Last updated on: May 28, 2005
WINDOWS UPGRADES

IMPORTANT: Windows upgrades are improvements on NT and not 9x. 

Windows 2000 is intended for commercial installations and should not be used for the home.

Windows XP Home has functionality of NT suitable for home use.  It has better compatibility with Windows 9x applications and hardware than Windows 2000 does.

Windows XP Pro is Windows XP Home with advanced networking capabilities.

Windows 9x/ME
WHY WINDOWS "BREAK"

In general Windows "crashes" because it was never important to MS that it doesn't "crash".  Besides the thousands of "bugs", other reasons are:

- Sloppy memory mgmt by application soft- ware (they don't properly release resources & soon there are none left - computer freezes)

- Hardware fails to respond as expected.  (worst offender - ZIP/CD-ROM drives on printer ports and MODEMS.)

- Windows incessant "polling" of devices, such as drives.  Windows doesn't know what to do in case of failure to respond.
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DEMISE OF WINDOW 9x

In June 2005 Microsoft will no longer support Windows 98.  Because the installed base for Windows 98SE is so large and users not in a rush to abandon 98 for XP and its new list of problems, I expect groups of developers to join and provide support. As we find support we list it here along with common annoyances that we repair.
ANNOYANCES
Re-Install Windows and other troublesome software
PRINTING with DOS Applications:

1) The most common problem is the program won't print until you exit it.  Typically, this is a failure of the application and not Windows.  The former doesn't flush the print buffer. Change the spooler settings to NOT spool DOS programs.

2) The program spools out blank sheets of paper instead of printing.  Windows spooler has been corrupted. Restarting Windows usually fixes the problem.

3) The program does not print at all. Windows spooler has been corrupted. Restarting Windows usually fixes the problem.
WEB SITES WITH HELP INFORMATION
1) Annoyances.Org -- Long established site with well-documented trouble shooting articles with thousands of archived requests and answers.

2) Black Viper -- Where power users excahnge information.  Has unique guide to "background services" running in Windows XP.

3) Doug's Tweaks & Tips -- Ultra-reliable tips for tweaking and repairing Windows XP. 

4) JSI FAQ's -- 7,000 detailed trust-worthy tips about Windows NT/2K/XP.

5) Tweak XP -- Registry & other tweaks for gamers and control freaks.
ALWAYS GET THE LATEST HARDWARE DRIVER FROM THE EQUIPMENT MFR WEB SITE.  NEVER TRUST DRIVERS THAT COME WITH MICROSOFT.
LOST File Associations:

Click on a file and Windows does not run the program to open it? Fix the file associations that Windows uses to open files when you double click on them. 
VCACHE:

VCache is Windows 9x disk-caching driver.  For optimum performance set it to one-quarter of the physical memory in your PC, but settings higher than 32MB are unnecessary. Run Sysedit and edit the System.ini file.

Look under heading [vcache] and change both min/max numbers as described above. 
IP Address:

With 9x/ME run winicfg.  With XP/2K use IPconfig/all.
 
INTERNET CONNECTION SHARING:

Although all flavors of Windows have ICS, do NOT use it.  It is difficult to setup and manage.  Buy an Internet Gateway router such as those sold by LinkSys.