Comcast High Speed Internet & XP Home Edition

[Erie Drifter]

I am in the proccess of upgrading to XP Home Edition from 98SE, I just hooked up a 40GB External USB 2.0 Hard drive and backed up the files I want to save.

I plan on Reformating my hard drive,Doing a clean install for Win 98 and then upgrading to Win XP Home, I am installing an internal 10/100Mbps Ethernet PCI adapter to eleminate the external USB 1.0 adapter that Comcast set me up with, I am also installing a USB 2.0 card.

Has anyone with Comcast upgraded to XP? any problems? do I need a different installation disk than the one they furnished me for Win 98?

Comcasts support page has nothing about upgrading operating systems.

Thanks in advance.

Bill W. (War-N-Peace-ch 68)

[shadowman]

drifter
i,m not 100% sure but i think you "may" need another install disk, i don,t think the 98 disk will work with xp , have you used xp before? when my brother-in-law got his new puter it came loaded with xp i went over to his house to check it out and after playing around on it for a few hours i didn,t care for it at all, i,m sure with time i would get used to it but 1st impression was not for me, good luck with all the changes, are you making them yourself?

[perchjerker]

I did the same thing. Had no problems. I think XP is great. You will probably have to tell Comcast that you have a new MAC address for your new NIC. Unless you are going through a existing router.

Email me, I went through all of this.

[hgmeyer]

There is one very crucial isue... Since you are talking about an upgrade from Win 98 I am assuming an older computer... Please make sure that you have checked out the Windows Hardware Compatability List at Microsoft... Also, if you have any doubts... about drivers for things like sound and video cards.. verify that XP drivers are available... I have been doing a few "fixes" for failed upgrades on machines that are a little older... There is an excellent article at www.microsoft.com about upgrading to XP.. Read it for your own good...

Need anything further I'd be happy to reply to questions..

H. Greg Meyer
Senior Systems Support Engineer
InfoStar International

[Homer]

I just made the switch from 98 to XP this weekend. I ended up having to track down new drivers for my scanner, printer, graphics tablet, etc., but had no problem with my Comcast connectivity (thank goodness, I needed to download a 70 MB update file from HP to get my scanner to work). I didn't reformat my hard drive before upgrading, though, so there was no need to reload the Comcast software.

[Erie Drifter]

Thanks for the input, I knew I'd have to do the driver downloads for all my toys, over the years I've installed and uninstalled so many things on this system I think I would be better off starting from scratch.

I've ran the compatability tool that comes with the XP upgrade disk and resolved the major issues, the new PCI adapter is ready for XP as is the USB hard drive, I still have to upgrade the system to USB 2.0 but that can wait.

Have any of you guys ever upgraded a mother board and processor, I have a 5 year old Gateway G6 Tower with a 450 MB Pentium 2 and have installed 256 MB of RAM, plenty of open slots, much cheaper than a new puter.

I think I'll do my taxes before I start tearing into the tower.

Bill W. (War-N-Peace-ch 68)

[McFish]

I'm thinking about doing the same thing, but my computer knowledge is limited, how do you reformat a hard drive. I'm sure I can reinstall everything I need, but I would like to start with a clean hard drive before I upgrade to XP. Thanks

[jigtugger]

If I were you I would consider installing xp straight to the reformatted drive, instead of first installing 98 and then upgrading. If you bought the upgrade, it doesn't require that you first have a previous version installed, only that you have purchased a previous version. By installing the xp directly you will keep your registry cleaner and many other outdated 98 data off your fresh drive. Just a thought.






Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. Thoreau

[shadowman]

i would suggest going to a computer show and buying a mother board and a processer there, you get lots to choose from and as long as you stay a step behind the newest stuff out you can save big bucks, this stuff is all new in the box and comes with warranty, the biggest reason i say go to a computer show is that you really can save a ton of cash and you get the same products that you would get elsewhere, good luck.

[wallydog1]

when I installed xp pro that is what i did.xp is more stable.have not had any problems at all doing it that way.clean install on the formated drive is the best way for xp.during the install it will probably as to insert the 98 disk to verfiy prev edition.

[cfwalleye]

First thing...unless you have to, do not do an upgrade from Win98 to XP. Although it is certainly possible to do so, it is not advisable. Do a clean install of XP. By upgrading you're going from win95 code to NT code. I've done many upgrades and many clean installs. You will have fewer quirks with a clean install.

Setting up for Comcast should be no big deal. You just want to make sure that you copy your network card settings. Most likely, you're set to DHCP and XP should automatically detect your network connection. If you have a static IP, you'll want to record that IP and your Gateway / DNS settings.

Good luck.

[Erie Drifter]

Cool,I wasn't aware I could do a full XP install from the upgrade disk, that is the absolute best way to go.

I have been accessing all the network settings I can find and printing them out, don't want to get stuck and not be able to get to WC and the vast amount of information that is avalable here.

Are all PC mother boards interchangable or are there different configurations? what about BIOS? any changes I need to make?

Bill W. (War-N-Peace-ch 68)

[cfwalleye]

There are certainly differences in motherboards. Not all motherboards fit in all cases. ie., I have seen many P3-boards that will not fit in some of the cases designed for p4 boards. A lot of that has to do with the what kind of processor is being used: Flip-switch or slot processor. Also, if you are making a big jump in hardware, you could be needing new memory as well. XP is much more of a memory hog than Win98 was....it manages it better but it needs more.

I have seen quite a few deals out there right now...board & processor & memory together. You just need to take a look at what you have now and decide if it is meeting your needs. What all do you use your computer for?

[perchjerker]

No, there are some differences. I would first check to see that a P4 board will fit in your case. The BIOS will already be on the board.
Also make sure the power supply is compatible.
Like I said before, if you are putting in a new network card, Comcast might not recognise it. Every card has a unique MAC address. Your account is tied to your current cards MAC address. You may have to call Comcast and tell them you are using a different network card, they will walk you through on the phone how to access the new MAC address. Not all cable companies are like this, some dont care what your MAC addy is, but Comcast does (or did, they might have changed).

[hgmeyer]

Bill your biggest problem is going to be your power supply for a new board... your tower is most likely an AT Power supply and the new board will almost certainly need an ATX... Not a big deal... but after buying a board and processor, ram and power supply and then consider an older, slower harddrive... should probably also be replaced... you have a new computer! You can now get MB's with onboard, sound, video, nic, usb (2.0) for reasonable $$$...why not just get a bare bones... www.pricewatch.com is an excellent resource... Unless you have some reason to need an INtel P4 set an excellent option is a fast AMD processor and maybe an Asus board (there are others...) www.tomshardware.com is a good place for advice on systems... Hey go for it... Like I said...need help just e-mail...