Upgrade from Win. 98 to Vista?

[Jeff Turner]

I have been using Windows 98 for over 10 years. I like it and have used it
with my flat-bed scanner (10 years old) and my Digital Camera (10 years
old). Sooner rather than later my computer will die, and I will be faced
with, maybe forced into, an upgrade to Vista.

I am concerned about that? I have thousands of .doc files, and .tif
files, on my hard drive that I must be able to keep and use. The .tif
files were prepared using an imaging program in Win. 98.

Can someone tell me what will happen to me when I have to upgrade to Vista?
What will happen with my .doc (prepared with Word '97), and my .tif
files?

Thank You.

Jeff Turner
Gates Mills, Ohio

 

[thanatoid]

"Jeff Turner" <gtohio9073@att.net> wrote in
news:Zvmbj.70451$MJ6.64319@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net:

> I have been using Windows 98 for over 10 years. I like it
> and have used it with my flat-bed scanner (10 years old)
> and my Digital Camera (10 years old). Sooner rather than
> later my computer will die, and I will be faced with, maybe
> forced into, an upgrade to Vista.

Relax and wait until it dies. Do the backup of doc to txt as
mentioned below, just backup what's important in case your drive
dies., Your drive(s) will die before anything else happens, if
ever. My computer, with a PC Chips MB is 10 years and 3 months
old in 4 days.

I had to change drives 3 times. Everything else is original.

> I am concerned about that? I have thousands of .doc
> files, and .tif files, on my hard drive that I must be
> able to keep and use. The .tif files were prepared
> using an imaging program in Win. 98.

Those are standard formats except for "doc" which MS changes as
it sees fit for its greedy purposes (i.e. making the format
incompatible with other versions of the same program thus
forcing innocent victims around the world to spend millions
buying a new version of the most idiotic and unnecessary program
ever- unless you're in corporate hell - MS Office).

To avoid ALL problems with text based documents/files, convert
everything to txt format. It will be 20 or 30 mtimes smaller and
any computer on earth will be able to read it.

> Can someone tell me what will happen to me when I have to
> upgrade to Vista? What will happen with my .doc
> (prepared with Word '97), and my .tif files?

You subject line is wrong. The upgrade is from Vista to 98, not
the way you have it. Really.


--
The only cure for stupidity is death.
The only cure for brilliance is death.
The only cure for love is death.
The only cure for hate is death.
{© 2007 thanatoid}

 

[Bill in Co.]

You won't lose your data files if you just keep them safe - and later
transfer or copy them over to your new PC (transfer them either by CD or USB
or whatever). Just don't get rid of your old PC until you get your data
off of it - that's all!

However, whether or not the new apps on a new PC will be able to directly
read all of your old Office files will depend on the newer version of Word
being able to read them - which it should be able to. Word has import
filters for most of the old Office file versions already built in, or, if
needbe, you can get an import filter for that from the MS site.

GIFs and TIFFs and JPGs (picture image files) are operating system
independent, so there's no problem there.

Jeff Turner wrote:
> I have been using Windows 98 for over 10 years. I like it and have used
it
> with my flat-bed scanner (10 years old) and my Digital Camera (10 years
> old). Sooner rather than later my computer will die, and I will be faced
> with, maybe forced into, an upgrade to Vista.
>
> I am concerned about that? I have thousands of .doc files, and .tif
> files, on my hard drive that I must be able to keep and use. The .tif
> files were prepared using an imaging program in Win. 98.
>
> Can someone tell me what will happen to me when I have to upgrade to
Vista?
> What will happen with my .doc (prepared with Word '97), and my .tif
> files?
>
> Thank You.
>
> Jeff Turner
> Gates Mills, Ohio

 

[glee]

To view .TIF files in Vista, you can right-click the file and select Preview on the
menu that appears (You should ask Vista questions in a Vista forum, not a Win98
forum).

A Hole In My Head : OT: Viewing a multi page TIF in Vista
http://blogs.msdn.com/doronh/archive/2007/06/11/ot-viewing-a-multi-page-tif-in-vista.aspx

Printing faxes received as .tif files - TechNet Forums
http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1362444&SiteID=17

You experience slow system performance when you view several multipage TIFF files by
using Windows Photo Gallery in Windows Vista
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/930097

You may experience slow system performance when you view multipage .tiff files in
Windows Live Photo Gallery
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/939815

To view Word .doc files, you will likely need Word (which is part of MS Office)
installed on your Vista system (Ask in an Office or Vista forum).
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+


"Jeff Turner" <gtohio9073@att.net> wrote in message
news:Zvmbj.70451$MJ6.64319@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
>
> I have been using Windows 98 for over 10 years. I like it and have used it
> with my flat-bed scanner (10 years old) and my Digital Camera (10 years
> old). Sooner rather than later my computer will die, and I will be faced
> with, maybe forced into, an upgrade to Vista.
>
> I am concerned about that? I have thousands of .doc files, and .tif
> files, on my hard drive that I must be able to keep and use. The .tif
> files were prepared using an imaging program in Win. 98.
>
> Can someone tell me what will happen to me when I have to upgrade to Vista?
> What will happen with my .doc (prepared with Word '97), and my .tif
> files?
>
> Thank You.
>
> Jeff Turner
> Gates Mills, Ohio
>
>

 

[none]

Jeff, please don't take this wrong:
You'd have to be out of your mind to go to Vista!

Fact is sooo many people REALLY dislike Vista, that computer
manufacturers and retailers have had consumer complaint after consumer
complaint. They (PC manufacturers, retailers) pressured MS to extend
availability of XP (read XP) until summer of next year! And I would
suspect unless M$ does some real magic trick with Vista they may need to
extend further.

I've read and read posts on the Vista newsgroup for a LONG time now ...
and decided not to touch it! Go over there, read a few hundred post and
you'll SCREAM. Keep your current system going. Consider buying duplicate
hardware off ebay, that's what I did. I've got an extra (duplicate)
MOBO, video card, sound card, NIC, SCSI card, power supply ... you name
it.

Should be good to go for another five to fifteen years! They'll have
Vista straightened out by then, maybe.
__
"Jeff Turner" <gtohio9073@att.net> wrote in message
news:Zvmbj.70451$MJ6.64319@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
>
> I have been using Windows 98 for over 10 years. I like it and have
used it
> with my flat-bed scanner (10 years old) and my Digital Camera (10
years
> old). Sooner rather than later my computer will die, and I will be
faced
> with, maybe forced into, an upgrade to Vista.
>
> I am concerned about that? I have thousands of .doc files, and
..tif
> files, on my hard drive that I must be able to keep and use. The
..tif
> files were prepared using an imaging program in Win. 98.
>
> Can someone tell me what will happen to me when I have to upgrade to
Vista?
> What will happen with my .doc (prepared with Word '97), and my
..tif
> files?
>
> Thank You.
>
> Jeff Turner
> Gates Mills, Ohio
>
>

 

[98 Guy]

Jeff Turner wrote:

> Can someone tell me what will happen to me when I have to upgrade
> to Vista?

Your head will explode.

 

[georget@unlisted.com]

On Sun, 23 Dec 2007 05:39:05 GMT, "Jeff Turner" <gtohio9073@att.net>
wrote:

>
>I have been using Windows 98 for over 10 years. I like it and have used it
>with my flat-bed scanner (10 years old) and my Digital Camera (10 years
>old). Sooner rather than later my computer will die, and I will be faced
>with, maybe forced into, an upgrade to Vista.
>
>I am concerned about that? I have thousands of .doc files, and .tif
>files, on my hard drive that I must be able to keep and use. The .tif
>files were prepared using an imaging program in Win. 98.
>
>Can someone tell me what will happen to me when I have to upgrade to Vista?
>What will happen with my .doc (prepared with Word '97), and my .tif
>files?
>
>Thank You.
>
>Jeff Turner
>Gates Mills, Ohio
>

Good grief.
You make it sound like you have the only Win98 computer in the world.

There are millions, if not billions of older computers sitting in
closets and attics, if not in use. If your compuiter dies, you can
get another used one for $100 or less. Maybe even free, or $5 at a
garage sale. You are fretting over nothing. Just be sure to back up
your data files, keep your win98 and MS Office cd's and make copies in
case one gets scratched. Sure, you can buy them too, but some people
want large money for them these days.

Your DOC files should be readable by any newer version of MS Word,
unless MS really screws up, and in that case you can always install XP
and whatever Office software that will run (I dont use XP).

Just back up your data, copy you install CD's and RELAX.
Start watching for a deal on a used older computer that will run
Win98, since its always good to have a spare.

As for TIF files, any version of Paint Shop Pro (even the old Windows
3.x version) will convert TIF to any other format, and you can batch
change them. TIF is not the most popular format these days. JPG is
lossy, but smaller. BMP is popular but large files. I save all my
files as PCX. PCX is not lossy a bit smaller than BMP, and a stable
format. I can use PSP to convert them to JPG anytime. I have a newer
version of PSP, but I still prefer the simplicity of the old Win3.x
version. The only drawback is that version loses long file names, but
they can be renamed if desired.

There, you can sleep tonight and wont need your meds. Now dont you
feel better?