I did a search to see if anyone else had asked this question - didn’t find anything. (Doesn’t mean it’s not there, though! :D)
I got this idea from Mac Fixit’s home page, which is asking the same question. I thought I’d broaden the scope a bit:
How many times has your computer crashed (prompting a re-start) in the last 40 hours of use?
Not at all? A few times? 5-10 times? More?
What Operating System are you running?
Windows 95, Windows 98, Mac OS 7.6, Mac OS 8.6, Linux?
If you recall, what made the computer crash?
Was it Netscape, Photoshop, Internet Exporer, AOL? Some random thing that you are not sure about?
If you wish to share, how powerful is your computer?
An old 486, or a super-fast Athlon? A old '040 Mac, or a G4? How much RAM? (No need to go through the whole list of your fabulous hardware, unless you wish to, of course!)
I suppose question #3 (what made your computer crash) is too vague. If your computer has crashed more than one time, I don’t expect you to recall each different reason! If you can recall the most common culprit, or the latest thing that was to blame for a crash, that’s fine.
I suppose I should answer my own question:
I can’t recall that my iMac (266 MHz, 160 RAM, OS 8.6) has crashed once in the last 40 hours of use. Oh, it’s not crash-proof, it’s just been on its best behavior for the last 40 hours!
My PC (AMD K6-2 450 MHz, 128 RAM, Win98) has crashed about 10 times. Damned Napster. It is buggy. I also think that maybe something is funky with my secondary HDD, which is where most of my MP3s are stored.
The only time my computer has ever crashed was when I downloaded a flawed upgrade from AOL and then it only glitched when on-line and searching the web.
I use Win95, though since it has a lot of stuff I have no use for, I’ve stripped out a lot of program parts, like most of publisher, spreadsheet, Mathcad, and a chunk of the original Microsoft Internet Explorer. Most of MS stuff is interconnected, so I could not pull out everything I wanted to. I have MS office installed, but have doctored it a bit also due to not having a tremendous amount of HD space.
I’ve had my newer Win98 system since early June, and it has not crashed once. I have another Win98 system that is almost 18 months old, and it has crashed once.
Too many times to count - but then I’m a multitaskin’ fool! At any given time, I’ll have 5 or 6 browser windows open, perhaps an FTP or IRC client, Napster, etc, etc, etc.
A lot of stable computers here. And they are Windows computers, to boot! (There is a dreadful pun there…try to ignore…)
Zenster - tell me about the MP3s! I am sure I have less than 1 GB stored on my PC (so far) but the amount is growing. And growing… Scary, huh?
Tell me, all of you with your amazingly stable Windows boxes - what is your secret?!? I had a computer geeky friend (an MSCE) do a fresh install of Win98 on my PC, and it is more stable than before. But it still crashes. Maybe it’s all that CRAP I have installed on it. Ya think?
I run FreeBSD. I’ve had this computer for nearly two years now. It’s on 24 hours a day. The operating system has never crashed. Xwindows has frozen up twice and crashed once.
How many times has your computer crashed (prompting a re-start) in the last 40 hours of use?
About 5 times, I’d say.
What Operating System are you running?
Windows 98
If you recall, what made the computer crash?
Windows 98 :rolleyes:
It keeps giving various errors such as “VSmon”, “Rundll32”, etc. Eventually, it’ll crash. I really want a better OS, but I’m too dumb for Linux (I think). Can I install Windows 2000/ME over my current 98? Will it fix all those bloody errors? Help me!
If you wish to share, how powerful is your computer?
Clone Pentium III 550 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 16 MB VooDoo, 44X CD Rom, HP 8100 CD Writer, Panasonic 17" monitor, etc.
How many times has your computer crashed (prompting a re-start) in the last 40 hours of use?
None, Unless I make them happen myself…
What Operating System are you running?
Windows 98 If you recall, what made the computer crash?**
Windows98
If you recall, what made the computer crash?
Didn’t I just tell you? Me!
If you wish to share, how powerful is your computer
PIII 500MHz, 320 MB RAM, 32 MB All in one ATI video, 10x/4x/32x CD-R/RW, DVD, Primary 10Gig Drive, Secondary 30Gig drive (for the storing of MP3s and files and such…), Internal Zip, 328k Throughput DSL (Flowpoint Modem)…
[sub]Alternative Answer[/sub]
Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound?
(sometimes I feel my computer at work is actually able to fall out of tall buildings with a single shove…)
I am using an “iPaq” by Compaq. It runs Windows2000. The machine is powered up 24/7, except in the event of a power failure and we haven’t had one lately. The machine is supplied by my employer and is equipped with Office2000 plus Visio2000. I use Visio, Word, and Excel daily, and Access maybe once or twice a week. I use the Web Access version of Outlook for e-mail.
To the best of my knowledge, you can’t install Win 2000 over Win 9x. You can install Me, but I don’t know how much more stable it is than '98. Plus it just came out a couple months ago and you really don’t want to get an OS that’s only been out for a couple months.
I suppose your best bet would be to back up all your data files and install Win 2000, formatting the drive with NTFS. I use both 2000 and '98 at school. '98 crashes constantly, but I have yet to see 2000 go down.
Then again you could just wait for the next version of Windows, which promises to meld the business (NT/2000) and home user (9x/Me) OSs into one. Of course, that’s what MS once said that Win 2000 would do, and they went back on that, so who knows.
My computer is an old Pentium 200 running Win95, and the last time it crashed was in August '98. I use it every day, and typically have a half dozen or so windows running at any one time.
I wish I could tell you, but there’s nothing I could really pinpoint that made it stable. I just started with a fresh install, and it took a few months to beat it into submission. Windows can be made stable, you just have to break it’s spirit.
