tilstad

Ok, great! So the keys in there now will work with any copy ( the same language versions of course) of the installation cd's for win 98 FE and office 97 I might find on the net, right?

As I understand it, win982ME uses the system files from ME... How does that make it any more stable than ME itself? Just a question... How much do 982ME cost, or is it shareware? How about rplite6, what do it cost? To some extent, the whole issue of using win982me is just what I meant it being more4 of a hassle. But I guess it may work good. I might give that a try if my ME setup don't work as expected. I don't currently have a licence for 98SE myself though, only 98FE. ANyone want to sell a 98SE licence cheaply?

I want to try upgrading this old laptop I recently got for free, and I'd like to try win ME for now. But if I later on want to go back to the original 98FE, how can I do that legally, while preserving and using the installed codes or keys or whatever win98 uses? I'm kinda new to win 98 actually, been on the NT platform for most my pc's. This laptop in question is a pc my mom got from her old job, and then recently handed down to me. I asked her if she had the original CD's for windows, or some restore cd's, but she said their IT guy at work took care off all that, which of course don't work there anymore.lol. The bottom line is; ths laptop has been working with windows 98, a office suit (office 97) + some other minor programs from when it was bought new in 1998, and I'd like to retain my right to use these programs, even if I at some later time want or need to format and reinstall. How can I accomplish this? And yes, I would also like to be able to legally reinstall the office suit which it has installed now.

Keep in mind I'm NOT a true expert on this matter, but still, this is my PERSONAL experience: Windows ME; Advantages Fresher look, more feautures installed from the beginning, last of the 9X family, system restore included, picture viewer included. etc. More "complete" OS from the install. Disadvantages; System restore, (Yes, some consider it to be a disadvantage as it restores any virus you may have had at the restore point. Quick workaround; shut off automatic system restore, and make restore points yourself after a virus scan when you KNOW your system is good :-)) Other disadvantages; More buggy... well it might be, but not to my experience as I have used it. No REAL msdos. Less freedom overall for the tweaker and power user. Win 98 Advantages BIG software library, and more compatible hardware, although most that works on 98, also works on ME if you only use the 98 drivers. Full freedom, tweak your OS in many ways. Get into all the small files, find out how things work, and delete anything. Gives you full control. Big knowledgebase. Stable in it's 98SE pathced up form. Most any old equipment can use it. Disadvantages Needs alot of this and that of small extra programs installed after the OS installation to work like most people would like it to. Ok the first time you install, but gets annoying if you need to reinstall later. Crappy look, although some prefers this. Conclusion; In my personal opinion, win 98se would be best suited for those who tweak alot, wants or needs the freedom it has, and those who are power users. ME on the other hand seems more suited for those who want less hassle, just want the equipment to run ( after a few initial tweaks) and couldn't care less about DOS and system.ini files. It also gives you a fresher apperance without the need to extra installs, and some user friendly additions. I'd reccomend it for anyone not wanting or needing to spend alot of time on windows and the OS itself, but merely the use of the occational PC home tasks. I'm sure others can chime in. This is my personal experience anyway, although I have used NT, win 2000 and XP alot more than any of the 9X family though.

I'd say for the specs of the machine, I'd go with XP all the way. Now I'm not one of those that bashes ME, it has it's place even with it's faults, but for YOUR system and specs, I see no reason to use it. As to win 2000 and others, I used win 2000 professionally as a cad platform when it was first released, upgrading from NT 3.5 and NT 4.0. It was WAY more user friendly than NT ever was; NT seemed not to allow you to do anything, you searched and searched through menues and options, but almost always came out short. Win 2000 ended that, gave you almost as much freedom as you had in win 98. It's main shortcomings was LONG boot time with the hardware at the time of release. ( Pentium 300 Mhz, 128 Mb ram, in my case.) Main advantage over win 9X at the time; stability, not needing to reboot frequently through a days work. As was the case with NT. 9X family had at the time way more compatability with programs, games, hardware etc. That is as of now fast swithching over to the 2000/XP side. Small memory footprint of the 9X family is what makes it still interesting to use. In my personal case, I just got an old lapop for free; 266Mhz, 32 megs ram(max 128Mb), 4 Gb disc, win 98 FE. On a machine like this, I'd never consider win 2000 or XP. They simply make it so slow you start want to kill yourself, or the machine. For users looking for a somewhat fresher look than what win 98 has, I'd say ME has it's place. I personally consider to upgrade this laptop (I'm writing on now) to ME. I also have a workstation running XP with all the bells and whistles, but I'd still want to put this old laptop to good use. It was never usable for workstation duties from the beginning anyhow, I just want to preserve the use it has always given it's owners from day one, with a bit fresher look to it. I have had ME installed in the past on old machines, and it works well if you just go through the quirks it has and shut off a few things. IMO compared to 98se, ME has alot more installed that would need to be additionly installed on a 98 platform, like pic viewer, better usb support, tweak UI etc. I started out with a commodore 64 in my early teens, and have gone through ALL windows editions from win 1.0 through vista beta. For older hardware like mine, ME has it's place. Besides, I just want to use it as a coffee table machine to get online whenever I feel the urge to read up on somwthing, or get movie tickets or whatever. It would handle these duties with ME very well I think.