You can upgrade to 12.4 directly. There's no need to do it incrementally as is the case with PIX.
TFTP should work fine. However, there might be some problems with the TFTP application if the file size is more than 20mb or so.
Someone posted in Netpro a few days ago that the 3com TFTP application handles files bigger than 20mb with no issues. I had bookmarked the web link back then and here it is for your use.
http://support.3com.com/software/utilities_for_windows_32_bit.htm
File name: 3cdv2r10.zip
HTH
Sundar