computer came with xp switched to 98

[Sissyprissy]

:mad:
I got a new computer 3 months ago. I asked them to put win98 in it but it came with xp. I had heard nothing but bad things about xp. My computer guy ended up switching it back to 98 for me but I've had nothing but problems since then.
It's been giving me exe errors and is really slow. I have Internet explorer in it and alot of times I have to keep booting it up because it won't start.
Yesterday I did the remove it in the add remove program and I had it repair it.
It's gotten worse since then.
What should I do?
Should I get the xp put back in it?
My computer guy (he has a small local computer business) wined when I told him to change it to 98. He said it took hours to switch all the programing in it so 98 would work.
He had me shut off the power supply for my mouse because it was causing a lockup of it. He said that would be the best way to stop it from locking up. That there was'nt a driver for it.
I need lots of help. I thought with the new computer I would'nt be having all these problems.
Thanks
Kim

[paramufay]

In the old days the bearer of bad news was killed :eek:

hopefully things have changed because I have nothing but bad news for you :(

the reason your PC came with XP is......

win 98/98se will not function on this computer, reguardless of what your "computer guy" says.

You have 3 choises...

Win XP

Win 2000 pro. (maybe)

sell "new" computer and get "older" model that supports win 98.

[Strawbs]

I have to respectfully dis-agree with the paramufays post. IMHO new Computers can usually run Older OS's, including Win 98'. Your problem probably stems from using the wrong drivers for the hardware installed in your machine.
If the proper drivers were to be installed and setup properly, you would have no more problems than anyone else running Win 98.

There are a lot of stories about the "problems" of XP, but these are usually told by people that have upgraded on an older computer with older hardware installed, new computers don't have such problems.

You may as well use the full potential of your new box by using the OS it was designed to use. Win XP couldn't be any worse than the inherant instability of Win 98 and Me.

But whatever you decide to go with, good luck
:t

[Sterling_Aug]

I agree with Strawbs.

I had installed Win98 on one of my AMD 1700+ systems a while back. I installed the correct drivers for all of my devices and cards. The system SCREAMED. I have since upgraded that same system to WinXP and it still runs perfectly.

The key to any system is DRIVERS. Check the manufacturers website for downloads. Get them all and run the install programs and update the drivers.

[Midknyte]

This computer guy sounds fishy. what is he talking about "power supply for my mouse"? mice use ps/2 or serial port and don't have a power plug. very strange. even without drivers, most mice are detected as "standard PS/2 mouse" or serial. crashing programs and slowness are often caused by bad hard drives, so do a thorough scandisk to see if there are bad sectors.

Don't let this guy feed you lines. I hate it when guys try to take advantage of noobs!!:mad:

[setiguy2000]

I agree with Strawbs and Paramufay, if you do use Win98, be sure to get the drivers and apps installed for the hardware used. Especially the motherboard, video card and sound drivers. Be sure to re-format the hard drive to FAT32 and do a clean install. Your computer dude should have included all the driver disks for the MB, video card, soundcard and chipset... most do. In addidtion, he should have given you all the owner manuals for the various components. This is especially critical for the MB. If you're comfortable with it, check the BIOS settings too. The store that built my first computer for me had it all screwed up. So much for computer techs! I now build my own from the ground up, easy to do plus being less expensive and better systems.

If it were me I would re-install Windows XP. It's a much more stable OS and will load all the drivers needed, with a few exceptions. Believe me, once you try Windows XP you'll never go back to Windows 98. I was chosen as one of the "beta testers" in spring of 2001 for the XP program. Even with the beta version, I was totally impressed with the speed and stability of XP, however since it is a Windows MS product it does crash every once in a while. I found it to be about 95% compatible with Win98 programs. XP has a lot more features in it versus Win98 also. Give it a go again and I think you'll like the end results. As the other two posters stated; most of the problems occured when people installed XP on top of Win98, instead of doing a clean install. If you going to do XP, be sure to re-format the HD to a NTFS format, which XP will ask you to do when installing it.

Good Luck
Setiguy2000 :p

[Rodney]

When I see the phrase by the local computer guy that it “took hours to switch all the programming in it so 98 would work”, it brings up several questions that need answering about what this local computer guy did.

Did he locate all the application’s installation sources first, then wipe out the system and install a clean copy of Win98 followed by a clean install of the applications?

Did he install Win98 into the same “C:\windows” that WinXP was in previously without doing a “clean” install. In which case he has possibly a mixed set of drives, dll’s, and who know what else. It also means that he then hacked the registry to have the preinstalled applications recognized. [There are several variations of this version, including installing in a parallel “windows” directory, then hacking the registry and shortcuts.]

Or did he spend hours making the interface and all the applications run in “Win98-emulation-mode” UNDER WinXP. WinXP can be set to emulate Win98, but it is still WinXP. This option would be VERY slow, of course.

Advice to you, Sissyprissy, is not really possible until we have further information about your hardware system and exactly what that “local computer guy” did to “get you running under Win98”.

IMHO, at the moment, Win200 is the most stable and fastest operating system from Microsoft out there TODAY. However, if the choice was between WinXP and Win98, I would clearly recommend WinXP if it would run on your hardware. (Not related to Sissyprissy’s situation, but many older systems are not WinXP compatible.) I prefer WinXP Professional over WinXP Home Edition, but for most that would not matter. I do not deny that WinXP has some flaws at the moment, but most of the people never experience them. If a program does lockup in WinXP, at least you can use Task Manager to kill that one program without freezing your entire system that requires a “reset button” reboot. Finally, Service Pack 1 for WinXP is in beta testing right now. It is expected in the Fall. After that, I expect WinXP to be up to par with Win2000.

P.S. to paramufay: I know of no modern PC system that could NOT run Win98se. And, since you have no idea what his system specifications are, how can you make such a broad statement?

[Roy Wilkins]

why go back , xp are pretty nice, I have no problems in this os.
I have been upgrade my computer from 98 to 98se to ME & now xp pro, the key is you have to get the right drivers for your devices, as everybody here agreed....good luck:t

[Roy Wilkins]

ps.
as for you computer guy, he just wants your business($$$$)

[arkie]

Originally posted by Sissyprissy
:mad:
I thought with the new computer I would'nt be having all these problems.
Thanks
Kim

You probably wouldn't be having any problems with your new computer had you not had someone mess with it and remove XP.
That is like going back in time.
XP is the best thing that has happen in a long time.

Sorry.

I bought a new computer 12/01 loaded with XP. No problems.



:t