Upgrading from ME to XP

Scott Tortorice

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2003
Messages
7,663
Reaction score
99
Location
The shadows
Country
llUnited States
Hey all,

I have a question:

My friend wants to upgrade from Windows ME to XP and wants to know the best way to do it. In other words, will he need to uninstall ME first or can he upgrade ME to XP without uninstalling ME first?
 

junk2drive

Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
897
Reaction score
7
Location
Arizona West Coast
I had a HP computer that came with ME, PIII 1.0 cpu, 128 ram. I bought the XP upgrade disc. Min req was 128 ram. It never worked well.

XP needs 256 ram and 512 is better. If/when I had to reformat/replace HDD, I first had to use the HP restore discs to get the computer running, then run the XP upgrade disc and then Windows updates. With DSL this took forever.

If your friend has a computer that came with ME it is too old and outdated. Better to buy a new computer with XP installed.
 

trauth116

Webmaster: hist-sdc.com
Joined
Jul 8, 2004
Messages
1,411
Reaction score
6
Location
................
Country
llAustralia
Who buys computers? Build them :)

OK the question is a little old (in that most people already did this a long time back) -- technically yes you can just run the update over ME, however if it were me - I'd do a clean install.

It depends on what type of XP disk you use ... if it is the upgrade disk or the full version -- if it is the full version - no problem... just install the thing .. if it is the update disk - you need to make sure the person has their disk with a prior version of Windows on it (it can be any version - I used to use 3.5's with Win 3.1 back in the day...).

A fairly painless way (that costs a few bucks -is if you want to keep your old files- is get a second hard drive. Set the jumpers on the original hd to slave and set the new hd to master. (Your machine won't try to boot off the slave unless you specifically tell it to ...) If old files are not an issue- then format that sucker and just install it- no worries.

Anyway- I guess the short answer is you can do it either way- if it were me -I'd just do a clean install of XP. Either way works- but a clean install eliminates any possible ME artifacts.
 

junk2drive

Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
897
Reaction score
7
Location
Arizona West Coast
I built the next two boxes but don't know about building the next one. It is getting to the point like buying auto parts to build an auto. You get what you want but don't save any money.

Scott, we need more info on his box. IIRC W98 ME can only recognise a certain amount of RAM and HDD gigs. If he gets/has the upgrade disc, he may not be able to increase his RAM or replace his HDD cheaply when it fails.

W98 ME use the FAT file system, XP can and should use NTSF.

What is the current price for the XP discs?
 

Cheo

Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Messages
83
Reaction score
0
Location
Scotland
Country
llSpain
Hey all,

I have a question:

My friend wants to upgrade from Windows ME to XP and wants to know the best way to do it. In other words, will he need to uninstall ME first or can he upgrade ME to XP without uninstalling ME first?
Is your friend using the computer for playing games?
If not, then forget about XP. Download an easy to install Linux distribution (like Ubuntu, Debian or Fedora). It uses less resources than XP, and you have all you need: Internet browsers, Office Suites, Instant Messengers, photo editing, IRC clients, games (not the cutting edge technology of XP running games). And all for free.

If he needs to play the last state of the art games, then yes, upgrade to XP.
 

Scott Tortorice

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2003
Messages
7,663
Reaction score
99
Location
The shadows
Country
llUnited States
From what he has told me, he wants to upgrade because he is a big flight sim guy and wants to be able to use some of the newer simulators and add-ons. However, he is not tech savy, so he wants to upgrade in the easiest way possible. Also, he wants to avoid having to re-install all his flight sims after upgrading (I wonder if ME sims will even work on XP without having hiccups?).

Everytime it is time to upgrade my OS, I always wind up purchasing a new PC to make it simple. :D Because of this fact, I have no idea what is involved with a ME to XP upgrade (I'm was amazed that he still was using ME all these years!).

You guys raise a good point: I better get him to tell me just how old his PC is. This whole issue may be moot if it is real old.

Thanks!
 

Cheo

Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Messages
83
Reaction score
0
Location
Scotland
Country
llSpain
Well, if he wants to play with new Flight Sims, he better gets a new computer. In the process he can ask for a XP installation (instead of Vista), and problem solved.

I think that would be the easiest way to go.
 

Dr Zaius

Chief Defender of the Faith
Joined
May 1, 2001
Messages
8,902
Reaction score
408
Location
The Forbidden Zone
First name
Don
Country
llUnited States
I think Cheo is probably right. Flight sims like Microsoft's Flight Simulator X and X-Plane can be very demanding and are much better suited to a more powerful system.
 

L`zard

Strangely Deranged!
Joined
Jan 13, 2004
Messages
1,606
Reaction score
12
Location
oregon,usa
Scott:

If he builds his own, installs what ever version of ME he has, then he could just buy a XP upgrade (half the price) and join the rest of us on the 'upward' spiral, eh?

If your 'cost conscious', one inevitably gets into DIY, there's just no reason not to, eh?

BUILDING, and loading software on a computer isn't 'computer science'..LOL!

All it takes is patience and attention to detail (rtfm), combined with the willingness to do some research online!

The rewards are better than the sum of the parts, LOL!
 

L`zard

Strangely Deranged!
Joined
Jan 13, 2004
Messages
1,606
Reaction score
12
Location
oregon,usa
I have to find out what he ultimately did (the topic sort of dropped off the radar screen).
Get Some, Scott!

If no one else, I'd like to know, eh?

Not likely to see too many more of this sort of thing, as I'd imagine that just about everyone has made thier choices by now.

But ya never can tell, eh?

:clown:
 
Top