Need Xp Compatibility Test

[mystified]

Is there anywhere I can do an online (or d/l software and do it offline) compatibility test for upgrading from 98SE to XP? I'd like to do this before I actually get the upgrade. I've checked through your site and did a search, but can't find anything. Thanks for any suggestions....

[TheTerrorist_75]

Windows XP Upgrade Advisor

[blim]

Welcome to the forums, Mystified! And you brought up a good point! Mods/Admins, maybe put Terrorist's link in the "commonly recommended software section" here?

One thing to keep in mind for the upgrade is RAM. MS recommends 128 gigawatts minimum but XP won't run well at all on that. My idiotbox runs fine on 256 (I don't "gun" it) but you really should have 512 for XP.

AND look for specials on XP. With Vista due soon, stores are beginning to offer XP at good deals. Scour the Sunday Ads.

Hoping you can upgrade, XP plays so much nicer than 98!!

Liz

[martymas]

when i first installed xpro

my specs read

4gig hdd

650 cpu

128 ram

so any thing above that will will be good

mine was a bit slow

and you needed a bit of patients

but it worked

and as well i was on dialup

i was a member of many boards at the time

and most recommended

a sys much bigger

that was ok for some who could afford it

but those days i didnt have the money

now i have

so all depends on what you can afford

so those specs i hope can give you a rough guide

good luck

marty

[mystified]

Thanks for the replies

Since I'm on dial-up (yeah, I know...dinosaur...lol), I'll d/l the compatibility thing tonight (start it when I go to bed...that's the way I handle long d/l's). Thanks for the link! It should tell me what I need to know.

Thanks, too, for the nice welcome. Frankly, I've been afraid of XP, since I'm self-taught on 98SE (when I first got a computer, didn't even know how to turn it on, what the internet is, and someone had to tell me what a browser is). Now, I've reformatted this computer several times, with clean installs of everything, changed every component in it, and just installed new CD-ROM and CD/DVD burner, so I guess I'm learning OK (for an "old guy" of 60). Also have cleaned viruses & trojans out of two computers for friends, and they're running like new again (I can do it to a point, but can't help them with advanced programs like HijackThis, where more knowledge is needed...if it reaches that point, I tell them to go to a forum for help...now, I'll recommend this one, btw).

Anyway, I've done pretty good at learning the basics, but still not a "guru," or anything like that. What I do know is that I've tried navigating XP, and can't even find Temp Internet Files. So, I'm a little gun-shy.

However, I'm also security-conscious (always run AVG a/v, ZoneAlarm, SpywareGuard & SpywareBlaster while online, and run AdAware & Spybot S&D every week or two). However, since there are no more Windows Updates for 98SE, and some of the new security programs won't work on 98, I guess I'll have to learn XP. So, I'll upgrade (probably right after turkey day...lol).

Anyhow, don't want to ramble on, but thanks again for the nice welcome. This forum has already helped, and I do appreciate it. Hopefully, I can get some pointers when I'm ready to do my upgrade (have a 80 GB HDD, and want to leave 10 GB in 98SE for some games, etc., but will do internet off of XP, so I'll need to partition).

By the way, I'm stuck at 256 MB SDRAM for awhile, but it should do OK...I don't do much high-tech stuff with it).

Best....Larry

Edited November 18, 2006 by mystified

[blim]

Larry, reading all you've accomplished, you will do FINE with XP! It behaves a lot like 98 without the bugs. I bought an XP for Dummies Book when I got my new idiotbox and *gulp* I didn't need it! (now I must admit that I did read 98 for Dummies cover to cover!)

Wait for the experts to confirm this, but I'd personally recommend "plain old" XP Home. Daughter has XP Home Media Edition and it has a lot of bells and whistles that I don't like and wouldn't use, and probably overtaxes Ram.

Liz

[martymas]

if your on dial up ram is important

but i used 256 for years

and a 40g hdd

your cpu is important

i have a2.5 gighert

but any thing over 750

will run xp comfortabley

good luck

you will find

plenty of help from this board

there is a sticky at the top of the pc support page

called commonly recommended software tips and links

that has all the info you want

have a read in there and maybe you can help your self

marty

Edited November 18, 2006 by martymas

[mystified]

First, I want to thank all for the replies, suggestions, and advice. Much appreciated!

Terrorist, I did go ahead and d/l the compatibility program. Thanks for that link.

Anyway, when I ran it, it does say that my modem won't work with XP (I'll have to buy one), and the printer (HP 812C) and audio & video cards will need updated drivers. I'm trying to get them downloaded now to save them on a CD, but I'm running into more questions than answers. I started with trying to get the newer video driver (ATI Radeon 7500). I went to PCDrivers.com and tried to d/l it there. It wouldn't let me d/l it ("Unauthorized Download"), so I followed their link to the ATI site. I'll try to get it from there later on. Anyway, somewhere in all this I saw the following caution note:

---- Caution:

The Catalyst® Control Center requires that the Microsoft .NET Framework version

1.1 or 2.0 be installed. Without .NET version 1.1 or 2.0 installed, the Catalyst®

Control Center will not launch properly and the user will see an error message.----

I have no idea what this means or if it affects me.

By the way, I think what I'm going to do is to reformat the whole disk, then partition (70 GB for XP and 10 GB for 98SE). I'd rather do a clean install of everything, including the W98SE on the smaller partition (will the XP upgrade CD do that, or do I have to leave W98 on to run it??). Of course, since I've never done this, I'm not sure if this is the right way to do it, especially since I don't want to use the whole HDD for XP. I'd really appreciate any advice or suggestions. I'm not sure how to do this myself, but I'm good at reading and following instructions.

I'm sure I'll have more questions before I'm done with this, but I'll start with this. Thanks again for any help

[TheTerrorist_75]

After you install WinXP you can install .NET 1.1.

Microsoft .NET Framework Version 1.1 Redistributable Package

You can do a clean install of XP using the upgrade disk. Just boot to it like a regular disk. It will ask for the qualifying disk (Win98SE) during the install. You will insert the 98 disk and it will be verified. Just follow the directions.

Windows XP Clean Install (Interactive Setup)

I would use the Win98SE or WinME boot disk to fdisk (partition) and format the drive as FAT32. I would create a 5GB C: partition for Win98SE (98 needs to be installed first for dual boot), a 20GB D: partition for WinXP and an E: partition of the remaining space for storage. If you wish to change the XP partition to NTFS later you can, but I have been running XP on a FAT32 partition without issue since I installed it as a dual boot with 98SE. In fact using FAT32 for XP will allow 98SE to read and write to XP.

I use this WinME bootdisk from Radifed. Just format a floppy then install this to it (self-extracting).

http://radified.com/Files/bootmec.exe

Dual-Boot Setup

Edited November 19, 2006 by TheTerrorist_75

[The_ZoRo]

Anyway, when I ran it, it does say that my modem won't work with XP (I'll have to buy one), and the printer (HP 812C) and audio & video cards will need updated drivers.

I'm trying to get them downloaded now to save them on a CD, but I'm running into more questions than answers. I started with trying to get the newer video driver (ATI Radeon 7500).

I went to PCDrivers.com and tried to d/l it there. It wouldn't let me d/l it ("Unauthorized Download"),

bad idea. Always, always, go to the manifacturers internet page to download drivers.

so I followed their link to the ATI site. I'll try to get it from there later on. Anyway, somewhere in all this I saw the following caution note:

---- Caution:
The Catalyst® Control Center requires that the Microsoft .NET Framework version
1.1 or 2.0 be installed. Without .NET version 1.1 or 2.0 installed, the Catalyst®
Control Center will not launch properly and the user will see an error message. ----

It will affect you. But not in a bad way (joke). When you install xp (and update to Service pack 2) you will automaticly install .net framework 1.1 . But the Catalyst program (the program controling the graphics card) will tell you to update the .net framework (think of it as a sandbox where programmers easier writes programs, and makes it easier for people to run the programs, as they have everything they need right in the windows xp installation) and where to download it from (Google will also tell you)

By the way, I think what I'm going to do is to reformat the whole disk, then partition (70 GB for XP and 10 GB for 98SE).

You're on the right way. What I would do is the following: 10 GB for XP, 10 GB for 98SE. Then 60 gig for other stuff (programs, music, videos and so on). That way it would be easy to go back if something bad happens to XP or 98SE, because all the important data will be in the 60 GB partition.

(You will need to set the XP's"My documents" folder to the 60 GB partition, as well as the 98SE "Documents" folder. But that is just something to have in mind when the system is up and running. Don't worry about it now)

As for the rest: Someone with more install-skill will have to answer

/ZoRo

(Damn, TheTerrorist_75 was faster than me.. You evil person! *grin*

[TheTerrorist_75]

hehehehe

[mystified]

Sorry Terrorist got in ahead of you, The_ZoRo, but I did appreciate the comment about going to manufacturer's sites for drivers. I'll remember that

Anyway, Terrorist, thanks for the info. Those were interesting links, especially the one about dual boot drives. I bookmarked them. Now, a couple of questions.

I didn't realize that XP would work with FAT32 format. Now I'm wondering if I could fdisk in such a way as to leave everything I've already got on a smaller partition, leaving a bigger one open for XP (without having to uninstall & reinstall anything). Then, when I'm ready, I can uninstall what I don't want on 98SE and reinstall it on the XP side. Will that work? If so, how do I partition like that, so I end up with a partition empty and ready for XP (just leaving it formatted in FAT32)? I've used fdisk before, so I'm at least familiar with it. I even partitioned a HDD once, but couldn't get it to work right, so put it back to just one big partition. I think with some help, I can do this OK.

Also, my son (he gave me the audio & video cards a couple of years ago) said that he installed the Radeon card with the existing disk. He said it gives a warning that it "might not" work right under XP, but gives the option to install anyway. He did (on XP), and said it worked fine. Same with the audio. I'm guessing the worst that could happen is it's not right and I still need the updated drivers, but it might be OK. Do you have any thoughts on that?

Thanks again for all the help, by the way

[TheTerrorist_75]

I would start fresh. There are programs that can be used to create partitions after an OS has been installed, but if you are not use to them your setup already installed could be crippled.

Here is a nice FDISK guide I ran across some time back.

Using FDISK

Many programs installed in Win98SE won't be compatible with XP. The best bet is to download and install the correct version on XP after it is installed. As for data just back it up to install it on the storage partition later. I like using a small (2GB-20GB) hard drive to connect as slave to transfer data when a burner isn't available.

As for the Radeon 7500 and XP's stock drivers you may experience blue screens once in awhile because of unsigned driver issues. I went through that with my Nvidia MX-4000. It didn't really hinder me getting everything installed, but I eventually updated my driver.

Edited November 20, 2006 by TheTerrorist_75

[mystified]

Just want to thank all for the help It's now Friday (after turkey day), and I went for the XP home. I especially thank Terrorist for letting me know about using FAT32. I didn't know XP could run on it, but that's what I want to do. Anyway, I did borrow Partition Magic from a friend, but don't think I'll use it. I've reformatted many times using fdisk, and I'm going to do it that way (reformat the HDD, then clean install everything). I'll partition the way Terrorist suggested, except I think I'll leave 10 GB for 98SE....can't afford an XP-compatible modem just yet, so will need to run internet off 98SE just a while longer. In any case, what little I've got will never fill up the remaining 50 GB, anyway (I'm going to set C:/98SE, 10 GB -- D:/XP, 20 GB -- E:/Storage, 50 GB). I'm still not real clear on installing audio and video cards (separate installs for XP and 98SE), but once I get the 98SE partition set up and can get to the internet again, I can post questions that way as I work on getting XP set up right. So, if you're into finger-crossing, you can cross yours now for me....lol. Can't get back here until I've got internet access again (Twilight Zone theme song playing in background... ).

[TheTerrorist_75]

Setting up the separate drivers for hardware on the different OSes will be the same for each. You just boot into each OS and install the drivers for that OS. The OSes don't share the drivers between them. You will have to install the motherboard drivers on each OS before any others also.

Order of drivers install.

Motherboard

Video

Modem/NIC

Other drivers

Try to get WinXP Home with SP2 or SP3. That way the firewall will be activated before you go on the Internet thereby reducing your chances of being infected at the get go. I usually install my anti-virus after all of the drivers are installed on XP then visit Windows Update to download the rest of the needed updates. You will probably need to disable your anti-virus once you connect to Windows Update to downlaod and install them.

Here's a good guide on WinXP's firewall.

Deploying Windows Firewall Settings for Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2

[mystified]

Well, I finally got back online, but not by much. I wish now that I had your knowledge. It’s

been a lonnnng day. I started about 5 am, and finally at least got the basic 98SE and internet connection back about 6 pm.

First, using fdisk I reformatted the HDD, then started to partition. Keep in mind it’s been a long time since I did that. Anyway, that began an entire day of things that didn’t work. I forgot that after partitioning, I have to format each partition separately. Anyway, I finally got it, I thought.... I ended up reformatting at least four times today. When I finally thought I had it right, I installed 98SE on the C: partition (I read somewhere that, on a dual-boot system, the 98SE was supposed to go on first). I got 98SE installed, along with a few other things I needed, and it seemed to be working OK. Then, I used the XP disk, and told it I wanted to choose the partition to install it to. All went well at first, and I ended up getting the option. I chose drive D: (I had labeled it “XP”), and it started the install. I’m not sure about the first thing it does....copies files or something. Anyway, when it reached the point of actually installing XP, I suddenly got an error window saying that drive C: was damaged and couldn’t be repaired. It caught me by surprise, because I don’t know why drive C: even entered into it. In any case, it aborted the install (this is after I had entered the key code, by the way). I ended up trying again, but got the same thing.

Then, I finally decided to reformat again, but after that it kept saying drive C: was only 10 GB (I have an 80 GB HDD, and had put 10 GB as drive C:, 20 GB as drive D:, and 50 GB as drive E:). No matter how I tried it, it kept saying drive C: was only 10 GB. I ended up running fdisk again and deleting the partitions for drives D: and E:, then reformatting, but it didn’t help. I did tell it to enable large disk support, and that I wanted to use all available disk space for drive C:.

Yet, when I tried to format C, it still kept saying it was verifying only 10 GB. I finally decided to go with it just to get 98SE back on, and maybe get an internet connection. Well, that part worked. When I check properties now under Windows Explorer, it does say that the entire hard drive is drive C:, but it still doesn’t really seem right.

So, I ended up with 98SE working “somewhat,” no partitions, no XP, and I don’t know if the attempted install used up one of the four times I’m allowed with the XP disk (I got the home version, and four times I can install). I’m back to just 98SE, and absolutely don’t know where to go from here. There is nobody in my life who cares about computers (which is why I’ve had to learn by myself), and nobody to talk to about it. For now, I’m just going to wait for replies. I really don’t know what to do next.

I suppose I should mention that I did borrow Partition Magic from a friend, but understand nothing about it. That’s why I decided to use fdisk instead. I did not try P.M.

So, that’s where I’m at. There are a lot of programs I have not reinstalled, because I don’t want to do that until I get this right (printer, scanner, etc.). Is there any hope for this, given my limited knowledge, or should I just leave well enough alone? If it wasn’t for the internet, I wouldn’t even want XP....it’s only for the security. Anyway, thoughts would really be welcome, and I will check for replies (assuming this thing keeps working at all).

Thanks again for any help.....

By the way, I know more about guns than computers, and really, really felt like loading the 12-gauge today....this thing would've made a great target (sorry, don't mean it, but just had to say that...)...

**EDITED FOR FORMAT***

Edited November 25, 2006 by mystified

[TheTerrorist_75]

After running FDISK did you shutdown the computer before formatting the drive? Once you exit FDISK you leave the floppy in and shut the computer off for about a minute then start it up to format the drive. You will need to format all three partitions.

Once that is completed correctly try installing the dual boot in the following way.

Dual boot WinXP and Win98

Setup both C and D as FAT32. Run Win98 setup, use custom mode and install it to D:\windows. This will place the system files on D and the boot files on C.

Boot Win98, insert the WinXP CD and choose to install it to another

partition - namely C. This will install WinXP and it's boot loader to C and setup the dual-boot.

[mystified]

Thanks (again), Terrorist. I checked out the link, and it does explain a lot. I did it backwards (installed 98SE to C:). It does sound like this can work if I do things in the right order. I doubt I can do it this weekend (too many interruptions, and I'm best at this stuff when I'm alone), but will surely get to it Monday. Anyhow, thanks for hanging in there. Much appreciated......I just noticed something else. Although I don't do it as often, I sometimes go to Yahoo Questions and Answers. Now, whenever I try to click the link, I get an "illegal operation" message and have to shut it down. Besides that, I just tried the "thumbs up" smilie, but it does nothing. I'm still pretty sure something got corrupted when I installed 98SE this time, and I'm hoping that formatting the way you said will let me start all over and clean up any problems. Anyhow, thanks for the help (I typed this smilie in manually)

[TheTerrorist_75]

You probably need to install Java. Yahoo and other sites rely on Java. Many sites use Javascript for some of their features.

[TheTerrorist_75]

Another way to dual boot WinXP/98SE.

Install Windows 98 after I've installed XP

[mystified]

Well, thanks to your help, I pretty much know what to do now. However, I'm stuck on one last problem. It seems like I went through this same thing a few years ago, but just can't remember how I resolved it. Now, I've installed only enough right now to access the net, and only for this site (or wherever you tell me I need to check for info and/or d/l something).

After my first partition attempt, and trying to install 98SE to the wrong partition, I ended up trying to reformat and start over. I ended up deleting partitions D: and E:, then reformatting. However, C: would only show 10 GB out of an 80 GB hard drive. I went through everything I could think of (using fdisk, by the way), including deleting c:, restarting, then reformatting c:. I've done this repeatedly, including even turning the system off and unplugging it for a couple of minutes. No matter what I do, when I format c: it shows (quote) "76, 297.91MB Total disk space," and "76, 297.91MB Available on disk." This is fine, but when I go to fdisk and check partition properties, it shows C: as only 10,78.56MB, and usage at 100%. No matter what I do, I can't get c: to take up the whole disk again.

What I want to do is make c: the whole 80 GB, then reformat, partition again, and install per the instructions Terrorist gave me, including through the links I read. However, I just cannot get c: bigger than 10 GB, yet when I reformat it says the 80 GB is there and available.

I do remember solving this identical problem several years ago, but can't remember how. It may have had to do with Master Boot Record. No matter how I do this, I know I still have to format one more time, which is OK. But this time, I'd like to reclaim the entire disk, do the partitions, and get the dual-boot installed (once I can get the whole disk back, I should be OK now). When I reformatted, I tried "format /mbr," but it said "Invalid Switch." Should that have been "format \mbr?" (no quote marks, btw, but does the direction of the slash matter)?

I'm just going to leave it as is for now, until I have replies. I know this is some "stupid little thing," but just can't remember what it is. Still, I have to think it could be that I need to run the format /mbr command, or something like that, then let it reformat fresh. Does any of this sound right?

Thanks for any thoughts.....

QUESTION -- Does it sound like killdisk might fix this?

Edited November 26, 2006 by mystified

[TheTerrorist_75]

The command is fdisk /mbr which is included in the FDISK link. KillDisk would wipe any info but not the partitions.

At the FDISK link check out deleting multiple partitions.

Edited November 26, 2006 by TheTerrorist_75

[mystified]

Well, I may not be able to do this. Apparently I've really changed something on the hard drive. Since my last post, I talked to my son. He said that one thing might be to go ahead and upgrade to XP, hoping that it might reclaim the whole disk, and I might be able to do the partitioning through XP....so I tried. Yesterday I did upgrade (did not activate it yet). As in 98SE, Windows Explorer showed a full 80 GB. Since I had installed XP to FAT32, I was able to use my boot disk to get back into FDISK. Again, it showed C: as only 10 GB, and usage at 100%. XP utilites (DISKPART) could not create the partition.

I tried Partition Magic, but it, too, said it could not create a partition (because it said there was part of the hard drive it couldn't read).

Finally, I uninstalled XP, then reformatted C: again (as usual, it showed only 10 GB, but when finished said the drive has 80 GB). Still, when I try to partition, it shows only 10 GB and says there's no more disk space (this is only happening on fdisk...everything else -- both in 98SE and XP -- shows 80 GB).

Last try was to use my Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools disk to try to write zeros to the entire hard drive and recover it that way. Unfortunately, when I try, I get the error message: Cannot load DOS! Any key to retry

So, right now I'm running a minimal 98SE install just to get online so I can post this. If there are any other thoughts, I'd like to hear them. If not, I'll have to just leave it like this until I can afford a new hard drive. At this point, I don't see any other options.

In any case, no matter what it comes down to, I really do appreciate the replies and suggestions. Thanks.....

Edited November 28, 2006 by mystified

[TheTerrorist_75]

Try KillDisk to wipe the drive. If it shows more than 1 partition have it wipe the partitions out also. AFter running KillDisk you will need to run FDISK again to correctly set up the partitions and then format all partitions.

[mystified]

Well, Killdisk did work. It took over four hours, but it did write zeros to the disk. However, partway through, I realized something. This link http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/faq...sk_80g_10g.html explains some limitations with fdisk that I didn't realize, and I think it's where my problem has been all along. Part of it says:

(quote)"When creating partitions, FDISK allows the desired partition size to be entered in as either megabytes or as a percentage of the total available capacity of the disc drive.

Enter the partition size as a percentage of the total capacity instead megabytes, to overcome the FDISK display limitation. After FDISK is complete, the command line DOS FORMAT completes the preparation of the disc drive prior to loading the operating system."(unquote)

What I realized is that fdisk will still have the same limitation, and apparently I was right. Even after cleaning the whole drive, fdisk did the same thing....made C: drive only 10 GB (numbers rounded off), and it still says usage is 100%. When I created the partition, it asks if I want to use all available space. Of course, it already said that the disk is only 10 GB. So, I told it no. After verifying, it gave me the screen asking how much I want to use for C: and I deleted the MB number and typed in 100%. It still made it only 10 GB. Also, by the way, the DOS FORMAT command didn't seem to do anything, but the 2nd try gave the response "String 16," or something like that.

In any case, I now believe that all this time I've been running the computer like this. The "problem" didn't surface until I tried to partition so I could install XP and 98SE as a dual-boot system. Now, I'm back to 98SE and don't know if there's a way to get the partitions I need (I only want two -- 70 GB for XP and 10 GB for 98SE). Partition Magic has to be installed to windows, but won't partition because it can't find any unallocated space (the disk is already partitioned with Fdisk). Fdisk won't do it because it won't recognize the whole drive. Unfortunately, I only need 98SE for a couple of things, but they won't run on XP. Still, I may have to decide on one or the other. XP is by far the best of the two, but I'll still miss the things on 98SE.

I'm between a rock and a hard place, but at least (thanks to that article) I understand why. At least, too, Windows Explorer and My Computer do recognize the whole disk, even though Fdisk won't. So, I guess I do have access as far as installing programs, saving docs, etc. For now, I think I'll just leave it as is, but probably will end up just upgrading to XP on this drive as it is and leave it at that.

I do appreciate all the help, by the way. I just thought I should let you know where it ended up.

Best....Larry