Win2K Stability

[Dai]

I've read a few posts here that claim Win2K is very stable. Well I'll agree it doesn't fall over but I've had some very strange behaviour from it and have just reached the stage where I've decided that a fresh install is needed.

I tend to install and then deinstall a mass of software, as I look at various bits of software and decide whether I like them or not. One of the issues that concerned me was the frequency that Win2K suddenly asks you to reinsert it's CD because a critical file has been replaced. Now how do I know whether the software I'm installing has the better or necessary version of the file, or Win2K.

Anyway, after running it for several months, some of my software just doesn't run any more. Strange errors like "missing ordinals" and the like.

I should say though, that on the whole I'm very happy with Win2K and as I used to have to reinstall Win98 every few months because of its own creeping instability, I don't feel that I've gone a step back.

Win2K is a better OS but is it rock solid? I don't think so.

Is it just me or have other people had oddities with 2K?

Dai

 

[machow]

Maybe you should read the README.txt files on the downloaded softwares before installing them. Some software may run well under w2k, some don't, and since w2k professional is for:
1. small business
2. tech enthusiasts
3. IT pros nd
4. developers,
most home users may not be familiar with the way to run W2k when migrating from win98/me, so they are things to be learn. An axe can be used to chop trees as well as heads

Morgan 1.6Ghz + 256DDR = Dream on
However dreams are approacable

 

[Magus]

Hehe, I think about 99% of the people that post here are tech enthusiasts.

 

[machow]

True true true and I am one of them.

Morgan 1.6Ghz + 256DDR = Dream on
However dreams are approacable

 

[Dai]

Errr.. yes, a strange place to hang out if you're not into the "cutting edge".

I run the IT for our company and have Win2K running our primary server on twin 733Mhz Pentiums with 2 x Atlas 10K II disk drives. It's running beautifully and I'm very happy with it, though I still haven't mastered Active Directory.

The thing was, I was looking for something at home that was more stable than Win98, particularly when you are constantly changing software and hardware. My point was that although Win2K is better than 98, it's by no means rock solid.

The last Opsy I used that I would call rock solid was Netware 3.11 but for a home PC, it's about as much use a lawnmower on the moon!

Hey, Dos 3 wasn't bad either at least you knew where you were with it!

Dai

P.S. Readme.txt? Boreme.txt more like. The chances of finding something useful in there are usually pretty slim, you'll have me reading user manuals next!
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Dai on 11/12/00 01:00 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[machow]

P.S. Readme.txt? Boreme.txt more like. The chances of finding something useful in there are usually pretty slim, you'll have me reading user manuals next!

Yeah I agree they are boring but sometimes it is better be safe than sorry. There are many times I quit reading README and after I install it I realized I screwed something up :frown: . Call me loser or anything, but I really need those BOREME.txt.

BTW i heard of ASD but never understand what it is. So, what is it anyway?

Morgan 1.6Ghz + 256DDR = Dream on
However dreams are approacable

 

[Guest]

The feature you are talking about can be turned off. It is the windows system file protector. I am not sure what the official name is but if you would like to turn it off then go to www.ArsTechnica and it has the instructions to turn this feature off if you would like. But of course this feature is one of the reasons that windows 2000 is almost impossible to crash.

 

[Guest]

I get the same problem with games in w2k, messages like ordinals and contrasts with the file posted on my desktop after it fails to run the game. no probs with apps though. i particularly like the way it now alocates sawpfile sizes properly ie 2 - 2.5 times RAM instead of hogging the lot like 98

 

[Diablo]

My experience with win2k are very positive. One note on the "rock solid" thingie though. It's not true that if you run win2k your system will never crash anymore, but if an application crashes it doesn't take the whole OS down (like in Win98). you can kill the "bad" app in the task manager and go on... So there exists no "rock solid" OS, it all depends on the apps you're running on it. Of course bad drivers is always something you must avoid...

Visit me at <A HREF="http://casemod.tripod.com" target="_new">http://casemod.tripod.com</A>

 

[Guest]

I don't think I would call 2K rock stable, but the frequency that it crashes is slim. I have been running 2K since it's release and have never seen that insert-CD message before. (Mind you you didn't mention what you installed for that to come up.) Untill I devised a way to make my 3Com BigPicture Netcam work in Windows 2000, that was the only piece of hardware that would crash the machine.
(Compared to my SNESpad which was the only piece of hardware that was never going to work in 2K)

I have found that some software is a little flakey (Logitech's mouseware for example) and does strage things that you don't expect.

I reinstall my OS every 3-6 months just to wipe out the odds and ends I collect, I don't mind reinstalling, it's the software that has maditory registration that really annoys me (*cough*Office 2K*cough*) do I REALLY want to re-register that everytime I reinstall, I think not(which is why I haven't reinstalled it yet ^_^).

Missing Ordinals, means that the wrong version of a DLL file is being used. You should never replace the OS's version of the file, instead put the "wanted" version in the programs directory and it will use that instead. When you see "missing ordinals" and a dll file, you have either :
A. Replaced or have in the programs directory a version mis-matching the OS (9X version on NT/2K)
B. The Program itself has a bad DLL file.

The most obvious DLL files that get overwritten are MFC42.DLL, MSVB*.DLL and a whole pile of OCX's.


--Kisai
"Hmm, I wonder how many pieces this will end up as when it hits the ground?"

 

[Guest]

The insert CD is coming from W2k's protected file service that is designed to protect key system files. Apps certified to run under W2k are not allowed to touch protected files in fact Microsoft's new MSI installer service will refuse to overwrite protected files. The insert cd message shouldn't ever come up though because W2k stores a copy of all protected files in C:\WINNT\system32\dllcache and only asks for the cd if the files have been replaced and/or deleted in this directory.

 

[Guest]

Get a test machine (ever a slow one just for testing, checking installs) and monitor what it does with WinInstall, Picturetake or other program repackager to see what it does. InControl (free from ZD) works on 95 and NT4, have not tried it on Win2K yet. Unfortunitely installation/deinstall programs is only as good as the person who created it. I have seen lots of programs that overwrites dlls without even checking the versions even thought they work fine with what your system already have. Hey I guess that why part of my job is to analyze programs commercial and inhouse and repackage them for internal distribution.

On the point of placing the Dlls in the directories where the application resides, not sure if Win2K changed the rules. But in the past, generally a program 1)checks the memory to see if a copy is already loaded in memory. 2) checks the directory where the itself is residing 3) Checks the Windir (Windows or Winnt) 4) Check Windir\System and/or Windir\System32 5) the directories in the path statment. There is also the knowdll branch in the registry, I forgot where that get's placed in the general order as I usually does not have to change that key to make a package work.

Ofcourse you can always have the misbehaved app that was coded and insist the program to be in a particular location.