Simviation Forums

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I have had my computer since November 2001.  It is fairly decent PIV 1.7Ghz, 512MbRam, GeForce 2 Mx400, 60GB Hard drive.

It came pre-installed with Windows ME and I was advised to get rid of this and get XP when it came out, which I did.  Then the problems started.  I had to re-format and re-install about five times.  January this year I had enough and scrapped XP, going "backwards" to ME.  I will be honest, it hasn't been perfect.  Even with the most upto date drivers and DX9.0 I have lost about 5FPS and the graphics aren't quite as good.  CFS3 stutters a little more as well.  Otherwise it has been fine.

Two days ago I thought "What the Hell, I'll put XP back on."  Bad move.  1st I lost my internet connection.  No dial tone it said.  Then today nothing would run.  I must have restarted 20 times.  I uninstalled and re-installed stuff to no good effect.  The net result is that I now have NOTHING installed once more and I am not a happy bunny.

Bl**dy W*ndows.

This time, if it aint broke I won't fix it.

Will

Best move now would be to get a new PC I think...

Why?  It's a software issue.  I might invest in a new hard drive but a whole new computer I cannot afford.

Will

Bad luck Will. I've been running XP Pro since it came out, and I've only had two crashes. One caused by conflicting software, the other by my being a bit of a brain donor!
On the whole I like XP, but I haven't taken on-board any of the upgrades and patches from M$, I've just resolved the issues myself. If you need a hand drop me a line and I'll try and help.

Mark

I'm no expert on the pros & cons regarding various operating systems & can only go from my own experience. I've had 2 PCs since becoming interested in the M$ sims, both built to my own specs. The first one came with Win95 installed which was fine for FS98 & CFS1. I updated to Win98 when FS2000 was released & subsequently to WinMe. Apart from the odd BSOD I never had a problem with any of these setups. From this experience I opted for WinMe for my present machine, rather than XP which had only just hit the market. This has again run perfectly with no problems I can think of. In all this time I've never reformatted my HD or needed to reinstall Windows. On seeing the constant problems members of this forum alone seem to have with WinXP I think I made the correct decision.

hagar i can personally say XP is my fav, i have used 95 98 and XP and it goes down as the best in my opinion, it took a few days to get used to when switching form the old OS as i was so used to it but after tweaking it it became perfect, i have never had to reinstall it although i have a few times but that was personal preferance to keep it clear of hidden viruses and kee it running fast as i have nothing major to loose

Thanks Craig. As you point out, I have nothing to lose with a brand new machine so I might as well try it. Knowing me, I will be one of the XP haters & regret it. LOL

It will also cost more as I already purchased Win98 & the Me update. I'm a confirmed skinflint & the one thing I never liked doing is wasting my hard-earned cash.  ::)

that's windoze for you

My brother uses WinME and it runs fine most of the time.

I've been using WinXP pro for past year or two. It's pretty stable most of the time, but it DOES have it's drawbacks. Imo, the most annoying thing about XP is that it likes to eat and leak memory

[quote] :-/

Hi all.

I've just got back today with a client's PC that I've been trying to reconfigure for 2 days after upgrading it (when I only allowed and can charge for half a day!)

The thing is we talk about Windows but we forget that actually Windows consists of a cobbling together of hundreds of programs all trying to work in unison - all designed and made by humans - all perfect or imperfect to a greater or lesser extent. Is it any wonder that there are problems with em from time to time - especially if the setup was not 'perfect to spec' in the beginning.

That's the starting point- you need to set things up right , clean and with the right drivers in the first place. If you don't, you'll have trouble later. If you do take the trouble you'll likely have much less of a 'bumpy ride'!

The next thing is the dicussions about 95 v 98 v ME v XP. Look at it this way - have BMW learnt nothing by making different versions of the 5 series between 1986 and now? Of course they have. Which do you think is the 'better' version - a 1988 model or a 2003? Silly question isn't it. Surely you assume that the latest knowledge base is built into the current model and the old one is 'out of date' although it still runs and gets you from A to B. Why should software be any different - I mean, chip design hasn't changed a BIT over the last 10 years has it?

Don't listen to any 'expert' who tells you 98 is 'better' than XP, but remember that XP Home is what it says it is. It's NOT Pro.

It's easy to bash Windows - and I'm no M$ fan as anyone who knows me will tell. But I remember what it was like when you had to choose your software to match your particular flavour of OS, to install printers and HOPE that they would work - at least in the app that you're presently working in, to set up pathetically slow serial connections to remote computers down a rubber device clamped over your phone receiver - and wonder why half of what you got out was rubbish and to have to spend ages learning the intricate commands of DOS to do the simplest things with your PC that would screw up totally just because you happen to have got 1 key stroke wrong when you typed the commands in.

Now we take ALL of those things for granted and it's all down to the foresight and skill of the likes of IBM, Jobs and, yes, even our friend Mr Gates.

Like today when I've been having BIG problems I run Windows and I realise just how little I am ACTUALLY in control of things. But I know that if I do it right, it will end up doing what I want it to do - and to a very high degree of reliablity as well.

Thanks Roger for your excellent advice. As a pro you're far more qualified than me on this subject. What you say makes perfect sense but you see my dilemma. Everyone has different opinions depending on their own experiences. Personally, I'm convinced that most problems with XP are caused not by the OS itself but by how it's installed & set up. It seems updating from Win98/Me is not the best way to go although I don't see why M$ would sell updates if they don't work.  ::)

Being a complete idiot with this side of things I leave it to the pros. I tell them what I want & pay for their expertise. I've never had a serious problem with either of my 2 PCs so far so I think this must prove something.

Don't listen to any 'expert' who tells you 98 is 'better' than XP,

I was told this by a senior member of the M$ CFS3 development team. I don't know what to believe any more. LOL  ???

Ahh, the sight of BeOS itself is relaxing

Don't listen to any 'expert' who tells you 98 is 'better' than XP,

I think it all depends on what you're trying to do with the OS. I've noticed a few games that I have that ran better in Win98. I've also got some programs that do run in WinXP, but it takes for ever to launch. I think it has something to do with the CD verification on some games that takes a while

:-/ :-/ [glb]My computer is just posessed I think......oh well Grrrrrrrrrrr [/glb]