Do I take the plunge? :)

[ixl]

I'm still running Windows 95 OSR2 on my main machine, a PII notebook. Lately I am running into limitations due to lack of support of newer hardware: USB for starters, and now larger hard disks (Win95 won't handle >32GB).
So I am once again reconsidering upgrading to Windows 98SE. I've been considering this for a year, but keep wimping out because I am afraid it will make some of my (admittedly older) software not work, or cause my system settings to get mucked up.
Anyone have experience installing 98 over top of 95? How did it work?
NOTE: Installing from scratch is not an option. It would take me tens of hours to set everything up again and reinstall my software and I'd rather not upgrade than do that! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

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Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.

[blazer2boy]

Good morning Charles.

I have upgraded several machines from Windows 95 to 98. No problems in the upgrade it went quite smooth. Now I will also knock on wood that I said this.

Best of Luck on the upgrade. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

Cheers http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Blazer

[Randy_tx]

I originally migrated from Win95 ver.B to Win98 in BETA with no problems (well, a few with the beta version http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif) then to Win98 1st edition...then to Win98 SE......I run two important pure DOS programs and have NEVER had a bit of problem with them. Win98 SE is every bit as stable as Win 95 ver.B in my experience and MUCH easier to fix if something does go wrong....much easier http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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"As hard as a rock & dumb as a brick"...Windows CEMeNT

[ixl]

Anyone upgraded to 98 from 95 with util software installed? I have Norton Utils for 95 installed, and just wondering what will happen to it if I go to 98... I presume it won't work. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

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Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.

[Randy_tx]

I dont know that you would want it with 98 SE but I dont see why it wouldnt work......98 SE uses the same Kernal as 95 .

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"As hard as a rock & dumb as a brick"...Windows CEMeNT

[BigBlue66]

Hi Charles,

I just had to throw in my two cents worth. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

By all means, do the upgrade. 98SE is very stable, as already pointed out. You will also appreciate the added utilities and repair options that are available. I have always done a clean install, but the consensus seems to say that you won't have any problems overinstalling. I guess I would just caution that you make sure your 95 is stable and free of any problems before doing so. You may be surprised at the amount of backward compatibility for your older stuff as well.

As for Norton, I see no problem. Norton for Windows is, I think, designed to work on any Windows system, albeit the older versions of Windows seem to respond much better to it, i.e. anything older than NT. If anything, you may want to upgrade your Norton as well. SystemWorks 2001 is a mighty fine piece of code and has saved me countless hours of frustration and reinstalling.

Good luck!

Big Blue 66

[Paleo Pete]

Well, I guess I'm the odd duck...I always prefer a clean install, but as already mentioned, the common opinion is it should work. I've never tried it, even with DOS I format and reinstall clean to avoid any problems.

Since you don't want to do that, I'd say go for it, but as BB66 said, make sure you have a stable system first, and it sahould work pretty well. 98 is fairly good at handling DOS programs, although I avoid them if possible, just to be on the safe side.

The best thing about a clean install is that if you later install an application that causes trouble, it's much easier to find out what it is. If everything is already there, and something doesn't mesh with 98, you have a dozen possibilities. That's why I don't like bundled software, like Compaq, HP, PB and the "restore disk" mentality...If you install clean, check it out, then install one application at a time, checking each one, then you know exactly what caused the problem if it suddenly won't boot after an installation. Scanreg usually fixes that...

Might be worth a try, at worst you'll have to start over from scratch. Don't guess I need to advise you to back up any documents, webpages etc first...but I guess a reminder wouldn't hurt...

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