reformatting

I want to upgrade my PC from win98 to XP without any data loss. I have two harddrives, one with windows, and another with music. Do i have to backup the music on another PC, or can i reformat the drive with windows without losing data on the other HD?

 

you can reformat the drive with Windows98, and keep your MP3 on the other drive..(as long as the MP3 are not encoded to that OS/machine).

The safest way is to disconnect the drive with the mp3s, just to be SURE you format the right one... trust me on that.. my friend did what you are worried about doing.

 

When I upgraded I just put the xp pro cd in and let the program go over the top of w98SE. No probs and it saved 98 for restoral if reqd. In due course I got rid of the 98 save and have had no probs since. Suggest before you do it you clean out all the unnecessary gunk (temp baks IE histories etc).
That said I know that a format and start anew is a better way so that you don't inherit any probs that were there in the first place. But no probs here doing it my way and of course no hassles with reinstalling all your programs.
Cheers
Robert

 

xp can read NTFS and FAT(32), so it will have no problems with your MP3 Drive.
If I were you I would format the main drive, and install a fresh copy of XP.
-when you do a major O/S upgrade this is standard practice, and in the end will save you time.