[palmy_cammy]

I have just been given my mates old PC to basically piss about with as I'm interested in computers but too scared to mess about with my own incase it goes tits up. The computer has windows 95 on it and a whole load of random software that my mate used but I won't (lotus smartsuite for one!!). Now the obvious thing would be to format the hard disk but the only version of windows I have is XP. Now according to a book I have it isnt possible for a 95 computer to be upgraded to XP is this true? Are there any ways around this (for example boot disks etc.) or will I just have to "acquire" my own version of windows 95?

Just remembered I have windows 98 on CD from a while back if that makes any difference.

This post has been edited by palmy_cammy: 04 April 2005 - 19:16

[Mr X]

If you want to install XP, the easiest thing is to stick the CD in and see if works. If you cant upgrade from 95 to XP (and I think you're right, you cant) the setup will tell you.

Before you decide to format, check your XP disc. IIRC depending on where you got it, it could be for updating only. In other words, it wont install unless theres another version of windows already there ( I could be wrong about this though)

Why do you want 95? Or 98 for that matter?? Both are very old and unstable and could cause you problems with newer software. If you can "aquire" a copy of windows, I'd go for 2000 if you dont want to use XP

[palmy_cammy]

I have a fully working and reasonably up to date PC of my own that I am using just now with XP on it. The one in question is more a toy so that I don't do any long term damage to my "good" one.

[The Warrior]

I've got windows 98 on my home PC, and would like to upgrade to XP. Is it possible to do this but at the same time keep all the files i have (ie my music) without having to back them up anywhere?

[RiG]

Two recommendations for you both

Try asking your questions on these PC orientated forums

Digital Spy

Microsoft Newsgroups

This post has been edited by robsonisgod: 05 April 2005 - 18:37

[Raith Against The Machine]

Windows 98 is the baws

[Div]

My advice is to avoid a Microsoft in place OS upgrade wherever possible. A brand new clean install is always preferable

[Tormod Macleod]

Raith1883, on Apr 5 2005, 20:31, said:

Windows 98 is baws

I have amended your statement accordingly

[Mr X]

The Warrior, on Apr 5 2005, 19:24, said:

I've got windows 98 on my home PC, and would like to upgrade to XP. Is it possible to do this but at the same time keep all the files i have (ie my music) without having to back them up anywhere? 

Best long term strategy for this is to have more than one hard drive, either physical or virtual (using software like Partition Magic) I have one with the OS and programmes on, one with games and one with music files etc. If my OS falls apart, or I wanna upgrade the most I'll lose is a few programmes that I can easily re-install

This post has been edited by andycqos: 05 April 2005 - 20:27

[Swampy]

There's no such thing as a Windows 95 PC, in the sense that when you format the HD, Windows will be gone. I think what was meant by what you read was that, PCs these days that still run Win95 will often not be powerful enough to handle XP. So you'll want to check the specifications of your computer. You should be able to see the memory count (RAM) when booting up, and to find out the processor speed, right click My Computer and go to Properties.

If it matches or exceeds this: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/ up...ng/sysreqs.mspx (basically 128MB of RAM and a 300MHz processor; that's the total bare minimum, btw) then you can most likely install XP.

Div's right. Format, then install. Microsoft OSs in general work better after a clean format, and their applications also work best after a clean reboot, which is why I always restart before playing Age of Empires or using Word

Edit: I would disagree with anyone who advocates 2000 ahead of XP. XP has its flaws, but for a Microsoft OS it's remarkably stable.

Double Edit: Sorry if I'm telling you to suck eggs here, but remember to make backup CDs (or whatever) of all your important stuff on that PC before you format it!

This post has been edited by nach0king: 05 April 2005 - 20:38

[thejailender]

I've still got windows 98 here at home, I tried to upgrade to XP a while ago, but I had loads of problems getting my modem to work, certain other pieces of hardware wouldn't work either, and I couldn't get the drivers as I had no modem.

After a few nights of pulling my hair out I put in the Windows98 boot disk (or disaster disk as I call it) and started Windows 98 from scratch. Just as well i had backed-up all the important files first.

I will be progressing onto XP sometime soon, but that will be because my father-in-law is getting a new PC and I will be using his old one, which is about 3 years newer than my one.

One of my mates who has XP borrowed a monitor from someone and it wasn't good enough to support XP, but worked fine on 98. So maybe worth finding out if your monitor is good enough before you start

[palmy_cammy]

I had always intended a complete format as it will be a "new start" for me the new owner because there is nothing of interest (to me) on the hard disk.

I maybe didn't word it very well but the format was my main query. When I do this I will lose the OS which was 95, now allowing that it meets all the minimum requirements all I will need to do is insert my XP disk and that will install quite happily? I have a feeling it doesn't meet the requirements and I might need to use 98 but the same applies?

Finally then if the above are correct is the windows disk all I will need to at least get the OS up and running? I know I will need drivers etc to install extras but the basic system is my concern just now as I am reasonably competant with installing add ons.

[Div]

palmy_cammy, on Apr 6 2005, 12:58, said:

I had always intended a complete format as it will be a "new start" for me the new owner because there is nothing of interest (to me) on the hard disk. 

I maybe didn't word it very well but the format was my main query.  When I do this I will lose the OS which was 95, now allowing that it meets all the minimum requirements all I will need to do is insert my XP disk and that will install quite happily?  I have a feeling it doesn't meet the requirements and I might need to use 98 but the same applies?

Finally then if the above are correct is the windows disk all I will need to at least get the OS up and running?  I know I will need drivers etc to install extras but the basic system is my concern just now as I am reasonably competant with installing add ons.

Pretty much that is the case. Your PC should be able to boot from the XP CD and run through the installation for you. Similar with your Windows 9x CD.

Some things to note before you go ahead and blast away all the data;

Take a note of all the devices inside your machine as XP may not recognise some older devices (and even more likely there will be no XP drivers for some older devices). Do this through device manager which I think on Windows 95 is a standalone part of control panel.

I've been using XP since the week it came out and found it to be very stable indeed pretty much from day 1

[palmy_cammy]

Cheers for the advice it is all pretty much what I thought but I always want reassurance! My own PC is running XP and as far as I'm concerned it is grand. When I got given the older PC I just thought that me not having windows 95 would cause some problems when formatting but I think I've a rough idea of what I'm doing now.....

[palmy_cammy]

Any other way of finding out the clock speed of the processor? I would have expected it to show up on system boot-up but it doesn't or if it does it is too quick for me!

[Swampy]

Right click on My Computer, go to Properties. It's at the bottom of the first panel.

[The Warrior]

Cheers guys, think i'll just stick with 98 until i can afford to buy a new PC. Seems the easiest option!

[palmy_cammy]

Still having problems with this bloody comp! When I load up 95 and insert my 98 disk it says that I need an update disk which I don't have. When I tried to use fdisk to format my hard disk I get a message saying "could not change partitions, because the disk could not be locked".

Basically I want this PC to be wiped of all the junk that is on it and obviously have a Windows OS installed. I have a windows 98 disk and a welcome to Windows 98 disk (but seemingly not a windows 98 upgrade disk!) and the system doesn't meet the XP requirements. What is the simplest way to get this up and running. As this is my "second" computer I don't plan on spending much money if any at all.

[Mr X]

palmy_cammy, on Apr 21 2005, 10:08, said:

Still having problems with this bloody comp!  When I load up 95 and insert my 98 disk it says that I need an update disk which I don't have.  When I tried to use fdisk to format my hard disk I get a message saying "could not change partitions, because the disk could not be locked". 

Basically I want this PC to be wiped of all the junk that is on it and obviously have a Windows OS installed.  I have a windows 98 disk and a welcome to Windows 98 disk (but seemingly not a windows 98 upgrade disk!) and the system doesn't meet the XP requirements.  What is the simplest way to get this up and running.  As this is my "second" computer I don't plan on spending much money if any at all.

If youve got an old hard drive kicking about, put it in as the primary and install 98 onto that. Then format the other from windows. If you want to then swap them over, should be easy.

Where are you running fdisk from? If your going "through" 95 then try booting from a dos boot disk and then run fdsik.