upgrade WIN98SE to ME or 2000

[maxima88]

Would you recommend upgrading from Win98SE to WinME or Win2000?
I update my o/s regularly and do not get too many of the blue screens of death.
Are any of the 2 choices more stable then 98?
I need your suggestions based on experience.
WinXP is not an option for now.

 

[Arkaine23]

OS

Win98 = lots of crashes
Win Me = 98 + some extras
win2k = stability, but very minor incompatibilty with older progs and games

I use win2k primarily, but I keep a small partition for win98 in case I run into an incompatibilty problem. For instance my external cd-rw (got for use with a laptop) uses adaptec v2.5 software which won't work in win2k. So I just boot into win98 whenever I want to burn a cd. It also makes repairing/replacing corrupted files in one of the OS's really easy, since you can use your secondary OS to find and replace the damaged file(s).

I have a 2GB partition for win98 and a 6Gb partition for win2k... plus some other partitions for games and media files. Just install win98 1st and then install win2k on another partition. When you turn it on, it'll give you a choice for which OS to load. You'd have to install drivers and software separately for each OS though. That's why my win98 is so minimal... why bother since its really only there for specific tasks and emergencies?

 

[fade2black]

Stay as far away as you can from Windows ME, IMO it sucks ***. I would rather run Windows 3.1. Win2k is the most stable OS from Microsoft I have worked with. I haven't used XP, but it has security issues so I won't use it. 2k is a great gaming platform too.

- Fade

 

[stompah]

either upgrade to 2k or stay with 98. I had 98se and was told by many people that if I went to ME it would solve my memory problem... it didnt. It made it worse. I run 2k now. I am very happy.

 

[mEKbOY]

2k pro is the most stable OS i have been on.

 

[Wega!]

Yeah, get 2000 or keep 98. I've tried 98ME and I hated it, tons of crashes. I like W98 because it Folds faster than 2000

 

[Silver]

I am and have been running 98se. If I were (I'm not) going to upgrade then I would go to 2000 without a question.

 

[Yodums]

2000... NT Kernal rocks for gaming, stablity and all other needs including multi-tasking.

 

[FRANK]

I use all three and as said above, I highly recommend WIN 2K PRO.

I would further suggest to dual boot 2K/98SE with 2K as the primary O-S. This would take care of the compatibility problems with 2K, which have been minor for me.

Good Luck!

 

[chuckerants]

I've used every MS OS since DOS 3.11 and am currently running XP Pro at home and 2000 Pro at work.

XP is by far the most stable OS from MS. It even beats W2K by a tad. As much as I screw around on my computer, I have not been able to get XP to crash since I've been using the retail version.

But, you can't go wrong with W2K Pro.

Chuk

 

[Silver]

If you push xp hard I hear tell it will automatically change the hard drive. five errors and you are out. Have to re-install I hear. This does not make xp good for you if you desire to push hard.

 

[]-[itman]

If you push xp hard I hear tell it will automatically change the hard drive. five errors and you are out. Have to re-install I hear. This does not make xp good for you if you desire to push hard.

I've heard of this as well, but I've never experienced it myself. And trust me, i pushed my system to the edge and over. The only times I've had XP crash on me, was when i was oc'ing too far. Have owned XP for a few months now and haven't had it crash once without me oc'ing too far and i run my rigs 24/7. BTW the hdd problem was solved not by reinstalling windows, but can simply be solved by a few clicks to uninstsal the hdd from the device manager and then a reboot. Then windows will see the hdd upon restart and re-install it automatically. Just my $.02(BTW just so you know, this probably should have been put in the software/os section of the forum)

 

[Silver]

Ditto on the software forum.

 

[Mr. $T$]

STAY AWAY FROM M.E. CRAP!!!!!! 98 is far better than ME. 2000 is the best OS microsoft has ever came out with. Xp is bad because it supples its own drivers. Some of its own drivers, video card, printer, Digtal camera will crash the hard drive and you will have to re format it and loose everything. It happend to me three times. 2000 is also faster than ME, 98, and Xp.

 

[PCr]

I am running a dual OS system...two 9 gig partitions....one with 98SE and one with XP PRO. The only problem with XP is that a lot of older programs and a LOT of hardware cannot be used since there are no drivers available yet. I ran into this problem with my scanner and my digital camera....hence the dual boot system.

 

[Arkaine23]

OS of choice

Sounds like you have your answer... upgrade to Win2k pro, or keep 98se and dual boot with win2k pro.

 

[maxima88]

Looks like the dual boot is the way to go since I have 2 HDs in my system. Do you have a link to a site that can guide me through setting up a dual o/s boot?
thanks.

 

[PCr]

I just partitioned the hard drive using Partition Magic, and then installed the second OS on the new partition. When the PC boots, it asks me which one I want to use......super easy.

 

[Yodums]

If you push xp hard I hear tell it will automatically change the hard drive. five errors and you are out. Have to re-install I hear. This does not make xp good for you if you desire to push hard.

I got a story. I was adjusting my VIO/VIO1 to get to 171fsb sometime ago, it took many tries to get it right, but I did eventually. Anyways mid way through the process, the thing will give me some Technical Error after loading all those bars at the very startup, I thought I had set the voltages too high, then I found out even at minimum it still wouldn't go. I set my clock speed back and still no go. I bootup with the bootdisks and what do I see? My Windows got wiped out and there's like 97% of the partition free.

Once it's stable it's stable, once it's not, hell breaks loose. I would prefer Win2K. Stable, not ram hogging, things seem more responsive on there, and games seem to run faster, also you can actually put your spare ram to some use..

Yodums

 

[Yodums]

Looks like the dual boot is the way to go since I have 2 HDs in my system. Do you have a link to a site that can guide me through setting up a dual o/s boot?
thanks.

Split it even with fdisk, then format both drives. Install Win98 on the C drive, then your going to do an advanced install of Win2K on partition #2.

Remember it must be advanced, this is not an overlap install. The bad thing is that, if you want both partitions to see each other, your going to have to use FAT32 with Win2K, since Windows 98 doesn't have the NTFS option, and it can't see it.

Good Luck

Yodums