I have WinME on a Dell laptop. Which OS should I change to?

[CoderFirstClass]

I just bought a Dell Inspiron 4000 a couple months ago. It came preloaded with WinMe, and I'm getting sick of it. Here's the specs:

700MHz Celeron
128MB RAM
10GB HD
56K+10/100 mini-PCI card
ATI Rage 8B video w/ S-video out

I would like to go with either Win98SE or Windows 2000. My concerns are:

1) Getting either OS to fully recognize all my devices correctly (especially that mini-PCI card)
2) Performance
3) Stability

I know Win2K is the most stable, but will it get bogged down with my setup? A friend says that Win2K is better than 98 for laptops, is that true? Oh, I also have a Kodak DC4800 digicam and a Palm, I want to continue using those. Thanks.

 

[userpete]

I sure would try Win2000 pro cause it's the best OS from MS. If it doesn't like your peripheral's then have the right drivers from the MFG.'s web site...i've just done this on a friend's Comcrap lappie a couple day's ago and nothing if tougher than trying to get around the comcrap stuff.

CU8er
Pete

 

[pay]

I would also go for Windows 2000 Professional. Then if it isn't compatible with your hardware, just switch to Win98SE.

 

[RalfHutter]

Win2000's da bomb for laptops. It'll work fine on your Dell. Get the latest BIOS and drivers from Dell's support site.Go to http://support.dell.com/us/en/filelib/ and enter your service tag # and choose Windows 2000 as your operating system and "all" in the download catagory.Get whatever special drivers you may need for your I4000. All I needed for my I7500 was the video driver, everthing else was in Windows 2000 already.

 

[Avatar26]

Sorry to repeat everyone else, but I agree with Win2k. (the g/f wants to see my sig, haven't posted in a while, many apologies.)

 

[Ark]

Converted my i5000 (1 year old) to W2KSP1 from W98SE - installed on the top of W98SE - no problems, recognized all hardware, works much better when W98. I am really impressed. Have not try SP2 yet.

 

[HansXP]

<< Oh, I also have a Kodak DC4800 digicam and a Palm, I want to continue using those. Thanks. >>



I am using a DC4800 with W2K right now and it works great. The Palm should be fine, too.

 

[CoderFirstClass]

Ding! Jeez, I should've thought of entering a different OS on Dell's support site. I guess Win2K it is then. My current plan is to get an IDE adapter for my hard drive and make an image of it onto my friend's drive. Then I can format and do a fresh install of Win2K. Sound good?

 

[RVN]

Your Dell driver disc that came with your I4K will have the Win2000 drivers on it and Microsoft offers an updated one from their own product updates page ...first time I'd ever seen a device driver update on the windows site. Go with Win2K.

RVN