HP 9795c Windows ME to XP Upgrade

[Flick]

Windows ME to XP Upgrade.

I have an HP 9795c. I upgraded the RDRAM to 512 and I replaced the stock hard drive with a 60 Gig Maxtor 7200 RPM drive and I put another 80 Gig Maxtor 7200 RPM hard drive in as a backup. So, I have decided to finally move up to XP. I bought the XP Home Edition today and I also have the HP "Windows ME to Windows XP Solution CD". I have all ready made a complete backup of my 60 GB disk to my 80 GB disk in case of a total disaster.

According to the instructions, the Adaptec Easy CD Creator, Adaptec Direct CD, MusicMatch Jukebox and Quicklink III Fax all need to be uninstalled prior to the upgrade since they will not work with XP. That is not a problem for me because I have never used them very much anyway. Also I got rid of the HP mouse and HP Keyboard long ago and replaced them with Microsoft versions so I don't have to worry about the "HP One-Touch" keyboard problems. I also assume that my original DVD player program will not work with XP. My concern is will the upgrade cause problems with my other programs?

I intend to do the upgrade rather than perform the new install and I would like to switch from FAT32 to NTFS. I have searched this site and read many of the XP upgrade posts. Seems to me that an ME to XP upgrade should be simple (I hope). For those of you with experience in doing this, what problems do you think I might encounter? I am hoping for an easy transition.

Also, I have seen a lot of recommendations about doing a clean install rather than the upgrade. It seems to me that I should attempt the upgrade first just to see if it works ok. If it doesn't work properly I can always do the clean install later. Have I missed something here?

[Paul Komski]

The past history of ugrading versions of windows is not particularly happy and appears to remain the case with moving to XP. The very fact that there is a WinME-to-XP solution CD would seem to amplify rather than diminish the likelihood of problems. As you say though, you have a backup so you can try and see.

The biggest cons relate to having to reinstall/reconfigure programs and otherwise recustomise one's settings and to obtain all the relevant WinXP drivers. There is a wizard in XP to help you import some of these settings - though I have no experience of using this.

The biggest pro is you get a pristine installation.

One other way forward is to set up a dual boot; you can then gradually decide which OS to boot into but always be able to boot into WinME and have an operational OS as required.

"My concern is will the upgrade cause problems with my other programs?":-
The answer probably lies in their individual complexities and how deeply embedded they are in the OS. Deeply embedded programs such as some of the antivirus and office apps would naturally be likely to be more problematic.

Many originally installed programs will still work normally if you just can access and run their exe files from with the original (or copied) folders. That involves a bit of trial and error.

Unless clean installing leave the conversion to NTFS until you are happy with the change-over.

[Reid]

Before installing XP, you can put the CD in and run "Check system compatibility". It will tell if there are potential problems with hardware and software.

[Flick]

Thank you Paul and Reid! The information you provided to me was very helpful. As you suggested Reid, I did the system compatibility check before I did the upgrade. That helped because I was able uninstall some programs that XP identified as problems. I did the upgrade 2 days ago and everything went great! I would have gotten back to you folks sooner, but I have a dialup connection so it has taken me a LONG time to download all the patches and upgrades for XP. Also, I had to download a new version of Avast antivirus and download the XP version of Microsoft Media Player 9 so I've been busy. I really like XP!

I have only discovered one problem so far (I expect I may see a few more). Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator WW II Europe doesn't work! I went to the Microsoft Knowledge Base and found their workaround (307091), but it doesn't work. I also tried the compatibility mode change and that didn't work either. Anyone else know the answer? Thanks again for all the help.

[Reid]

Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator WW II Europe works on my K7S5A system with Windows XP Home.

[Flick]

I found the problem! The first Nvidia download I got from Windows XP update did not work properly. I don't know why it didn't work. Anyway, I downloaded the update again and BINGO, my Flight Simulator works just fine! Thanks for your help guys!