Subject:How painful is the 98SE to XP switch?

Posted by: Jessariah

Date:9/14/2002 7:44:53 AM

I put XP on my computer at work to get rid of ME. Just for giggles, I popped the CD into my media computer and got "the List." (I know I have to buy another copy, but I was just checking). It was like a nightmare -- scanner, Easy CD Creator 4, sound card...

To those who have done this, is it as painful as it looks, or is it just a matter of spending some time online downloading drivers, etc.? I don't get a whole lot of lockups, etc., but the latency issue with not being able to run WDM drivers keeps me away from the soft synths.

Also, is Home Edition alright, or do I need Professional?

Just looking for some input (encouragement????).

Subject:RE: How painful is the 98SE to XP switch?

Reply by: billybk

Date:9/14/2002 8:40:13 AM

Jessariah,
If your devices have W2K/XP drivers available(most W2K drivers work fine in XP, even if they are not XP certified yet), you should be in good shape. XP comes with thousands of drivers on the CDROM install disk for most devices out there in the marketplace. When installing the OS on your system, keep all of your hadrware devices installed, XP will automatically install the drivers for you as it recognizes each device during the installation process. When I installed XP on my DAW last year it automatically install all the correct drivers for all of my devices(Maxter & IBM Hard Drives, CDROM drive, floppy, CDRW SCSI drive, Adaptec SCSI PCI card, Maxter Firewire card, 56k Modem PCI card, Iomega USB Zip drive, Nvidia TNT2 Pro AGP video card). The only drivers I had to install manually were for my Roland MIDI interface and Delta 66 WDM drivers. Even though they were not offically XP certified, I knew they were W2K/XP compatible from the manufacturers website where I downloaded them from and they install flawlessly. Depending on your audio and motherboard you may need to install in "Standard PC" mode and not the default "ACPI"(which assigns all devices to one IRQ, typically IRQ #9. Most audio devices and MIDI interfaces do not like to share IRQ's. This can lead to the snap, crackle, pop syndrome when playing and recording audio). IMHO, WinXP is the best and most stable multi-media OS, MS has ever developed and was the easiest and least problematic OS I have ever used and installed. One more thing, always do a clean fresh install.

HTH,

Billy Buck

Subject:RE: How painful is the 98SE to XP switch?

Reply by: drbam

Date:9/14/2002 9:36:13 AM

<<One more thing, always do a clean fresh install.>>

Billy, thanks for your informative post. I have a question about clean install: You said to leave the hardware drivers because XP will recognize them. I was under the impression (perhaps mistakenly) that a "clean install" involved reformatting the drive (which of course wipes everything). I've always deferred this kind of job to the guy who built my DAW but I've been considering doing the 98se to XP upgrade myself. Thanks!

drbam

Subject:RE: How painful is the 98SE to XP switch?

Reply by: wcreed

Date:9/14/2002 9:58:04 AM

One trick to doing a clean install is to swap in a brand new hard drive. That way, if things go South, you can pop that old drive back in and be back on you feet.

I’d also recommend doing the initial install with all cards except video pulled out. Once that’s done, add them one by one. Have all the latest drives download before you begin.

Subject:RE: How painful is the 98SE to XP switch?

Reply by: billybk

Date:9/14/2002 10:15:43 AM

drbam,
You will need to do a clean install to a re-formatted hard drive. I have all my drives formated to FAT32 with 32k clusters. Do keep all your hardware devices, not the drivers, connected when doing the install, as XP will recognize and install the apppropriate drivers. Any devices it does not recognize, you will have to manually install the drivers yourself. Typically, these included, most MIDI interfaces and semi-pro audio cards and maybe some very recently(last 12 months) released product devices. Check the appropriate websites for your hardware devices for the latest W2K/XP drivers and save these to disk, just in case you need them. I was able to install XP along with my MIDI and audio cards drivers to a reformated FAT32 drive in less than an hour with no problems.

Billy Buck

Subject:RE: How painful is the 98SE to XP switch?

Reply by: decrink

Date:9/14/2002 10:41:40 AM

I read all the material on 'clean' vs. 'overwrite' install and chose the latter for my situation. Worked fine. I installed as standard pc, left all my cards in and just did the switch. I've had practically zero problems except for one with Finale taking over the sound when I played MIDI and causing other programs to lose their sound. I eventually went with Sibelius and its a much better program anyway. Also, I think I had a CD writing program...hmmm...I can't even remember what it was that wouldn't work but I purchased Nero and that does it all.

All in all pretty painless and working with video and audio is nearly flawless since the upgrade. Never a blue screen.

Good luck.

Subject:RE: How painful is the 98SE to XP switch?

Reply by: drbam

Date:9/14/2002 10:58:06 AM

<<You will need to do a clean install to a re-formatted hard drive. I have all my drives formated to FAT32 with 32k clusters. Do keep all your hardware devices, not the drivers, connected when doing the install, as XP will recognize and install the apppropriate drivers.>>

Thanks Billy! I see what I was confused about. ;-)

drbam

Subject:RE: How painful is the 98SE to XP switch?

Reply by: Jessariah

Date:9/14/2002 12:46:51 PM

Thanks for the info.

Subject:RE: How painful is the 98SE to XP switch?

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:9/14/2002 2:06:20 PM

I've gone both the upgrade from Win 98SE route and the "standalone" upgrade route (where you just have to have your Win 98SE CD handy when you install Windows XP fresh on a formatted hard drive; you can actually format your hard drive before you install XP as well). Both gave very good results.

In addition to what everyone's said, your hardware and software will more than likely be OK with Windows XP. When I upgraded from Win 98SE back in March, I only had to install drivers for my Audiophile 2496, which is to be expected, as that's not a typical soundcard. Everything else was taken care of for hardware.

The only software hitch I've basically had is with software that works with my guitar effects processor, which wasn't XP compatible, but has since been fixed. It took a couple of months to get a version of the software for XP, but it was worth it in the end.

Be sure to pick up Service Pack 1 for XP; there's a boatload of fixes in there, in addition to the new functionality of choosing what you want to appear and use for your Web browser, email, media player, etc.

Iacobus

Subject:RE: How painful is the 98SE to XP switch?

Reply by: stusy

Date:9/14/2002 3:48:03 PM

Just say no...went thru XP hell Jan and Feb of this year; bought it last Nov; no probs at first, went to Edirol and d/l-ed the W2K driver even, so still had the capab of running my midi keybo to my serial port back of compute, BUT...things went strange after Christmas (say after switching from 98SE in Nov)...incredible mess...most all my apps are at least 98SE...won't ever go back...got it collecting dust on my bookshelf, and one day, may use it for a frisbee...never, never again...say: "we'll see after XP..." throw in IE6 and the SP1, WMA 9...stick w/98SE, 5.5 SP2, WMA 7.1, DirectX 8.1, bump up your CPU, get another hard drive or a bay and make sure they are @ 7200 RPMs, build up mem, etc...hell, I even switched to AMD after that...! don't take my word for it; talk to the local techs, too...unless you got stock in Microsoft, that's the only reason I would tout it to others...

Subject:RE: How painful is the 98SE to XP switch?

Reply by: fuzzy

Date:9/14/2002 5:49:44 PM

Check out www.musicxp.net and read the "Installing XP" section. Take some notes (or print the page out) for your reference during the install process. Once installation is complete, return to the site and follow the "Tuning Tips".

You should finish up with a system that will perform as best as your hardware will allow.

Good luck.

fuzzy

Subject:RE: How painful is the 98SE to XP switch?

Reply by: Rockitglider

Date:9/14/2002 6:11:53 PM

Hello,

I'll chime in here. Everything that is said is good, and to add to what wcreed said about leaving your Win98 Drive entact, and using a new drive to install Win XP, is great if you can afford it, and drives are really cheap right now, If you have any Norton or Firewall products on your system, You will most likely be paying for new upgrades. I had to pay an extra $150.00 approx. to do a good Win XP upgrade with all the programs I had to buy upgrades for, that would'nt work on XP.
So the point here is PREPERATION!! If you try to think of everything that can go wrong, and get every driver you can think you might need, You should be just fine. But try to find out which programs are not compatable with XP, by going to thier website, and if you can get a free upgrade for that program or not, and if you really even need to keep that program, or can do without it. These are a few more things to consider.

Just a few tips.

See ya, Rockitglider