upgrading to xp

[VileSlay]

I'm upgrading my mothers old computer, which now belongs to me, to xp. my sig has details about my computer. I do plan on upgrading some of the features on there, such as the memory, but I need to upgrade the os.

I ran the xp upgrade advisor provided by microsoft and got some issues that need attention. I figured that that maybe I could get some help here, as one of the issues is related to an nvidia product. any advice I can get would be greatly appreciated. here are the issues I would like some help with:

Hardware Compatibility Issues
Setup has found hardware on your computer that is incompatible with (that is, it does not work with) Windows XP.


Hardware That Might Need Additional Files
The following hardware might need additional files in order to work with Windows XP. Contact your hardware vendors to obtain Windows XP compatible updates. In many cases, if a Windows XP version is not yet available, a Windows 2000 compatible update should work. It is recommended that you obtain these drivers in advance.
You can also view the Microsoft Windows XP Hardware Compatibility List on the Web.

Please note that some of the following entries might be software that is registered as hardware.


Network adapters
WAN Miniport (ATW)

Software That Does Not Support Windows XP
Setup has found programs on your computer that are incompatible with (that is, they do not work with) Windows XP. Contact your software vendors to obtain updates or Windows XP-compatible versions. If you don't update these programs before you upgrade, the programs will not work after the upgrade is completed.


Disc Detector (in Control Panel)
eLicense Control (in Control Panel)
NVIDIA nView Desktop Manager (in Control Panel)

Before you upgrade to Windows XP, you should remove any incompatible programs if you can. After the upgrade, uninstall for these programs might not work. Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel can help you uninstall most programs. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then click Add/Remove Programs.


Software Compatibility Issues


Incompatible Hardware Accessories
The following programs support your computer hardware; however, they are incompatible with Windows XP. To see whether updated versions of these programs are available, visit your hardware manufacturer's Web site.

Creative Labs SoundBlaster Accessories

[supra]

any reason why you want to upgrade instead of doing a format and clean install?

[Infinity666]

those issues are simply driver ones when you install xp install the newest drivers for your vid and sound card and all should be well. I would also recomend a clean install of xp.

[saturnotaku]

XP will run fine on that machine...slowly, but fine.

But what you should always do is a clean format. Back up all your important documents and media files first. Then proceed with the installation, formatting your drive to NTFS.

[VileSlay]

a lot of people keep telling me to do a clean install, but I'm not sure what the difference is. I'm doing the simple upgrade becuase I want to make sure I'm not gonna loose anything. I may not be a technical whiz, but I felt that doing it that way would be best. am I wrong?

[saturnotaku]

I may not be a technical whiz, but I felt that doing it that way would be best. am I wrong?

You are. Take it from people on this forum who probably have a lot more experience than you. Again, back up all your important files (buy a cheap DVD burner if you have to) and do a clean install. When you boot off the Windows XP CD-ROM, it will set up and format the hard drive for you. Then when it's done, install all drivers for your hardware and you'll be set. It will be less time consuming than having to deal with software conflicts and incompatibilities.

[supra]

[QUOTE=VileSlay]a lot of people keep telling me to do a clean install, but I'm not sure what the difference is. [QUOTE]

the difference is big. Windows slows down to a certain point after months/years of use (given that programs/drivers have been installed/uninstaled, files moved/deleted).

A defragment will speed it up a bit and keep the drive nice n tidy but still wont match up to a clean install.

There are people here that format once every couple of months and people that format just to test new drivers.

[neo86]

How 'bout you just try both? If you're not going to take our word for it.. then that's all there is left to do.