moving from 98 to XP SP2

[cygnusx1]

Hi all,

I'm getting set to move from 98 to XP SP2 (I know ... dude, don't rush it, it's only almost 2008!) but anyway :)

I'm wondering how or if I can keep all my settings (registry contents, desktop shortcuts, start menu contents etc, installed software, installed fonts) from the Win98 system I'm running now.

The situation is this.
1/ XP Pro SP2 installed on IBM DeskStar drive, drive not currently even plugged in.
2/ Win98 on my C:, been booting from it for years.
3/ Got the IBM DeskStar + XP when I bought the system, but just pulled that drive at the time because I was all set up and running with Win98.
4/ Bought the system second-hand. Seller represented XP license as legit, but did not provide either S.O.A. or installation CDs. (He said he couldn't find the CDs or may have never had them. From knowing him and his reputation, I tend to believe him, but who knows.)

Now I've got a break in my schedule and it's time to look at moving to XP again.

Normally you'd just install XP as an upgrade, right, but I can't install it without the CDs -- it's already installed on the other drive. Or, you would start with XP and just reinstall software, but I'm not sure I could find all my installation disks after all this time. (The data on my drives goes back about 14 years -- although it's been moved around quite a bit!)

So what I'm looking for is a way to merge / import my settings from the Win98-based system to the XP-based system. Is this even feasible?

Any ideas very much appreciated.

And while I'm at it: when I plugged in and booted from the XP drive, it recognized all my other drives, but got the drive letter assignments all wrong. How does drive letter assignment work with XP?

Thanks!

[Suspishio]

If you can boot from the XP drive, you're already further than it at first looked likely.

Short answer is that you have no realistic hope of merging Registry data in if you can't perform an upgrade in the formal sense. SO re-install your software.

In which case, the drive letter re-assignments shouldn't matter.

Downstream when you come to maintain/update XP I hope you don't run into validation errors with Microsoft.

[jbennet]

Put one of the drives in a spare (friends?) PC and boot them both up

Connect them together using a network (2 cheap network cards + a crossover cable is fine)

Stick your xp cd in the 98 machine (you want the files and settings transfer wizard but as you dont have the disk this might be a problem but i THINK you can download it).

Run the files and settings transfer wizard.

[cygnusx1]

If you can boot from the XP drive, you're already further than it at first looked likely.

Yeah my thoughts too. I guess it helps that the hardware config (absent the addition of two drives) is mostly the same. Same mobo, especially.

Downstream when you come to maintain/update XP I hope you don't run into validation errors with Microsoft.

Yes it does seem like trouble. I may be forced to purchase a fresh copy at that point, which of course I'd rather avoid. :S

[cygnusx1]

Run the files and settings transfer wizard.

Thanks jbennet! That sounds like what I'd want. I'll track that down.

[jbennet]

yeah i used that method for going fromn xp -> vista it will copy your users, files, mail ecross the network (dont know if it does programs or not)

[cygnusx1]

yeah i used that method for going fromn xp -> vista it will copy your users, files, mail ecross the network (dont know if it does programs or not)

looks like not programs, but yes on settings and files.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457074.aspx#EGAA

[cygnusx1]

I'm pretty sure I'm seeing that a directory tree that was drag-and-dropped under XP, when viewed after booting 98, shows up with all-caps filenames and directory names. (Not all the files that were copied/moved, but many of them.) The filesystem is FAT32.

Would this be expected? I'm not sure if that's the cause; I just noticed it. I'm very clear that the names used to be mixed-case.

It might also involve XCOPY run under XP.

[bobbyraw]

you will definately have to reinstall all programs on to XP that are on win98, all files and setting can be moved to xp in various ways. when u move file between fat and ntf or fat and fat 32 the directories will be diff, either caps, concatanated~. as for the drive letter you can go into admin tool>comp management>disk management you can give each drive the letter u want., just do a reboot when you are done.

[cygnusx1]

OK but it this case it was copying/moving from one directory on a FAT32 drive to another directory on the same drive. And not programs -- just data.

Directory contents, before copying/moving with XP, viewed while booted to 98:

browser/
communicator/
global/
help/
mozapps/
xpi_skins/
install.rdf
contents.rdf
icon.png
preview.png

Directory contents, AFTER copying/moving with XP, viewed while booted to 98:

BROWSER/
communicator/
GLOBAL/
HELP/
MOZAPPS/
xpi_skins/
INSTALL.RDF
CONTENTS.RDF
ICON.PNG
PREVIEW.PNG

[bobbyraw]

xcopy will do thise whenther its run from a commnd prompt or as a batch file of within a GUI program. dud u run it with a switch??