Win98 & Fat32 to WinXP & NTFS Questions

[Omega2k1]

I am about to get XP full version and i was wondering about my data on my hd right now. I have windows 98 with it formated as Fat32 and i was wondering if i have to reformat to install XP and have NTFS.

[billyman]

No, you do not have to format (however, I recommend you do).

Anywho, boot to Win98 and put the WinXP CD in your CD-ROM. It will AUTORUN, choose install (providing you already ran the compatibility wizard and there were no discernable compatibilty issues).

Shortly into the install, it will ask if you want to upgrade or do a full install, choose UPGRADE if you do not want to lose any of your data. Then it will ask you if you want to convert to NTFS or keep your existing file system. I recommend you keep the FAT32 until you know that XP runs fine on your machine. You can convert later, but you cannot easily return to FAT32 from NTFS.

Good luck. For more information, see the link below. I HIGHLY recommend you visit the link below. it's packed w/information.

http://www.cdrom-guide.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/019464.html

[Omega2k1]

thanks.