win 98 vs. winME

[nirjhar]

hi ,
i have a windows ME OS..
but a lot of people , including my computer maintainence guy, have adviced me to switch over to windows 98 SE..
they say windows ME is too buggy ..
i am in two minds over it ..
i recently had a lot of problems with my dial up internet connection & mcafee anti virus problems ...

should i switch over to windows 98 ???

[7ate9]

I would personally use 98 SE rather than ME, because I too think ME is a bit buggy (I haven't persoanlly used it, but have heard from others, and seen it in action on my roomate's computer). However, if I had the option of using Win2000, I would choose that over both of them. But hey, thats just me.

[bidner]

i prefer win 98 too.
for example,
you cant open a dos window in me.


everywhere you are
give somthing,
get something.

[BertImmenschuh]

If you do decide to switch to Win98, get the Second Edition. The biggest benefits are Internet Connection Sharing [if you have a network] and Internet Explorer 5 replaced IE4.

And be sure to back up all your data, i.e. files you created or that exist nowhere else, so you don't lose them. You'll end up reformatting the hard drive to install Win98, unless the WinME was an upgrade and the files from the previous version still exist on your computer.

[PseudoFiction]

I seem to be able to open a DOS window in WinME.

[BertImmenschuh]

You can open a DOS 'window' but there is no "Restart in MS-DOS mode" or 'real-mode'. Most of us "old-timers" still occasionally use DOS, both in real-mode and in a window.

[shiri]

i think winme is the best. only problem in it is serenum.vxd which is used for loading drivers for all the plug and play devices at start up. serenum.vxd 4.90.3000 is buggy. the fix is from microsoft which is serenum.vxd 4.90.3002. I am also in need of this fix (serenum.vxd 4.90.3002). if you get it do send me. besides since IE is integrated in winme it gives better browsing power and good internet speed if u adjust the setting for u r modem and ports.

[jdharm]

WinME might be ok for people who don't like to mess with the computer. But when my Dad had some problems with his ME machine I went to try to fix it and felt as if I had one tied behind my back and a big mitten on the other trying to work on things. ME feels limiting to me compared to other OS's when it comes to working on the system. JMHO. The defrag tool rocks though.

Josh

"If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a committee -- that will do them in."

[BertImmenschuh]

I don't have the file but here is a link about it:
<a target="_blank" href=http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q285894&>http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q285894&</a>

[White_Rabbit]

If you do need to format your hard drive, Win ME startup disks don't support the FDISK or Format commands. You'll need a Win98 startup disk to format. You will also need a OEM of Win98 to do a clean install on a formatted drive.

[BertImmenschuh]

The WinME install floppy [OEM version] does have fdisk on the floppy and format is buried in the ebd.cab file and extracted to the ramdrive during setup.

[White_Rabbit]

I have mixed feelings about 98 vs. ME. The System Restore is a great feature in Win ME. With just a couple of clicks your can restore your computer to a time before it was causing problems. As for the bugs, Win 98 had several bugs as well. No matter what your Operating System is, visit www.windowsupdate.com on a regular basis to stay up to date on the fixes. On another note, I HATE WINDOWS XP AND EVERYTHING MS WILL MAKE IN THE FUTURE BECAUSE OF THE HIDDEN VALIDATION CODES.

[White_Rabbit]

Cool, I didn't know that. I don't have an install floppy for ME. I prefer to use a disk manager tool to format anyway. They are alot faster and more specific for the brand of hard drive. They are better at getting past bad sectors too.

[glamiss]

I use ME. I used to use 98 SE exclusively, to the point where I installed it at work, whihc was ok since i was working desktop support, even though it wasn't corp standard.

when i got my mahcine it came with me, and i was going to put 98 on it instead, but i decided i liked the auto-delete without questioning of the trash on me, and i kept it. i haven't had any problems since, except when my old virusscan got really old (mcafee 4.x). but once i upgraded to 6, no problems... like everyone else says, sure, it's a problem that you cna't boot to dos, but other than that it seems about the same, more or less.

[mnovak5]

It all depends on what your expectations are and what you want to use your PC for.
Windows 98 SE is a good system.
Windows ME is, in my opinion, a beginning of Microsoft's strategies: "We will do it for you (provided you pay)." and "Why do you want to change it? Don't you like it? But we spent so much time making it exactly for you!"

If you want to be guided and well looked after, choose Win ME.
If you want to have greater control over what's going on in your system, or if you don't want to waste your disk space or processor cycles, chose Win 98 SE. There are not many things in Win ME that cannot be made or implemented in Win 98 SE with a bit of effort. Plus in Win ME there is not the DOS option and there are some things which (in my opinion) are simply not necessary comapring their effect and demands.

If you're after the Millenium look, just copy the icons and some other files, edit the registry and you'll have it (that's exactly what I did.)

Michael

Don't ask "Whether..." , ask "How...?"

[nirjhar]

hi,
i did get the fix, but when i installed it, the version was 3001 not 3002