Windows upgrade?

Hello , I am using a borrowed PC ,about 4 years old ,running Windows98 .first edition I think. I have been given a Windows98SE disk and a Windows ME2 disk.
Is it easy to download these? Which one is the best? Will I have to save my existing stuff to a floppy?
Please can you keep any answers simple as I am a bit of a PC novice. Many thanks,
Dave

Dave....go for the 98 SE......the Millenium Edition version was a hotch potch and has a lot of flaws.....but 98 is pretty well sorted and far better supported in terms of drivers etc.

Plus you don't have to back-up...though I would for sure.....I'm not certain about going to ME but as a lot more different (sort of half way between NT and Windoze) it's far more likely that you'll lose stuff.

Open up the search window, then search for all your documents so you can copy them to disk...for example, for a word document (.doc) search for *.doc (the star denotes anything can come before the dot)....then if you want copies of your emails there should be an 'export' option somewhere depending on what Email client you're using......

Also remember your desktop settings and whatever piccy you're using...and write down your e-mail settings, passwords, the IP address, and copy or export your 'favourites' from IE so you dont have to look up all those juicy porn sites afresh.

If i were you, I'd start from a fresh loadup......IE format the hard drive and start from there.....there will be a lot of crap built up and you'll be surprised how much quicker it'll al run from a fresh install...i do this as a matter of course even using XP....there is always a noticeable increase in speed even though i use all sorts of stuff to keep my system clean.

If yu need any help on reformatting, post here 'cos lots of us will know, or feel free to PM me.

HTH
Bill

i know SE is better than plain 98, but is it worth the aggro of a format unless the current install is running like a dog?

'spose being W98 it prolly is.

any chance of upgrading to XP? much better, but may be a bit much for a 4 year old PC.

Definitely 98SE not ME.

98Se gives you didgital photo/camcorder capability.

XP is prone to bugs and more - given the problems my son has nad with his XP I'll be sticking to 98SE - does everything I need at the moment.

Maybe move to XP when Microsoft and attended hackers have moved on.

Gotta disagree with you there EL...XP IMHO is way better.......hugely better support for all sorts of more modern hardware....try configuring a wireless lan under 98se for example.......or any sort of non standard netwrork (ie two different cards pc's or policies)
XP is also faster..........on a fresh 98se installation against a fresh xo insatallation on the same machine, there was noticeable difference, but i did have over the recommended resources for xp on the machine or it might have been a different story.

I missed after 98 SE until Xp came out and I'd put Xp on any machine that was capable of running it properly straight away.....its way more stable and it's only when i've deliberately been pissing around in its depths that i see a BSOD these days......you have to disable automatic recovery to even get near one now.

Xp is bigger than 98 and NT et al, so it does attract more hackers, but it's also more supported than any other windoze OS before in terms of efective firewalls and AV stuff.......and there are very thorough and free tests to make sure you're protected.

I don't like MS or their marketing philosophies etc, but i have to say i think XP is by far the best yet.

Paragon said:

and one copy is still all you need
Para

Click to expand...

ditto XP.

if you have the right copy

I also think that windows XP is the best. Nice real plug and play rather than the plug and pray we had before.

Also I used to prefer office 2000 to office XP till a client asked me to prepare an XP migration course. Once I'd spent a few days writing the whole thing up I was and am convinced. XP is really quite good. Especialy its integration with the web.

However since yesterday I have found out about www.openoffice.org which is free office software which runs on most platforms. Now seeing as most of my work is based on MS why am I interested. Cos it's free and when I'm travelling around with my new portable PC and get stopped to have a check on my licences no problemo monsieur.

Sounds good I'll give it a test sometime and let you all know. A few councils over here in Belgium are already using it. Think of all the money that small companies can make on not having to pay Bill for his products. He has been ripping lots of people off for a long time. I hope openoffice is as good as I'm told it is...(Kill Bill)
Cheers, Richie