End of support for Windows 98 and Windows ME

[ecross]

Microsoft is retiring support for Windows 98 and ME because they are outdated and can expose security risks. Microsoft recommends that users upgrade to a newer and secure operating system for those who are running Windows 98 and ME. For more information, please see the following link.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/sup...ofsupport.mspx

[Herring]

I think I'll just stick with 98SE for as long as I can anyway. I can't afford to purchase a new system yet that would actually run XP smoothly. My system suits my needs, other than the odd trial application thats minimum system requirements include Win 2k.
As far as security goes, my hardware (2 years next month) and software firewalls + up to date antivirus seem to have done the trick for me for the last 7 years.

[lgbpop]

newer, more secure Microsoft operating system, such as Windows XP

Yeah, right. XP has more holes than Swiss cheese. Why else do we get so many security updates and patches? I doubt M$ will see wholesale abandonment of 98/98SE/ME just because they decide to go this route.

As long as there's the KB for self-service I'll keep using 98SE. I do use XP every so often, now, at least to keep it updated and/or to make use of some programs 98 just won't handle; I guess that makes me "bi" now.

[liam858]

BI-O.S-UAL......

There will still be plenty of sites out there from lovers of the OS's, and MVP's etc, so i wouldn't get too worried, and as lgbpop said above, the Knowledge Base would probably still have the 98/ME files intact, so if you need online support that can remain on the list.....as i don't think a human from M$ would be as much help now.

Liam

[chaszal]

Yes, isn't it interesting. They (MS) are abandoning support for the operating sysytem which allows the user the most control over it. I have XP on another machine, and get increasingly frustrated with it. Win 98 is better.
Chas

[LDThornton]

I see a lot of warnings about viruses that only attack Windows XP. Windows 98 users never had it so good. Non-support for Windows 98 because of security reasons? Yeh right........... Bill knows that hundreds of thousands of people out there just have to buy the latest thing and that is why he is so rich and getting richer with every new version.

[ga_sam2]

Same situation, can not afford a newer version with the little social security disability check i survive barly on each month, if any one would like to donate a newer version to me i would be more willing to run it till the holes open up in it as well, when they make somthing that dont break we will all suffer and be outta play time in the sand box..... thanks for all the help thus far from the tech`s, woulda been a dead duck a long time ago with out you.
Sam

[COPO]

Anyone have any links on the procedure to load XP on when you have Win Me already running?

[liam858]

It's a simple process, if you mean to overwrite your ME install with XP, it is always better to clean install, so have all of your data backed up, insert the CD, then reboot, and let it autorun and press any key to continue when prompted then go here for more details: http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm


Liam

[NoelMVP]

The transistion from Win9x to WinXP is actually one of the safer ones to do as an Upgrade - because the registry is effectively totally re-written in the process. Providing the system is clean of malware at the start, then the upgrade should proceed without problems.

A good resource for this is http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm

[COPO]

thx

[A31Chris]

Of course they(M$) recommends you giving them more money by buying their new stuff.

Did MS every give anybody their money back for ME?

[NoelMVP]

No need!
ME was a perfectly good OS - just not what it was hyped up to be by the press (and to an extent by MS).
I actually used ME by preference to Win98/SE for the benefits it brought (System File Protection/System Restore - better memory management, etc.), and still enjoy working on it today.
ME's big problem was a credibility gap - not any technical problem at all. It was simply that a large number of companies refused to support an OS that was destined to be superceded within 12 months. for those who used supported hardware and software, ME worked (and still does work) very well indeed.

[A31Chris]

I was thinking about putting either ME or 2k on my new system. I think I would go with ME if it can be made to behave well. But isn't there a 512mb limit for memory?

[lgbpop]

You can go higher than 512MB if you limit the size of the VCache in system.ini in 98SE; I think it's the same for ME. Edit the VCache setting (C:\Windows\system.ini) by adding the line: MaxCacheFile=500000 and saving the change. When I first did this, 98SE was a little unstable; to eliminate this as a cause I set mine to 400,000 and it's run fine ever since. (See the attached screenshot.)

You don't need the REM line I added--that was for future reference if lowering the cache size didn't help my situation at the time. I'm running 98SE and XP on 1024MB.