Sucky XP

[Loki Ahmrah]

Well maybe it isn't sucky but I'm happy using Windows 98 because I know where everything is. My friend on the other hand, has XP installed and I am trying to find a certain program on his computer which will allow him to sort out his IP address and whatnot.

On 98, if I go to Run... and type winipcfg the IP Configuration window pops up.

However on XP, if I type in winipcfg, it can't find any such file. So how do you get to the IP Configuration on XP?

He's paying for his internet access and can't access it. Poor fella.

:cry

[Marcus Telcontar]

Start > Run, then type cmd.

When you get the command prompt, type IPCONFIG /all

XP follows (thank god) in the NT OS family line. IPCONFIG has been a staple tool of admins for 10 years :D

[Keerrourri Feessaarro]

beat me to the punch.

And XP is like.....a gazillion billion times better than 98. Not even close!

[Loki Ahmrah]

The only thing I've found better about it so far is the look. And thanks for your help. :)

[Morgan Evanar]

Bwhahahah. Only thing bWHAHAHAHAH.

How about I can have 3 week uptimes? How about, no critical crashes in a year almost?

Fully skinable support built in, good multi-monitor support, built in PPPoE, logical implimentation of net connect sharing...

You haven't been looking very hard. But I guess you wouldn't use a lot of those things. For any power user, XP is a solid step from 2k, and a leap from 98.

[Zakatiel Rhinehart]

Switch to Classic Look, looks like 98, but so much better

[Morgan Evanar]

Or get a hacked uxtheme.dll and download skins from deskmod.com.

Or try Style XP, which is a bit easier to do than the uxtheme.dll.

[Levi Argon]

Morgan, exactly. I don't even know what half of that stuff you said means so until I feel safe switching to XP with the reassurance of hardware compatibility then I'm quite happy with 98. I'm going to wait for my new hard drive and graphics card before polluting my computer with any more problems. Urgh. Last time was a nightmare.

[Morgan Evanar]

Um, based on my knowledge of your current setup, you should switch NOW. Nvidia and ATi's drivers are VERY mature, as are all the chipset drivers. Actually, people really aren't writing drivers for 98 much. Microsoft stops OS support after 5 years.

www.viaarena.com for VIA motherboard chipset drivers.
www.nvidia.com for nvidia drivers
www.ati.com =]

[Levi Argon]

I might do it on Sunday then. Although my computer is currently running on a washed up hard disk that sounds like it's about to go kaput at any moment and a TNT2 Riva 32MB POS which is burned out thanks to the fan cutting out some time ago. Too late to salvage too. :\

[Figrin D'an]

Agree with Morgan, I do. There is no reason for you not to switch over to XP. I have had 0, none, nadda hardware compatibility issues... once your rebuild your box, I guarentee you'll by happier with XP on it rather than 98.

[Sigil Roland]

Accutally you might want to start switching over now due to the fact that Microsoft will stop supporting it this year after June!

[Marcus Telcontar]

In the thousands of PC's I've built over the years, XP is the one thing that does not give me headaches. Almost never. 98 is not worth dogspit.

I guess I'm up to something like 200 XP installs and there has not been one software related system fatality. I put XP in all client sites. I trust it to work, first time, every time. Which is about bloody time!

Microsoft have done some dumb things, but XP is not one of them. Esp now I have some neat hacks :)

[Marcus Telcontar]

Originally posted by Sigil Roland
Accutally you might want to start switching over now due to the fact that Microsoft will stop supporting it this year after June!

Ummm... no. That's Windows 95 being retired. 98 retires in two more years

[Sejah Haversh]

I like XP. I've had it for a year and a half, and not had one problem.

Not one.

So, I soon think those Mac ads always talking about PCs crashing will soon be obselete. I mean, that's the only complaint the people on those ads have: the computer kept crashing, then I install this and the coputer crashed, I went to print and the computer crashed. You know, if your computer crashes that often, odds are YOU did something to screw it over.

Not that I'm anti-Mac, I just prefer PCs, and especially PCs with XP.

[Keerrourri Feessaarro]

With 98...I'd have a lock-up every 1-3 hours. Guaranteed. It was the most absolutely frustrating thing ever.

XP....good grief....I can keep it running for weeks at a time, without worry!

[Figrin D'an]

Originally posted by Sejah Haversh
So, I soon think those Mac ads always talking about PCs crashing will soon be obselete. I mean, that's the only complaint the people on those ads have: the computer kept crashing, then I install this and the coputer crashed, I went to print and the computer crashed. You know, if your computer crashes that often, odds are YOU did something to screw it over.

I very much agree. The big problem, IMO, is that too many people like to treat a computer as they would any other household appliance. It's not like a toaster or a refrigerator that you can just plug in and ignore it until it breaks, or that for which you can pretty much toss the users manual because operating it is intuitively obvious. Computers required some level of maintenance by the end user, and have a lot of diverse functions that they can perform. If you don't have a clue what you are doing, and you refuse to read the users manual, chances are you'll screw something up. Then the same people will complain that their computer never works right. >_<

I have a sizable amount of experience working with Macs... I used to have one myself, and many family and friends have them. In some ways, they're good machines (frickin' expensive hardware, they better be in some manner). In others, they're horrendous. I've never been a huge fan of the Mac OS (I defy any Mac zealot that picks on various versions of Windows for being buggy, the many incarnations of the Mac OS have been just as bad, if not worse). OS X is quite nice, but it took Apple to design an OS built on a UNIX foundation for it finally be worth while.

[Sigil Roland]

The worst thing you can do is put a user on a computer!

Oh and <a href=http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/desktop/consumer/default.mspx>It's The end of an era</a>

[Marcus Telcontar]

That's odd. Microsoft stated Sept 2002 in a letter to Product Partners, 98 would be supported to 2005 for security and critical bugs.

In the end tho, I simply tell all clients to get of 95/98/Me NOW. Andthen watch as most of their problems disappear.

[Keerrourri Feessaarro]

Now, if we can get them to make a major overhaul to IE, happiness will reign on Earth :)

[Marcus Telcontar]

How about make Mozilla their default, that would rock

[Lilaena De'Ville]

My Xp only crashes right after it restarts when our circuit breaks.

:rolleyes...something about a hairdryer and a computer and two bedroom lights on the same breaker...

[Keerrourri Feessaarro]

No they should just make a less resource-intense IE that is essentially a clone of Moz.

I love my ability to run 3 browsers at once >D

[Marcus Telcontar]

... and less buggy

.... and with less security holes

.... and less ties to the OS

I fail to comphrend the need to make sure IE in a system when your loading a totally unrelated program.

[Oriadin]

Another massive plus with XP over 98 or ME is multi tasking. That and the fact it hasnt crashed once makes it well worth it for me. I love XP and cant imagine going back to ME or before.

[Keerrourri Feessaarro]

I have applications crash on me here and there...but through no fault of the OS. Has anybody had a blue screen of death moment with XP yet? I haven't.

[Marcus Telcontar]

I have. But it was hardware or third party driver related.


Another massive plus with XP over 98 or ME is multi tasking. That and the fact it hasnt crashed once makes it well worth it for me. I love XP and cant imagine going back to ME or before.

Welcome to the world of NT, where tasks actually run properly :D

[Darth Viscera]

I'm running Mozilla now-I prefer Phoenix, because Moz sometimes uses up 30 megs of ram, but there are a few minor bugs that irk me a bit. Overall, though, I use Moz mainly, and just start up IE when there's something I can't do (or can't do easily) with Moz. For instance, I was trying to download a .rar file with Moz, and the thing downloaded it all into a browser in hex code, rather than just DLing the darn file. IE dl'ed it correctly.

Also, for some reason Moz refuses to be set up properly when it comes to attachments. Every time I try to view an attachment, I have to go and tell Moz again that it CAN view jpegs internally, and locate mozilla.exe. It's a bit of a hassle, probably just beta bugs though. That's why I use Moz for main browsing, but open up IE when I can't get something done in it.

And then there's the password query boxes. You should be able to switch between tabs while a pass query box is open.

I'll be glad when you switch to XP, Gav. Most glad indeed. It'll be 100% easier for me to help you out with comp/dl problems this way. I suck at explaining things-this way I can just hop onto your comp and do it myself.

[Morgan Evanar]

Has anybody had a blue screen of death moment with XP yet?

First rev of the XP Philips Acoustic Edge drivers would bluescreen after 7 hours of Morrowind.

heh. You get warning though. The sound falls apart first.

[Sigil Roland]

Originally posted by Marcus Elessar
That's odd. Microsoft stated Sept 2002 in a letter to Product Partners, 98 would be supported to 2005 for security and critical bugs.

In the end tho, I simply tell all clients to get of 95/98/Me NOW. Andthen watch as most of their problems disappear.

I think thats the final End of Life for Win98, but if you still use it untill then you "could" get "help" from Microsoft, but no where else. (notice I put Could and help in quotes because I don't know how much help it will be... Ex:

Custmor: I'm having a problem with Win98

MSN Help Desk: Get Win Xp!)

[Destiny Stormrider]

XP's prolly great from what you all say, but what if you have very limited computer knowledge? Isn't WIN98 more simple to understand/use?

[Morgan Evanar]

NO! Goodness, I have no idea how anyone perpetuates this completely fictional rumor.

[Sanis Prent]

XP is practically idiot-proof. Seriously, its nearly sentient in the way it can do things :)

[Destiny Stormrider]

Here goes my stupid stupid question: how could I change from Win 98 to XP? What would I have to do?

[Morgan Evanar]

Step 1: acquire XP.
Step 2: follow the instructions that appear majically.

[Destiny Stormrider]

ROFL Thanks! I won't have to open up anything will I? ^_^; 'Cause my parents'd kill me... (I can't waiste THEIR money cause I don't work, so I was just trying to make sure I'd be able to install it...)

[Sanis Prent]

No hardware required. At worst, you'd have to reset your settings in windows.

[Sage Hazzard]

Oi, yet another reason I need a new computer. Windows 98 sucks. Can you believe I've actually got a book from the library for Windows XP in anticipation? Just to read about the differences, etc. Did the same for Photoshop and Dreamweaver. Now when I buy those products, lickity split I'll be able to wield them to my power more easily. Better than buying a program then getting a book that explains it. Now I'll have the knowledge before hand. :D

Man I want XP! But it'd be stupid to buy one for this piece of junk. Heck, I couldn't even run it on this thing, since it requires better stuff for it to run at all.

Loki, for goodness sake switch. :lol Don't be caught in hell like I am. :lol

[TheHolo.Net]

I have a copy of XP running on an old P2 400. Its not my main machine, but it runs well on it.

[Sanis Prent]

Just make sure to stuff it to the gills with RAM, since XP drinks memory like gatorade.

[Sage Hazzard]

I have 100 MB of HD space avalible (lots of files and junk), and only 32 MB of RAM. To install XP would be blowing money. Better to just use the money to upgrade, both the hardware and software, to get a computer with both upgrades and more. :)