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Windows ME problems?
Some months ago, I upgraded my PC in order to run some of the newer games. I had a new motherboard (Gigabyte K7 Triton), graphics card (Leadtek FX5700 256MB), HDD (160GB 7200rpm) and Mitsubishi 19in Diamond Plus Monitor.
I kept my previous Athlon XP2100 processor, case and Windows ME system. I straight away hit trouble when trying to run Grand Prix 4 which was very hesitant and jerky - virtually unplayable. I had similar problems with Colin McRae Rally 2 which is hardly a demanding game. This would run OK for about 20 minutes and then start the hesitation, which I can best describe as a missing motorcycle engine.
The computer has been back to the manufacturer - a local company - several times and they have exchanged power supplies, memory cards, motherboards, graphics cards and processors without success. I fact, they have changed just about every component in the PC. I don't know how many times I've defragged and reinstalled the games.
Recently, they spoke yet again to Gigabyte, who suggested that it could be the OS at fault and to try XP. I did so and, lo and behold, the problems vanished completely. Everything now ran smoothly as it should.
As it was now apparently a software problem, I thought I'd try a few things myself, such as reformatting the hard drive and re-installing ME clean with just GP4 - no joy, it was even worse. I even tried another borrowed copy of ME but no difference. I've tried setting the virtually memory, making a vcache and other Windows tuning dodges, all to no avail.
My computer supplier says that ME is really rubbish and XP is the only answer but I am loth to accept that an operating system that has been used by millions for years is incapable of running simple games. In any case, for all other applications, I like ME.
I've never seen similar problems listed in PCW, so is this really a case of a bad operating system or are there other possible hardware/software faults that could cause this problem?
David Daniels
I thought that windows 98 1st edtion was a problem and ME sorted it out. That is really srrange. What is the recommend OS on the games?
Posted by Jamie | June 4, 2005 11:36 AM
A wild guess would be that the drivers for your new hardware were designed primarily for XP and not tested thoroughly on earlier operating systems. Possibly earlier versions would cause less trouble. Mind you its a sign that no one reads this as otherwise someone would have pointed out that ME is the problem and that you should have stuck with 98 SE
Posted by Ian | June 10, 2005 10:15 PM
Which is to say that there is a tendency to claim ME was rubbish without ever having used it. I never had any problems on my previous system
Posted by ian | June 10, 2005 10:17 PM
Whenever you change any hardware there is a good possibility that some software will not function properly if at all. This unexpectedly hit me when I changed to a 64 bit processor only to find that my adsl modem driver that works ok on Win XP 32 bit and on my old PC with ME did not want to know the 64 bit.
Always expect the worst - and be happy if the worst doesn't happen!!!
Posted by hampshirehog | June 11, 2005 10:32 AM
ME is rubbish, but in this case the problem is almost certainly to do with Drivers and compatibility. It is possible, for example, that there ME drivers are available for each of the new bits of hardware on your PC, but that the drivers do not work well together.
Posted by Oron | June 11, 2005 11:44 AM
ME is total rubbish and always has been, I bought a computer in 2000 with it installed and had nothing but trouble from day 1, I,ve lost count of the amount of times I had to restore the system, reboot and fix some problem, never again. Along came XP Pro and what a difference, to date I,ve never had any type of problem with it and shall continue to use it, its even better than Vista.
Posted by Kenneth Trevor Greenwood | January 6, 2008 10:32 PM