Hi,
I am currently running Win98SE, but i want to upgrade my OS to winME, but i recently read in a (games) magazine that win ME is slower for 3D and games in general. Is this true???

Yes it is. Windows Me is a bit faster for business apps, but a bit slower for games. And if you just upgrade to Windows Me rather than doing a clean install, it'll be slower still. If you've got 98SE and it's working OK for you, there's no point in spending $50 on WinMe. There's just not much benefit. You're better off spending that money on a utilities suite, or a good computer book or two.

But seriously, a utilities suite, if you don't have one already, makes a big difference. Ontrack's Fix-It suite is very good and you don't have to configure it much. Norton Utilities is great if you configure it right, but next to worthless if you don't.

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Dave Farquhar
Author, <i>Optimizing Windows for Games, Graphics and Multimedia</i> (O'Reilly)
<A HREF="http://thesiliconunderground.editthispage.com" target="_new">http://thesiliconunderground.editthispage.com</A>

Well im NOT microsofts biggest fan, so don't think this is easy to say, but, windows me does improve on a thing or two over 98se.
First and most noticeable is boot up...if youre one of those people that loves a fast boot up (to show off or to cuz your impatient) then the $50 might just be worth it heh....
Second, a lot of small things have been tweaked and upgraded...small example...on my previous machine (win98se) when i did a clean install and needed to hook up my @home cable internet, i had to manually set up a lot of configurations...which was nothing drastic since i had written them down, but took a good 25 mins to get everything working fine. In WinMe its a matter of choosing the "Im connected to the internet on a LAN" option and the rest is autodetect. A lot of small changes like that makes it a smarter os...which is what i expect when you are giving up security, stability and overall reliability, you want more than just a pretty GUI.
The worst feature of win ME is prolly the Restore thing. The problem with this overambitious add-on is that it just does not work...period. Everytime I have had a serious problem, restore would tell me casually "Unable to restore to that point"...which is not fair cuz i made constant restore points.
Anyways, there is my two bits.

It is possible to improve 95/98's boot time to almost equal WinMe's. The biggest trick is putting logo=0 in msdos.sys. There are a few other settings too (I posted them here somewhere, I think) but that's the one that makes the biggest difference.

---
Dave Farquhar
author, <i>Optimizing Windows for Games, Graphics and Multimedia</i> (O'Reilly)
<A HREF="http://thesiliconunderground.editthispage.com" target="_new">http://thesiliconunderground.editthispage.com</A>

Hi,
I just got the Dell 8100 system with PC800 ram and I didn't
have a choice of OS's...It came with ME and I don't like it
very much, however my bootup time with minimal files start
ing up is about 43 seconds...Is there a way to get it to
boot up faster?

TIA

See ya...Jerry

:-) Whats up bro - you dont have PC-800 , you got RamBus ram...hehe, we here at toms have some special feelings on Rambus lol.
But as for your question, if its an option, format your main drive, make a partition for your os, and do a clean install of win me. Keep your software on a diff partition. Make sure you dont have stuff you dont need in your system start up. One good way to check is START ---> RUN ---> MsConfig.exe. Now if your BIOS has a virus check disable it, i found it improved my bootup. Also if you've got an ethernet card and you're not using it, take it out. Remember, any scsi cards or raid cards and stuff will add more bootup time so your best bet is to give us an exact detail of what you have so it can be compared to see if your boot up is rite. As for the os winMe is your best choice for all around use, but win2k pro is good for stability and office appz, at the cost of game performance.
Last but not least, send your computer back to Dell and get a system with DDR

Even Tom reviewed WInMe and the only thing it out performed 98 in was netscape- how ironic is that? Also the boot up time is faster, but if I had a choice between faster bootup or faster over all performance, I'll wait the extra few seconds.

"Are you saying that I can dodge bullets?"

Well the system won't hardly boot with the USB logitech
mouse that came with the system so I'm using a PS2 mouse.
I ran Boot Log Analyzer and here's the info:

15:48:19 0.94 Loading Vxd = vnetsup.vxd
15:48:21 0.28 DEVICEINIT = VXDLDR
15:48:24 1.11 Starting Santa Cruz(tm) (PCI\VEN_1013&DEV_6003&SUBSYS_33575053&REV_01\50F000)
15:48:25 0.28 Loading PNP drivers of Santa Cruz(tm) WDM Interface (TURTLE_BEACH\SANTA_CRUZ_WDM_INTERFACE\0PCI&VEN_1013&DEV_6003&SUB
15:48:27 3.44 Dynamic load success lmouhid.vxd
15:48:31 1.33 DEVICEINITSUCCESS = LMOUSE
15:48:32 2.94 Started Kingston EtheRx PCI 10/100 Fast Ethernet Adapter (KNE110TX) (PCI\VEN_11AD&DEV_0002&SUBSYS_F0022646&REV_20\48F
15:48:35 2.22 Started 3Com 3C920 Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller (3C905C-TX Compatible) (PCI\VEN_10B7&DEV_9200&SUBSYS_00C71028&
15:48:38 1.28 Initing esdi_506.pdr
15:48:40 0.67 Initing esdi_506.pdr
15:48:41 0.28 Dynamic load success C:\WINDOWS\system\serial.vxd
15:48:41 1.94 Starting Santa Cruz(tm) WDM Interface (TURTLE_BEACH\SANTA_CRUZ_WDM_INTERFACE\0PCI&VEN_1013&DEV_6003&SUBSYS_33575053&R
15:48:44 2.67 InitDone = TSRQuery (time estimated)
15:48:46 16.83 Enumerated Standard Floppy Disk Controller (ACPI\*PNP0700\0)
15:49:03 1.44 Enumerated Client for Microsoft Networks (NETWORK\VREDIR\0001)

TIA

See ya...Jerry

Try going to Control Panel-->System-->File System-->Floppy Disk and clear the check box that says Search for new floppy disk drives each time your computer starts.

Also, any reason why you have two NICs? Looks like you can save 3 seconds by ditching one of them.

And you can add the line BootDelay=0 to MSDOS.SYS to shave two seconds off your boot time.

---
Dave Farquhar
author, <i>Optimizing Windows for Games, Graphics and Multimedia</i> (O'Reilly)
<A HREF="http://thesiliconunderground.editthispage.com" target="_new">http://thesiliconunderground.editthispage.com</A>

Hi,
I thought I needed 2 NIC's if I have DSL...Also I have the
floppy search option unchecked...Where do I find the boot
delay option?...(I know I must be helpless)...

TIA

See ya...Jerry

Do this:

Open a command prompt
Type: ATTRIB -R -S -H C:\MSDOS.SYS
Type: EDIT C:\MSDOS.SYS
Scroll down to [options]
Add this on a blank line:
BootDelay=0

Save and exit. Now type:
ATTRIB +R +S +H C:\MSDOS.SYS

As for the NICs, if you have DSL and have your PCs on a LAN, then yes you do need two unless you get a router. If you have a standalone PC, you don't need the second. NICs, SCSI cards and some modems are the peripherals that seem to slow down boot time the most.

---
Dave Farquhar
author, <i>Optimizing Windows for Games, Graphics and Multimedia</i> (O'Reilly)
<A HREF="http://thesiliconunderground.editthispage.com" target="_new">http://thesiliconunderground.editthispage.com</A>

dave,is all this imformation in your book and can i buy it in the uk.
regards waggers

I could use a router...I'm using ME so I don't have a command line (that I know of)...That stinks!

See ya...Jerry

The information in my book works in Windows Me, but the book's about a year old so it obviously doesn't mention Windows Me by name at all.

Yes, it is available in the UK and it actually sells better there than in the States. Amazon UK seems to be out of stock (grumble grumble) but you should be able to get it directly from O'Reilly, or any bookstore should be able to order it if it's not on the shelf, given the ISBN (its ISBN is 1-56592-677-3).

I've got links to sample chapters on my site if you'd like to read parts of it before you go hunting.

You might also check Computer Shopper UK; I'm currently doing a series on Windows optimization. I know the January issue's not on the newsstands anymore but the article's still online at www.compshopper.co.uk. Hurry over there and print it before they replace it with this month's installment. There are installments in January and February; the series concludes in March.

Thanks for your interest!

---
Dave Farquhar
author, <i>Optimizing Windows for Games, Graphics and Multimedia</i> (O'Reilly)
<A HREF="http://thesiliconunderground.editthispage.com" target="_new">http://thesiliconunderground.editthispage.com</A>

Yes, Windows Me does have a command line (I hate that myth). They moved it to the Accessories menu, if I remember right, but I always just go to Start-->Run and type "command" and hit OK. That gets you a command prompt.

Interesting. I have had great success with restore in Windows Me. A couple of times it saved me a LOT of recover time. In one case it even recovered a program that I had uninstalled. Obviously the uninstall had not erased the files. The utilities in Me are very good. I recently helped a friend who was still running 98SE and in the process I missed the capabilities in Me.
That my 2 cents worth.

thanks dave,printed off will read through tomorrow