GOOCHONLINE - Since 1999

I don't spend a lot of time discussing computer, IT, or technology issues on this site. Partially, because it's what I work with in my day job... and because it bores the LIVING SHIT out of everyone who is within earshot of a drawn out conversation about Active Directory, WEP encryption, Ethernet, and the virtues of a good backup scheme. However, I've decided to spew out a non-Microsoft approved tip that may help you save time, money, and possibly your marriage.

Don't upgrade to Windows XP.

Oh, you can buy Windows XP. It's a good operating system that, while virtually impossible to navigate, is easy to use if you aren't used to using Windows 3.11, 95, 98, ME (not really an operating system, but I'll mention it), or 2000. What I mean by "upgrade" is that you should not go to your computer with the aforementioned Windows versions installed, merely pop in your XP disk, and let the magic happen.

Oh, it'll work... maybe. I've seen and heard of so many upgrades (remember, "upgrade" means installing XP over your old operating system) going horribly wrong that Microsoft should bundle XP with a new hard drive and a copy of Norton Ghost (a program that completely replicates one hard drive to another; what I mean is that they should give you a means of backing up your current setup before their 'upgrade' process screws everything up).

Burn all of your documents to a CD, format your hard drive, and install a clean copy of your new XP operating system. Then reinstall your applications.

This is good practice, when upgrading (and absolutely necessary when downgrading) to any operating system. I'm a die-hard Windows 2000 user and I often(once every six-months) move all of my data onto another drive on my network, format my hard drive, and reinstall my OS and applications. I only install the apps that I know that I'm going to be using on a regular basis, like website design, Microsoft Office, etc. This cleans out the programs I once installed but will never use again (games, freeware trial versions of software). If you use Outlook, be sure to export your data to a .PST file from File | Import Export and back up that .PST file. Otherwise, you won't have your emails, contacts, etc.