Broken system CD replace and ME to XP upgrade

ELLOKN,

You will have to purchase another copy of Windows ME (or Windows 98).

However, if ME is currently installed on your computer you can do a clean installation of Windows XP using an XP Upgrade CD. It will detect the current installation of a qualifying operating system (ME) during installation. Formatting is done during the installation process with XP. If you do this, however, you will not be able to reinstall XP if required using the Updgrade CD since ME will no longer be installed on the computer. See this.

Thanks for the response. I have ME still installed. So I understand that all I have to do is buy and install an upgrade to XP?

Next question:

I have read and heard that one should only do an XP upgrade to a "clean" installation of a previous Operating system.

Will I have trouble with the computer if I install XP onto a not-so-clean version of ME?

Also, will XP regognize all those Dell specific drivers, etc?

Thanks.

ELLOKN<

So I understand that all I have to do is buy and install an upgrade to XP?   That is correct, but remember that if you ever need to reinstall XP you will have to have the CD of a qualifying OS to do to using an upgrade CD.

Next question:

I have read and heard that one should only do an XP upgrade to a "clean" installation of a previous Operating system. Will I have trouble with the computer if I install XP onto a not-so-clean version of ME?   No, because as a part of the installation process you delete the C:\ partition, recreate it, then format it, so no traces of ME will remain.

Also, will XP regognize all those Dell specific drivers, etc?   That's not clear. All Dell offers in terms of support for installing XP on your system is this page.

Thanks Denny,

This clears up much. (Actually I see that I have a Inspirion 2500, but assume the advice you have given here is the same for that model.)

I will order an XP upgrade and take it from there.

A couple of additional comments from someone who just completed an ME-to-XP upgrade on a Dimension L866r.

>> So I understand that all I have to do is buy and install an upgrade to XP? 

> That is correct, but remember that if you ever need to reinstall XP you will have to have the CD of a qualifying OS to do to using an upgrade CD.

To avoid this I would recommend creating a bootable slipstreamed CD after you've updated through SP2.

>> I have read and heard that one should only do an XP upgrade to a "clean" installation of a previous Operating system. Will I have trouble with the computer if I install XP onto a not-so-clean version of ME? 

> No, because as a part of the installation process you delete the C:\ partition, recreate it, then format it, so no traces of ME will remain.

You CAN upgrade from ME to XP without deleting the C: partition, thus obviating the need to reload and reinstall everything. Be sure you back up EVERYTHING first, though. I succeeded in doing a straight upgrade, but it was a nightmare. Only the fact that I had no desire to have to go through the pain of restoring 160 GB of stuff enabled me to persevere. Now that it's finally done, everything's fine.

 

Slipstreaming essentially allows you to create a new XP install disc for your system, already updated with system packs like SP1 and SP2. You can then use that for subsequent reinstalls.

 

A general description of creating one is at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/828930 . There are a lot of places that discuss specifically how to create an XP SP2 CD, such as http://www.helpwithwindows.com/WindowsXP/winxp-sp2-bootcd.html . You can find a ton of others by searching.

 

Thanks for this reply and information. It came just in time as I was going to do the upgrade tonight. What does "slipstreamed" CD mean?