Cautiosly, OS Purchase?

I see on Ebay I can buy a 98SE OS OEM new and sealed for $65. Under comments he says to comply he`ll ship some memory.
My question is is this all legit?
Any penalties such as no access to upgrades etc.
Thanks, as usual!

 

Aww! it`s Cautiously!!!

 

It will be fine. It is legit so long as sold with some hardware.

But, if you are thinking of spending that kind of money, why not XP?

 

XP 2000

I haven`t checked XP200 out yet. I assume 98 will go the same route as 95 before long and that would be a good move. If the budget will stand it. I`ll go see what I can find. I appreciate the good advice as usual.

 

I`ve been nosing around for a couple of days and find XP full edition for around $80. Are there any pitfalls I should avoid?
I assume I don`t want an upgrade, etc., any advice welcome.
Should I move this query over to the XP forum/
Thanks

 

Grab XP. You can get an OEM version cheap at newegg.com as long as you buy a bit of hardware to go with it. A mouse, or NIC qualifies, and they're cheap enough.
A system can almost ALWAYS benefit from more RAM, so grab another 256 meg at the same time, you can't go wrong.

 

Thanks a bunch, sounds good. I suspect I`m in for some culture shock, I`ve ran W95 forever.

 

Yeah XP will be alot different from 95 but after a while of using XP you'll say "I should have upgraded earlier ". I ran Win98SE for years and swore I wouldn't ever use XP but my wife-to-be gave me a new computer with XP on it for christmas last year and now it's hard to go back.

good luck

Bubba169

 

The easy bit is the transition from 9x to XP, just set up the start menu as "classic" mode, and you'll be fine.
Most things will be in the same places as you're used to, with notable exceptions.
You must create at least one user account. If you mess with it long enough, you can then create another, and delete the messed up one. You will always have the Administrator account to (hopefully) repair any major damage if necessary.
Settings and temp files are not in the c:\windows folder any more.
They'll be in c:\documents and settings\<i>username</i>\...

 

I have here in my hot little hand a Windows XP home edition version 2002 CD. I`m already confused! It`s got instructions for a Quick upgrade but the way it looks to me it will upgrade from WIN.98, 98 se or Me. I assume that my windows 95B OS is not eligible. Looks to me like you are telling me I can upgrade from Win. 9X which I have always thought covered all windows systems.
The other thing that has me puzzled is that the disk has upgrade printed on it but yet in the installation instructions there`s a new installation procedure.
I`ve got a couple more questions after I get the answers to these. Thanks

 

Heyreboot

If it were not for the fact that I had $200 tied up in XP Pro and the fact that I do plan on trying it again ( when I get the proper machine ), I would gladly send you my XP Pro CD.

At this time I personally see it as nothing other than a space hogging, won't ( and did not ) do anymore for me than 98SE, piece of WAY overrated and over priced software.

And that is an opinion based on actually tryiing it. Not just from reading. What it is supposed to do and what it may ( and did ) actually do may be ( and was ) totally different things.

But, I did fine that some of the problems I had went right back to the original setup. In other words I got in to big a hurry.

But for the right person and in the right place and on the right machine and installed properly XP is more than likely just fine.

BillyBob

 

Whee!
Any one know any thing about Linux? I`m pretty amatuerish here but I`d like to try one of the other Windows systems. I`ve already confessed to being confused, now I`m bewildered.
I was only embarassed by misspelling cautiously on my first post, I think I`m losing ground.
I`m certainly not offended, this site has given me more help in the past than I could begin to thank any one for. Differences in opinion are what makes horse races and they`re enlightening too. Stay with me.
My `95 is antique and getting antiquer and I t appears `98 is eventually going the same route by what I read. Old as I`m getting it`ll probably last as long as I do.
Anyway, I still need assistance and still got an open mind.
AMD K62 350mhz
FIC mobo
30g hard drive
128 MB ram
More antique but it suits me, except I`m going to get more ram.

 

Bill, I admit readily that XP is not for everyone.
Most users that are happy with 98 have stuck with it, and are still using it, or have gone back to it. All because it does exactly what they want.
XP has a learning curve, which is much steeper for some, than others. As a tech, with customers, I have to use it, and have done so since the old Whistler beta's. At first it was simply to support it, and I have to know at least a little about it. Now it's because I've made the transition, and have tweaked and prodded the thing into my way of doing things, just like I did with 3.x, 95, 98, and 2k (I never did use NT).
I suggest to ALL new users, that they set up a dual boot for at least the first few weeks, just to ease the frustration level of learning how an NT based OS really works.

Moore. If that's a full install, go ahead with it. If it's an upgrade, unfortunately the only OS it won't upgrade is 95.
If it is an upgrade, and you can borrow a 98 CD for a few minutes, you can do a fresh install with it. Just set BIOS to boot to CD, and start the install. You'll be prompted to put in the 98 CD to confirm that you have it, then remove it and continue the install.

BTW, this is coming to you from Windows Longhorn W4build 4008 beta

 

Let me chime in here cuz.

I was one of those that said they'll have to pry 98se out of my cold dead fingers but I ate a little crow and got XP Pro.

It was the easiest install I have ever done. XP recognized and used my correct video card, monitor,and printer drivers, and put me on the internet through my ADSL modem.

Best of all, I haven't had a screen freeze, or crash of any kind.

There is a learning curve but it amounts to finding out where things are now. You also can customize just about everything.

 

Yes, that is what it is supposed to do. And I have not had a crash in 98SE for over a year now. MY install did not pick up the printer on the first install. But a few restarts later it did.

But as I stated before ( at least I believe I did ) some of the problems I had went right back to the the initial install.

So knowing there were problems I dumped it before I ran into the activation problem. If it were not for the activation problem it Just might still be here.

But by now knowing some of the mistakes I made the next install I can hopefully avoid some problems.

Yes there will be another as I am getting bored and need something new to fight with.

BillyBob

 

Moore. If that's a full install, go ahead with it. If it's an upgrade, unfortunately the only OS it won't upgrade is 95.
If it is an upgrade, and you can borrow a 98 CD for a few minutes, you can do a fresh install with it. Just set BIOS to boot to CD, and start the install. You'll be prompted to put in the 98 CD to confirm that you have it, then remove it and continue the install.


Due to the fact that the disk itself has Upgrade printed on it I assume I can`t use the "new installation" although I don`t understand why the manual has the new installation instructions right beyond the "Quick upgrade" instructions. My plans were to Fdisk 30GB hard drive format it and boot up with a `98 floppy startup disk to get my CD operating and put the XP CD in and go from there. It appears to me I probably don`t know what the H I`m doing!
Is it correct then that I FDISK and format, set the BIOS to boot to CD I can`t get anything done `til I get a `98 CD?
What`s this product activation system that " allows your copy of XP to be installed on only one computer" that I see over in the FAQ on the XP manual. This disk may have been installed on another computer previously. Perish the thought!
Thanks for all the patience.

 

Upgrade still allows for a clean install. During the install process, you will be prompted to put in your windows 98/2k disk to prove that you have it.
You do NOT need any startup floppy, just set BIOS to boot from CD-ROM first, and HDD-0 second, insert the CD and restart the computer. Hit "any key" when prompted to boot from CD.
You will be prompted to select which type of install, and if you select NEW, you will then be prompted for where to install to (multiple partition style) and if you choose C, and there's already something there, you'll be prompted to fdisk and format the drive. It's all done through the setup, no need for startup diskette any more.
Once you have it installed, you have 14 days to activate (If I remember correctly). It's painless.
Yes, you will need a 98 or 2k disk to install that "upgrade" version.

 

Thanks to all for the assist.
I`ve got a lot to do now, I`ll post back on the XP forum when I get it done.probably be a couple of days.
I`m still a bit vague on the activate. The Qand A in the manual says,
"You can activate yor copy of Windows either during setup, or By clikcking Start> All programs > Activate Windows, if you wait to activate your softwareyou can still use Windows for 30 days During this time you`ll be periodically asked to activate windows "

I`ll play it by ear. Hope my computer doesn`t turn into a pumpkin in thirty days.

Thanks

 

I activated my XP box over the internet, just fill out the form and submit it, very painless and easy.

I run a triple boot system (RedHat 7.2, Mandrake 8.2, Win 98SE) as my backup/learning computer. I tell people that are considering changing their OS "it's YOUR PC use it like YOU want or best serves your needs ".

Bubba169