XP CD Install files on HD

I am about to upgrade from ME to XP Home edition. Should I copy the CD files to HD like you could do with the CABS in Win98? If so how? I do not want to start the XP CD since it may try to install. I have legacy software should I keep FAT 32?

Thank you

 

I see no benefits from installing to the hard drive. You can if you choose. But the actual installation should be done by DOS and not with your Win9x instance active (long reasons why I believe this to be true).

When you have done a complete backup, boot from the XP CD. Only in the case that you receive repeated errors stating that a file could not be copied because it was unreadable (an error more likely due to RAM issues than anything else), should you resort to copying the \i386 folder and doing the install under DOS.

Reading List:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315324/en-us
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316941
A Must read: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316639/en-us

FAT or NTFS is up to you and likely to matter not at all to your existing programs. For the moment, use FAT as you can use CONVERT.EXE at any time to change to NTFS. This is not a one-time choice made only at installation.

Your plate will be full enough without having to worry about the filestore during this upgrade.