Need help upgrading to Windows XP
 

Okay I finally convinced the fam to upgrade the family computer to XP from Win98.

Unfortunetly it hasn't been as easy as I was hoping. I got a huge list of programs and stuff that either need to be removed or upgraded before I can actually install XP.

The getting rid of programs is no problem. But I have some questions about Hardware...

Here is what the report I got said...

Hardware that might need Additional Files

The follwoing hardware might need additional files in order to work. Contact your hardware vendors to obtain Windows XP compatible updates

Hard Disk Controllers
Storage Adapter Bridge Module (TPP) (not currently present)

Modem
56k PCI Voice Modem SF-1156IV R9A

Universal Serial Bus Controllers
USB Storage Adapter V2 (TPP) (not currently present)

Can anyone out there tell me what I need to do? Do I need to buy these things (or in case of the modem, a new one), are they files I can download and install? I'm totally clueless as to where to look for this stuff.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, so please, please, please help me out.

Try going to the websites of the manufacturers of your hardware. They should have XP drivers available for download. Look for XP drivers for all your hardware, not just what the report said.

Be sure to do this before you install XP, because if you use dialup and your modem doesn't play nicely with XP, you can't get to the internet (duh).

Good luck - Micro$oft's stuff can be pretty finicky. :)

My expert opinion is DON'T. I have had more trouble than it's worth on every machine I have upgraded, including none of the drivers working and not being able to find manufacturer names on the hardware or XP drivers on the websites. My suggestion would be 2000 even though it is kinda outdated as well...

Unfortunetly that is not an option. My little brother's HS is giving him a tablet PC, and in order for it to work fully with anything he might want to do at Home he needs XP. Plus, this computer crashes about once every three hours, so the extra Stability from XP will make my life at home easier.

I was able to find out that my Modem does work despite the warning from the diagnostic. But does anyone have information about the other two things?

Are you upgrading on top of 98, or are you doing a fresh install? If the former, I recommend formatting and doing a fresh install. I have *always* had problems when trying to upgrade an OS, but I have had very few problems doing a clean install. Just a thought.

Unless your hardware is hopelessly out of date and old, I would guess that XP will recognize it on a clean install. But, as aephi alum said, try to find the drivers before getting rid of 98.

Oh, one more thing - if there are any files on your computer that you can't afford to lose (financial records, term papers/theses, letters to Santa :), etc) back them up before you do anything else.

I agree with Jon... if at all possible, just do a fresh install. I'm sure your computer will appreciate getting rid of all the random little hidden files that always find their way into a system that's been running for a few years anyway.

Like someone else said, get yourself a disk with all of your important documents and the necessary drivers, make a duplicate of it, and then format the hard drive. It's the easiest way.

Seriously folks let's stay on topic here! I know about getting rid of Nortons, and other anti-virus software, things like system restore programs and the like...

I need to know where or what I can get to fix my Hard Disk controller and USB controller problems!

If you know the answer, then for the love of everythign that is holy, tell me!

If not, then please don't bother, youre information while useful is not what I'm looking for. I'm not trying to be mean, just trying to get what I feel I'm on a need to know basis for.

GCers, I have a formatting problem as well. . .

More than a year ago, somehow on my computer at work, I managed to save a document I was working with as the "Normal" template. Now everytime I want to save something, the name of the document I was working on pops up (when it asks you to name your document). I've tried to save another template as the Normal template, but am not allowed to do so.

I can deal with that, but the document I was working on was double-spaced, and now instead of everything I do being single-spaced, the double-spacing is my default! What's a girl to do?

I've gone to the Microsoft website, and there's so much to muddle through - not only that, I didn't really see anything to directly address my problem. I've also tried the "Microsoft Word Help" to no avail.

I know that someone here can help me short of me hiring Bill Gates to come to my job to fix this for me (yeah, right - I crack me up! :D :D :D )

Just do the upgrade...don't worry about it. It says it might need updates but I've never seen something that stopped working with XP. XP is the most stable and advanced MS platform before Longhorn comes out and you won't have a problem. Just back up the critical files and then do it. Then just go to windows update afterwards to see if there are any updates or extra drivers and you're good to go.

-Rudey

For btb87:
 

Naughty you :p It can happen when for instance you change the page setup (margins etc) and click Default to make that the setting for all new documents. Or other settings; in other words changing the global (normal) template accidentally is all too easy! I recommend going to the Tools menu in Word and under save options deleselecting the "Prompt to save Normal template" option.

Okay, try this (make sure Word isn't running) go to Start > Find >Files or Folders (make sure you select search subdirectories too!) . in the box type Normal.dot

Right click on each occurrence of Normal.dot it finds for you and rename them to Normal.old
Then start Word.
If problem persists come back to us and we'll suggest further things to try. If not come back and offer hugs :p.

Actually, Jon Sagara is fantastic, but wha I have seen , read is the The Newest Microsoft prtograms are having BIG Probs!

I am sticking with 98 and same with AOL 5.0. they seem to get my stuff screwed up!:mad:

New may not be better! Si!:D

Re: For btb87:
 

decadence,

Unfortunately, it didn't work. When I performed the search, it came back telling me that there were no results to display. I even tried calling up the name that always pops up when I try to save a document.

I'm beginning to feel that all hope is lost - you can start offering hugs now. . . :(

Re: Re: For btb87:
 

Is there any possibility you could just do a fresh install of Office on your computer? I know that might be a little bit of a pain, but it'd solve the problem.

Re: Re: Re: For btb87:
 

GP,

I spoke with our Helpless desk about the problem before and the response was "I don't know what's wrong with it!".

I don't know if they'll consent to it, but I might just try asking about that. Or I might just have to hold on for another year or 2 (I think we upgrade every 3-5 years).

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I appreciate it. :)