these cards unless I upgrade to a new OS.

Is Windows 2000 strictly a Business OS?
Thank You!

9 replies

by thechas

Well,

First of all, forget about Windows Me. It is the least stable version of Windows ever produced.

I even hesitate to suggest W98SE as Microsoft has all but stopped producing security patches for W98.
All MS support for W98 ends either this June or next.

Windows 2000 is "not" strictly a business OS.
That said, it is difficult to run some games on a W2K system.

Even so, I recommend that you upgrade to Windows XP.
Preferably XP Pro.

"If" you use the PC at home "AND" have no plans to network PCs, then you could run XP Home with no problems.

One of my primary reasons for recommending XP Pro is that you will have a longer support life for both new hardware and software with XP Pro than you will with W2K.

Overall, I have been pleased with the performance of XP as compared to Windows 98 SE.

Still, there are a couple of things you should check before taking the plunge:

CPU: For XP, I recommend at least a 500 MHz system.

RAM: I recommend a minimum of 256 MB, and suggest installing as much RAM as you can afford / your motherboard will hold.
Although, there is little added benefit of having more than 1.5GB of RAM.

Peripherals:
Make sure that you can download XP compatible drivers for your printer scanner and any other critical hardware.

If the device manufacture does not offer a XP driver, assume that you will need to replace the device.

As far as installing any version of Windows, a clean installation is always best.

While the easiest way to run a clean installation is to format or even repartition the drive, there are other ways to accomplish the desired result.

For a "clean" installation, all you really need to remove is the files in the root (C:) folder and the files in the C:\Windows folder and sub folders.

You can do this by booting from a startup disk and using the DOS commands to delete files and directories as needed.

Continued:

by thechas

For your specific situation, I have an alternate recommendation.
Since part of your goal is to install a DVD drive, I assume that you will want / need a larger hard drive.
If so, get your new hard drive and copy of Windows XP.

Boot up into W98.
Insert the XP CD.
Run the files and settings transfer wizard.
Set up your drive as a transfer volume.

Shut down the PC, and install the new hard drive as Primary Master.
Move your existing drive to Primary Slave.

Boot up and enter BIOS setup.
Set the boot sequence so that your CD drive is the first boot device.
Save settings and exit.
Place the XP CD in your CD drive.
Answer yes if prompted to boot from CD.

Install XP.

Run Windows Update.

Then, run the files and settings transfer wizard and transfer your files from your W98 drive.

Chas

by otl

Would suggest a new 120+G HD, do a clean install and get your burner working. Slave the old HD and make a backup of your data (good idea to backup in case of a crash anyway).

However you did not mention if your system will support the newer software (processor speed, ram, HD space). Win ME/2000 will run on 128M of ram but not very well, XP 256M and not well if you are capturing video. HD space for video capture will need to be several Gig.

Would be best if a clean install is performed, less chance of an unneeded file being loaded or conflicting with a newer file that is necessary.

by sysadmin/babysitter

The dollars & cents answer is: find the cheapest PC/computer with the CD/DVD-RW to meet your needs. It will most always come with a compatable operating system AND a warranty. And-most of the time you will pay about the same (+/- $100) as upgrading the hard disk & OS (especially if you consider your time at $50.00 hr).
Plus you will have a spare computer for learing additional OS's..........

by harbor1

All the other answers are perfect just one other point when I upgraded from 98 to xp pro I had original HD of 4gigs after xp install and patches and updates also office 2003(not included with xp)and adobe reader you have 700mb of space left on HD THE CHAS is right get new bigger HD and slave old one and new computers are cheap

by parthiv_13

Few words for your Problem.

Make a new clean install. Cz some of the 98 s/w and drivers will not work on new OS. It may generate errors.

I recommend Windows XP Professional.

by borginva

Everyone's answers are worth your points. Just stay away from ME and 2000. Do go with XP Home, Pro if you want more advance networking stuff. Do go for a much larger HD. Maybe 200G.
You might, if you have the funds in this money hungry world, just build your own PC from scratch. Get all the new stuff you want. I spent less than $2000 to build a new killer rig (to replace my 400Mgz (yes, still using a P2). P4 64bit 660 series chip at 3.6G, 2M L2 cache, 256M DDR ATI video card with so many cable and TV connectors, DVDRWDL, 1G DDR RAM, 400G SATA drive, and a mother board with all the newest stuff needed today, including USB2, PCI Express, 10/100 and GIGA LAN, with WLAN build in. All from TigerDirect (except for ym special chassis from Maxtop).
If you want to stick with your current PC, and I am not sure what your RAM is and I may have missed it, but you should have no less than 512M of RAM to help run XP, your video card, DVD burner, and any power hungry apps.

by wlbowers

Don't do an upgrade.

All of those little gadgets you have been loading for years will eventually give XP heart burn.

Back up all of your data and do a clean install of the os and all of your programs.

Then restore your data.

You will spend less on Wild Turkey.

Lee

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