Windows XP Questions & Help!

[hershon]

I'm currently using Windows 98 SE on a pentium 2, 900 mhz 256 RAM 40 Gig system (Compaq Presario 5900Z). I use the computer solely for the internet (cable broadband), word processor and to burn CD's and DVD's, nothing else. Everything is running at acceptable levels for me. I also have alot of windows 98 software installed.

WOuld you still recommend me switching the windows XP given what I use the computer for and if so why, in human non technical terms - i.e. what would I see noticeable improvement on (the fact that software may not be windows 98 compatible in the future is not important to me at present). Also would my windows 98 software be useless on the XP system. Thanks for any input offered.

[Matt Valloney]

Actually, I've heard that windows 98 SE is the best operating system out. XP has many security issues because it was built off of windows 2000, which was a big flop. Plus, with XP you get so many seemingly uncontrolable popups. Also, XP is a resource hog. For what you are doing, I think you should stick with 98SE.

[N. Abstentia]

Although I don't agree with everything Matt said (resource hog, 2000 flop, popups) I agree that with your machine you should stick with Win98 as it is the best Win9x based OS.

If you get a newer computer and want to get into DVD authoring and video editing then you must go to XP because Win 98 will not support NTFS (NT file system) making it impossible to work with files over 2 gigs in size.

But there is also no reason that your Win98 software would not work just fine with XP.

Personally I couldn't imagine going back to 98, but if it works for you there's no reason to upgrade at this point.

[JeffKnob]

I am not sure what Matt is talking about. Windows 2K and WinXP are the most stable versions to date. A while back I installed WinXP on my Pentium 2 400Mhz 256Mb computer and I actually noticed a slight increase in performance which is very common when you upgrade from a Win9x system to WinXP. As far as the bugs in the operating system, there are many bugs in everything that Microsoft makes and for all software for that matter. You hear about bugs and problems with WinXP because so many people have it and there are more problems and threats out there now than when Win98 SE came out. There are so many more threats and problems because distribution of worms and viruses is so much easier with unsecured, always on, broadband internet connections.

[kfalls]

I agree with JeffKnob, 2000 and XP are far superior to 98. They're based on NT which is more secure and functional than 98 and also provides MediaPlayer 9 which is 5.1 and HD capable. You can't do that with 98.

[Worf101]

So I'm up on the "new breed thang". Unless you're gonna do a significant upgrade of hardware, stay with the OS you're using now. I ran Win 98se for years before going to XP pro 2.5 years ago. I'd say that XP pro is by far the stablest OS I've used. But that's just my opinion. But it's not without it's share of problems. XP pro might not be happy with the gear you're running riight now. I'd not recommend XP on any machine with less than 512 Megs of Ram, just too iffy.

Hope this helps.

By the way this is what I built over the weekend.:

AMD Athallon 64Fx-53
Asus A8V Deluxe VIA K8T800 Pro Chipset ATX AMD MB
1 Gig of OCZ 3500 unbuffered Ram
2 Western Digital 74 Gig Raptors in Raid 0
DVD ASUS 16X DVD
DVD+/-RW PLEXTOR|PX-712A
CPU FAN SPIRE|SP703C3-1 KK3 AMD
Cooler Master Wave Master Case with 500 watt power supply.
M-Audio Revolution sound card (bye bye Sound Blaster!)
ATI X800XT Platinum (if I can ever find one).

Da Worfster :cool:

[Monstrous Mike]

You have no reason to switch to Windows 2000 or XP. Make sure you have a good personal firewall, anti-virus software and spyware detection and removal software. Keep your main email private and use disposable addresses for the Internet to keep spam away.

Wait until you upgrade your hardware or get a whole new system. I had a friend in your situation and he was fine until he needed some heavy duty processing power and memory for large photo file and video file editing. So IMHO, wait until you <i>need</i> to upgrade your operating system.

[hershon]

Sorry for not being on this board for a while, my windows 98 computer got so messed up I had to use my laptop with no favorite places stored up. A week ago I bought a HP Media Computer HP 260N and I got a good price for it at Circuit City as the model was discontinued a year ago. I got it new for $800 including tax, about $450 less than I'd pay online and about $200 more including shipping if I bought it used on EBAY. The main feature was the built in TV unit. To make a long story short, XP works so much faster than Windows 98 its not funny (including the internet with broadband). The only thing bad was you need a good firewall and have to be totally alert as like an idiot I think I let a virus in that screwed up my booting up in an endless cycle- I'm not sure if this was part of the fraud- I got a built in computer message to go to something.org where I could get a security patch but it wasn't for free and they wanted a credit card payment. I thought this might be some con so I didn't order. Anyway, the good thing is that XP has a restore program- which albeit didn't work perfectly- I lost a bunch of downloads, it still got me running again. It took me about 3 hours to get back to snuff with everything. OH YEAH, a warning to anyone who is stupid enough to use any Norton products, their piece of crap software causes immense problems with other software programs and your better off not getting any of them. I just bought Panda Titanium AntiVirus and Sygayte Personal Pro Firewall and am very happy with both and took Norton AntiVirus off my computer I wouldn't advise anyone to get Nortons System Works which to me is useless, iNortons nternet security or Nortons ANti Virus because of the software problems they cause. Norton should be put out of business by the government for willingly selling product that damages computers..
You have no reason to switch to Windows 2000 or XP. Make sure you have a good personal firewall, anti-virus software and spyware detection and removal software. Keep your main email private and use disposable addresses for the Internet to keep spam away.

Wait until you upgrade your hardware or get a whole new system. I had a friend in your situation and he was fine until he needed some heavy duty processing power and memory for large photo file and video file editing. So IMHO, wait until you <i>need</i> to upgrade your operating system.

[N. Abstentia]

I've been using Norton AntiVirus/SystemWorks for over 8 years now. Thousands of installs, nary a problem. It's wonderful software if you know what you're doing. No offense at all meant here, but I can tell you don't know too much about computers so I doubt that Norton was the cause of your problems.

[hershon]

I appreciate all the good advice you've been giving me and certainly my computer knowledge is no better than intermediate at best, but you're 100% wrong about Nortion's products. Most people have had similar experiences with Norton - specifically when it involves installing new software. Nortons does what AOL did (I'm not sure if it still does) which is cause conflicts in programs including their own. In my case, I tried upgrading my Nortons Security and it screwed up my whole computer. Consider yourself fortunate that this has not happened yet.

[N. Abstentia]

Not sure what you might be doing wrong, but wouldn't you think that if Norton's software shut down every computer it runs on that they would be out of business by now instead of being the industry leader? Most every new computer you buy comes with Norton software installed, and their installed user base is in the millions, if not billions.

I haven't had a problem with any Norton software yet, even after 8 years of experience, hundreds of computer builds, and being part of an IT department with over 2000 PC's running Norton..nary a single problem.

Sorry, I just take offense at someone who knows very little about something telling me I don't know what I'm talking about. That's kinda like some high school kid who works at Best Buy going up to Dave Wilson and telling him that he does not know how to build speakers and he should come listen to these big JBL's that sound so good because they have 15" woofers.

Been there for years. Done that thousands of times. Norton is my choice.

[Worf101]

Well, it works fine in my office with dedicated IT guys keeping everyone up to date and on schedule. It worked like a** on every home rig I've tried it on. I just built my second rig so I'm not OOG the caveman. I'll never shell out for it. Sorry just doesn't work for me at home.

Da Worfster :(

[hershon]

You priobably know 95% more than I know on the computer but for the average non gee wizz computer person, Norton's software screws up their computers. Most nontechnical people who've used Nortons software at home have had problems when they've had to install other Nortons products or firewalls, internet security & other anti virus systems (if they wanted one instead of Norton's). These people do not have the technical knowledge to repair Norton's mistakes/conflicts and don't have an Administrator on hand to advise them. I think Norton's will eventually go out of business as half the stuff they sell is worthless in my opinion and the software creates problems with new installations/removal of software. Yhey remind me of AOL in regards to their software. In fact I hope they go out of business. Consider yourself fortunate that nothing has gone wrong with Norton's - every computer technician and home user I know has had problems with it. I stand by my statement.

[N. Abstentia]

You shouldn't even bother with any type of software firewall in the first place. Hardware firewall is the best way to go.

[hershon]

What do you mean by hardware firewall- a router? A technician recommended that to me. Is that what you're talking about? If so, what nonwireless kind? Thanks
You shouldn't even bother with any type of software firewall in the first place. Hardware firewall is the best way to go.

[JeffKnob]

Hershon, please stick to something you know about. Norton products are the best on the market. If you are only an intermediate user then how can you say for sure that it is Norton products causing the problem. Maybe you are messing with things you shouldn't be. Maybe you are choosing "yes" or "OK" without reading what the question is. I have never had an issue with any norton product for the 10 years I have been using them. That isn't luck.

[hershon]

You Jeff are the ignorant one. You don't know what your talking about. For the average nontechnical home computer user I know as well as hearing it from different computer repair places, Norton's products have caused more software problems to screw up home computers at least those with Windows 98 or 95 (can' speak about XP) than any software on the market in my opinion. What happens to these people and me, is that after a Nortons program is installed, in many cases when you try to install another program- either Nortons or otherwise, it screws up your computer either in the installation process which sometimes won't complete, or afterwards. What happened in my case and has happened in many other peoples cases is that for example I tried to upgrade my Norton 2000 Internet Security Program to 2004, it wouldn't install right, I tried to correct the problem, made it worse and my computer was totally screwed up. I shouldn't have been in the position where I had to try to correct Nortons screw ups in the first place. To people who use Nortion at work, they have an administrator or someone with technical skills that maybe this is not a problem but to the average home user Norton is an accident waiting to happen.
Hershon, please stick to something you know about. Norton products are the best on the market. If you are only an intermediate user then how can you say for sure that it is Norton products causing the problem. Maybe you are messing with things you shouldn't be. Maybe you are choosing "yes" or "OK" without reading what the question is. I have never had an issue with any norton product for the 10 years I have been using them. That isn't luck.

[kfalls]

Is it possible you didn't read the "readme" file or application notes included with the software? Is it possible since you're going from 2000 to 2004 it's not a direct upgrade and you would have needed to go through the previous "upgrades" before jumping to 2004? I know upgrades are less expensive than a full version, but if you haven't followed the upgrade progression maybe you should have gone with it instead. I've used Norton products for many years, at home and work and found if you follow the instruction they work as designed. I work in an IS HelpDesk at a manufacturing facility with many "non-computer" people and haven't heard any of the complaints you describe about Norton software. You speak in generalities. If you had specifics you could quantify, you'd probably find the problem is more of a "loose nut on the keyboard" or a "short between the keyboard and the floor", than with the software.