Upgrade of Win ME

ejfont · 12-13-2005, 09:10 AM

Any expert opinions out there about the merits of upgrading to XP from ME? My Gateway solo 9300CX laptop has a Pent III 800 MHz processor and I am upgrading the ram to the max of 544MB. It's an older platform and I'm concerned it might be taxed running XP. Also, the Works applications meet my needs so I want to stick with these. Any advise would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Ed
Longmont, Colorado

bry623 · 12-13-2005, 09:37 AM

If your ME works fine for you, then keep it. Personally, I hate it. ME stands for Mistake Edition in my book.

Geekgirl · 12-13-2005, 03:38 PM

If you decide to upgrade to XP I would do a full install instead of an upgrade, you will only run into problems using an upgrade.

**oshwyn5** · 12-14-2005, 04:10 PM

My opinion is that generally if it is working; the best Operating System for your computer is the one it was designed for and originally equipped with. Not only are there more likely to be easily available and compatible drivers for its hardware in the original OS; but more importantly any new OS is going to be bigger and more comples and hence more demanding. XP is a lot more demanding than ME; and while it may run on your equipment and you may find all the drivers it will not only be slower than ME; but it will be slower than XP on a modern PC which was designed to run XP. You may find hardware incompatablities which require that you replace some components to keep XP stable. With a laptop, this last is the most concerning; that you may buy a copy of XP and find that you cannot use it because of a minor hardware incompatability.
As noted, if you do go for XP, it is best to do a clean install as opposed to an upgrade.

Tumbleweed36 · 12-14-2005, 04:42 PM

Hi,

Chime in: "If It Is Not Broken, Don't Fix It." I vote for keeping ME in this particular case.

ejfont · 12-15-2005, 07:06 AM

Thanks to all who have shared their views with me re the CANCELLED upgrade from ME to XP. Since I had not opened the XP upgrade package I was able to return it for a full refund. ME seems to be running a little better since I upgraded the memory from 169MB to 544MB. Now I just need to focus on optimizing ME if there is such a process.

**koala** · 12-15-2005, 09:04 AM

How To Run Windows ME Well
Maintenance, troubleshooting, updates, etc. There's a link at the bottom for Cacheman, a program that tweaks system settings. Works very well with WinME.

darkwood · 12-26-2005, 02:17 PM

The other thing I would mention, for anyone else considering this upgrade, is that there is a distinct possibility that your MB wouldn't accept the XP upgrade anyhow. I had this problem with my old PC, trying to do a full XP install. The program would start and begin to load, but once it got to the first reboot, it would hang. I tried everything from flashing the BIOS, to formatting the hard drive and starting clean, and nothing worked.

From my experience, Me has caused me nothing but trouble, but I am going to try to repair my older unit before going back to Win 98 as I want to run both my units. Why? Because I can. :-)

ebackhus · 12-27-2005, 05:45 PM

I'd rather "downgrade" and run 98 than deal with Mistake Edition. There's a reason the development team was fired and it's obvious.

12-13-2005, 09:10 AM	#1 (permalink)
ejfont Registered User Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Longmont, Colorado Posts: 21 OS: WIN XP HOME	Upgrade of Win ME Any expert opinions out there about the merits of upgrading to XP from ME? My Gateway solo 9300CX laptop has a Pent III 800 MHz processor and I am upgrading the ram to the max of 544MB. It's an older platform and I'm concerned it might be taxed running XP. Also, the Works applications meet my needs so I want to stick with these. Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks, Ed Longmont, Colorado

12-13-2005, 09:37 AM	#2 (permalink)
bry623 Manager, The Conversation Pit/Analyst, Security Team Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: NW Territory circa 1787 Posts: 11,692 OS: winxp pro sp2	If your ME works fine for you, then keep it. Personally, I hate it. ME stands for Mistake Edition in my book. __________________ "If you aren't a liberal when you're 20, you have no heart. If you aren't a conservative when you are 50, you have no brain"

12-13-2005, 03:38 PM	#3 (permalink)
Geekgirl Assistant Manager, Microsoft Support Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Six-burgh, Pennsylvania Posts: 14,171 OS: XP Home SP3/XP Pro SP3/Vista Ultimate SP2/Windows 7 Professional	If you decide to upgrade to XP I would do a full install instead of an upgrade, you will only run into problems using an upgrade. __________________ Compare NOD32 to your current antivirus and anti-spyware solution, HERE How to back up and restore the registry in Windows XP and Windows Vista Or Windows 7 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows 98/ ME / NT 4.0 / 2000 I DO NOT ACCEPT EMAILS AND WILL NOT REPLY TO THEM !!!!! TSF DOES NOT SUPPORT ASSISTANCE THROUGH EMAIL OR PRIVATE MESSAGES, PLEASE KEEP ALL QUESTIONS IN THE OPEN FORUM *The Pittsburgh Steelers - 6 X Superbowl Champions !!!!!!!* *The Pittsburgh Penguins - 2009 Stanley Cup Champions !!!!!!!*

12-14-2005, 04:10 PM	#4 (permalink)
oshwyn5 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Dallas , Tx Posts: 1,435 OS: DOS,Win95,98,ME,XP, Fedora	My opinion is that generally if it is working; the best Operating System for your computer is the one it was designed for and originally equipped with. Not only are there more likely to be easily available and compatible drivers for its hardware in the original OS; but more importantly any new OS is going to be bigger and more comples and hence more demanding. XP is a lot more demanding than ME; and while it may run on your equipment and you may find all the drivers it will not only be slower than ME; but it will be slower than XP on a modern PC which was designed to run XP. You may find hardware incompatablities which require that you replace some components to keep XP stable. With a laptop, this last is the most concerning; that you may buy a copy of XP and find that you cannot use it because of a minor hardware incompatability. As noted, if you do go for XP, it is best to do a clean install as opposed to an upgrade. __________________ Hello and Welcome to TSF My name is Pete but call me Oshwyn Click here for the five steps for Malware Removal If we have been of assistance please consider Donating to TSF to keep the forum running.

12-14-2005, 04:42 PM	#5 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 19,656 OS: XP Professional	Hi, Chime in: "If It Is Not Broken, Don't Fix It." I vote for keeping ME in this particular case. __________________ ---------- I don't receive email notifications of replies to subscribed threads. (Internet provider policy) Therefore, if I don't respond to your post within 24 hours, please send me a reminder PM and include the link to your thread.

12-15-2005, 07:06 AM	#6 (permalink)
ejfont Registered User Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Longmont, Colorado Posts: 21 OS: WIN XP HOME	Thanks to all who have shared their views with me re the CANCELLED upgrade from ME to XP. Since I had not opened the XP upgrade package I was able to return it for a full refund. ME seems to be running a little better since I upgraded the memory from 169MB to 544MB. Now I just need to focus on optimizing ME if there is such a process.

12-15-2005, 09:04 AM	#7 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 12,352 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	How To Run Windows ME Well Maintenance, troubleshooting, updates, etc. There's a link at the bottom for Cacheman, a program that tweaks system settings. Works very well with WinME. __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here

12-26-2005, 02:17 PM	#8 (permalink)
darkwood Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Location: Indianapolis, IN Posts: 77 OS: Windows XP Pro	The other thing I would mention, for anyone else considering this upgrade, is that there is a distinct possibility that your MB wouldn't accept the XP upgrade anyhow. I had this problem with my old PC, trying to do a full XP install. The program would start and begin to load, but once it got to the first reboot, it would hang. I tried everything from flashing the BIOS, to formatting the hard drive and starting clean, and nothing worked. From my experience, Me has caused me nothing but trouble, but I am going to try to repair my older unit before going back to Win 98 as I want to run both my units. Why? Because I can. :-)

12-27-2005, 05:45 PM	#9 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,270 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	I'd rather "downgrade" and run 98 than deal with Mistake Edition. There's a reason the development team was fired and it's obvious. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.