should i update win 98 to win zp ????

[dirtfarmer]

should i update win 98 to win zp ????
i have 3 question

one) i use win 98 se, would it be a big deal to update to zp and would you do it, would like you answer to this ?????

two ) i heard one has to phone or log in to get zp to work pass 30 days now my question what if i did a reinstall of window use my win 98se and the update cd win zp, would i have to tell microsoft again about that to keep xp work, or do you just have to tell them once the you install xp and that that, ?????????

three) now ther are differnt window ver out there, OEM and retail for 2, now if i got a update ver of zp to put on my compter system that now has win 98se, would it work for all ver

my product code key for window does not have any oem listed on it, but my product ID for window i wrote down does, so would the update xp work on my ver of window 98se

[Budfred]

I am having a little trouble understanding your questions, but I will try to respond to what I think they are.

Switching from Win98SE to WinXP could be a step up or down, depending on how you like the what I consider to be the pushy aspects of XP. It is more stable and has some nice built in features, but I would urge anyone installing it to immediately go through and trim down a lot of the automatic stuff it puts in.

You can install Win98SE and WinXP in a dual boot. This is probably the best bet if you have the hard drive space. Be sure to install Win98SE first.

If you use an upgrade for Win98 to XP, you will probably not be able to use that copy of 98 on that machine again. When you activate XP, I suspect it will include info about that Win98 and not allow you to dual boot. You would, of course, be able to use it again if you completely delete XP.

You can buy an Full OEM copy of XP for about the same price, or slightly less, than the upgrade would cost. This is what I would do if I were going to use it so that the earlier version of Win98 would still be valid.

I actually prefer Win2Kpro for stability and the fact that it doesn't have to be activated.

If you activate XP and change the software substantially, it won't make any difference. If you delete it and reinstall, it will need to be activated again, but that is usually pretty painless. If you make significant changes to your hardware or decide to use it on a different machine, you will need to contact MS and get their approval to activate it. They will want to be told that you are not using it on any other machine.

Hope this is what you are looking for.

Budfred

[saphalline]

There is also the performance aspect of WinXP to consider. XP uses significantly more processing power than 98 does. For instance, 98 would run quite well on a 300MHz CPU with 128MB of RAM, but this is the minimum for XP! Obviously you'll want something more like 500MHz and 256MB of RAM to run XP at a decent pace.

How fast is your processor? How much RAM do you have? What other details can you tell us about your system? The more info the better.

[dirtfarmer]

thank Budfred for your answer and yes it does naswer a lot of my question
i was thinking of just geting the window XP upgrade software, so if and when i do, if i do a setup of window, i would have to tell microsoft about it again, that correct right

thank Saphalline for your answer, but it now leave me with a other question, for some time now i have been thinking of geting more RAM, as i seem to be runing short, and i even put a lot of program on my startup to a disable start up folder

right now according microsoft system information , ( 256 mb 26% system resources free)
and accord to norton system information ( 256 mb 80% utilized)
as mention i have for some time now been think of geting aother 256 mb of ram or more as my MOBO can handle a lot more as it has 3 RAM slot

and Saphalline you ask for more info om my system so here it is, im over the min for XP but some could i think need improvement

im runing as of this mooment microsoft window 98.4.10.2222A\ upgrade useing full OEM cd\ IE 5.6.0.2800.1106 as taken off system info

i, useing a Gigabyte GA-7VTXH+ motherboard, with with 256 mb pc2100 266 mhz DDR ram, and a AMD Duron 1.0Ghz CPU, and a ATI xpert99/expect2000 video card with driver 4.13.7192

hope that help

[Budfred]

"i was thinking of just geting the window XP upgrade software, so if and when i do, if i do a setup of window, i would have to tell microsoft about it again, that correct right"

Ok, if I understand this question correctly, the answer is yes. If you install WinXP and activate it, then remove it and reinstall it, you have to activate again. I am not sure if you have to activate if you simply reinstall without removing it first. Activating means you contact MS by phone or modem and they give you a unique code to use to allow you to continue using XP. Without the original activation, XP will refuse to boot after 30 days. I tried to reinstall after only a few days and it wouldn't let me in until I activated, even though it had only been about a week.

Again, unless you have a really good deal on the upgrade version, you may want to buy the FULL OEM version. I just priced a copy on NewEgg for about $95 US.

Budfred

[Mini-Me]

As others in this thread are saying, if you wanna go from Win98 up to XP(or down to XP, depending on how you want to look at things), you need AT LEAST a P-III CPU running at 500MHz, with around 256MB of RAM.
Anything less then this, and XP will struggle...

Which is crazy, really, cos for the neglegible increase in performance(most of which is cosmetic, with the exception of the filesystem), I do not think justifies the jump in hardware you have to do to make XP work correctly...

A mate of mine purchased a brand new XP machine(2GHz P-IV CPU, 512MB RAM, 60GB drive) to do video editing, and is nothing but a pig.
XP was not backwards compatible with the vast majority of Win98 software drivers for things such as(in this case) video capture cards, when it was first on the market - only MicroShaft would have the balls to release a system that is not immediatly compatible with what you already have...

I'm sorry to say, that many of my friends who brought XP machines had the same problems, and some are still fighting with XP to get things working right - something that should not be an issue in this modern day.

Anyway, I installed the video editing software and card on a spare machine(750 or 800MHz or so CPU(forget the exact freq.), 128MB RAM and 20GB drive with Win98SE), and it runs flawlessly, and faster then the modern hardware running XP - I subsequently suggested he use his authentic copy of Win98SE, and install a temp 20GB drive that I loaned him, and put his software and capture card on this temp drive to test it with the new PC running the older Win98SE, and it worked beautifully, and importantly, Win98 runs oh-so fast on this new hardware, that video editing is almost instant!
He was so impressed, we have now flattened the original 60GB XP drive, and put his copy of Win98SE on it instead(he can always go back to XP using the XP CD he got with the machine, but I doubt that this will happen...)


G.

[david eaton]

My 2 cents on this Si non confectus, reficiat (if it ain't broke....)
Despite that, I have just upgraded (?) to XP from 98SE. Used an upgrade disk, but used it to do a complete reformat and install, as the upgrade was useless. Only reason was I thought I should to get used to it as many of my clients buy machines with XP, and not knowing makes me look a bigger idiot than usual Working OK on a 500MHz PIII with 768Meg of ram now I have cut out all the bells and whistles.

If all the programs you use work OK, and you have no reason to upgrade then leave it.

David

[dirtfarmer]

yes i have heard that window Zp has a lot of program one is that some of you software will no long work, and that does scare me, as i hate to lose the use of some software
yes leave it up to microsoft to come up with system that not 100 % with software and with the bug fix to
i was thing 50 50 of to upgrade or not
i read a lot of article that even some expect think XP is a wash out for a system, so many view a person does know where to turn
microsoft going to stop supporting window 98 soon, ans win mw not long after, so no answer to question from microsoft, maybe no window update either
for all the problem win 98se has, i beginning to think i keep it and wait for the next OP system that come out, hopefully is be better the ZP, as least save the time of reinstaaling software, or trying to find new software that will work on zp when it has work well on 98se
i just did got a hold of a cd called microsoft window ZP experience the excitement, and on it tell tell of all the good thing XP does, but more it has a UPGRADE ADVISOR tool, which i di, and i did not like the result at all it seem some software i now have will not work on xp, my scanner or pc capture will not work either
i think i keep win 98se, like was mention in the post, (if it ain't broke....) i think is very good advice, xp turning out to be not so good after all

[Budfred]

Keep in mind that you can always dual boot if you have the hard drive space and want to run both Win98 and XP.

Also, I wouldn't worry too much about MS not supporting Win98 anymore. They will maintain the Knowledge Base and you have resources like this forum to turn too if that isn't enough. I have never found MS support (or almost any other support) to be worthwhile anyway.

Budfred