re: re-installing OS over existing OS on a new system
Wednesday, August 15, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Windows Me Annoyances Discussion Forum
Posted by C K
(6097 messages posted)
Before you can install Win ME on a new system, you need to make sure the new hardware
supports Win 9X, or rather, that Win 9X supports the new hardware. Many new motherboards
don't so it all depends on "how old" your new system is. So worst case scenerio,
it (Win 9X) won't install or boot period. Depending on the hardware compatibility,
if Win 9X does install, it can be very sick, slow, and unstable. There are issues
of CPU speed limitations, memory and other limitations (video system) which can cause
failures for old operating systems.
The installer will either repair install and the newer versions of DLL's (or DLLs
for your programs) should be safe. If it can't repair, it will install fresh, wiping
out all of the old system and nothing is carried over. No guarentee either way though.
Failures can happen and you can lose everything so MS always indicates to back up
any data you don't want to lose.
In this case, I am sure (from experience) that you will not be able to install over
a system from a major OEM manufacturer, unless you use an upgrade or full install
version from MS. Just be sure you use the repair install and not the fresh install
option. There won't be a chance to undo a mistake if it happens. Again this all
depends on the new systems support for Win 9X. If it isn't properly supported, trying
to do the repair/upgrade may destroy your original so it would be best to image the
original to a new hard drive and try it on the new hard drive. That will keep your
original safe from catastrophy.
It's important to note that even a repair install is actually a new install that
the installer then tries to migrate all of your settings, programs, and data into
the new install. So if everything works, your programs, settings and data will be
as it was in the old install. That is of course, if Win 9X, can properly support
the hardware. If it can't, you could destroy the install and lose everything. That's
why I suggest trying it on a new drive that has been imaged from your old one. Good
Luck!
On Wednesday, August 15, 2007 at 8:24 pm, david wrote:
>I need to move my HD with WinMe to a new system. The problem is this: I have some
>legacy software I depend on for my work that is no longer supported or available.
>Unfortunately, in some cases I didn't keep the install file. So I must figure out
>a way to be able to boot from my existing hard drive on the new system. Obviously
>I can't just move it to the new system and expect it to work.
>
>So I plan to re-install WinMe, over the existing instance of Me. I'll have to buy
>a new full version since my OEM version (Dell) is tied to the BIOS. Once I'm up
>and running, I'll set up a new partition and install XP for a dual-boot configuration.
>
>One thing that concerns me is if the WinMe installer overwrites any DLL's that were
>installed by my software. This could cause them not to work. Is the WinMe installer
>smart enough not to do this?
|
All messages in this thread [show all]
 |  | re: re-installing OS over existing OS on a new system (C K: Wed, Aug 15, 2007, 9:21 pm) |
|
