Windows Upgrade ?

[hoov]

I recently reformated my drive and installed windows 2000 Pro and have few basic apps on it. I was given Windows XP Pro as a gift and really dont want to go through all that again. Ive never done an upgrade of operating systems allways done a fresh install.
Is microsoft getting better with there upgrade ability ?
Anybody have experience with upgrades between 2000 & XP good or bad ?

PS. I read the post about the 12 Hour upgrade not to incouraging.

 

[Matt84]

an upgrade xp install on a "clean" w2k install does work fairly relaibly. I have done it when i was lazy like u and couldn't be bothered reformatting. a clean xp install is best though; less chance something going wrong. Just don't upgrade ME or Win9X to XP. Then your asking for trouble

 

[hoov]

LAZY! LoL
Its because I.m not lazy don,t have the time to sit around and watch TV while it formats & installs. I guess I could wash the car at the same time. But thats to much work.LoL

 

[8ballcoupe]

I'll put my vote in for either doing a clean installation of Windows XP or staying with Windows 2000. An upgrade from Windows 2000 to Windows XP may work out all right, but I can almost guarantee that there will be some compromise of performance when compared to the clean installation. And you can really run into trouble with some systems because of the subtly different ways the two operating systems deal with your hardware's ACPI compatibility, or lack thereof. I've seen an upgrade of this kind cause serious driver issues on a system that would run either OS perfectly following a clean installation.

I can't tell you what the odds are for a good result vs. a bad one, but I have seen more than a couple of bad results from Win2K-to-WinXP upgrades. I think the bad results really had very little to do with how old the Win2K installations were or how much software had been installed. The problems were with hardware drivers.

Ernie

 

[Amused]

Another vote for clean install.

 

[hoov]

I ran the XP compatibilty check and it found no problems. For what thats worth?
OK, OK, You guy,s are right.
I Know I just won,t feel good about it unless I do a clean install evan if it goes well.
I just needed a little incentive .

Thanx Guys!

 

[13black]

you may find out that you can't do an upgrade install.
Difference Between XP Upgrade And Full Version

Both versions are identical except for the fact the upgrade version requires a Windows 98/ME/2000 installation CD if you desire to perform a "clean install. A "full version" does not have this requirement. However, the cheaper "OEM full version" cannot upgrade over an existing Windows installation....only "retail full versions" can.

The software itself is identical. Only the rules for how it can be used are different.

The full version can be used for either an upgrade or clean installation. The upgrade can too, but for a clean installation it requires that you have a previous qualifying version's CD to insert as proof of of ownership when prompted to do so.

Also note that there is a third type--an OEM version. Many people confuse this with the full version. However an OEM version can not do an upgrade at all.


*** Of course there are exceptions where an OEM version can do an upgrade. Reason being, there are a few flavors of OEM versions around eg large PC makers sometimes sell/provide these type of "special OEM" disks with their PCs.