Does ME have ANY avantages over 98?

[d000hg]

I have ME on my PC because that's what came with it. It's got loads of odd glitches which may or may not be down to the OS, either way I'm keen to wipe it clean. The thing is, I can't afford to buy XP or 2000 with a license (and don't like pirates). But I do have Win98SE and I'm wondering if that would be better than putting ME back on. The only supposed advntage of ME is that it has drivers for USB devices, but I've found that 90% of the time I have to install Win98 drivers to get hardware to work.

Some of the problems with my system include:

• The taskbar sometimes appears on the wrong monitor on my dual monitor setup at startup
• The resolution of my second monitor sometimes resets to 640x480 at startup and requires a restart to let it be enlarged
• Sometimes the PC gets a blue-screen as soon as it has started
• USB devices work patchily and plugging one in is sometimes not noticed, or causes the PC to hang

[1badger11]

IMHO Win ME was a horrible mistake, I have been to a few TechNet siminars put on by Microsoft and at more than one, the Microsoft Instructors have said the same thing. My own experience with Win ME at various customer sites has been all bad, the usual outcome being to format and install a different OS. Just my 2 cents.

Badger

[phishhead]

gotta agree with badger...I'm surprised no one has sued microsoft for a Lemon Law or something. biggest POS. Personally I think I would rather have win95 installed than ME.

[Big Booger]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...154546003&rd=1

XP Pro for around 10 quid.

More bargains below:

http://search.ebay.co.uk/windows-XP_W0QQfltZ9

[tarun]

I used a licenced version of Win Me for a while and I had no major problems with it.

[rik]

To me the only advantageis having System Restore. I have an old E-Machine that has been running Win ME for about 3 years with no problems.

[cash_site]

I was using winME for a little while, in between win98SE and waiting for XP... was trouble at the start with VIA chipset and ATi card and SBlive!... that was a very bad combination!!

Worked ok for 3-6mths then format... while 98SE could last a year or two... my XP has been good for 3 yrs only formatted to install RAID else no probs...

SO... as BigBooger showed, if you can afford XP then GET IT!! else, u could make do with ME, but better off getting 98SE

[d000hg]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...154546003&rd=1

XP Pro for around 10 quid.

More bargains below:

http://search.ebay.co.uk/windows-XP_W0QQfltZ9

I'm pretty sure that isn't a legit version (can't check ebay with work blocker at the moment). I got stung buying Win2000 - I got a CDR & a scrap of paper with the license key!
Most of the other cheap ones are OEM copies which I think are also not legal? I think XP is too hungry for my 750MHz, 128Mb PC though. If anyone heere has a spare Win2000 they fancy getting rid of...?

[rik]

Trust me, XP wil run fine on that proc, just add some more memory...

[FastGame]

d000hg, a fully updated Win 98SE should work nice with your system. Since you already have that then use it

If I had Win 2000 I would give it to you.....I've never had Win 2000 so sorry Ever thought about using Linux ?

BTW I've had a couple of Win ME that were fine and some that were nightmares

[cash_site]

Trust me, XP wil run fine on that proc, just add some more memory...

Agreed. Got Duron 800Mhz with 640mb ram and works a treat... helps with onBoard RAID, but fairly responsive and just enough to play most new games baring Doom3 or HL2...

[adiemus]

d000hg, a fully updated Win 98SE should work nice with your system. Since you already have that then use it

If I had Win 2000 I would give it to you.....I've never had Win 2000 so sorry Ever thought about using Linux ?

BTW I've had a couple of Win ME that were fine and some that were nightmares

Linux is probably his best bet, if he cannot get XP.

-adiemus

[d000hg]

Apart from the fact that I develop software for Windows... Oh well, maybe I'l just whack on 98SE when I get some time. Then when I get money I'll replace my Duron750 with the fastest CPU that'll fit my board (1-1.2GHz Athlon I believe) and another 128/256 Mb of RAM.

With it being an old PC, could anyone tell me a resource to see which CPUs and what specification of DIMM will work - I tried to add a 128Mb PC133 DIMM a while back but it wouldn't work?

[Big Booger]

I'm pretty sure that isn't a legit version (can't check ebay with work blocker at the moment). I got stung buying Win2000 - I got a CDR & a scrap of paper with the license key!
Most of the other cheap ones are OEM copies which I think are also not legal? I think XP is too hungry for my 750MHz, 128Mb PC though. If anyone heere has a spare Win2000 they fancy getting rid of...?

It's an OEM copy:

You are bidding on
Brand New
Windows XP Professional
with Service Pack 2
With UNUSED Product Key - Guaranteed

This is NOT an upgrade disc, it is the full stand-alone product that will install onto almost any PC or Laptop that meets XP minimum spec (see details below).

This CD is labelled "Operating System System CD" and is also marked with the words "for distribution with HP workstations or Compaq business desktops".

A Product Key (COA is not included) is required to install this disc on a hard drive. Therefore, a NEW and UNUSED key will be provided for you to install this operating system. (For the best results you should do a “clean” install.)

After installation, you will be able to ACTIVATE and REGISTER the product with Microsoft, with the new key supplied, over the internet or via the telephone. This will enable you to use it without any time limits and will allow you to download & install updates (Service Pack 2 (SP2) is already included after the installation).

I've sold several OEM copies like this and on the cheap. And they were legit. Mainly Japanese OSes because the computers I've bought came with them. I then sell the software for a nominal fee, unused with a legitimate serial number.

However Microsucks considers this "Piracy"... but I say piss on MS.. If I buy an OEM OS and want to transfer it from one PC to another, I damn well will.

I've sold software just like this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...153210639&rd=1

[FastGame]

With it being an old PC, could anyone tell me a resource to see which CPUs and what specification of DIMM will work - I tried to add a 128Mb PC133 DIMM a while back but it wouldn't work?

Try CPU-Z and see what it says about your MB & Ram.

When you tried the PC133 ram are you sure it was backward compatible with PC100 ? some PC133 isn't, but I don't know what your ram is....

Like others have said Win XP will work fine if you bump the ram up to at least 256mb. I have an old E-Machine with 128mb ram running XP in Windows Classic mode, it runs fine for general net type stuff...anything other than that it's running off the HD (page file=very slow) and its quite annoying