ME to XP

The_Economist

I am going to upgrade from ME to XP. I have several folders that i need to transfer from ME to XP eg. internet favorites, photos and childrens school work. I was going to use memory USB keys/sticks but not sure if this the right and best way to do things. I was thinking of buying an external hard disk to copy and paste the folders onto it and once comp is upgraded copy and paste back into windows XP. Would this be the easiest way and would it work ok.

albertross_2

Is your ME PC upto it? How much ram? if it is an old pc, you could buy a new hard disk, and install xp on that, attach old disk as a slave, and copy data across..

but by the time you have paid for xp, new disk, maybe more ram, you could have bought a new base unit with xp or vista preinstalled

The_Economist

albertross wrote: »

Is your ME PC upto it? How much ram? if it is an old pc, you could buy a new hard disk, and install xp on that, but by the time you have paid for xp, new disk, maybe more ram, you could have a new base unit.

It has 256mb. I know this could be an issue but but i had my computer built for me years ago and i am going back to the same person that built it for me for the upgrade. I am on good terms with them and hopefully will get a good deal. I had thought about buying new but it is still gonna be cheaper to upgrade this comp.

The_Economist

This what i was thinking of doing. Buying more ram before or after upgrade subject to XP needs as a OP system. But need to keep said folders somewhere to re-load onto XP as there is to much info to lose.

albertross_2

£60 for XP oem, maybe £30+ for ram, £30 for new HD, £50 for the engineers time or

http://www.dmxdimension.com/blogcategory/dell_uk_inspiron_530.html

£152 base unit with 1GB ram, vista, 160GB HD, DVD writer

The_Economist

Blimey that does look like a a good deal.

The_Economist

But i still need to get folders transfered over what ever i do. Still not sure what would be easiest way.

albertross_2

It depends on what you end up doing, you could either write the data to CD, use a usb flash device, buy an external usb 3.5" caddy, and drive, and use the new drive for xp, and put the old drive in the usb caddy, or just attach the old drive as a slave, and buy a new drive to install xp on, then transfer files afterwards. the last option is the cheapest if you need a new hd anyway (£25-30 for a new drive)

Donnie

Burn them on to a CD or DVD if you have a writer. Can't imagine that you don't.
Otherwise, you can use a USB stick, but I'd be a little more nervous about them.

aerostar

XP has a file and settings transfer wizard, as does Vista, but you cannot use the XP version to make the file and then use Vista to import, it has to be done with the appropriate operating system that you are going to use.

If you put the XP disc into your ME computer and let it boot up, (CDrom should be made the first bootable device in bios) there is an option to use this program without installing Xp.


Choose what you want to backup, it will then make a file with all the information you have asked for, burn it to CD or copy to a flash drive.

When you get the XP up and running, you run the same program and import the file. It will then put all the files onto your system. It will also keep all you Outlook express mails and settings other than passwords.

Google for file and settings wizard - here are some starters.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/crawford_november12.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/getstarted/bott_fstw.mspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457074.aspx