"OK. Lets try again. I have 1 PC with a legally licensed OEM version of Win98se. I know I can upgrade my current system drive with XP Home Upgrade edition.
Before I perform the XP upgrade, I want to replace my system drive with a larger and new disk drive. So, when I install XP Home Upgrade, there will be nothing on the hard drive. Since this version of XP is for Upgrades Only (from previous versions of Windows), could the XP installation process attempt to validate that Win98se is installed on the hard drive, and if not, abort the install. Or, will it just prompt me for my original Win98se (Dell) CD? I hope this clarifies my question."
Just put in the new hard disk, boot off the XP CD and when the time comes, show it the 98se CD. It doesn't CARE if it's licensed, incensed, copied, or such. It just wants a look.
Installing 98 before XP just makes for a lot of extra work. Save yourself the hours?
And a BLANK hard disk with no partitions is SUPER. You'll get the BEST INSTALL EVER since you'll partition it using XP's installer. The partition shall be "compatible."
After it's all up and running, I could power down, attach the old drive on the secondary IDE channel and use the File And Settings Transfer Wizard to bring back files and settings.
Bob