windows me, worth installing?

[jimmypage13]

for my dad's pc. (celeron 2.0, 512 ram. )

 

[Tash]

Nobody uses ME because it so buggy. They would use Windows 98 2nd Edition (the version before ME) instead.

 

[bwatson283]

i spit on windows me!

 

[Check]

My mom has a Dell that came with Windows ME on it (1 GHz pIII) and it is the fastest booting windows OS I have ever seen.
I've never had any issues with it. I say this knowing that I am the only person on the planet who's had good luck with Windows ME.

Personally I would install Windows 2k if you have it. Uses less system resources than XP, and is more stable than 98SE and ME. Networking is easier with 2k than 98SE and most (if not all) utilities for XP will work with 2k. It was a sad day when I finally had to upgrade from 2k to XP.

 

[Cogman]

GAH!! Why would you post something like that, you cruel person. Now I will have nightmares windows ME again...


Ahem, yeah don't install it. If you really just need an os go with a linux distro and be done with it (if you dad can live with ME he would be able to handle linux)

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: check
My mom has a Dell that came with Windows ME on it (1 GHz pIII) and it is the fastest booting windows OS I have ever seen.
I've never had any issues with it. I say this knowing that I am the only person on the planet who's had good luck with Windows ME.

Personally I would install Windows 2k if you have it. Uses less system resources than XP, and is more stable than 98SE and ME. Networking is easier with 2k than 98SE and most (if not all) utilities for XP will work with 2k. It was a sad day when I finally had to upgrade from 2k to XP.

You're not the only one, I beta tested WinMe and it always worked well for me too. In my experience it was just as good as 98SE with a few extra features.

OP, if you've got the OS and don't have 2K/XP what have you got to loose? Give it a shot, if it sucks get a newer OS.

 

[MmmSkyscraper]

Windows Me is garbage. Put XP on that machine instead.

 

[redbeard1]

I just reloaded a system for a customer with winME on it. After I installed Norton 2005 on it, it started to blue screen regularly. The all in one printer she has, HP does not supply a 98/ME driver for anymore, and she lost her driver CD. This would make the third time the system has been reloaded. ME did some goofy things with its registry that threw a lot of programs for a loop.

I give 98 SE more credit for stability than ME. The only thing that ME really did better then 98 was that it had native USB memory stick support, and it had built in ZIP support. A file named nusb33e.exe will fix the usb issue, and 7zip will work for the zip file concern.

2000 Pro would be a better choice as well.

 

[boomhower]

I never had a problem with ME either. It came on a dell laptop I had in college. It kept plugging on through all the garbage I threw at it. It wasn't perfect but certainly no worse than others of the era. That being said I would also vote for going with either 2000 or linux for security reasons alone.

 

[manowar821]

ME was an absolute nightmare. When I run into problems on XP and Vista, sometimes I literally flash-back to something on ME, and worry for a second or two about possibly having to reinstall everything AGAIN (like I had to do many times before, with Windows ME). I'm serious, ME gives me nightmares.

Install XP and slim it down to minimum effects and such. Or possibly install 2k, and slim it down.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Windows ME drove me to Linux!

 

[Tarrant64]

Windows ME should never be spoken of.

 

[D13S3L]

LOL, this is a joke right? Windows ME - hill-larry-ous.

 

[f1sh3r]

thOSe we don't speak of

i tried recovering a pc to ME for my sisters kids because she wanted windows for them. after installing it, and trying to update it and install some extra apps and drivers for a wireless card, i just took it off. installed ubuntu. so much easier and more secure.

 

[legoman666]

I never had bad experiences with ME but I would reccomend installing WinXP instead. I have it installed on a p2 350mhz with 384mb ram and it works fine for web browsing, chat, and email.

 

[Denithor]

Ah, those were the days...

Windows ME ran perfectly stable (never experienced a single bsod) for over two years on a custom P3-733. That was my first completely-from-scratch build and it was great. I eventually gave it to my brother and he got another 3 or so years of trouble-free use out of it before the PS finally died and took the mobo with it.

EDIT: Oops...forgot to provide helpful comment. A 2GHz Celeron with 512MB memory is plenty to run XP perfectly well. If it's going to cost for a copy, however, I would say either try the ME or else get a version of Linux (can't help you there, I have zero experience with Linux).

 

[Arkaign]

XP

Also, you can snag a P4-A Northwood for cheap that will work on that mobo. You'll get 4x the L2 cache, with lower latency as well. Should be able to get a 2.0/2.2/2.4A for $20ish.

 

[jimmypage13]

damn, windows ME seems to be a released version of duke nukem forever..... anyway, I ended up installing windows XP, windows ME looks too risky, thanks for the advise

 

[t0mn8r]

Sorry to put it like this but....

I am ASSuming that it is a serious question and that you are not having a bit of fun at our expense, so to speak.

If it is serious then I apologise profusely.

Windows ME lasted about 45 minutes in our home. I was running 3 PC's. I brought home a copy of ME, installed it (no apps or anything) and I got the BSOD) 45 minutes without doing anything on the machine.

Nothing at all.

So, to answer your question, ME is the absolute last OS you (or anybody else IMO) should touch.

As I am typing this I am still laughing my a%^ off at this piece of junk after all of these years.

 

[Gooberlx2]

I vote for Win2k or some linux distribution

 

[Marty502]

Honestly, WinMe worked beautifully for me back in the day. I have no complains about it. And I never even updated it! Guess I was lucky.

That being said, and considering the specs of that PC, I'd drop Windows XP in there. 512 MB is big enough, and that processor is gonna do just fine. My mom has a Pentium III 800 Mhz with 512 MB of RAM and Windows XP, and she does her office, browsing and music stuff in there. No complains, and that's with a much slower CPU than you.

Don't bother with Win ME or Win 98.

EDIT: Hadn't seen you already installed Win XP. Well done.

 

[wiin]

Install it and see how it works out. I've had my WindowsME system since it came out (used the updrade cd to do a fresh installe.). So many people complain about ME but can't provide one concrete evidence to back up their claim. So many know it all on anandtech.

Originally posted by: jimmypage13
for my dad's pc. (celeron 2.0, 512 ram. )

 

[Oyeve]

WinMe had a nice load screen.

 

[Balwyn]

All the time I wasted on win ME is the reason I refused to pay M$ any more money since 2000. Perhaps by 2015, I will have recouped the value of my wasted time.
98SE will be fine, so will 2k or XP on that machine, but not ME, Ughhh

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Windows 2000 is awesome. Runs amazingly on my PIII 800mhz with 128MB RAM.