Upgrade Win SE Or Win ME Suggestions Please

[miaz]

I would like to upgrade presently have win 98 want to upgrade either Win98se or WinMe, which is best for Internet and pc games.

[highrisemech]

Most of the people on here seem to prefer 98se over me.

[RJ]

I say: Go with WinME.
You already have Win98, and the update to Win98SE isn't so cheap. To update Win98 to 98SE won't give you anything that it's world the money.

WinME is like Win98, just the next version. Some people say that it's not as stable as 98, but that's definitely not true.

Last Sunday I installed WinME because of these rumours of being unstable, and during this week I haven't had a bluescreen. So I'll he how it's going on.

For Internet it really doesn't matter whether you have Win98, Win98SE or WinME. You wouldn't notice anything (besides a few changes because ME has I.E. 5.5 and 98 has 4 if you haven't it upgraded yet).

And for games both OS are similar, very much the same. The performance itself also depends on the DirectX version and your graphics drivers.

RJ

[HAL9000]

Been running ME at home on 2 machines for over a year now, completely stable and faster than Win98, I say go ME.

[miaz]

Hiho

Ive looking around and I see that there is a oem version of WinMe and upgrade of Winme whats the difference.

[highrisemech]

I've been using Me for a week and a half now.
I have no problems as of yet to report.

[MoxManiac]

The OEM version is probably the full install - e.g. installing winME on a blank HDD. The upgrade version is for people who want to go straight from whatever OS to winme, without formatting.

Personally, I like to start clean with a reformat and full install when putting a new OS on - but that's just me.

[miaz]

HiHo


Because Im not to sure about reformating and If I was to buy the oem version is there any information were I get for a clean install.

[HAL9000]

You can always delete or rename your WIN.COM file, then install the full version over top to keep all of your shortcuts and programs (just remember to make sure your target directory is renamed back to WINDOWS from WINDOWS.000). This method usually works without incident, but there are always exceptions. Personally, I've never had a problem with it.

[Nuggut_Of_Joy]

definently go with 98se, it shows better benchmark performance as well as better support, better startup times, WinME was a big mistake for microsoft to even release... its horrible with performance compared to all other OSes they've released as well as less support, and believe me you will be glad you have SE on there instead of ME... there's no reason why you shouldn't choose SE over ME

[RJ]

Do you have MAYBE some NUMBERS, real BENCHMARK NUMBERS that you can show us how ME compared to 98SE, or FPS of some games ?
Also how did you measure the startup times ? Did you actually use a chronometer or what ? I did so, and found out that ME boots the same like 98SE, neither faster nor slower.

Instead of just saying how bad ME is without ANY facts try to show us the facts.
I have WinME. 3D Mark 2000 showed me a score of 5.912 points with Standard Benchmark. Win98SE I had something about 6.200 points. So ME seems to be a bit slower, but not noticeable. In games I don't notice a few lost fps. The 300 points less is far away from horrible.

So maybe you post your own benchmarks here. . .

RJ

[HAL9000]

I agree, something to backup those statements? When I was running Win98SE, my boot time was around 1 minute 40 seconds with the way too many things in startup. A load of the full version of WinME over top of Win98SE brought my boot time down to 1 minute flat (timed from the appearance of the boot logo to the time when ICQ (the last thing to load) shows online). As far as games are concerned, any benchmark shows a very slight increase in performance, but not enough really to brag about. I also find my programs start much faster with ME than they ever did with Win98. Even when I service a machine, if it's WinME, I find I get things done much faster, with Win98, I usually find myself doing other things as I wait forever on the reboots.

[miaz]

I've been looking around and find I probably go a upgrade version of Win98SE or WinMe., I find if I was going to get full version OEM Its another $100.00 as is upgrades are around $95.00. full version round $200.00+

But what I read I have mixed thoughts on getting something appropriate for me.



Thanx

[miaz]

HIHO

I found this at microsoft Australia Is this the correct upgrade to WinSE if it is look at the price below.


Want to get hold of the latest Windows 98 updates?
Check out these options.

Already running Windows 98?

If you're already running Windows 98, you can choose from the following three options:

Option #1

Order the Windows 98 Second Edition Updates CD online.

This CD upgrades an existing Windows 98 system to Windows 98 Second Edition, and includes the new features in Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows 98 Service Pack 1 and Internet Explorer 5.5 and Internet Tools.

This CD is only available to currently licensed Windows 98 users, and can only be installed on a machine running Windows 98. The CD is available for order from this Web site only to customers in Australia.


Product Code Description Price

B82-00002 Windows 98 Update English Intl Direct CD $17.18

[highrisemech]

In my opinion ME seems to be much more stable. It's been running two weeks now on my computer. There has not been one blue screen yet. And believe me, my family thows a lot at this machine.With 98 SE it was more than common to get a blue screen at least once a week.

[archie]

Correct me if this is wrong:
"Option #1 - Order the Windows 98 Second Edition Updates CD online" is the same as just downloading it from Microsoft for free except for the convenience of having it on CD. [where does ICS fit with this?]
An upgrade version vs a full version, whether the full version be OEM or retail, is the same, except that at a point during a clean install, you will be prompted for the older version, which could be Win 3.1, Win95 or Win98. In this case, the upgrade version should be considered. Personally, when switching OS, I prefer doing it from scratch rather than installing on top of another OS.
I don't know which one is better between Win98SE or ME. It may be useful to know why you want to upgrade in the first place to see if the new OS will do what you want. Also, there is a new OS by Microsoft [XP] coming out soon that may be worth looking into.

[highrisemech]

Actually you can do a clean install with widows 98 se upgrade.
On a clean formatted hard drive, install the win 98 upgrade disk
then it will search for other versions, when none are found it will prompt you for the version you are upgrading so then you install your win 95 disk it reads the licence then it will prompt you to re-install the win 98 disk.

I had to do this once before because at that time I did not have a windows 98 full version. But I wanted to partition a large hard drive into four 7 gig drives which I did using fdisk, then went straight to win98se using the upgrade only.For you folks that do not understand this, earlier versions of windows 95 do not support large disk partitioning-over 2 gigs.
Earlier versions of windows 95 use the FAT 16 file system while later versions of windows 95 and 0n WIN 98, 98SE support both FAT16 and FAT 32 file system.

[Hpro]

Here my few cents in this matter - go for Win98Se and when installed finish then DL the necessary updates from the MSsoft website like IE6.0 etc.. do yourself a favor and save some 300Mb plus diskspace with Win98 ..

About boot time ANY Win98 Version on all the computers here are Booting up UNDER one minute this from the moment when the power button is pressed to actually when the cursor doesn't show the the Hourglass anymore and hard disk light doens't lit up anymore..

I had WinME tested for this and I have to say that it BOOTS UP about 25% faster.!!!! But this doesn't mean that I like it -

Win98 is running here for 2 years on several machines without any BSOD's or ERRORS - on one machine my 6 year old son is playing his games like Counter Strike,Red Alert2,Test Drive 4,Need For Speed Porsche and a alot of old Ms-DOS games like JWWS Snooker and Megaman X - never ever a problem..Not even once reinstalled.

[highrisemech]

I gotta give my vote for ME if you want to decide betwen ME and 98SE.
The only reason I say this is because ME contains more drivers for media applications. So far as boot time is concerned a few seconds to boot time is trivial so far as I'm concerned. I never turn off my computer anyway since I run maintenance applications during the off peak hours.
I understand that the new XP version takes up
1.5 gigs, I wonder how long that takes to boot? considering it is supposed to be a superior operating system. The way I see it, the more files and applications the longer the boot period because they take time to load.
Therefore the only benchmark that need be concidered is the the time it takes
for an application to load and execute and that will definitly vary depending on the system you are running.

[miaz]

HiHo


I read in one of the posts that sound blaster live value oem wasn't compatible with Win ME.

The XP version is coming out in October I may consider its not to long to wait for that program.

Thanks heaps to all who replied

[HAL9000]

Originally posted by miaz HiHo I read in one of the posts that sound blaster live value oem wasn't compatible with Win ME. The XP version is coming out in October I may consider its not to long to wait for that program. Thanks heaps to all who replied

Got a SoundBlaster Live value OEM in this machine right now and have been running it since I installed ME over a year ago, no problems.

[miaz]

HAL9000
Im sure that people can read why quote my post !!!!!!!!
A touch of sarcasm, why I'm sure you could could do better Oh well like I said I read it one of the posts and if your that good find it.

[morriswindgate]

MIAZ, If you have went to the Windows Update site and downloaded the patches, virtual machine, IE6 or 5.5, and Windows Medial Player you just about have 98 SE on your machine. IF you are not having any hardware problems or software issues then it would just be a waste of money to buy the SE or ME upgrade disks.

[miaz]

Hello morriswindgate long time!!!!!!!

I'm currently running 5.1 Internet Explorer, haven't bothered to upgrade to others its fine with 5.1.
I am thinking of waiting for the XP or even upgrade 2000.

yepede yepedey

[morriswindgate]

Hello Again Miaz.
It's worth it to Upgrade to IE6 as it fixes security holes.
As far as upgrading to XP, I think that if you are planning on it, it will be advisable to wait several months (Like a year from now)> I really feel that a few months after XP is out Microsoft will be forced by lack of sales to lower the price and alter the registration process.
I do not believe that this will be a big seller like WIndows 95 was years ago.
So wait, and while you are waiting, start downloading the Windows 2000 drivers for all your hardware and cards so that you will have them when you do upgrade.
In the meantime, the site below has several tips for improving Window98 performance and is a great troubleshooter.

http://www.windows-help.net/windows9...ps.shtml#troub

You should send me an E-Mail and I will send you a zipped file containing some of the better Windows Info and Computer Info Sites I have found over the years.

[HAL9000]

Originally posted by miaz HAL9000 Im sure that people can read why quote my post !!!!!!!! A touch of sarcasm, why I'm sure you could could do better Oh well like I said I read it one of the posts and if your that good find it.

Because I clicked too quickly and hit quote instead of reply, so I don't think there is any need to point that out, I didn't feel it necessary to change it, nor do I see why you have a problem with it

[miaz]

Hi Morriswindgate

Thankyou muchlyyyyy 4 tips and advice I will contact you for others.I checked out the site its great heaps of info thanks.



What ever makes you happy HAL9000