Win/98 or Me 5

[karpat]

Is there an minum cpu speed in order to install windows 98 or Me? I have a Pentium MMX 200 mhz. Now running 95b but would like to install 98 or Me but I was told that the bus speed has to meet specs. for it to work. I have a old Shuttle 555a motherboard I'm using. Also from what I have heard it is best to go with a new install instead of an upgrade for ether of these OS systems. Any and all feed back is welcome.
Karpat

 

[mhughes]

You should have no problem with either OS however I would suggest W98SE as it has seems more stable and is compatable with more devices. I suggest before you load your new system find and save the drivers you will need for any device attached to your computer.
Hope this helps

 

[jakrabit]

i will agree that 98SE is more stable than 98, but i actually like ME for its stability... however, the 500MB install is a little hard to swallow... but hey, in the new age of 80 Gig IDE drives, i guess Microsoft feels you could afford to bloat your OS a little more...

definitely make sure you have the drivers for all your devices available before reloading... otherwise, it can be a little FRUSTRATING...

just my 2 cents...

 

[Mturner]

i have set uo WIN98SE on a 75 MHS Pentium Computer and it works fine bit slow though, it had 16meg ram and a 1.5 gig hard drive, no problems at all.
the computer was origianley designed for win 3.11 but win98 works fine

 

[karpat]

Thanks for the advice, nobody seemed to comment on wether or not I would be better off using a upgrade from 95b to 98se or buying the new 98se OS and installing that. Any suggestions? Also who do you think offers the best price for this OS?
Thanks/karpat

 

[RFBaker]

Obviously the upgrade price would be cheaper, but I think you'll find that whether its upgrade or not the cd's are identical apart from one looks for an older os to upgrade before installing. the other thing to consider is have you progs installed in 95 that you dont want to have to install again or you personal data ie Mail, favourites and so on. My personal preference is a fresh install rather than upgrade as you dont end up with rubbish left on the system from the original OS.

Richard Baker
RFBaker@BTInternet.com

 

[karpat]

Mr. Baker:
In your response to my question you make a good point. I do have programs and email list I do not want to have to reinstall. I have bought Nortons Ghost. I don't know if you or anyother readers are up to date on this app. but it allows one to make a (not copy) image of files, programs or the whole sys. and in the process transfer it to a different partition or drive. You guessed it, it is a dos related program and I do not know dos. But this is one way around that problem. Oh to have hours of free time to read all these manuals, experiment with them, master them and fine be able to use them. I'm using netscape 4.7 I'm sure there must be some way for me to save my favorites, email address books actually the whole browser maybe but it in a different partition until I uninstall my current OS and install a new 98SE. So body metioned Partition Magic as a good app. If you know of any easy ways to do any or all of the aboved mentioned please post it. Thanks
Karpat

 

[edfair]

Normally I suggest new installs, it gets rid of lots of garbage. It also allows you to do it right, including putting stuff where you want it, allowing documenting of what you have and the install order. But in this case you have nothing to fear from a 98 upgrade. At least no out of the ordinary fear. (Any Win upgrade has potential problems)
Based on ME reports I would stay away from it. Look in the ME forum for some of their problems.
Partition Magic is good if you have enough hard drive space. Just be careful to make the boot magic floppy because you'll need it to reinstall boot magic each time 95/98 rewrites the boot partition. I use PM in just such an application and it works great for what I want it to do, which is 3 win95 installs. Only problem that I encountered was getting partition sizes that I wanted. Took three or four tries to tune it, but didn't lose a thing and no problems.
Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.