Uprading Me to XP

[N. Miller]

I finally obtained a copy of the upgrade version of Windows XP Home Edition.
The problem was with an old HP Pavilion 6745C running Windows Me. The OS is
not geared to running a service, such as a mail server, with a long uptime.
For whatever reason, Mercury/32 would cause Windows Me system resources to
drop to 10%, or so, which, usually, locked up the computer, requiring a
reboot. Since Windows XP does not appear to be afflicted with this problem,
an upgraded seemed to be in order.

To begin, I flashed the BIOS with new code, downloaded from the HP site
before they pulled software for older products out of the support life. The
flash was successful, but there was a problem on boot, where Windows Me was
looking for new hardware, and hanging. So I figured to try and just install
Windows XP by booting from the install CD. The XP installer did a few
things, but failed to find Windows Me on the HDD and request that I insert
the ME install CD. Alas, all I got from HP was the OEM restore CD, and the
Windows XP installer did not like that.

There was nothing on the HDD that I needed to salvage (all that stuff had
already been moved to a new HP Pavilion a1440n a couple of year ago), so I
just ran the restore CD and reset the HP Pavilion 6745C to factory
condition. The Windows XP installer CD found the Windows Me system then, but
choked on McAfee (normally I blow them off right away, but I was going
straight to the Windows XP setup, so didn't worry about them). I stopped the
install, blew of McAfee, and started over.

With the original Windows Me setup in place, the Windows XP installer worked
properly, and I reached the point where I had to choose between "Upgrade"
and "New install"; I chose the latter. The next choice was to either use
FAT32, or NTFS. The Windows XP installer wanted to put the new OS on the
second HDD, leaving the Windows Me setup on the first HDD untouched. I
didn't want that, so I read the onscreen instructions carefully. I was able
to change the target of the install to the C: drive, which resulted in a
warning that I would lose the Windows Me system. That was not a problem;
didn't need to keep it around on this computer, so I approve the overwriting
of Windows Me with Windows XP on an NTFS partition.

Finally, the install finished, and I had a spanking new install of Windows
XP Home Edition, SP2. I had already downloaded the Windows XP SP3 file. MSFT
wants end users to visit the Windows Update site for this; but I have three
Windows XP systems (counting the newly upgraded Pavilion), and all are at
SP2 on the factory install. Not knowing if, or when I might need to restore
them from scratch, downloading SP3 as an executable seemed advisable. So I
just ran the SP3 executable on the new install before proceeding further.
The final touch was to visit the Windows Update site repeatedly, until all
patches post SP3 were in place. One application I wanted to install required
adding the .Net Framework 2.0, which is not offered standard from Windows
Update; so I also checked the site using the Custom button.

Installed appropriate software (including Mercury/32 4.61, to replace the
Mercury/32 4.51 install on the old Windows Me system), and things are
running smoothly.

Now why Home Edition, instead of Pro? I don't have a Windows Domain, and I
have remote software to run this computer as a console to a remote system,
if necessary. And I have my own web, FTP, and mail service software. So I
did not need any of the extras that come with Pro, but are missing from Home
Edition. Plus, Home Edition is about $100 cheaper for the upgrade.

--
Norman
~Shine, bright morning light,
~now in the air the spring is coming.
~Sweet, blowing wind,
~singing down the hills and valleys.

 

[Malke]

Re: Uprading Me to XP

N. Miller wrote:

> I finally obtained a copy of the upgrade version of Windows XP Home
> Edition. The problem was with an old HP Pavilion 6745C running Windows Me.
> The OS is not geared to running a service, such as a mail server, with a
> long uptime. For whatever reason, Mercury/32 would cause Windows Me system
> resources to drop to 10%, or so, which, usually, locked up the computer,
> requiring a reboot. Since Windows XP does not appear to be afflicted with
> this problem, an upgraded seemed to be in order.

(snippage)

TL; DR

What is your question?

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

 

[Heirloom]

Re: Uprading Me to XP

Good job, Norm.

Heirloom, old and XP is cool

"Malke" <malke@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:uHFgCQ83IHA.2064@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> N. Miller wrote:
>
>> I finally obtained a copy of the upgrade version of Windows XP Home
>> Edition. The problem was with an old HP Pavilion 6745C running Windows
>> Me.
>> The OS is not geared to running a service, such as a mail server, with a
>> long uptime. For whatever reason, Mercury/32 would cause Windows Me
>> system
>> resources to drop to 10%, or so, which, usually, locked up the computer,
>> requiring a reboot. Since Windows XP does not appear to be afflicted with
>> this problem, an upgraded seemed to be in order.
>
> (snippage)
>
> TL; DR
>
> What is your question?
>
> Malke
> --
> MS-MVP
> Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
> FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ
>

 

[peter]

Re: Uprading Me to XP

I think somewhere in there he asked why is everybody complaining when he had
such a nice and easy time
installing XP ............

peter

--
DISCLAIMER: If you find a posting or message from me
offensive, inappropriate, or disruptive, please ignore it.
If you don't know how to ignore a posting, complain to
me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate... ;-)


"Malke" <malke@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:uHFgCQ83IHA.2064@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> N. Miller wrote:
>
>> I finally obtained a copy of the upgrade version of Windows XP Home
>> Edition. The problem was with an old HP Pavilion 6745C running Windows
>> Me.
>> The OS is not geared to running a service, such as a mail server, with a
>> long uptime. For whatever reason, Mercury/32 would cause Windows Me
>> system
>> resources to drop to 10%, or so, which, usually, locked up the computer,
>> requiring a reboot. Since Windows XP does not appear to be afflicted with
>> this problem, an upgraded seemed to be in order.
>
> (snippage)
>
> TL; DR
>
> What is your question?
>
> Malke
> --
> MS-MVP
> Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
> FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ
>

 

[Bill in Co.]

Re: Uprading Me to XP

Is this a story for the local newspaper, or what? I don't see any
questions in here.

N. Miller wrote:
> I finally obtained a copy of the upgrade version of Windows XP Home
> Edition.
> The problem was with an old HP Pavilion 6745C running Windows Me. The OS
> is
> not geared to running a service, such as a mail server, with a long
> uptime.
> For whatever reason, Mercury/32 would cause Windows Me system resources to
> drop to 10%, or so, which, usually, locked up the computer, requiring a
> reboot. Since Windows XP does not appear to be afflicted with this
> problem,
> an upgraded seemed to be in order.
>
> To begin, I flashed the BIOS with new code, downloaded from the HP site
> before they pulled software for older products out of the support life.
> The
> flash was successful, but there was a problem on boot, where Windows Me
> was
> looking for new hardware, and hanging. So I figured to try and just
> install
> Windows XP by booting from the install CD. The XP installer did a few
> things, but failed to find Windows Me on the HDD and request that I insert
> the ME install CD. Alas, all I got from HP was the OEM restore CD, and the
> Windows XP installer did not like that.
>
> There was nothing on the HDD that I needed to salvage (all that stuff had
> already been moved to a new HP Pavilion a1440n a couple of year ago), so I
> just ran the restore CD and reset the HP Pavilion 6745C to factory
> condition. The Windows XP installer CD found the Windows Me system then,
> but
> choked on McAfee (normally I blow them off right away, but I was going
> straight to the Windows XP setup, so didn't worry about them). I stopped
> the
> install, blew of McAfee, and started over.
>
> With the original Windows Me setup in place, the Windows XP installer
> worked
> properly, and I reached the point where I had to choose between "Upgrade"
> and "New install"; I chose the latter. The next choice was to either use
> FAT32, or NTFS. The Windows XP installer wanted to put the new OS on the
> second HDD, leaving the Windows Me setup on the first HDD untouched. I
> didn't want that, so I read the onscreen instructions carefully. I was
> able
> to change the target of the install to the C: drive, which resulted in a
> warning that I would lose the Windows Me system. That was not a problem;
> didn't need to keep it around on this computer, so I approve the
> overwriting
> of Windows Me with Windows XP on an NTFS partition.
>
> Finally, the install finished, and I had a spanking new install of Windows
> XP Home Edition, SP2. I had already downloaded the Windows XP SP3 file.
> MSFT
> wants end users to visit the Windows Update site for this; but I have
> three
> Windows XP systems (counting the newly upgraded Pavilion), and all are at
> SP2 on the factory install. Not knowing if, or when I might need to
> restore
> them from scratch, downloading SP3 as an executable seemed advisable. So I
> just ran the SP3 executable on the new install before proceeding further.
> The final touch was to visit the Windows Update site repeatedly, until all
> patches post SP3 were in place. One application I wanted to install
> required
> adding the .Net Framework 2.0, which is not offered standard from Windows
> Update; so I also checked the site using the Custom button.
>
> Installed appropriate software (including Mercury/32 4.61, to replace the
> Mercury/32 4.51 install on the old Windows Me system), and things are
> running smoothly.
>
> Now why Home Edition, instead of Pro? I don't have a Windows Domain, and I
> have remote software to run this computer as a console to a remote system,
> if necessary. And I have my own web, FTP, and mail service software. So I
> did not need any of the extras that come with Pro, but are missing from
> Home
> Edition. Plus, Home Edition is about $100 cheaper for the upgrade.
>
> --
> Norman
> ~Shine, bright morning light,
> ~now in the air the spring is coming.
> ~Sweet, blowing wind,
> ~singing down the hills and valleys.

 

[N. Miller]

Re: Uprading Me to XP

On Sun, 6 Jul 2008 23:03:51 -0600, Bill in Co. wrote:

> Is this a story for the local newspaper, or what? I don't see any
> questions in here.

I apologize for my stupidity, in thinking that one could post a positive,
non-problem in these groups. I'll never pester you folks again.

--
Norman
~Shine, bright morning light,
~now in the air the spring is coming.
~Sweet, blowing wind,
~singing down the hills and valleys.

 

[Anteaus]

Re: Uprading Me to XP

Your problem with XP being on the wrong partition happened because you
omitted to make the desired partition the active one prior to install, BTW.
You do this with DOS / Fdisk.

--------------------------
"This is a wonderful computer. It''s 20yrs old and absolutely reliable.
And, in all that time it''s only had four mobos, six processors, two cases,
seven OS''s ...."


"N. Miller" wrote:

> On Sun, 6 Jul 2008 23:03:51 -0600, Bill in Co. wrote:
>
> > Is this a story for the local newspaper, or what? I don't see any
> > questions in here.
>
> I apologize for my stupidity, in thinking that one could post a positive,
> non-problem in these groups. I'll never pester you folks again.
>
> --
> Norman
> ~Shine, bright morning light,
> ~now in the air the spring is coming.
> ~Sweet, blowing wind,
> ~singing down the hills and valleys.
>

 

[Malke]

Re: Uprading Me to XP

N. Miller wrote:

> On Sun, 6 Jul 2008 23:03:51 -0600, Bill in Co. wrote:
>
>> Is this a story for the local newspaper, or what? I don't see any
>> questions in here.
>
> I apologize for my stupidity, in thinking that one could post a positive,
> non-problem in these groups. I'll never pester you folks again.
>

You don't need to be sarcastic and you certainly can post here again if you
need help with a technical issue. You misunderstood the purpose of
technical support newsgroups is all. This isn't a forum or chat room; it's
Usenet. These links will help:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Usenet
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375 - How to Ask a Question

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Re: Uprading Me to XP

N. Miller wrote:
> Long-winded anecdote snipped...



Was there a question in there, somewhere?

--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[N. Miller]

Re: Uprading Me to XP

On Mon, 7 Jul 2008 00:44:03 -0700, Anteaus wrote:

> Your problem with XP being on the wrong partition happened because you
> omitted to make the desired partition the active one prior to install, BTW.
> You do this with DOS / Fdisk.

No. The issue is that the Windows XP install wanted to create an NTFS
partition on the second drive in order to preserve the Windows Me partition
on the first drive.

The setup utility run for the Windows XP install defaulted to setting up the
NTFS partition on Drive 1, but allowed me to change to Drive 0; as long as I
was willing to accept the overwrite of the FAT32 partition during the
install.

--
Norman
~Shine, bright morning light,
~now in the air the spring is coming.
~Sweet, blowing wind,
~singing down the hills and valleys.

 

[N. Miller]

Re: Uprading Me to XP

On Mon, 07 Jul 2008 05:57:44 -0700, Malke wrote:

> You don't need to be sarcastic and you certainly can post here again if you
> need help with a technical issue. You misunderstood the purpose of
> technical support newsgroups is all. This isn't a forum or chat room; it's
> Usenet. These links will help:

Those links are rigid rules requiring that I must either have a problem, or
a solution to somebody else's problem. Maybe appropriate for a help group,
but hardly applicable to the wider Usenet. Sort of like, "Don't you know you
shouldn't point your camera at the sun when you take pictures?" Just the
question a spiffily dressed tourist asked me at the Memorial Arc in St.
Louis, Missouri. Possibly useful advice for an SLR, with a cloth shutter
pane (you might burn a hole in it), or just a general issue of the light
being at the "wrong angle". But the camera I was using had a metal leaf
shutter, and the angle of the light made for a very dramatic result.
Sometimes bending the rules has beneficial results.

And, maybe, just maybe, mine was a sort of "premptive" help post. An example
for some who might come looking for a solution.

--
Norman
~Shine, bright morning light,
~now in the air the spring is coming.
~Sweet, blowing wind,
~singing down the hills and valleys.