xp pro over Me

[Guest]

I upgraded from ME to XP pro. It would only let me continue if I installed xp in the same partition. The xp seems to be working fine but all of the old program folders/files remain. I want these gone.The programs are not recognized by XP.(except in Explorer) can I just start deleting these in the c directory?

[greymalkin]

if you have the full version of XP you should do a clean install. When you boot with the XP cd you should have the option to format the existing drive and do a clean install of xp.

the faster you get ME off the machine, the better things will be.

[ROF]

You will find most of these programs no longer work. This is because your old windows registry(ME) contained vital information to their functionality. You can safely remove these old folders in your root directory and also safely remove those installed in sub-folders(program files) without any adverse effects on your windows XP machine.

Note: Make sure these folders you are removing aren't being used by anything you've installed since your installing of XP. You may also find some of these old applications still work. I have two larger game installs and a few APPS that continue to work when I format my machines.

[bevills1]

Recommendation by greymalkin is right on especially when going from Me and older versions of Windows not based on NT like 2000 and XP are according to CallForHelp which was unfortunately dropped by G4 TV. Obviously you should backup any data you want to keep first though.

[Guest]

I'll try that but I dont recall getting a "format" prompt. I found this strange.

[Bjs]

Backup any data first , and reload your os .

For dual boot setup .

Seach and download delpart , format.com and fdisk.exe .

The last two have minor update's for large drive support .
Burn to cd ...

Boot pc with me cd
Choose boot with cd support .

Replace cd with the one containg updates .
Run delpart , use this tool to remove any ntfs partition's it find's .
Save this info , re-insert me cd , reboot pc , again with cd support .

Swap cd's again and run fdisk .

Depending on hard drive size , for an 80 gig , I setup 3 partition's .
1 for me
2nd for xp
3rd for "all my other temporary crap"

Before exit , replace cd with the me cd again .. hit esc ... turn the pc OFF .

Repeat "boot with cd support"
Swap cd's .
Run format c: , say Y , and wait .
Now
Run format d: , say Y , and wait .
Now
Run format e: , say Y , and wait .

Done .

Swap cd's ... and proceed with me install to c drive .
When it has copied all file's over and gose to reboot ...

Enter bios , set hd to boot drive only , save and exit .
Continue with install of me .

------------------------------------------------------------

After me and associated program's have been installed , proceed with xp install .

Insert xp cd .

Enter bios , set cdrom as boot drive , save and exit .

When asked , leave partition format "as is" .
Install to D:
And go .

When it has finished copying file's and restart's , reset bios to hd boot only , save and exit ... xp will pickup from there .

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

You now have a dual boot pc .

Leaving the hd format as fat32 avoid's many problem's .

Fdisking and formating the old way as explained above remove's inconsistencies left behind by previous install's on the hard drive from previous os's ... the biggest mistake user's create , and they wonder why the system dosent perform as it should .

If you have a maxtor drive , I guarantee fdisking and formating it my way will reduce the amount of heat they produce .

[whitejremiah]

and even if you only have an upgrade disc, im fairly certain that as long as you have both the ME disc and an xp disc, you can pop the xp disc in and it will just ask you to pop in an older version of windows....it will read the info off that disc and continue installation from the xp disc.....also, im not sure what version of xp your running...i.e. if it has any service packs preinstalled or not, but you may want to consider slipstreaming sp2 with your windows disc........it's best to do it that way as opposed to fresh installing then upgrading........saves time too, if you ever do a fresh install in the future....