Reinstalling XP is much easier than reinstalling the Windows 9X family of operating systems. The procedure for installing XP is
here. If you are installing using a Windows XP Upgrade CD you will be prompted early in the process to insert the Windows 98SE CD to verify that you are doing a legitimate upgrade.
The extra hard drive will not be involved in the reinstallation. You will be deleting the C:\ partition on the original drive, reconstructing it, then formatting it prior to installing XP, the system drivers, and your applications. Windows XP will have the chipset drivers for your system and will install them when the operating system is installed. You may have to do a little searching to locate XP-compatible drivers for the hardware on the system (graphics card, sound card, etc.).
So will re-installing XP return the computer to its basic state (aside from the XP instead of 98)?
I'm wanting to completely restore the system, so would I not have to go back to 98 first and then upgrade to XP? Sorry if this is a redundant question. I just want to make sure that there is NOTHING bad on my machine whatsoever. I'm functioning with under 200M of free space on the C: drive, so you can imagine how difficult that makes things. I can't uninstall any more programs.
Also, my CD drive (when closed) freezes up my computer. This is recent. If I have the drive hanging open, it's fine, but as soon as it slides in, the computer quits working. It doesn't shut down, it just freezes. This is another reason for me wanting a restore.
You don't have to return to 98. When you begin the installation of XP using the upgrade CD it will prompt you to insert the Windows 98 CD briefly, then will continue to install XP. The problem with your CD-ROM drive, however, is of significant concern because you should boot from the CD-ROM drive (with the XP reintallation CD in it) to install XP. Even if you use the alternate set of floppy diskettes to avoid the need to boot from the CD, you will still need the CD-ROM drive to be operational to install XP.
All right. I somehow tricked my computer into reading the external CD drive. I downloaded the XP install to floppy that's listed in your link and went from there. It was a fluke, but it worked. 'Puter is working much better.
Thanks for the help!!!
Still have to manage to replace the faulty CD-ROM drive, but that's small peanuts in comparison to restoring the operating system.
Denny Denham
2 Intern
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18.8K Posts
0
March 27th, 2005 19:00
Reinstalling XP is much easier than reinstalling the Windows 9X family of operating systems. The procedure for installing XP is here. If you are installing using a Windows XP Upgrade CD you will be prompted early in the process to insert the Windows 98SE CD to verify that you are doing a legitimate upgrade.
The extra hard drive will not be involved in the reinstallation. You will be deleting the C:\ partition on the original drive, reconstructing it, then formatting it prior to installing XP, the system drivers, and your applications. Windows XP will have the chipset drivers for your system and will install them when the operating system is installed. You may have to do a little searching to locate XP-compatible drivers for the hardware on the system (graphics card, sound card, etc.).
yankgirl
4 Posts
0
March 27th, 2005 20:00
So will re-installing XP return the computer to its basic state (aside from the XP instead of 98)?
I'm wanting to completely restore the system, so would I not have to go back to 98 first and then upgrade to XP? Sorry if this is a redundant question. I just want to make sure that there is NOTHING bad on my machine whatsoever. I'm functioning with under 200M of free space on the C: drive, so you can imagine how difficult that makes things. I can't uninstall any more programs.
Also, my CD drive (when closed) freezes up my computer. This is recent. If I have the drive hanging open, it's fine, but as soon as it slides in, the computer quits working. It doesn't shut down, it just freezes. This is another reason for me wanting a restore.
Denny Denham
2 Intern
•
18.8K Posts
0
March 27th, 2005 21:00
You don't have to return to 98. When you begin the installation of XP using the upgrade CD it will prompt you to insert the Windows 98 CD briefly, then will continue to install XP. The problem with your CD-ROM drive, however, is of significant concern because you should boot from the CD-ROM drive (with the XP reintallation CD in it) to install XP. Even if you use the alternate set of floppy diskettes to avoid the need to boot from the CD, you will still need the CD-ROM drive to be operational to install XP.
Denny Denham
2 Intern
•
18.8K Posts
0
March 27th, 2005 22:00
Only if you can boot from it, which may be a problem.
yankgirl
4 Posts
0
March 27th, 2005 22:00
yankgirl
4 Posts
0
March 28th, 2005 03:00
All right. I somehow tricked my computer into reading the external CD drive. I downloaded the XP install to floppy that's listed in your link and went from there. It was a fluke, but it worked. 'Puter is working much better.
Thanks for the help!!!
Still have to manage to replace the faulty CD-ROM drive, but that's small peanuts in comparison to restoring the operating system.
Message Edited by yankgirl on 03-29-2005 01:21 PM