Windows 98SE and ME's behavior or my laptop?

[FantasyAcquiesce]

I experimented with my Dell Latitude D600 with running Windows 98SE and ME, both have encountered a bunch of issues I haven't seen on Windows 2000 or later versions of Windows. According to a scan (I plan to check it later) my hard drive could have a bad sector.

Windows ME

• A lot of applications tend to act weird (Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing 8 crashed upon downloading via disc, I Spy Fantasy installs yet the actual in game clicking to find objects doesn't work despite working the rest of the time)
• Tends to "lag" a lot (Even XP didn't lag nearly as much)

Windows 98SE

• USB mouse won't work even after installing the universal usb driver, mysteriously it magically works if I plug in my usb hub made for 98 then my mouse
• Flash drives don't work after installing the usb driver
• Way fussier than ME when it comes to installing drivers in general
• 7-Zip gives me errors if I highlight then drag, yet works if I press the extract button then have it go to another
• When I install new drivers it tells me it needs to find it in a location after boot, using the unofficial service pack for all official updates usually fixes these issues
• Most DOS games don't even seem to work? Since my laptop lacks a mouse ps/2 port, the game Oregon Trail Deluxe refuses to work because I lack a mouse (Haven't tried DOS much though)
• Won't shut off unless I press the off button

Both

• Tends to be unstable in general

Should I keep Windows 98SE (or ME) on my laptop or are there any solutions to these issues? Should I ditch 9x for 2000, later NT versions?

Edited August 20, 2016 by ~♥Aiko♥Chan♥~

[dencorso]

Move on to 2k or XP.

[farfigs11]

You have to disable USB emulation in BIOS on some Dell laptops so Windows 98SE can detect usb devices.