How to Upgrade Windows 98 to Windows XP

1. Insert the Windows XP bootable disc in the CD-ROM drive.
           
            2. At this point Windows XP Professional CD-ROM displays the Welcome
                To Microsoft Windows XP screen and follow the prompts display on screen.
               
                3. Open the Command Prompt window, type d:\i386\winnt32.exe with any appropriate
                switches, and press ENTER.
 
            4. Accept the license agreement by pressing F8.

            5. If the computer is already a member of a domain, create a computer account in
                 that domain. Windows 98 clients do not require a computer account but Windows
                 XP Professional clients do.

            6. Provide upgrade packs for applications that need them. Upgrade packs update the
                software to work with Windows XP Professional.

            7. Upgrade to NTFS when prompted. Select the upgrade if you do not plan to set up
                 the client computer to dual boot.

            8. Continue with the upgrade if the Windows XP Professional Compatibility tool generates
                 a report showing that the computer is compatible with Windows XP Professional. The
                 upgrade finishes without further intervention, and adds the computer to a domain or
                 workgroup.

Note :   If the report shows that the computer is incompatible with Windows XP Professional,
            terminate the upgrade process, and then upgrade the hardware or software. and do the
            above steps to complete the upgrades.

The Switches are as below:

a) /checkupgradeonly - Checks the computer for upgrade compatibility for Windows XP. If this option 
                                is use with /unattend, no user input is required. Otherwise, the results are displayed  on 
                                screen and  can be save under the file name specify. For Windows 98 or Windows Me  
                                upgrades, the default filename is Upgrade.txt in the %systemroot% folder (the folder that
                                contains the Windows XP system files). For Windows NT 4.0 or   Windows 2000 upgrades,
                                the default file name is Ntcompat.txt in the %systemroot% folder.

                b) /cmd:command_line -  Specifies a specific command that Setup is to run. This command is run after
                                the computer restarts and after Setup collects the necessary configuration information.

                c) /cmdcons -  Copies to the hard disk the additional files necessary to load a command-line interface,
                                the Recovery Console, which is used for repair and recovery. The Recovery Console is
                                installed as a Startup option. Recovery Console can be use to stop and start services and
                                to access the local drive, including drives formatted with NTFS. This option can be use only
                                after Windows XP is installed.

                d) /copydir:foldername -  Creates an additional folder within the %systemroot% folder, which contains
                                the Windows XP system files. For example, if the source folder contains a  folder called
                                My_drivers, type /copydir:My_drivers to copy the My_drivers folder to your  system folder.
                                The /copydir switch can be use to create as many additional folders as require.   
                                /copysource:foldername creates an additional folder within the %systemroot% folder.
                                Setup deletes folders created with /copysource after installation is complete.

                e) /debug[level] [:file_name] -  Creates a debug log at the specified level. By default, the debug log
                                file is C:\Winnt32.log, and the default level is 2. Includes the following levels:
                                * 0 (severe errors)
                                * 1 (errors)
                                * 2 (warnings)
                                * 3 (information)
                                * 4 (detailed information for debugging)

                f) /udf:id[,udb_file] -  Indicates an identifier (id) that Setup uses to specify how a UDF modifies
                                an answer file. The UDF file overrides values in the answer file, and the identifier determines
                                which values in the UDF file are used. For example, /udf:RAS_user, Our_company.udf
                                overrides settings that are specified for the RAS_user identifier in the Our_company.udf file.
                                If a UDF file isnot specify, Setup prompts to insert a disk that contains the $Unique$.udf file.

                g) /unattend -  Upgrades previous version of Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0, or
                                Windows 2000 in unattended mode (without user input). Setup downloads the Dynamic
                                Update files from Windows Update and includes these files in the installation. All user
                                settings are taken from the previous installation, so no user intervention is required during }
                                Setup.

                h) /unattend[num]:[answer_file]  - Performs a fresh installation of Windows in unattended mode using
                                the specified answer file. Setup downloads the Dynamic Update files from the Windows
                                Update website and includes these files in the installation. The specified num value indicates
                                the number of seconds between the time that Setup finishes copying the files and when Setup
                                restarts. num can be use on any computer running Windows 98,              Windows Me, Windows NT
                                Workstation 4.0, Windows 2000, or Windows XP. The specified answer_file provides Setup
                                with custom specifications.