I have tried numerous things to install XP while having removed the C drive and hooking up an external hard drive but it is not working. So my question is if I install the XP pro OVER the 98 on the original HD will all of my programs, songs, etc.. disappear? Or will everything still be there only with XP as the OS? I can use all the info anyone can give, we are quite lost. Thank you.

You CAN do an upgrade from 98SE to XP BUT it would take all/any "problems" with it (disk problems etc) AND you would need a whole host of new drivers from motherboard upwards to device drivers. The best method is to save all your most important material (usually documents & pictures), have all necessary drivers to hand and do a clean install from scratch - if the XP Pro disk you have is bootable then you would need to set the BIOS to boot from CD Rom first, put the XP disk in the CD drive and reboot: it would take it up from there.

You might like to read this guide

http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm

It would be best to backup your data and reformat the drive and start fresh. Problems await down this "over the top" path.

Well, we don't have SE, just 98, but I am guessing that doesn't make a difference. Ok, is it possible to remove the original C drive and then use only an external hard drive? We had gotten an 80gig external hard drive and had thought to use that to install XP pro and after hours and hours of many probs finally gotten it to start installing and then popped up the screen about how it could not finish and was not compatible and to check the manual but it did not have anything about that. We are not the most comp savvy people so this is very frustrating to us. Thank you to everyone for bearing with the posts.

Don't even think about installing your operating system on an external drive!

how large is win 98 drive, may need 1.5 gig, minimum, to use xp,

would have suggested copying /backup files to spare drive,
then install xp clean, then copy back files to drive,

external drives (usb type) not really meant to use as main c: drive,

depending on files / documents being saved,
note: if 32 bit or ntfs compatible programs,
may need to re-install later,

6B 69 6C 72 6F 79 20 77 61 73 20 68 65 72 65

You should backup important files and reformat. Have a cdrom or cdroms with your device drivers ready to.