04_0789734036_ch03.qxd 11/4/05 12:28 PM Page 89 CHAPTER 3 Upgrading Windows 04_0789734036_ch03.qxd 11/4/05 12:28 PM Page 90 90 Chapter 3 Upgrading Windows Windows XP Upgrade Installations Chapter 1, “Windows Version History,” introduced you to the various versions of Windows, past and present, and briefly mentioned the features of Windows XP. Large numbers of individuals and compa- nies still have older versions of Windows running on their computers. And even with Windows Vista on the horizon, compared to these older versions, Windows XP still offers a user-friendly experience and security functions that go far beyond its predecessors, including Windows 2000. In Chapter 2, “Installing Windows,” we talked about baseline Windows XP installation concepts and features as well as how to perform clean and professional installations of the XP operating system. In this chapter I cover how to perform an upgrade Windows XP installation, in which Windows XP replaces a previous Windows OS without first removing all data from the system drive and starting from scratch. An upgrade installation is most useful in cases where you have customized user settings that you want to preserve. This option, however, does not always work flawlessly, especially if you are upgrading from an operating system other than Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP Home Edition (to XP Pro) due to the differences in the Registry structure and the startup process. Stability issues aside, if you allow Windows XP to back up the existing operating system during the upgrade you can later uninstall Windows XP and effectively revert your computer back to the state it was in immediately preceding the Windows XP upgrade. The ability to uninstall is contingent on the disk volume being FAT32 and not NTFS, that you have not created or deleted any disk volumes on the system, and that you do not delete any backup files created during the upgrade installation process. Deciding Whether an Upgrade is Worthwhile Most individuals and companies acquire Windows XP installed on a new computer. However, a large established base of existing computers running older versions of Windows is present in nearly all organizations. Although nearly everyone would like to take advantage of the new capabilities of Windows XP, upgrades are not always feasible. First and foremost, there is the significant cost of new software and its licenses. In addition, you need to take into account the following: ■ Many older computers lack the hardware resources required to run Windows XP. ■ You cannot upgrade all operating systems directly to Windows XP. ■ Upgrading a large number of computers on a network involves a considerable investment in time and money. ■ Applications running on existing computers may not be compatible with Windows XP. Available Upgrade Paths Possible upgrade paths for computers running older Windows operating systems depend on the oper- ating system currently installed as well as the version of Windows XP you plan to install. Table 3.1 outlines the available upgrade paths. Table 3.1 Available Windows XP Upgrade Paths Upgrading to Windows XP Upgrading to Windows XP Operating System Home Edition Professional Windows 98/Me Can upgrade directly. Can upgrade directly. Windows NT 4.0 Workstation Cannot upgrade. You must perform Can upgrade directly. or Windows 2000 Professional a clean installation. 04_0789734036_ch03.qxd 11/4/05 12:28 PM Page 91 Windows XP Upgrade Installations Chapter 3 91 Table 3.1 Continued Upgrading to Windows XP Upgrading to Windows XP Operating System Home Edition Professional Windows XP Home Edition – Can upgrade directly. Windows 3.1x/95 Upgrade to Windows 98, and then Upgrade to Windows 98, and upgrade to Windows XP. then upgrade to Windows XP. Windows NT 3.x Workstation Cannot upgrade. You must perform Upgrade to Windows NT 4.0, a clean installation. and then upgrade to Windows XP. Windows NT/2000 Server Cannot upgrade. You must perform Cannot upgrade. You must a clean installation. perform a clean installation. You should note that while dual upgrade paths described in Table 3.1 for Windows 3.1x/95/NT 3.x computers are theoretically possible, most computers running these older operating systems do not have the required hardware for running Windows XP. Should you need to upgrade such an older com- puter to Windows XP, it is preferable to perform a clean installation of Windows XP as described in Chapter 2 after you have upgraded the hardware to an appropriate level. In addition, it is not possible to upgrade any non-Windows computers (Linux, UNIX, MS-DOS, OS/2, and so on) to Windows XP. You must perform a clean installation of Windows XP on these computers. Verifying System Compatibility The Windows XP compatibility tool enables you to create a compatibility report that identifies any problems with hardware or software on a computer that is to be upgraded to Windows XP. You can run this compatibility tool from the Windows XP CD-ROM by following these steps: 1. Insert the Windows XP (Home Edition or Professional) CD-ROM. 2. From the Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP screen, select the Check System Compatibility link. 3. Select the Check My System Automatically link. Tip You can also test your computer’s Windows XP compatibility by opening a command prompt or the Run dialog box and typing the following: d:\i386\WINNT32 /CHECKUPGRADEONLY (where d: is the drive containing the Windows XP CD-ROM). 4. The Microsoft Windows Upgrade Advisor dialog box enables you to download updated Setup files from the Microsoft website. If you have an Internet connection, you should choose the Yes, Download the Updated Setup Files option and click Next. Otherwise, select the No, Skip This Step and Continue Installing Windows option and then click Next. 5. If selected, the Microsoft Windows Upgrade Advisor downloads updated Setup files and displays a Restart option. Click this option and then select the Yes, Download the Updated Setup Files option again to proceed. 6. The Microsoft Windows Upgrade Advisor dialog box tracks the construction of the upgrade compatibility report. This will take a minute or two. 04_0789734036_ch03.qxd 11/4/05 12:28 PM Page 92 92 Chapter 3 Upgrading Windows 7. When this action is completed, the Microsoft Windows Upgrade Advisor displays a list of items that may not be compatible with Windows XP, as shown in Figure 3.1. If no incompatible items are found, it informs you of this fact. 8. To obtain additional information on any item, select it and click More Details. To save a copy of the compatibility report, click Save As, type the name of the file to be saved in the dialog box that appears, and then click Save. Click Finish to close the Microsoft Windows Upgrade Advisor. Figure 3.1 The report produced by the Microsoft Windows Upgrade Advisor notifies you of any hardware or software that may not work properly on Windows XP. Items that may be included in the upgrade report shown in Figure 3.1 include the following: ■ Incompatible software that may require upgrade packs, or applications that are not compatible with the Control Panel in Windows XP. If you cannot obtain upgrades, you may need to remove the application using Control Panel Add/Remove Programs before upgrading to Windows XP. If you do not remove these applications, you may receive an error message when upgrading to Windows XP. See Knowledge Base article 891891 (http://support.microsoft.com/ default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;891891) for more information. ■ Incompatible entries in MS-DOS files such as Autoexec.bat and Config.sys. ■ Plug and Play hardware devices that are incompatible with Windows XP Professional or require additional files. Note When run on Windows NT 4.0, the Microsoft Windows Upgrade Advisor may not provide the option to download upgraded Setup files. If this happens, simply continue the earlier procedure from step 6. Note that if you have not yet purchased Windows XP and are wondering whether your computer will support an upgrade, the Windows XP Upgrade Advisor is available from Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/upgrading/advisor.mspx. Upgrade Scenarios After you have run the Microsoft Windows Upgrade Advisor and ascertained that you want to per- form an upgrade installation of Windows XP, you are ready to proceed. The following sections look at upgrading computers running Windows 98 and Windows 2000 to Windows XP; upgrading of a Windows NT 4.0 computer is similar. 04_0789734036_ch03.qxd 11/4/05 12:28 PM Page 93 Windows XP Upgrade Installations Chapter 3 93 Before Upgrading to Windows XP After you are satisfied that an upgrade is worthwhile, you should perform several additional prelimi- nary tasks. The following tasks are suggested, and depend on the current operating system on the computer: ■ Back up your data before upgrading, in case something goes wrong during the upgrade. The eas- iest way to perform the backup is to simply copy the data folders to another disk or computer because the Windows 98/Me backup and restore utilities are not compatible with those in Windows XP. ■ Check the availability of BIOS upgrades from the BIOS manufacturer’s website. If upgrades are available, you should install them before upgrading your computer. Otherwise, machines with older BIOS versions may not shut down or restart properly. Furthermore, if the computer is not Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI)-compatible, you may need a BIOS upgrade. ■ Turn off power management features so that they do not activate during upgrade. You can do this from the Power Options applet in Control Panel. ■ Use an antivirus program that has been updated with the most recent antivirus signatures to scan the computer to ensure that the computer is free of viruses.