win 98 se or win ME for stability?

[Jhill]

Which one of these OS's is more stable? I have having a few crashes and freeze ups with my win 98 SE and I am wondering if I upgrade to ME if it will help out? I have a win ME upgrade disc that I got for free so it won't cost me anything.

Thanks for any help

 

[Zlash]

Neither, they suck equally. But if i HAD to, 98 anyday over me.

 

[btvillarin]

To give some more help, you might want to see what drivers you're installing (if any). If you just go with the ones supplied with the fresh installation, then that might be the reason. Go to the manufacturer's sites to download updated drivers for your hardware. Also, see if you've installed any beta software. If you have, it might be the reason why you're crashing.

Also, it might be your hardware. It might not have decent cooling/ventilation, or it can be old.

If you want to try Windows ME (which I also don't like), don't do an upgrade since it'll take your Windows 98 problems with it. Install fresh.

If you do decide to install Win98 or ME fresh, then after you install it and install all updates...well, I think it'd be better to read this article abut how to have a bulletproof setup. This is exactly what I do - I think.

 

[Blayze]

go with 98

my personal experience with ME was very very bad

 

[Nighthawk69]

Of the choices, I'd have to say 98SE, myself, but honestly I would not run either, I'd run Windows 2000.

 

[gamephile]

Well, I had been using 98SE for a long time until I just upgraded to 2k last week. My experiences with ME have not been that good. Its like a genetically inferior brethren to 98SE. (Not saying 9x was purebred to begin with...) I would use 98SE over ME any day. Less headaches, period. If I were you, and of course I'm not, and if my harware supported it, I would move to win2k. Its a big improvement in speed and stabililty over any 9x install.

woo woo for Windows.....or is it Lindows, gosh im so confused

Hope it helps!

 

[NogginBoink]

Jhill,

You need to realize that neither Win98 nor WinMe is terribly robust. Any application, device driver, just about any software on the machine can cause incredible instability.

With the NT/W2K/XP architecture, things are very different. Under the NT kernel, the OS has far greater control over the machine and what apps can and cannot do. (That's not to say that apps and drivers can't still take down the system, it just requires a lot more effort.)

I agree with others: the instability is very likely to be some piece of software you are running, rather than the OS itself. Start uninstalling useless junk that's bloating your system (if there is any) as a first line of defense.

To really get stability, though, you're going to have to give up on the Win9x line of operating systems.

-Noggin

 

[DMW2lls]

I've got to agree with Noggin. It's all in the kernel. Just upgrading your current "buggy" setup to ME will only complicate matters for you. ME is almost like 98 3rd edition, or 98 with a prettier GUI and a few more bells & whistles. Although I have in the past had several setups where ME was very stable over quite a few months. It was only with a clean format, some of the newest hardware , & the most up to date drivers. Also the times I've updated/upgraded the OS from 98 to ME the results were less than impressive. So if you must try ME, do a full format & get the best drivers for your hardware. I never really had a problem with my software so I can't say as to what you might be running as far as that side of the coin.
In some cases people have had a hard time getting 2K Pro or XP to work with their existing hardware. But if you can get it setup properly on your hardware you should be more stable than on 9x/ME.

 

[Athlon4all]

Very well said NogginBoink. If you have to choose 98 or Me, then I'd take 98SE.

 

[chaswood]

Friends don't let friends use Win ME.

 

[Mitzi]

<< Very well said NogginBoink. If you have to choose 98 or Me, then I'd take 98SE. >>

 

[krackato]

Windows 98SE. But I'd run Windows 2000.

 

[Jace]

ME ran as slow as molasses on my Tbird 850 with a 7200rmp hard drive and 256MB of pc133. I put Windows XP on and now it's much quicker, although ME was pretty stable for me for the year or so that I ran it. I did have a few crashes, mostly from buggy apps like Microsoft Greetings 2000 that took ME down with it, not good. So if you can certify your apps and drivers for ME you'll likely have pretty good stability, but lackluster performance.

 

[Thor86]

Depends though, you get fewer Blue screens in ME than Win98SE in most office/small business applications.

 

[Bucksnort]

<< Depends though, you get fewer Blue screens in ME than Win98SE in most office/small business applications. >>



Uhh I think this is a first.