thanks in advance for some info...

in order to speed up my computer i recently decided to upgrade to WIN XP (home version) from my WIN 98 second edition. i called and ordered the upgrade from Gateway. during the initial stages of the upgrade i was asked to insert my WIN 98 disc. after looking everywhere i am unable to locate it. according to Gateway i will need to purchase the XP install rather than the upgrade since i lack the 98 disc. my daughter has a WIN 98 S E disc. would it work if i used her disc? i don't want problems w Microsoft down the road but do feel that i purchased my WIN 98 and one is enough. she has only one disc. is that all there was to WIN 98? i would like to zero my hard drive before installing XP so as to start w a clean computer as i was told by a Gateway tech that it may be slowed by accumulated undetectable programs. does that sound likely and is zeroing the proper solution? i really would appreciate any advice.

 

howard coleman

yes, i would say a clean install is the way to go. installing over previous versions of windows can cause problems, mainly on systems that haven't been formatted in a while anyhow. so back up what you need and do a fresh install.

 

now as for the 98 disk. if you paid for a copy, and just misplaced your disk, then i would assume it'd be ok to use your daughters disk to verify already having a copy. and yes just the one disk is all thats needed.

 

did your 98 install disk come from gateway? or was it purchased seperately? i would think if it came with your gateway, they should be able to send you a replacement disk. especially if you registered it. M$ may do the same, however i'm not positive.

yes, i would say a clean install is the way to go. installing over previous versions of windows can cause problems, mainly on systems that haven't been formatted in a while anyhow. so back up what you need and do a fresh install.

 

now as for the 98 disk. if you paid for a copy, and just misplaced your disk, then i would assume it'd be ok to use your daughters disk to verify already having a copy. and yes just the one disk is all thats needed.

 

did your 98 install disk come from gateway? or was it purchased seperately? i would think if it came with your gateway, they should be able to send you a replacement disk. especially if you registered it. M$ may do the same, however i'm not positive.

 

 

 

Using any copy of Win 98 SE is ok since Microsoft has no way of tracking it. You will only insert it for a few seconds anyway, then it willl prompt you to insert XP back in.

 

However from my experience, I also upgraded from Win98se to XP. Then I inadvertently deleted a critical file (dumb mistake) that caused me to have to reformat. After reformatting, things ran even better. So I agree with first response, clean install is better. But you can do a clean install without having to purchase the full version of XP. As long as you have a full version of 98se or 95 (that's what I had as a full version on my computer), you can do a clean install. It will prompt you for all three disks, but again 98 and 95 disks can be anyone's version and it's used just for a few seconds before asking for XP to be reinserted. I hope this helps.

The best thing to do is pony up the extra bucks for the full XP because it is going to be more stable in the long run but any copy of Win 98 disc is going to work.