Is an upgrade worth it?

I have a P3,512 mb,40 GB and 20 GB HD; am using 98SE. The 98 SE apparently doesn't like CAD programs so I am considering upgrading to XP. Am I asking for trouble?

 

I don't think so - One of my 'older' boxes is an AMD K6-2 400 with 128M PC100 and 2 10 gig drives, it dual boots XP Pro Corp and 2K3 Server no problems so far - about 2 months with 2K3. I also use XP on my main box AMD - 1.2@1.58 768M, etc....
Get adventureous - back up your important files and go for it. I wasn't too pleased with it at first, but I actually like it now. XP Pro is probably the best O/S Mickeysoft has come out with yet!!

.02

 

Hello Shturmovik,

When you do go to XP, I would encourage you to do a clean install instead of "upgrading" over 98. The install process will give you that option.

Go through the compatibilty process first however. You will see what I mean when inserting the XP disc and starting the install. The compatibility test will tell you whether or not your hardware and any software running will run with XP.

Regards - Charles

 

Am I asking for trouble?

Actually none of us can answer that question honestly.

Actually all that was said " SE did not like CAD " What the actuall problem was was not mentioned.

An upgrade can be troublesome.

It can be the same ( MY case no better no worse ) I have as yet to find XP to run anything any better than SE.

It can be better. If you have all the newer drivers that may be needed. ( same goes for SE )

All of the above depend on the same thing(s) USER and Machine contents/setup.

The problem that Shturmovik is having with CAD may well be a Video driver or the video card iself, or monitor resolution problem and not the OS.

I have had that ( VIDEO ) problem in ALL versions of Windows untill I got the PROPER drivers installed.

And if the CAD program is fairly new it may well require XP.

That is a matter of personal opinion with which I myself dis-agree

In fact I am back on my Win98 SE HD And I see aboslutely NO difference in operation.

BillyBob

 

Upgrade Redux

Dear All,
No disrespect to the others but I value BillyBob's opinion highly. My stability issues lead me to think that if my machine won't run smoothly with 98SE why would it with XP?

" SE did not like CAD "

I said that because I went to print something and the system froze and I got error mess that HPFVLS06 (an HP file I assume) caused page fault in kernel32.DLL. It printed fine in Notepad. I uninstalled and reinstalled HP prog and same old same old.
The weird part is the CAD was working flawlessly until the other day. The CAD is also a few years old and works well, for others, under 98SE.
As for the video card I have a 128MB gForce with, I think, the latest driver.
Do you think reinstalling the CAD will fix it?

Perhaps these probs are linked to the W32.Sobig.E@mm virus I picked up about a week ago? I guess my Norton AV was disabled for a brief period for some stupid reason. It is in Win\Java\classes\xmldso.cab and is in quarantine. I wouldn't think so but it does seem more than coincidental.

Thanks

 

While 98 and 9X in general may run a particular app OK, Xp's most obvious advantage is in the way it handles RAM doing away with that silly business of "system is getting low on resources, close some programs now ". In XP the resource limit is the amount of physical RAM, not three 16 bit memory heaps that MS first initiated back prior to Win95 and never got around to getting rid of until the NT systems came along.

This is especially true of resource intensive apps such as CAD or image processing. The newer and older updated apps are using that advantage in XP and sooner or later simply will stop updating software for 9X. I've noticed some already that have either static versions for 9X or don't bother anymore with 9X.

IMHO 9X is a loser in the long run, whatever XP's problems and characteristics may be.

Regards - Charles

 

Shturmovik

Without taking up a lot of space by using a lot quotes.

From your last post I believe that your problem IS NOT windows 98SE as the OS And makes a whole differnt ballgame out of it.

The printer problem may well be drivers.

But what concerns me MOST Is that I see the word VIRUS

And from reading said post, I would STRONGLY suggest doing nothing at this time as far as upggrading the OS goes.

You may well be 100% correct about XP not being better at this time.

If you were do do a full format and put XP in Clean it might be OK. But an over top install would be ( at this time ) a great big hugh NO-NO An over top install reqires an existing OS to be as error free as humanly possible. Which as of this writing you do not have.

OUCH !!!!!

Your NAV could well have been disabled BUY THE VIRUS itself.

Questions.

When NAV is active do you have it set to check ALL E-mail both in and out.

Do you have more than one e-mail program ?

What are you using for e-mail program. And do you have the preview pane opening ?

If so that is ALL that SOME Viruses need.

And if that Virus is still hanging around then it more than likely take a FULL format including an FDISK /MBR. and start over.

And if you have more than one partiton the Virus ( if present ) could be on them also.

As a suggestion. Make your FIRST and foremost project at this time to be running you onboard AV check ( which I see att his time as not being dependable ) and also more than one on-line scan.

In the area of online scans and more detailed virus cleaning I must ask other to help us out here as it is something that I have been ( so far ) lucky enough to avoid.

BillyBob

 

Shturmovik

One ( important ) thing that I forgot.

Be carefull of any backups that may have been made while the possible Virus was present.

If a Virus did infact exist it COULD be in them also.

I know for sure that SE backups up the Registry at the first start of the machine for the day.

( or at least it is supposed to )

BillyBob

 

Here's one online virus scan http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Once you find out what the virus is, here is the symantec removal tool site http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/tools.list.html

Regards - Charles

 

charlesvar

While 98 and 9X in general may run a particular app OK, Xp's most obvious advantage is in the way it handles RAM etc, etc. etc


That is a generalizedl statement which I find to be not quite fact.

It is strictly machine, user and software/hardware and personal opinion dependent as to which is better. And what you are asking the machine to do.

You may find it better but I do not.

Some of the newer apps do require XP.

Most older apps run just as well ( and some better and faster ) in SE as they do in XP.

And I can honestly make that statement as I do have both. And both running the same Apps.

I find XP to be NO BETTER than SE. Other than take up almost 3 times as much disk space and 4 times as long to defrag.

I am on my 98SE HD right now and it is behaving far better than XP.

I gotta find what is slowing XP down so much. It is not as fast as it was. But good ol' SE is purring right along just like it always has.

But anyway.

Thanks for the help with the Virus bit.

BillyBob

 

Virus

I ran the Symantec removal tool and it said it didn't find the virus! Is that because Norton AV placed it in quarantine? If so then I guess I should have AV remove it as it doing no good in quarantine and I can't use the file anyway.

 

Virus advice

I tried that but I got mess that QConsole caused inv page fault in QConsole.exe ! That is how bad things are here! Maybe BillyBob is right in that a clean install is in order but the last time I did that it took a day, or so it seemed

 

virus

The Norton AV log does show the location of the infected files. Can I go into Win Explorer and delete them from there or do I run the risk of releasing it or maybe the quarantine will prevent me from deleting it. So many questions, so few good answers, though you are trying.

 

Doesn't the below say something different than the above ?

Could it be that the virus was caught and maybe quarrenteened but disabled NAV and then it ( or another one ) came in later ?

Down to here I am asking only
______________________________

From here down are suggestions only.

Shturmovik

I may be way off base here but I would not trust the presently instaledl NAV. I would find something like AVG anti-Virus and after downloading it PULL THE PLUG ON THE INTERNET CONNECTION Especailly if you are on DSL or cable.

Unistall NAV. Install AVG. Run a FULL SYSTEM CHECK. Then plug the Internet connection back in and do a Housecall on-line check.

As things stand now you * MAY BE * wide open to any and all Virus attacks.

And I could be wrong also. Really hoping to hello that I am.

BillyBob

 

Hey BB,

I should have described the 9X resources a bit more accurately.

It refers to a total of five internal memory "heaps" used by the system, two of which are a mere 64KB (65,536 bytes) in size. One of those puny ones is used by the system for various internal object handles, the other is used by the graphics subsystem (GDI) for graphical objects.


Shturmovik,

I would delete the quarantined files and then see what the situation is. Then run the online virus check again. And to be sure NAV is OK, either uninstall/reinstall NAV or use AVG per BB.

A good test of NAV would be to run a scan. Usually if it gets hosed, it will show up in scanning, it won't finish.

Regards - Charles

 

Again You are telling me things that I already know.

And things that do not make one teeny weeny bit of difference to me or my machine.

I have NO problems realted to what you refer as " one of those puny ones. "

Either you are not reading or I am not writing correctly.

I have absolutley NO problems or complaints with/about Windows 98 SE.

I have NO PROBLEMS with 98SE resources. If I do then it is due to some thing I have done WRONG.

And further more Windows XP Pro is NOT doing any better or Worse. Again other than take up disk space. On that score XP does do a FINE job.

And unless ( other than the actuall desktop ) I look to see which HD is plugged in I would have NO IDEA as to which one I was using.

BillyBob