Going From Windows 98 to XP

[EmTSea19]

I have a friend whose son bought an ipod with his birthday money, only to find out that it does not work with Windows 98. Someone suggested they buy a new computer,*lol*, but I told her that was not necessary. I told her to buy XP Home or Pro for $90 or $140 and save $1,000+.

The biggest problem is, they want to save a lot of stuff they have on 98 to XP. What is the best way to do that? I think I remember something about XP having a program to help you do that? I may be wrong about that though.

I suspect they have a ton of garbage on their computer too. With two kids constantly downloading stuff, and surfing everywhere. I tried to get them to clean it out, but they're reluctant to do anything.

So, what is the best way to go from 98 to XP?

Thanks.

[Paradoxmaker]

I would just buy a new bigger HD and install Xp on that one and use the one with Win 98 as a slave drive. That way you would not loose any of your data, you would not have to transfer anything, and if the computer is still using 98 it could probley benifit from a newer faster drive anyway.

Of course any of this depends on wether or not the other componets of the system can be supported by Win XP.

[KOXC2003]

XP uses a lot of system resources, do you know the specs of their current system?

[EmTSea19]

KOXC2003, I forgot to ask her about that, I sent her an e-mail. Let's say the specs are good, what are the options? Is there an easy way for her to switch and retain data?

Thanks, Paradoxmaker. I doubt she would do that. She doesn't want to buy a lot of components. She'll probably end up buying a new computer first.

[BUBBLE]

the feature you're looking in windows xp is file and settings transfer wizard. But according to your info it's better to plug that hard disk as a secondary hard disk as mention by Paradoxmaker (if possible)

[Paradoxmaker]

KOXC2003, I forgot to ask her about that, I sent her an e-mail. Let's say the specs are good, what are the options? Is there an easy way for her to switch and retain data?

Thanks, Paradoxmaker. I doubt she would do that. She doesn't want to buy a lot of components. She'll probably end up buying a new computer first.

Well I know that the $90-$140 for a copy of Win XP can be a little pricey for some people Keep in mind you can now get 80-120 gb HD's with the 8mg buffers on sale now for less than $100. I have seen sales papers as low as an 80gb for $49.

So to me $190 to $240 is still a lot less than a whole new system (unless the old system just plain sucks).

[EmTSea19]

You're right Bubble and Paradoxmaker, I will mention all this to her, and she will decide. Thank You.

[Disputant]

Definitly see how much RAM is on the system. I remeber when I made the switch and was running 256, it felt very slow compared to Windows 2000 which I was running before.

Also on Hard drives, they are so cheap now, I typically just buy a new drive and slave the old one for the data. $58 gets you one of those nice quiet fluid bearing 40 gig Samsungs on NewEgg now.

[SavageBasher]

That price for the hard drive sucks. You can get 4x the space without even spending twice that. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-203&depa=1

or, 5x for twice that amount. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-129&depa=1 :santa:

[Disputant]

That price for the hard drive sucks. You can get 4x the space without even spending twice that. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-203&depa=1

or, 5x for twice that amount. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-129&depa=1 :santa:

You are absolutely right, I have to stop posting at 3am. :) The drive that I was thinking of anyway was the 80gig Seagate that got the good reviews. I have mostly WD drives, I only started on Seagate lately for a silent computer. My WD crank quite a bit of noise. I stand corrected, thanks.