(no subject)

[andysocial]

OK, so now my "new" computer (all of 6 months old) is going down more than a bargirl. Windows ME is crashing with such regularity I can almost set my watch by it. I can rip 2 tracks from a CD before a BSOD, or I can try to talk to someone on AIM at the same time as I download my mail. Now, since I've got a 1 Ghz Athlon with 384MB or DDR RAM in a Micron machine, I'm assuming my hardware is not an issue.

The big question is: Do I go back to Win98SE (the machine was preloaded with WinME but it blows), or should I go to Windows 2000? Either one requires much time-consuming backup and restore stuff to bring ICQ and such back from the dead, but which is better for a normal home user that plays a few games? I'm kinda leaning toward Win2k right now, but if I install that, will I be able to dual-boot with Linux later? NTFS5 is supposed to be a bitch file system, from what I hear.

Comments

Dual install?

[(Anonymous)]

Hi there! I'm currently using both Win2K and Linux-Mandrake 8.0. If you want to dual-boot, make sure that you install Win2K first. 1) Install Win2k but leave space for Linux (I've dedicated 4GB of my 12GB drive) 2) Write nasty letter to Billy G describing WinME in graphic detail 3) Grab your favorite distro (mine is Mandrake 8.0 because of incredible hardware support) 4) When formatting the drive make a small BOOT partition - using whatever file system you want (I used 300MB but you could probably get away with 32MB or even less) and mount the partition as /boot 5) Install Linux as usual, BUT 6) when it comes time to install the boot loader, make sure that you install LILO to the /boot partition!!! That's it, just what I did, and my Compaq Armada M300 dual-boots with no hitches. One more thing... Win2K is actually quite spiffy. It's a million times better than 9x or the Mangled Edition for stability.

[shadwstalkr.livejournal.com]

You don't have to use NTFS with 2000 if you don't want to. It'll run on a FAT32 partition.

fat32 does work with win2k.

[ccupguy.livejournal.com]

i used a dualboot win98se and win2k for switchover purposes for about a month -> no problems, but now i use win2k standalone. it rocks. better dvd,divx,graphics, 3d and directx8a, more stable, you name it...
If you have recent hardware, then go for it.

WinMe came preinstalled on my machine as well...it lasted 1 week before ending up where it belongs, in the dustbin (and i'm not talking bout the machine ;o).

Haven't tried installing linux next to win2k, but i think if you stick to fat32 to start with, you will find the anonymous poster above is right... i don't know if it will work with ntfs though, but there are many online forums about win2k and you could ask.

Oh, and I have not installed servicepack 2 for win2k as yet... i hear it has some issues, so I stay away from it for now...servicepack1 is okay.

[ghett0-fabul0us.livejournal.com]

If you're into gaming, Windows 2000 may not be what you want. I'm not a gamer so I cannot speak from experience, however I have been using Windows 2000 for over a year and no blue screens of any kind. The system runs rock solid on a PII. ME is a good program, but a clean isntall is always preferred. An OEM install is garbage. re-partition and re-load from scratch ME and you should have better results.