ARCHIVED: Windows 2000 and XP Professional for users of Windows 95, 98, or Me

This content has been archived, and is no longer maintained by Indiana University. Information here may no longer be accurate, and links may no longer be available or reliable.

Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional are not designed to be upgrades for Windows 95, 98, or Me, but rather for Windows NT 4.0.

While Microsoft has provided an upgrade path for Windows 95, 98, or Me to Windows 2000 and Windows XP, selecting the option "Upgrade" rather than "Clean install" or "Install a New Copy" will cause your computer to become unstable. UITS will not support problems that result from upgrading in this manner.

Note: UITS recommends that you use a current version of Windows on computers connected to the Indiana University network; see Recommended Windows operating systems at IU.

UITS recommends the following steps for installing a trouble-free new version of Windows 2000 or XP:

Check to see that your computer and all of its components are compatible with Windows 2000 or XP. You can find Microsoft's Hardware Compatibility List at:
```
  http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/default.mspx
```
Also, most computer manufacturers can provide information on whether or not a particular computer model is Windows 2000- or XP-ready.

Dell provides information, based on your computer's service tag, about whether it can handle Windows 2000 or XP. Visit:
```
  http://support.dell.com/
```
Select the Home and Home Office or Small Business option. On the page that appears, select the Upgrades tab, then Upgrade Your Operation System. Enter your service tag number or select your Dell system and click Go. You can then select the version of Windows to which you plan to upgrade.
Back up all the files you want to keep to a CD, a flash drive, a Zip disk, floppy diskettes, or other media.
Format the hard drive or partition where Windows is installed.
Warning: This will delete all the data on that hard drive or partition.
Boot your computer from the Windows 2000 or XP CD, and the setup program to install Windows will start running. For more information, see ARCHIVED: How do I install Windows XP?

If you have any questions about installing Windows 2000 or XP, please contact your local campus Support Center. For more information, see Contact your campus IT Support Center