Forum Rules - Formats - Spotlights  -  Home - Library - New Additions

What OS should I use?

ratman743ratman743
edited November 2016 in Software
I have a Dell Latitude C600 that I'm currently restoring.

As most computers do, it has the Intel Inside sticker and the Operating System sticker.

On this sticker, however, it displays multiple Operating Systems.

Windows 2000
Windows NT 4.0
Windows 98

Which should I use? I'm wanting to use something that someone would really be using in 2000, and especially since this system is a Pentium III, it makes it more difficult for me to use something like 98, as I already have a Pentium II system with 98 installed.

Plus, I may be wrong but, isn't a P3 a little overkill for 98? Did people really use P3s with 98 on them?

Comments

  • Bry89Bry89
    Well from what you said, I'd say go with Win2000. The system itself may be more built for that, even though it listed other compatible OSes.
  • ratman743ratman743
    Thanks, I'll go ahead and use 2000.

    Should I fully update it with SP4 and the Update Rollup or should I just leave it as stock 2000 with no service packs?

    This laptop was released in 2000 so I'm just trying to get it as close as possible to the original system build as that has been long lost.
  • SomeGuySomeGuy
    It depends on what you plan to use it for. I would find 2000 fairly useless as much of what I need requires direct DOS access to hardware that is only possible with 9x. But if you are looking some something stable for office type work, then either 2000 or XP.

    Of course, you could set it up to multi-boot between all of those.

    I don't think a P3 is an overkill for 9x at all. In fact, the faster the better. But what you have to look closely at is driver compatiblity. That is especially bad with Laptops as they may have provided drivers only for whatever they happened to support that day.

    But I would expect a laptop of that vintage to have Windows 98/ME drivers.
  • Bry89Bry89
    ratman743 wrote:
    Should I fully update it with SP4 and the Update Rollup or should I just leave it as stock 2000 with no service packs?

    This laptop was released in 2000 so I'm just trying to get it as close as possible to the original system build as that has been long lost.
    It's up to you, but it's best for it to have all the updates anyhow, regardless of what year the laptop was from.
  • ratman743ratman743
    Updating Win2k is very confusing, however. I know there are many more updates than just SP4 and the rollup, and I've not found a simple way to get them.

    With Windows 98 SE, there is an unofficial 'Service Pack', which easily installs all the core updates, leaving you to only have to update IE and Windows Media Player.

    With 2K, it's very cloudy. I'm not sure how to get the updates at all, and the Windows Update servers for 2K have been long shut down.

    I'm a very OCD person when it comes to computers, so for me, it's all or nothing.
    This is why it's so difficult for me to decide.

    If I install 98, I get every single update for it known to mankind.

    If I install 2000, it's at a weird state between fully updated, and not so fully updated.
  • Bry89Bry89
    The Service Packs for it can be found here, and you can get the High Encryption Pack if you want extra security for it too. There exists the unofficial SP5 if you want that also.
  • SomeGuySomeGuy
    As far as 2000 updates, I would recommend just bogg standard SP4 and only apply any further updates as you run in to the need for them. The problem is that many of the post-SP4 update started to break things, or were really for XP even if they happened to "work".
  • ratman743ratman743
    I've found a promising solution for this on http://windows2000.tk/

    However, I'm not very sure if all of them are included, or even if some of these are for 2000, like SomeGuy said.

    This does look like it would work, however all the updates are listed individually, which would take forever to install update-by-update.

    Upon searching for the unofficial service pack, I've gotten a large amount of conflicting information.

    This website is the only one I've found with anything promising.

    I'll keep looking for it, but I'm afraid if I do find one, it will have Non-MS hotfixes in it, because I'm looking for a compilation of updates made by Microsoft, and Microsoft only. Basically an unofficial installer filled with official updates.

    I'll let you know if I find anything more on it.

    [EDIT]
    I've found this as well, but it seems to have unofficial updates and break rules as well. For example, Windows Media Player 10 is listed, but I'm pretty sure the last WMP to run on 2K is WMP 9.

    http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/156521- ... -2000-wip/

    There's a similar thing on MajorGeeks as well, but it doesn't even list what's inside the pack, and it seems to be an older version of the MSFN one.

    http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details ... al_sp.html

    This one, which is very similar to the MajorGeeks one, I found on Softpedia. It looks far more promising, as it doesn't speak of unofficial updates or anything of that kind. Though, again, it just seems like an older version of the one I found on MSFN, just with fluff talk.

    http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS- ... -SP5.shtml


    Finally, I found this, which seems to be all unofficial updates.
    http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/151663- ... l-updates/
Sign In or Register to comment.