Upgrading to XP vs. Full version?

[lethic]

Hi, I read a few places (including the compatibility docs for 5.3.1) that it is recommended to format the harddrive and install the OS fresh, instead of upgrading from a previous OS.

My computer will not be dedicated for my digi001, I will use it for other things. It's a lot cheaper for me to buy the XP upgrade and upgrade from 98. If I will have lots of stuff on my computer anyways (although I will have a seperate audio Harddrive), is it still important for me to start over and buy the full version of WinXP? Also, can anyone tell me why this is recommended?

[Bastiaan]

I *think* that if you still have your win98/winME disc you would be fine. The installer of XP looks for a previous installation. If it cant find one, it will prompt you to insert something to look at. If you then insert your 98/me cd, everything will contuinue, and you will be performiong a clean fresh install.

[QuikDraw]

Originally posted by lethic:
It's a lot cheaper for me to buy the XP upgrade...

...

...is it still important for me to start over and buy the full version of WinXP? Also, can anyone tell me why this is recommended?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">You do NOT have to purchase the full version of Windows XP in order to do a clean install. If you purchase the upgrade version it will simply ask you for the installation disk of a qualifying product when you install to a clean formatted hard drive.

It is still important for you to start from a freshly formatted hard drive. During beta testing and even after the release of PTLE 5.3.1 for WinXP several people could not get PTLE to work on an upgraded XP installation. These people then formatted and installed XP clean and had no further trouble running PTLE.

Besides, it is universally accepted among PC experts that a clean install is always superior to an upgrade. Sometimes upgrades work well, but it's the exception rather than the rule.

Purchase the WinXP Upgrade. You qualify for it, and it will save you money. But format the drive and install XP fresh!

It would also be wise to image your current setup before you begin using a program like Norton Ghost 2003 or Power Quest Drive Image. That way if you run into problems you can always get back to the way your system was before you started.

You might also consider a dual boot. You could keep your current setup in tact and load WinXP to a separate partition. Many people are doing that.

Mike

[lethic]

Thanks so much for both replies. This makes me much more relieved about the situation. I am able to get a student discount on the upgrade, and it will save me a good deal of money.

I will do a clean wipe of my harddrive, and I have a system for backing up my harddrive in place already, so it seems like I'm in good shape.

Being a student, without much money, its going to be a bit before I can get the digi001 anyways, but I wanted to look into the future, and I will be upgrading my OS soon anyways.

Thanks again!

-Jarek Poloney