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Is it just me? I inherited a laptop with XP home on it, (and battery adapters so I can use it without the generator being on) but maybe old habits die hard- I seem to prefer Windows 98se, and can work faster with shifting and copying files about, so it seems. I don't like some of the preset options in XP, and the automatic Burn to CD is dreadful to me! Am I odd, am I missing something, or are others like me? Oddly, I've not been blasted with spam and have avoided all viruses to date (touch wood) and the system seldom crashes. Norton Ghost fixes it quickly if it does get a glitch. I've read of people praising XP tremendously, but ...I must be missing something?
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7016 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
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I think for the most part people praise XP for the stability (98se does a poor job with memory management). When something crashes on xp (NT kernel)it will somewhat crash in a bubble and not bring the whole system down with it.
You can change xp to look simular to 98se by changing look to 'classic view'
Good Luck! Steve
-------------------- Steve Smith Tag Signs, Inc Alpharetta,GA Posts: 20 | From: Alpharetta,GA | Registered: Oct 2002
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Ian...If your system with 98SE on it is a desktop machine then it will probably be faster than the laptop with XP.
I have a desktop with 2000, it is an 800meg processor. My laptop with XP has a 1.3 gig processor. Both have the same ammount of RAM. The desktop is quicker. I think it is inherent in laptops that they aren't as quick as desktops.
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
posted
Now that I,ve got about 6 months experience with XP at the office & a year at home, I'm getting used to the wierd stuff. I agree, so many auto-this or auto-that features which seem to waste more time then they save. I'm a lot more prone to use the right mouse button after months of opening files with one click when I only wanted to select it for a preview or move it to another folder. I usually notice & remember stuff that bugs me more then stuff that helps, but there are those little gems that are an improvement too.
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You can turn off lots of unused services in XP which will speed up your machine. XP is slow when it needs memory.
Most users goto the services manager and turn off the CD writer, the firewall, messenger, fast search and a host of other fluff. Then most machines will run cinsiderably faster. Especially lap tops..
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5278 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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i got XP on a hard drive, and still cant get it to regognize my LPT-2 PCI add on card. it says its ther, as LPT-3 and LPT-1. it will print to my printer(on LPT-1)but it will not drive the plotter which is on LPT-2. now i can change plotter to LPT-1 and it will work....but with 98se all things work as they are supposed to!!!!
[ September 04, 2003, 02:58 PM: Message edited by: old paint ]
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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changing operating systems has always been my problem... Devo tells me I hate change
I think I just hate spending energy on stuff I don't have to do
i stayed with 3.11 for ever because it was stable and because it seemed every other day i was being asked to fix sumones setup cause they had put 95 on their puter and it had a s**t attack
i recall not to fondly when corel6 and 95 came out about the same time... was that ever a disaster for Lots of shops! and for me being the good fairy who had to fix the mess
when 95b came out I took the leap and it was fine
same thing happened with 98 I waited till SE was available and have never looked back
i got the calls from other shops (mates) asking me to help cause they couldn't get their plotter/printer/younameit to work with NT/ME/2000/ and so it all began again
you know i can still recall the procedures for the fix 1/ set up my hammock (for when i had to wait while the puter did it's thing) 2/ get a BIG bottle of coke 3/ the 50 pack of ciggies 4/ swear alot
my priority with an operating system was always the same... will it work happily with the software that makes the money?
98se and corel are best of mates...enuf said
Ian's situation just reminded me 'what price comfort'?
I know xp is what we all will eventually have to live with, but till then, if it aint broke I'm not gunna fix it!
cheers gail
-------------------- Gail & Dave Hervey Bay Qld Australia
gail@roadwarriorproducts.com.au
sumtimes ya just gota! Posts: 794 | From: 552 O'Regans Creek Rd Toogoom Qld 4655 Australia | Registered: Nov 1998
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Thanks guys, some good comments and sympathy! As I said, I inherited the XP laptop- it was paid for by a mob I do a fair bit of voluntary work for. I can't say I'd have spent the money on XP otherwise.
"If it ain't broke don't fix it" is a good saying, but if that were ALWAYS the case, there'd be no progress, since computers wouldn't have got off the ground while pencils still worked, plotters wouldn't get invented while a brush still works.
Perhaps it needs rewording to "If it ain't broke, don't fix it, but by all means try and improve on it", but that's when you inadvertently break it, isn't it!
Some explanation may help others with Win98se: I read an article some years ago on 'Disaster Recovery'. The gist of it is this 1. Partition your hard drive into 4 parts. 2. On C drive, install ONLY the operating system, (w98, say) and Internet Explorer, modem and printer drivers and only very basic drivers for anything else plus some of the all important Fonts, (and maybe the Windows cab files) ,and that's it. Make it about 1 gig. 3. On the D Drive install everything that wants to normally go into C:\Program Files, just make it D:\Program Files instead, and any other software to run applications goes here. It can be a couple of gig. 4. On the E drive, make that purely My Documents, for all your data, files, pictures, Plug Ins, Patterns, Spare Fonts, Virus update patterns, archived emails, tutorials, etc. plus it can be the 'scratch disc' for Photoshop's extra calculations. It can be as big as you want, more or less. 5. On the F drive, keep this empty, as a storage place for images of the other three drives. 6. Get Norton Ghost or some drive imaging program, and when everything is set up (& don't forget you'll need Gail's hammock while you wait) and make an image of C: and D:, and put them into F:. ( C & D will also be small enough generally, to burn to a single CD, or with a bit of overlap if necessary.)
In the event of some stuff-up, virus infection, or consistant crashing, just rerun Ghost and copy the stable images back onto C & D. It's no where near as time consuming as the original installation was- not more than 5 or 10 minutes each, since C drive isn't big- only an operating system, and D has software but no data. The only things to remember are each time a couple of new programs are loaded and going OK, rerun Ghost and store the new pair of C&D images with a date, and that C&D must be imaged at the same time, more or less. (ie in synch. with each other).
Any drive imaging program can seem 'scary' at first, but the above way of managing your hard drive works well for me. My only concession is I have D drive as "My Docs".
My Documents always defaults to the C drive, but you can change that by right-clicking on the desktop icon (which is the shortcut) and going to Properties, and typing the new location, D:, or E:, in there, and saving it. My Docs will still be a Directory in C:\, but the desktop shortcut will take you to the new drive/location.
I'm no computer expert, but this works well for me, and having a separate drive for all data files makes backups easier, so you don't keep avoiding to do them. Basically I don't trust these machines AT ALL, and I think that's the only safe attitude to have. You never know when they're going to fail on you till it's too late, and this system has really smoothened the hiccup when it happens.
Keeping a spare hard drive on the system as a duplicate storage depot helps too, and is cheap insurance for the $100 that the HD costs.
Anyhow thanks for the replies & interest.If anyone would like more info on the above way of setting up the hard drive, feel free to ask, but it's pretty straight forward, and easy to fix.
(edited to fix a couple of typo's)
[ September 04, 2003, 11:02 PM: Message edited by: Ian Stewart-Koster ]
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7016 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
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A lot of new devices and peripherals are not supported by 98 and drivers are not available. On my laptop , 98 couldnt be installed at all.
XP Pro or Win 2k are far more robust systems and have miles better support for networking and a whole host of other services. In my case , drivers written for my lasers in XP had a lot of function that couldn't be implemented in 98 - and all research and new development is xp related. My Roland Soljet digital printer wont run under 98 , the Wasatch Rip was not written for it.
Migrating to XP is a good thing , 98 and below are messy systems and slow down with age and multiple installs of software. Yes it's a pain to reload everything and most likely one would have to upgrade the puter itself , however its VERY easy to create a dual boot disc - IE an option to boot into 98 or XP. There will always be a resistance to change - problem is , if you skip too many "upgrades" , you tend to get left behind and the learning curve forced on you when you HAVE to upgrade is steep. If you are on a stand alone with something simple like a Vinyl cutter attached , then stick to the OS that works The moment you start adding puters and devices , change. We changed and upgraded our networks (16 puters and lots of puter dependant output devices) , it was expensive , it was a schlep , but once running , its real smooth. As to backups , buy 2 removable Hard drives and use a program like Second copy to copy all data to 1 of them , second copy will copy modified data at the end of every day , at the end of the week , take one out and store it OFF SITE!!!! Insert the other - that way you will never be less than a week out of date and have your backup off site If you set one drive to mirror itself - you still are at huge risk , even 2 drives in one puter is risky (fire, theft etc) and even mirrored drives on a network are still at risk - you must have off site backup!!!
-------------------- Rodney Gold Toker Bros Posts: 57 | From: South Africa | Registered: Aug 2003
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i have the removable drives....have had them since 95 came out and didnt want to wipe my 3.11 drive. only way to fly......now since the price of drives are so cheap, i got a 30, 40, 60 gig in removables, and a 10 gig as a slave that stays in the computer....and i can tranfer from one drive to the other...
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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i have xp for a long time now, had 95 and 98 and there is no comparison. stability and ease of use. there are so many features that i like but the burning CD is one of my favourites since it makes it so easy. customise everything and you might like it better. i run it on the classic look with a lot of the visual features turned off which makes it faster. it found all the updates i needed for my software and hardware. i just love it!
-------------------- Miles Cullinane, Cork, Ireland.
From the sometimes sunny south of Ireland, Posts: 914 | From: Cork, Ireland | Registered: Jul 1999
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miles add a PCI LPT-2 card.....and see if it works...hehehehehehehe my XP says its there as LPT-3 but wont let anything go to plotter.
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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