Upgrading vs clean install

I have windows Millenium. I wish to go to Windows XP. Are the clear benefits/ problems from installing an upgrade to XP vs purchasing and installing the new software itself? Thank you.

This question was answered on September 9, 2002. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

upgrading from 98 or windows me to windows XP Professional might require some additional planning because of the differences in the regestry structure and the setup process.The regestry stores your hardware and software config settings.A basic advantage of doing a clean install with XP is that all of your systems can begin with the same configuration.All applications,files and settings are reset You can use single disk image or answer file to make sure that all of the desktops in your organization are standardized.This way, you can avoid many of the support problems that are caused by irregular configs.as a note to keep in mind, installing multiple operating systems on the same partion is not supported and can prevent one or both os from working properly.Durning an upgrade,existing user settings are retained, as well as installed apps.If you perform a clean install,the OS files are installed in a new folder, and you must reinstall all of your apps and reset user preferences,such as desktop and app settings.

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Posted by Dan of Mesa Community College on September 9, 2002

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