is winME reliable?

Hi all, thinking of upgrading from win98 to winME, at the moment my system is totaly stable and reliable even for games...

If i upgrade to winME could i posibly be going to a more unstable OS? i have heard some bad things about ME when it come to this...especially with games...

Also are their different versions of winME, if so what is the latest? and will it matter what version i use?

Do you think win98 is better?

You Input is apreciated. Thanx all.

------------------
Athlon 850, 512mb RAM, TNT2 Pro 32mb, SB 1024, LG CED-8083b CD-RW, Samsung SD-612 DVD-ROM, Quantum 30gb lct15-30 HDD & Win98 First Edition.

Lotus,
If it isn't broke, then don't fix it. Upgrading to ME will not improve anything except the eye candy. If you do decide to go through with it, you will need to check all of your hardware and make sure that it will work with me and if it will you most likely will need to download the updated drivers. I haven't noticed WinME being any more unstable than Win98 is. However, WinME does require and use more resources the Win98. I would personally keep 98 and save yourself the headache. WinME is just 98 with a prettier look.

------------------
Please bookmark your topic so you can find your post and let us know what worked and what didn't.
We really do want to know.

i gotta agree with the, If it isn't broke, then don't fix it rule. and yeah that was my main concern drivers n stuff, so i guess i'll have to update some of them then, i think i'll prob give ME a miss if its gunna use more resorces, that where i thought it would be better if anything...sounds like to much hassle if no real improvement...

Well i reckon that unless anyone can give me some good reasons to make the upgrade worthwhile then i shall just stick to 98.

Thanx for the input https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

------------------
Athlon 850, 512mb RAM, TNT2 Pro 32mb, SB 1024, LG CED-8083b CD-RW, Samsung SD-612 DVD-ROM, Quantum 30gb lct15-30 HDD & Win98 First Edition.

Lotus,
Here are all the main differences and changes between Win98 and WinME. After reading this you should be able to decide a little better an whether it is worth it to upgrade.

The difference between Windows 9x and Windows Me

Windows Me is a new version of the Windows 9x family, and at first sight you may not notice that much difference. After examining this OS more closely, you may not notice that much difference either... Here's most of the new stuff:

SFP (System File Protection): no more System File Checker or Version Conflict Manager in Windows Me. They are replaced by the automatic System File Protection: if a program or application wants to replace a system file (DLL, OCX, EXE,...), Windows will verify the digital signature of the new file to see if it is the correct Microsoft version. IF the signature is not valid, the new system file will be considered unhealthy and will not be installed.

System restore: for us, this utility is the great plus of Windows Me. For more info, click here.

Multimedia: Media Player 7 & Movie Maker. These are not really operating system enhancements, but (upgraded) programs added to the operating system.

My Pictures folder: a subfolder of My Documents. In My Computer/Explorer, you will see thumbnails (previews) of the items stored in this folder instead of the usual icons. (You will already have this folder in Windows 98 after you install some Office 2000 programs.)

Explorer enhancements: "Find" is replaced by the more detailed "Search", you can display more columns in the details view... Consistent with it's home-user appeal, Windows Me favors the "My Computer" view over the "Windows Explorer" view, which has moved from Programs to Accessories. (This last "enhancement" has, strangely enough, also been implemented in Windows 2000.)

More eye-candy: the Help files, for instance, are more easy to use, with a new colorful interface etc. But the content is even more unsatisfying than it used to be.

MSN Messenger Service: you can include this Microsoft version of ICQ if you like it.

Smart Menus: some submenus of the Start Menu will remember which items you recently used and won't display everything unless you click the double arrow. Useful if you have large, cluttered menu's.

Changed startup: hiding DOS. Settings that were in Autoexec.bat en Config.sys are moved to the Registry. You can still use DOS, but only from within the Windows environment.


Should you upgrade?
Windows Me is clearly an operating system designed for non-professional home use, keeping users away from under the hood as much as possible. At some points it seems like this OS is just Windows 98 redesigned for entry level users who are primarily interested in toying with cute multimedia applications. Nothing wrong with that, of course--the interface enhancement do have their appeal and well, this is only the image of Windows Me: this is a powerful OS, and it won't keep you from using any app you like, but on the other hand Windows Me's reluctance to turn over control to the user in case of trouble could be irritating.

System File Protection could prevent serious problems and the System Restore utility can be a powerful troubleshooting tool, but on the other hand, for instance, you can't restart in DOS-mode and "Command Prompt Only" is left out of the Windows Me startup menu.

Concluding: although File Protection will probably add some stability compared to Windows 9x, Windows Me does not offer enough to say that upgrading is a must.

------------------
Please bookmark your topic so you can find your post and let us know what worked and what didn't.
We really do want to know.

iv'e come up with an idea, as most of the changes seem to mainly be in the looks area, smart menus and hidden DOS i think i'll pop down to pc world and have a look at a pc with it allready installed b4 i try it on mine.

If it seems ok then i may try it but now i am feeling more towards the "better off just sticking to Win98 thoery"

Thanx for your advice https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

------------------
Athlon 850, 512mb RAM, TNT2 Pro 32mb, SB 1024, LG CED-8083b CD-RW, Samsung SD-612 DVD-ROM, Quantum 30gb lct15-30 HDD & Win98 First Edition.

I have Win98 on my desk top machine, I upgraded to WinME. After several weeks worth of headaches I reinstalled 98.
I purchased a laptop that has WinME preinstalled, while it is more stable than the upgrade was it's still "flakey" I'm going to install Win2000 on the laptop next week.
My advise keep Win98.

------------------
Keyboard error or no keyboard present

Press F1 to continue

Hi,I upgraded(clean install) to ME from 98se.I liked 98se very well also.I like ME just as well, even a little more.It's for me more stable.I now have it on all my machines.it's good on games for me also (quake,unreal tournament,etc.).I think that if you do a clean install and not a upgrade you will have no trouble,IMHO.

if i do upgrade it will be a clean install or not at all, i can imagine all sorts of problems with the upgrade version.

Again thanx for helping me chose https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

------------------
HP Pavilion 8730uk with Athlon 850, 512mb RAM, TNT2 Pro 32mb, SB 1024, LG CED-8083b CD-RW, Samsung SD-612 DVD-ROM, Quantum 30gb lct15-30 HDD & Win98 1st Edition. :)

Lotus, I have used Me and all the versions of 98 and I find it's really swings and roundabouts. I feel that it is probably silly wasting your money on Me now with XP just around the corner.

If you already have Me and if you have ghost, why not take an image of your 98 setup then try an install of ME, you can then easily go back.

Before trying to "upgrade" to windows ME check the list of hardware crippled by windows ME http://support.microsoft.com/support...e/hardware.asp
and check the list of software crippled by windows ME http://support.microsoft.com/support...e/programs.asp
also check different windows ME boards, do search there for the posts about all the components of your computer, scanners, printers, digital cameras and about the software you want to use.
Regards Miroslav Vadovic

If Win98 works fine why replace it? Sure Win ME will offer you some features such as System Restore, but you can also find many third-party tools that do a better job than some of Win ME's "tools" do. Speaking on games, if you do go to Win ME check that you have compatible drivers for all your stuff.
My advice
Stick to Win98 wait till Win XP comes out next year.

Me is certainly more bloated and user friendly than 98 (and 95!), but it ain't bad if you can stand it. If your system is stable and does what you want, keep it. Upgrade if Me won't kill anything you can't live without and you want some of it's extra features. Stability seems OK for me, and performance is excellent on a powerful PC. I won't say its not stomach churning sometimes, though. BTW, fixing PCs is my day job.

I have just tried Windows ME and was suprised by the fact it takes up nearly 900mb after installing all the drivers, thas nearly twice as much as windows 98, backup would use loads of space by the time programs r installed too...

But other than that i couldn't really see much of an improvement...so i'm just gunna stick to win 98 for now till maybe windows XP or if i really need to reinstall windows again. (ie. if both my HDD's went down and i lost my backup), thanx for all the advice, i checked all the points u made and at the end of the day as someone said If Win98 works fine why replace it.

WinME is a bit to bloated for me, i like the operating system to be small plus quick & easy to backup.

Thanx all

------------------
HP Pavilion 8730uk with Athlon 850, 512mb RAM, TNT2 Pro 32mb, SB 1024, LG CED-8083b CD-RW, Samsung SD-612 DVD-ROM, Quantum 30gb lct15-30 HDD & Win98 1st Edition.

98 uses way less resources i have to have only systray and explorer checked to get99% for games only. at 512mb ram i got a perm swap file of 1280min and max.memory interleaver for via chipset kt133...which by the way made a huge difference.defrag reg and thorogh scan disc once a month maybe twice if i download alot of huge files.40gig hd takes 10min to defrag .stick with 98 until xp comes out and maybe it will have the stability of 2000 and nt

if you are thinking of upgrading from 98 to ME then my answer would be a definate NO.
It doesn't offer many useful new features that you cant get for free somewhere else e.g. System Restore's rollback function. I have ME and i am far from impressed with it compared to the copy of 98 first edition i had installed previously. it is much less stable when running programs(btw, if anyone is thinks that 'hiding' dos real mode and its driver functionality is a good idea simply for a faster boot then think again. the weird way that the OS doesnt process files like autoexec.bat, config.sys and io.sys creates all kinds of compatibility issues alone, and is particularly inconvenient when trying to fix basic driver problems like sound i/o addresses. its like hiding an OS within an OS which actually IS that OS that the GUI is running on [?]).

dont make the same mistake i made, my friend - dont part with 98 for ME.