W2K Pro to XP Pro Upgrade OK but now a Question !

[thenoo]

I have successfully upgraded my Dell Latitude X200 laptop from W2K Pro to XP Pro using an Upgrade XP CD.

Although this seems to have been successful , there are a few " anomalies " left on the hard disk - for instance , although the laptop shows the XP Pro screen on bootup , I notice the folder "WINNT" is still on the c:\ and I can't see the folder "Windows" anywhere ! At first I thought that I had failed to change the OS from W2K to XP in spite of the appearance of the XP Pro bootup screen but , if I r.click on My Computer and select Properties it says I have XP Pro SP2.

As a result of this , I now want to format the hard disk and have XP Pro cleanly installed on the laptop..I would therefore like to do this using the XP Pro Upgrade disk - is this possible with an Upgrade disk ? Will I need to insert the W2K Disk in this operation ?

 

[munkee35]

Yes its possible. If i recall correctly, during a clean install of Windows XP Pro using an upgrade disk you will be asked to insert a genuine windows disk with a previous version on it.

 

[franklin97355]

When you update to XP from 2k xp will update the files it needs to but does not create or change the directory name. It works just fine and is not an indication of an error. If you still plan to do the clean install make sure you have all the drivers you will need burned on a CD because Dell does not use drivers that XP has as native on the install disk. If it were me I'd leave well enough alone.

 

[thenoo]

Thanks munkee35 - reply noted.

Also thanks to franklin97355 - your reply and your recommendation noted

 

[wolluf]

while agreeing with franklin about leaving well alone, upgrades (even 2k to xp, which is probably as 'natural' as you get) are not as good as clean installs - especially if old o/s has been in place for several years.

PS - machine is ok for xp - at least 256MB RAM?

 

[thenoo]

Replying to wolluf.

So far this upgrade seems to be OK in spite of having the old OS in place for a couple of years . I too would prefer a clean install as I have a bit of a fixation about leaving unnecessary stuff on the hard drive . However , I've been put off by franklin's comments about the uniqueness of the Dell drivers ( for which advice I'm grateful as I was just about to launch into a re-format and clean MS instal not having thought about that possible problem ! )

Your question about the recommended memory is also a factor holding me back as Belarc Advisor tells me there is only 248 MB of memory.

So , since everything appears to be working OK for now , I won't try to "fix it" !

Perhaps , later , I'll get more memory and search for the necessary drivers - I believe the Synaptic Pad drivers are particularly fussy in this respect.

The advice from all those who've replied is much appreciated