Newbie Question: Upgrading to WinXP...

[radiomotion]

ok, this is a real basic question...but i need some help. i'm currently running WinME on my machine and want to upgrade to XP without doing a fresh install (i know, its a bad to not start fresh, but i want to try it this way before i axe my entire system for a more reliable OS)

anyways, if i install XP over WinME, will all my files stay intact? will i still be able to use my current installed programs? are there any known conflicts of doing things this way? thanks a bunch to anyone who can lend a hand!

-radiomotion

 

[jcmkk]

All of your files should stay intact, and as long as the programs are WinXP or Win2K compatible, then they should all work.

 

[radiomotion]

does this hold true even if i change over to the NTFS file structure?

 

[Richard98]

<< does this hold true even if i change over to the NTFS file structure? >>


Shouldn't matter, except for disk utilities.

 

[freebsddude]

Wont affect your files. Not sure about apps/games. Check with game vendor(s) for upgrades or
XP compatibility. If you are doing any networking with any other PCs, etc. and relying on NetBEUI protocol,
you may have to reconfigure your network settings. By default it is not available on WinXP.

 

[NogginBoink]

Your settings will be preserved.

Even if you convert to ntfs.

But if you convert to ntfs, you won't be able to uninstall and go back to WinME.

 

[radiomotion]

that would be a blessing

WinME has been such a horrible experience for me......

 

[SemperFi]

You will find the netbuei protocol on your windows xp cd \VALUEADD\MSFT\NET\NETBEUI. Direct the network installer there. Note this is not digitally signed if that matters to you. And Microsoft will not support netbeui anymore. Like that matters to most Anandtecher's.

 

[radiomotion]

ok.....i upgraded to WinXP Pro...........and it works great!.........my only question now is that when i look at the hard drive properties, it still says its a FAT32 file structure........i'd rather it be NTFS.......how can i change it without whacking all my info and programs? thanks again!

::radiomotion

 

[XPTEX]

Here is some good info on that subject........ >>NTFS Info <<

 

[radiomotion]

thats an awesome article........exactly what i need..........i'm about 3/4 ways thru it already....

i'm still wondering tho, how to change the file structure from FAT32 to NTFS.........do i just goto the c: drive and right click it and then click "format"?

thanks again!

 

[XPTEX]

Well I did a fresh install when I went to XP but the article above recommends Paragon Partion Manager

 

[flawedexistence]

Ok. This is what you need to do to convert FAT32 to NTFS:

1. Open a command prompt.
2. In the command prompt window, type
convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs

For example, typing convert C: /fs:ntfs would format drive C: with the NTFS format.

You can convert FAT or FAT 32 volumes to NTFS with this command. This is how I converted my system. It works quite nicely.

 

[XPTEX]

Out of curiosity flawedexistence what cluster size did you end up with doing it that way ?

 

[NzAnE2K]

You can also change FAT32 to NTFS using Partition Magic 7.0. It doesnt need to format so all your files are stil there.

 

[radiomotion]

does partition magic allow you to adjust what cluster size to convert to?

 

[Krugger]

i thought so, since it lets you set most anything. but after reading the article i guess it doesnt do what you need, and also, some people have noted problems with XP and PM7 though, look into it i guess.
Krugger

 

[AndyHui]

Please read the FAQ: How do I convert from FAT32 to NTFS and also Using FAT32 and NTFS on the same system.

 

[flawedexistence]

Actually, I'm not really certain what the cluster size is.......when I did the conversion, I obtained the procedure straight from Microsoft so I would assume that it is the default cluster size for ntfs. My understanding is that some 3rd party programs allow you to adjust cluster size but I'm not really interested in that much micromanagement.

 

[XPTEX]

It's hardly "micromanagement", it can mean the difference in a slow unresponsive system and one that runs well.

Remember, larger IS better But if she's happy not knowing that more power to ya.

As for me and my girl, she knows the truth :Q

 

[NogginBoink]

<< It's hardly "micromanagement", it can mean the difference in a slow unresponsive system and one that runs well. >>


Hardly.

I'd bet you any sum you'd care to wager that I could take two identical computers with different cluster sizes and you wouldn't notice a whit of performance difference.

For 99%+ of users, cluster size is totally irrelevant.

 

[XPTEX]

<< I'd bet you any sum you'd care to wager >>



Kewl !! I can make some money here !!

From this link Scott Finnie

"NTFS performance. Microsoft's David Golds sent word that the NTFS article in the last issue was accurate except on one point. I mentioned that on larger (30GB or more) volume sizes, NTFS can cause an erosion of performance. Golds writes: "4K clusters are actually close to optimal for performance for most workloads. It's just that 512-byte clusters are a bit small. So NTFS retaining the 4K cluster size actually positions us really well for performance and for storage efficiency."

I think David put his finger on the issue. Many of the people who are noticing performance issues have 512-byte cluster sizes because they converted during or after an upgrade installation of Windows XP. It's probably much fairer to say that performance degradation occurs with 512-byte clusters."

Of course David Golds and the ton of SFNL readers don't know much but what the hell ?

 

[XPTEX]

so wheres ma money ??!!$$!!