Windows Me, should I?

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

"Lunaray" <yarNOT@easystreet.com> wrote in message
news:10l0tc2lq76r58b@corp.supernews.com...
>I just formatted my daughter's old Packard Bell Pentium 233MHz computer for
> the kazzillionth time (grandkids are sure rough on computers) and I did a
> clean install of Windows '98 SE, now I'm wondering if I should use my
> Windows Me upgrade disk on it, or just leave it alone. I've heard that
> you
> really don't gain anything by upgrsding to 'ME', actually I've heard that
> you're better off without it! The one thing I can think of (especially
> given the track record of this computer) is having the "System Restore"
> feature that comes with Windows Me, other than that, I'm not sure if there
> are any advantages in upgrading.
>


win98se is the best microsoft OS for that machine!

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

In article <10l0tc2lq76r58b@corp.supernews.com>, Lunaray says...
> I just formatted my daughter's old Packard Bell Pentium 233MHz computer for
> the kazzillionth time (grandkids are sure rough on computers) and I did a
> clean install of Windows '98 SE, now I'm wondering if I should use my
> Windows Me upgrade disk on it, or just leave it alone. I've heard that you
> really don't gain anything by upgrsding to 'ME', actually I've heard that
> you're better off without it! The one thing I can think of (especially
> given the track record of this computer) is having the "System Restore"
> feature that comes with Windows Me, other than that, I'm not sure if there
> are any advantages in upgrading.
>
NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

WinME was an abortionate release designed to screw a few more $$$ out
of Win9x.

The system restore feature of WinME isn't anything like that of XP. You
could make sure it has around 256MB RAM and stick Win2k or WinXP on it.



--
Conor

Opinions personal, facts suspect.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

Thanks Conor, that's what I thought! I'd really like to put XP on it, but
according to the "Minimum Requirements" you need a 300MHz processor or
faster, is this not true?

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Tue, 21 Sep 2004 12:16:39 -0700, "Lunaray"
<yarNOT@easystreet.com> wrote:

>Thanks Conor, that's what I thought! I'd really like to put XP on it, but
>according to the "Minimum Requirements" you need a 300MHz processor or
>faster, is this not true?
>


Win2K or XP is not such a great idea for a machine of that
(low) speed. Win98SE is ideal. "Minimum requirements" are
a moving target, XP will run slow as molasses, but at least
should benefit from >= 192MB memory. Win98SE on the other
hand can get by fine with 64MB less memory, 128MB is a good
target for it.

WinME is the worst alternative, if you need a system restore
type feature then consider making a Ghost or Driveimage
partition backup instead.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

"Lunaray" <yarNOT@easystreet.com> wrote in message
news:10l0tc2lq76r58b@corp.supernews.com...
>I just formatted my daughter's old Packard Bell Pentium 233MHz computer for
> the kazzillionth time (grandkids are sure rough on computers) and I did a
> clean install of Windows '98 SE, now I'm wondering if I should use my
> Windows Me upgrade disk on it, or just leave it alone. I've heard that
> you
> really don't gain anything by upgrsding to 'ME', actually I've heard that
> you're better off without it! The one thing I can think of (especially
> given the track record of this computer) is having the "System Restore"
> feature that comes with Windows Me, other than that, I'm not sure if there
> are any advantages in upgrading.
>
> Any & all opinions would be appreciated!
>
> Thanks,
> Ray

__________________________________________

If you're constantly having to do clean reinstalls of W98SE, I would
consider doing one of two things. If the machine has a burner, use Norton
Ghost and make a bootable ghost image on cd for use later. If the machine
has no burner, the next time you have to do a reinstall you could partition
the hard drive, leaving enough space on the partition for a ghost image.
That way, when the kids munge the computer, you could use the ghost file to
put the computer back to where it was when you installed the new operating
system and all peripherals.

As to ME, many users have turned off the System Restore feature because it's
a not ready for prime time feature. Otherwise ME has some features that
98SE doesn't and has more recent drivers for many products. I think I would
stick with 98SE on this older machine, but provide a "restore" option with
Ghost. Best...J

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

Thanks Jeff, I don't think there's a hardware problem here (motherboard,
hardisk, etc); in fact, I'm surprised at how long this PC has hung in there,
you wouldn't believe the abuse it has gone through, but it always bounces
back!

Based on the input that you and others have given me, I'm sticking with Win
'98 SE, but I do have a copy of Norton's "Go Back" that I'm going to
install, hopefully that will help (grandkid-repellant :-)

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

No. Do not 'upgrade' from Win98 to WinMe. If you insist on WinMe, then
'clean' install it. On some business type systems [ e.g. some IBM desktops ]
a clean install of WinMe can be quite good. However, the general concensus
is that the best choice for a Win9.x install is not WinMe but Win98SE.

If you are having to repeatedly reinstall why not look into creating two
partitions and using Ghost? Ghost lets you make an exact copy of a partition
and save it to another partition. You can restore to a 'pristine' state in
about five to ten minutes [ i.e. while you go make yourself a cup of
coffee].


"Lunaray" <yarNOT@easystreet.com> wrote in message
news:10l0tc2lq76r58b@corp.supernews.com...
| I just formatted my daughter's old Packard Bell Pentium 233MHz computer
for
| the kazzillionth time (grandkids are sure rough on computers) and I did a
| clean install of Windows '98 SE, now I'm wondering if I should use my
| Windows Me upgrade disk on it, or just leave it alone. I've heard that
you
| really don't gain anything by upgrsding to 'ME', actually I've heard that
| you're better off without it! The one thing I can think of (especially
| given the track record of this computer) is having the "System Restore"
| feature that comes with Windows Me, other than that, I'm not sure if there
| are any advantages in upgrading.
|
| Any & all opinions would be appreciated!
|
| Thanks,
| Ray
|
|

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

"Lunaray" <yarNOT@easystreet.com> wrote in message
news:10l4q7vetui54b8@corp.supernews.com...
| Thanks Jeff, I don't think there's a hardware problem here (motherboard,
| hardisk, etc); in fact, I'm surprised at how long this PC has hung in
there,
| you wouldn't believe the abuse it has gone through, but it always bounces
| back!
|
| Based on the input that you and others have given me, I'm sticking with
Win
| '98 SE, but I do have a copy of Norton's "Go Back" that I'm going to
| install, hopefully that will help (grandkid-repellant :-)
|
|

Probably because they are abusing the software and not the hardware.
Electronic components * should* last a long time. I gave away my 1985 PC XT
just a couple years ago or so and it was working perfectly at the time.
Sometimes, I think I should have kept it seeing as it was the only computer
I had that didn't crash.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

In article <10l0vgqf3dkn32e@corp.supernews.com>, Lunaray says...
> Thanks Conor, that's what I thought! I'd really like to put XP on it, but
> according to the "Minimum Requirements" you need a 300MHz processor or
> faster, is this not true?
>
I've had it running on a P200 with 256MB. My mate was brave and ran it
on a P166 with 128MB although I'd not like to call the latter usable.
With NT OSes, RAM is the thing to get right.


--
Conor

Opinions personal, facts suspect.