Upgrade from W2K to XP

August 31, 2006 7:37 AM

I want to upgrade my laptop from Windows 2000 to XP. How can I preserve my Outlook settings between the upgrade? I ask because I connect to an Exchange Server with settings on Outlook which have been tweaked heavily over time. Also, will the XP install give me an option to preserve my previous system? In case everything goes pear-shaped, I'd like to be able to roll back to my previous state. If it goes right, can I delete all the data needed to roll-back after to optimise disk space? Thanks in advance.
posted by samstarling to computers & internet (7 comments total)

An update shouldnt affect your settings. The best thing you can do before the update is write down or screen capture all your outlook settings.

The XP update will preserve your profile and your apps, but that doesnt mean things won't break. Short guide to upgrading here. You want to be extra sure you're doing an upgrade and not a wipe/install.
posted by damn dirty ape at 7:58 AM on August 31, 2006

No, there's no rollback with an OS upgrade.
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:00 AM on August 31, 2006

from an office rat:

Surprisingly you're not asking for magic. You are however, setting yourself up for disappointment.

Exchange will save most of your settings, folders, mailbox rules etc itself, if you have macros etc installed, you'll basically need to export them as their constituent VB parts and re-install them, also a good idea to look into the Settings and Files transfer wizard, which doesn't come with 2k, but can be run in 2k from the xp install disk.

Once upon a time MS did allow for like rollback states during upgrades. Depending on the state of your 2k, odds are you'll hit a point where XP tells you 'You cannot roll back past this point'. Keep your eyes peeled for that, and make sure system restore is already on before you start your upgrade. (Anybody? 2k has restore, right?)

If you're lucky and succeeded along with being able to use restore points, the restore files are in:
How and Where System Restore Points are saved:

Restore points are saved in under x:\system volume information\_restore{558C94FD-3C7F-4954-A02D-
26679E6D849E}.
Each restore point's files are saved in a folder named RPXX where XX is a two digit number
corresponding to the restore point. (check out http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_restore.htm)


It's a better idea to use the file and settings transfer wizard to back everything up, wipe your drive and install xp fresh though.
posted by judge.mentok.the.mindtaker at 8:00 AM on August 31, 2006

buy an external hard drive and back up your system to it. there's no roll-back functionality (you can't uninstall XP upgrades), but if you have a good backup, you can always restore it.
posted by mrg at 8:00 AM on August 31, 2006

A hearty endorsement of Judge Mentok's answer.
posted by briank at 11:19 AM on August 31, 2006

Why do you want to upgrade from 2k to XP? They're essentially the same OS.
posted by mphuie at 11:20 AM on August 31, 2006

There many advantages to backing up, wiping the hard drive, and starting from scratch. I upgraded a 7-year-old PC that way and found it much perkier as a result.
posted by owen at 5:23 AM on September 2, 2006