Win XP General questions

[joey0904]

Several questions actually;
Can you upgrade from Win98SE without losing everything else on your PC, meaning apps and such?
Since I eventually want to setup a "home network" must I do this during the upgrade or can I do it later?
With the PC I just purchased for my girlfriend which came with Win98SE, she got a coupon for WinXP, does this coupon allow me to upgrade from the web or do I recieve a cd after I send it in? I checked out the Windows home page for XP but could not find a definative answer to this question.

[axis]

About the coupon I don't know, you should look into that a little more. As for upgrading, you should bite the bullet and do a clean install. XP is a totally different OS then 98, different architecture. It like putting steel on the outside of a clay foundation, eventually the clay is gonna crumble.

[reghakr]

I would take axis's suggestion regarding a clean install.

I upgraded myt original Win98 to Win ME, then to XP Home. I'm having some problems and I'm certain it's due to the fact so many unneccessary files and regisytry entries are left behind.

Regarding the coupon, you will receive a CD, as for you using it also, doesn't work that way.

reghakr

[BertImmenschuh]

WindowsXP Pro wants to have the modem and 'control' a (home) peer-to-peer network in regards to Internet Connection Sharing (ICS). The network alone is no problem, I had WinXP RC1 connecting to my Windows 98 network as computer number 5 with no problem except the thing about ICS.

All the major 'brand' computers that have the XP coupon with them are honored by that brand, not Microsoft. Look closely, "OEM" software is sold to the 'brands', is supported by the 'brands', and Microsoft doesn't have much to do with it after it is sold to the 'brands'.

Windows XP and Office XP have the new authenticating scheme and can only be used on 1 computer.