OS Advice: Totally New Install or Upgrade

[Bungleau]

If I were looking at the difference between the full version and an upgrade, I'd get the upgrade version and buy a new hard drive. Then install XP on the new hard drive and point it to the old one when it asks for your proof of Win98-ship.

FWIW, I've just built a new PC, and it's my first one running XP. I went for a clean install... no possibility of old stuff giving you problems. [img]smile.gif[/img]

And on a side note, in the first hours of just setting up, Ad Aware and Spybot both found things they wanted to remove for me... [img]smile.gif[/img] They really are your friends, and you really want to use them

[Felix The Assassin]

I would suggest you wait a few months an opt for the new OS, Win Longhorn. That way you can bypass the want for the latest upfront. WinXP is already running SP1.5, and if I read correctly the full SP2 will be available 30 days or so just before Longhorn ships.

Always save whatever it is that is very important. Then do the reformat duo. Go with the NTFS file system, it can't be beat.

The above post about doing a full install from the upgrade is correct, but you have to have a readable disk from an older windows. You just tell it to run NTFS, and place it on C: That will then reformat and setup your C: drive as primary, and NTFS. That will also eliminate all files on the drive.

[Paladin2000]

Waiting for a few months to get the latest OS might sound good but M$ is known to release buggy and unsafe (if unpatched) OS; I wouldn't think the trend will change for the good. But to be on the safe side, just wait a couple of months AFTER the released of Longhorn and you should be safe. Let other more "adventureous" users test out the new OS first. Just my $0.02

[Bokken]

Originally posted by Felix The Assassin: I would suggest you wait a few months an opt for the new OS, Win Longhorn.

I don't want to spoil anyones day here especially if you're really eager to get this one, but don't expect Longhorn before or near 2006. The only reason MS released SP2 so quickly is because they will be delaying Longhorn even more than previously expected.

As for the upgrade or full instal, I would go full instal or nothing. I have ran the upgrade only in the past with no problems, but by the same token the amount of crap that is no longer necessary yet still remains behind is ridiculous. The upgrade option has always been there but I'd personally fix a problem than stick a bandaid in it if you understand where I'm coming from.

[ 07-28-2004, 03:11 AM: Message edited by: Bokken ]

[Bokken]

Originally posted by Paladin2000: Waiting for a few months to get the latest OS might sound good but M$ is known to release buggy and unsafe (if unpatched) OS; I wouldn't think the trend will change for the good. But to be on the safe side, just wait a couple of months AFTER the released of Longhorn and you should be safe. Let other more "adventureous" users test out the new OS first. Just my $0.02

You're not very wrong there, however Longhorn is not a new operating system on it's own, rather an upgrade to XP. You need a machine currently running XP home or Pro to instal Longhorn over. The changes are huge including the whole new file system (kiss NTFS goodbye) so it should be a bit safer than with previous windows. Regardless, considering Microsofts popularity around hackers, I am more than sure they'll find some way around it pretty soon.

[Hivetyrant]

Will they be putting Janus in with Longhorn?
I heard that it will have a heap of security stuff built into it to stop people from using burnt disks and illegfal copies of everything, but is it all true?

[Bokken]

Originally posted by Hivetyrant: Will they be putting Janus in with Longhorn? I heard that it will have a heap of security stuff built into it to stop people from using burnt disks and illegfal copies of everything, but is it all true?

Not sure what lengths they will go to as far as that is concerned but I know one thing. If it can be done, it can also be undone. It's impossible for you DVD player to read other region discs without a region change, yet run a program in the background and it's done. Pretty much speaks for everything else too if you ask me.

Also keeping in mind that at this current stage, we are legally allowed to keep backups of our games, music, etc, there is no reason why this should be done. I run a virtualdrive or have full instals of games with No CD cracks on my laptop as I cannot carry a heap of disks with me everywhere I go. If there was a feature that rendered the use of them impossible, I would do my best to find, or create a way to make it possible. If I make a purchase of certain products, I expect to enjoy them. I don't like the copy protections in certain games as they will not work on some or even many systems even if you have the original. Take Far Cry for instance. I payed $90AU and can't play it without a NO CD Crack for the reason that my desktop PC is running emulation software (Nero 6) which I also purchased. Uninstaling it still does not work so the creation of a second user account with no privilages to anything but windows and far cry works. A small price to pay but not considering I have bought the game. Which brings me to the same thing once again. If it's made it can be unmade, therefore I find no reason why the legitimate consumer should also pay the price alongside the ilegitime one.

Anyway this is getting off track so I'll leave it here. I just wished to point out that everything has it's limits regardless of how high the protection goes. I believe we see more than enough of this every day to neglect or remain in disbelief about it.

[WillowIX]

Let's just hope your computer is able to boot from CD. I have no idea how old your computer are but if you're still running Windows 98 well...

Btw, a format does not remove the information on the hard drive. It's very easy to get most of it back after you format the drive. But do back up! SHould you however forget something, it's probably not lost to you. [img]smile.gif[/img]

And I'd spring for a clean win 2000 install instead, but hey that's just me.

[Hivetyrant]

Thanks for the info Bokken.
Albromor, what are you planning on using XP for? I know that it is still pretty expensive, so if its not completly neccesary, then mabey doing a fresh install of another OS is better, because although Micro$oft can be dodgy with pricing, with all the talk of new OS's they might bring the price down, and nothing makes me madder than buying an OS for $500 and then reading in the Harvey Norman catalogue that it has dropped in ptice by about $100. Not that that has ever hapened to me, but I know that it would make me angry.

[Albromor]

I might just do a clean install of 2000. Right now I have an ASUS TUSL2-C P3 motherboard which is incrediably stable. Other specs: CPU 1.2 Ghz P3; 512 RAM; Asus graphics card GeForce4 Ti4200 128 meg. Yeah, it is older but it does what I want it to do except for some of the issues I have been having lately with my OS. Since I am saving up for a updated rig (which is all relative considering how quickly technology becomes obsolete in the PC world), I plan on giving this one to my wife and kids. It will more than provide what they need for work/school work.