Member Avatar for karatelovr

Any significant problems with doing an upgrade from ME to XP? Can you just put the XP disk in and do an upgrade versus a fresh install? Or will I have to reinstall all my existing software once XP is loaded?

Or, should I spend the additional $ and buy the full blown version of XP and wipe the hard drive?

Thx

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Short answer: an in-place upgrade from Windows Me to Windows XP is supported and the XP installer includes an Upgrade Advisor to report hardware/software incompatibilities, but it will carry forward programs, drivers and registry state (so problems can come along with it). A clean install is usually the most stable long-term choice for a machine that has accumulated old utilities or low‑level tweaks. (flylib.com)

Practical, low‑risk workflow to try an in-place upgrade first:

  • Make a full image backup (so the disk can be restored if something breaks).
  • Run the XP Upgrade Advisor (from the XP CD) or use the command below to check only. 
d:\i386\winnt32.exe /checkupgradeonly
  • Uninstall third‑party AV/anti‑spyware/firewall utilities and any known low‑level utilities before upgrading; run a disk check/ScanDisk. Copy the XP install files to the hard drive if the CD drive is flaky. Keep driver installers and program keys on removable media. (flylib.com)

Hardware and drivers: Microsoft’s published minimums are very small (233 MHz CPU, 64 MB RAM, ~1.5 GB disk), but those are theoretical minimums — practical responsiveness on XP usually needs far more RAM. For a usable desktop, aim for 512 MB or higher if possible; confirm the network/printer/scanner drivers on the manufacturer site before upgrading and consult the Windows HCL if unsure. (lifewire.com)

Security and finishing touches: install Service Pack 3 as part of the install (many admins slipstream SP3 into the XP source using tools or the /integrate option) so the fresh system needs fewer offline updates. Important: Windows XP is end‑of‑support (no regular security patches since April 8, 2014), so running XP for tax work that touches sensitive data carries risk — isolate the machine from the Internet or consider running the tax app in a VM on a supported host or migrating to a newer OS. (support.moonpoint.com)

Practical recommendation tied to the thread: given ’s tax‑software constraint and the experiences reported by and , attempt an in‑place upgrade only after a verified disk image and compatibility report; if any incompatibilities show or performance is poor, follow with a clean install (slipstreamed with SP3) and then restore data.

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Member Avatar for jbennet

We did this to my dads win98 pc circa 2003

Generally it should work fine but for some of your devices you will need to find new, XP compatible drivers from the makers website

if you get the upgrade version it will still give you the option of either wiping the HDD and installing a "clean" XP - no need to buy the full version

Member Avatar for karatelovr

Thanks for the response. This is for a friend's computer who is a tax consultant. She bought this year's version of her tax software, only to find it is not compatiable with ME. If she has enough RAM and processing speed her computer may hold the XP, but I would still rather see a fresh install. But she doesn't want to go through setting up the internet, firewalls, spyware, AV and reloading all her old software and files. So maybe she'll try this first.

Have a grea week,
~Kar

Member Avatar for jbennet

how much ram does she have? - any cpu above 900mhz should be ok (p3 at least prefarably)
dont install xp on 128mb ever it will be slow
256 is better
384 - 512 is good

Member Avatar for gdpafred

Just did this using XP upgrade CD - worked just fine. Works okay with 256 RAM but faster with 512.

Member Avatar for jbennet

yes
if you have low ram, tweak the services and use the win2k style theme with no wallpaper and turn off the welcome screen and use the NT style one

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