Win98SE = insanely unstable???

Ok guys for the past few years I've been using an AMD K6-2 400mhz, P5A mobo, w/ 128mg PC100 SDRAM that ran on Win98SE. This computer has never been quite stable, programs crashed periodically and the computer sometimes locked uo good. On the other hand, I ran Win98SE for a very long time on my P166MMX with 64mg EDO RAM without a glitch. 2 months ago I upgraded to the system in my sig until I could put together some more money and installed Win98SE on it too. Now the computer ran fine for quite a while, I stressed it by running prime95 and playing NWN for like 2-3 weeks no problems. Lately however the system sometimes crashes while playing NWN. I thought maybe my OC wasnt quite as stable as I thought but even at stock it does the same thing. What's really strange is that the comp will run fine for like a week then it'll lock up good and even if I reboot it crashes in like 5 mins, then I'll let it sit overnight and it'll run fine and 100% stable for a week then crash again. WTF is going on is what I'm wondering???? I haven't installed any of the updates to Win98SE yet because I'm waiting for my router to hook it up to the net. Basically I see 3 fixes to the problem:
1) update Win98SE
2) buy WinXP
3) the CPU/mobo is bad, buy a new one (very unlikely since so many people have setups similar to mine and dont have any problem)

PS: a funny fact is that the comp will not crash if I'm using it, only if one of my family members does.

i used to have win2k and wn98 dual boot. I never used win98 though, i just used win2k and overclocked using that os. When i tried booting into win98, it always froze, so i turned my overclock off, and then it booted into win98 fine. 9x technology is very unstable for ocers.

i always thought 98se to be unstable. but until i changed to xp pro, i didn't realise just how unstable it was.

where ,with 98, it would crash after running for longer than a day and a half, even with memory retrieval programmes, like rambooster, it would still use up all the memory and eventuall just **** itself.

with xp pro, i'm getting uptimes measured by the week.
the longest uptime i had was 2 and a bit weeks, before i voluntarily rebooted it after installing some software.

it makes it so much better to do folding@home 24/7, when you know you don't have to reboot it daily.

this increased stability is using the same hardware too. so it wasn't that.

i would go for the upgrade to xp pro.

I run 98se and have no problems with it however due to faster achievable performance I suspect I shall be upgrading to 2000 shortly. Another vote for 2000.

i used to have 2k, but i formatted and installed xp. Xp runs smoother and opens stuff faster since it uses more system resources. If you have the resources, why not use stuff to eat it up, that's what we're here for ocing, right? Making our stuff faster? So if you answered yes to the question before this sentence, get winxp.

I also vote for XP. I ran Windows98se before and i usually got about 10 errors in a day, lol. Programs crashing, the os locking up, games just plain not working. Since i bought XP its been a dream! I rarely get an error now, maybe 1 a week, all my games work and i can go 3 months without formatting 4 times, lol. I've never used Win2000 so i cant say anything about it.

Ok so that mean 150$ less to spend on modding my case =(((
Should I get XP Pro or XP Home??

Tamasha_Strife said:

Ok so that mean 150$ less to spend on modding my case =(((
Should I get XP Pro or XP Home??

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The choice is up to you. I have home and i am very pleased with it. You dont really need pro unless your running dual processors and home is cheaper.

Tamasha_Strife said:

Ok so that mean 150$ less to spend on modding my case =(((
Should I get XP Pro or XP Home??

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pro isn't a neccessity, just get home, it'll be just as good for what you need it for, which is stability. Also, win2k is really really good. Xp runs faster though since it eats up more resources, but people in these forums can handle that.

i would go for pro (in fact i did go for pro )
it gives you a few extras that help with the control of your system. especially security wise.

if you're a student, you can get an academic version which is even cheaper than the full retail one, and it is exactly the same.
you just get it cheaper by being a student.

I would definently dodge the n00b OS, and go for something like NT 5.0, or NT 5.0 Server, if you're hardcore.

Win98SE, yes it is insanely unstable. Even a fresh install on solid hardware will give you problems.

I am running Win2k and it started locking up and crashing like it was Win9x. I hoped that it was a software problem I could figure out, but I knew it wasn't. Eventually the PC wouldn't POST -- the processor died. As long as you don't use beta drivers or something funky, Win2k will be as stable as your hardware.

I have win2k on another machine and I dont like it because it's no good when playing games... I checked for a student version of XP Pro and it's more expensive than an OEM version so I'll just go for OEM I think.

Win98SE unstable? You haven't seen winME then

Seriously though, I say get xp home. The differences between pro and home edition are marginal. Check the Micro$oft site for more info on the differences.

Slougi said:

Win98SE unstable? You haven't seen winME then

Seriously though, I say get xp home. The differences between pro and home edition are marginal. Check the Micro$oft site for more info on the differences.

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Actually for some reason, WinMe was more stable on my machine than Win98se.

I just bought a new copy of 98SE and they changed things up a bit it seems. They packaging and everything is different and also on the start menu it doesn't say SE, but it is second edition. It is version 4.10.2222 A. Anyway, I have had no problems so far overclocking with it and I haven't had as many blue screens as I had with the version of SE that was on my old Compaq. Though maybe it was just the Compaq making the blue error screens.

What version does your SE say? You can find this easily in System properties (press windows key and pausebreak at same time). It tells you on the general tab.
Check it out because I want to see if they updated it or what.

errrr I'm at my house, the comp with 98SE is at my chalet. I'll post the version of 98SE I'm using (not for long!!!) on Friday.

Lochreas said:

I just bought a new copy of 98SE and they changed things up a bit it seems. They packaging and everything is different and also on the start menu it doesn't say SE, but it is second edition. It is version 4.10.2222 A. Anyway, I have had no problems so far overclocking with it and I haven't had as many blue screens as I had with the version of SE that was on my old Compaq. Though maybe it was just the Compaq making the blue error screens.

What version does your SE say? You can find this easily in System properties (press windows key and pausebreak at same time). It tells you on the general tab.
Check it out because I want to see if they updated it or what.

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The only thing I had to learn was when pushing hard if the thing booted up and said repairing or replacing or checking registry I had to do a quick hot boot. This would keep the present registry intact and allow me to adjust the settings in order to gain stability. Once I learned the hot boot deal, all was good with 98se and as a matter of fact has benched rather well against faster OS's.