We have 5 computers. All have Win ME. It works fine, for the most part. However, my son has Win XP. Besides being so slow you end up clicking again and again, it sometimes like the rest of us and sometimes it doesn’t.
So, the question is, should I remove the XP OS and re-install ME? It would solve a lot of problems. If so, how do I do this without formatting the hard drive again? Is that even possible?
Questions? Comments?
There is something wrong with the XP box. If you are finding ME better than XP, something is definitely wrong.
Not possible to tell what the problem is, though, without more information.
Did some memory go bad? See how much memory your computer is reporting.
Did spyware get installed? Programs, such as Gator, that are freely available sometimes come with legal trojan horses known as spyware or adware. These trojans can eat up cycles and slow down your computer, although they shouldn’t have that much or an effect. Still, something to look at.
Are updates available but not installed? When we put XP on one of our computers, it had problems. Little, annoying glitches. After installing a couple of the automatic updates, the problems went away.
If you can’t find answers, and are happy with ME, install ME. Or re-install XP and see what happens.
How old is your son? Does he install alot of his own programs from disks?
My cousin is 11 and installs just about everything (ceral box CDs, all the Pokemon junk, free web toys, etc) and that’s rife with spyware and junk programs that like to start on startup.
No spyware, nothing has been installed. I did install a program last week. Everything worked as it was written. 3 days later, and no one has been on that computer, that same program no longer works, the computer no longer recognizes my computer (networked). I uninstalled the program, re-installed, checked the network names etc…By rights, everything should be working just dandy.
I hate “backing up” to ME, but, my OG, this kind of stuff happens all the time. I have tweaked the computer until there is nothing left to tweak.
If your computers are relatively recent (400 MHz or more, 256 MB or more) then you should be running Windows 2000 or XP. If mewmory is the issue, buy more. Since XP licenses are not cheap, you should go to a computer fair or similar and pick up some cheap Win 2K boxes - XP isnt much more than a make-over of 2K. If you can find a cheap Win 2K Server license then set aside one computer to act as a server (AD, DHCP, DNS etc) and internet gateway.
Did you check/clean/defrag/backup the XP registry?
Registry Clean Expert works on XP & Me. Theres a free trial at download.com or cnet.com
Recommending XP or 2000 as a replacement for anything in the 9.x line of operating systems (95, 98, and ME) can really get you into a lot of trouble. The NT line (NT, 2000, XP) is completely different at its core than the 9.x line. You may find that a lot of your hardware and software that worked perfectly under ME won’t work at all under XP/2000. A lot of the same things that protect the NT line from misbehaving software and make it more “crash proof” are also the same things that break compatibility with the 9.x line.
Microsoft, by their own admission, will gladly break compatibilty to make their operating systems “better.” Microsoft’s solution when they break something is to have you get a new version of your software. If the manufacturer hasn’t made an XP/2000 compatible version of the software you need, and the various compatibility modes of XP don’t work (which often they don’t), then you’re screwed.
I personally won’t recommend someone upgrading to 2000 or XP unless I have a good idea of what software they are using and am fairly confident that it will all run on the new OS.
Thank you for all your replies. I got the stupid thing fixed. Don’t ask me what I did, I can’t tell you anything besides I hammered away at it for 2.5 hours.
Can anyone give me a reason NOT to change over from XP to ME?
Me is probably the single worst OS Microsoft ever released - it introduced a whole slew of new bugs, and fixed very few of the existing win98 ones. Me is basically a new “skin” for Win98, lots of new glitz with very little added functionality (and a lot of annoyances). By “skin”, I mean, the way the screen looks (as opposed to how it behaves).
XP has a similar skin to Me, but loads more functionality and reliability. For me, the most significant change is that XP never crashes, where as 98 and Me frequently do, if you use them a lot. Also of interest is that it’s more secure, and uses a filesystem (NTFS) that is sensible and robust. There are many other features, some of which are utterly superfluous to most people - Microsoft’s site has lists of them.
While they are called “operating systems” Me, 98, 95 are all simply programs that run on a real operating system, DOS, which is not really a good idea. To function correctly (powerfully, sensibly, securely, efficiently), an OS needs to have complete control over the hardware, not limited by an OS that was made in 1983 (DOS).
XP is that OS. Easy to use - very similar to Me, in fact - and very stable, secure, and sensible. It has a long way to go before everyone is happy with it, but most people say it’s a huge change for the best, and I for one, am converted (used to use Linux).
Drawbacks with XP are include the software compatibility issues mentioned above (ie, you may need to buy new software), the minor learning curve (some things are slightly different from Me), and the need for better hardware (running on 64Mb is not practical, 128 is a realistic minimum, and 256 or 512 is much better. RAM is so cheap these days it’s worth adding more for the fun of it alone!).
The problem you mention above is specific to the machine (and the software installed on it), nothing to do with XP itself. All that being said, if you like Me, and it does everything you need it to, then there’s no need to switch. But if you have issues with Me, XP is the way to go. There are plenty of people here who know a lot about it, if you need tips.
HTH
abby
I use Me & it’s just fine. XP is better cause you can use NTSF file system & have files larger than 4 gigs.
XP offers the option to have separate accounts for every user. Don’t do it. It’s a pain, and it slows everything down. Maybe you don’t trust your sister, but the hassle of separate accounts outweighs the advantages. Also, don’t put shortcuts to websites on the desktop. Put 'em in Favorites on the browser itself. Otherwise you get circuitous pathways and opportunities for the system to byte its own scrotum.
Just from my nobody experience, I’ve had hardware and software that ran in Win98, didn’t in WinME, and now does again in WinXP. I’m sorry, but WinMe just didn’t win me.
I’ve been waiting years to tell that one. Thanks.
This isn’t exactly true. They may launch from dos, but from what I’ve been able to figure out, once 95/98/ME get up and running they are their own complete operating system. They use their own device drivers (because dos doesn’t have any), their own kernel (because dos doesn’t really have one, at least not in the modern sense), and don’t seem to rely on dos at all. Dos programs running in windows execute windows code when they perform a dos system call. A lot of people have the idea that when windows accesses the disk, it does it through dos, which does not seem to be the case.
Admittedly though, there are a lot of limitations placed on the operating system to allow it to be dos compatible.
You can set up XP to assume that it’s always running from a single user. It will then behave pretty much like a single user winME system as far as users and programs are concerned.
If you don’t like XP, you might want to try 2000. I’ve always used 2000 over XP for various reasons, and most people I know find that 2000 is more stable than XP usually is. The only problem of course, is that 2000 lacks compatibility with older programs, like XP, but 2000 also lacks a compatibility mode. However, unless you’re into old, old video games (like myself), there’s no reason your old programs can’t be upgraded to newer versions that will run fine under 2000 or XP. Just my two cents, but if you happen to like using ME, then you are welcome to continue, though I would definitely recommend upgrading.
I am still weighing the pros and cons, sp keep those cards and letters coing.
The stupid computer did it again yesterday. Out of the clear blue, TSC decided that it didn’t want to be part of our family network of computers, and claimed that we didn’t exist and refused to try and connect to any of us. Then, TSC said it didn’t feel like running the particular program I asked for. Nope, just didn’t feel like doing it.
Google the term “Windows ME memory leak” for starters.
I was so frustrated with WinME, I was ready to downgrade to 98 again, just to get away from it.
XP is a bigger OS, but isn’t bigger than today’s sytem standards anyway. Sure, 128MB of RAM is bigger than any OS have ever required, but for crying out loud, new machines are coming with 500+ MBs installed off the bloody line!
WTF are you talking about? What software requires separate licenses for each user??? Each user in XP has access to any application on teh box provided that they have rights to that program (those non-existent “features” you’re talking about.
Windows XP does boot and run as fast on my old P3-933 as Win98SE does. In fact, XP boots around 12 seconds faster than 98 on that box. And your “guarantee” idea is idiotic. So MS should “guarantee” that software written for DOS - and probably not even written by Microsoft itself - should work on XP? That’s stupid. And not possible. I guess that I should sue Sony because I can’t play an 8-track in my CD player! Don’t get me wrong, backwards-compatibility is a good thing when possible, but I don’t run any software old enough to require 9x or 3.1 and perhaps you shouldn’t either.
Jeez - I usually think of the SDMB as a place for intelligent people to talk, but the FUD and ignorance in this thread is amazing!
While this is rapidly devolving into a debate as to which version of Windows sucks the least, there is a valid question waiting to be answered. It looks like you have a browsing issue. First, make sure that TCP/IP is the only network protocol on all the machines. Then have a look at this site for an explanation of how windows network browsing works. Pick one machine that is always or most often on, and disable the master browser on all the others. For how to do this, see here.
If all else fails, pick a box to upgrade to linux and run Samba.
[sub](And then we can switch to a debate over which brand of linux is best…go slackware!)[/sub]