Microsoft says that XP is much more stable then previous versions of Windows.
I find, as usual, Microsoft puts out only half truths, or is it still the smoke & mirrors mentality of the Company?
Case in point...
* It is true that you will experience fewer unexpected crashes as we all had come to know as daily occurrences with Win 98 & the dreaded Win ME. This is no Win XP magic but simply because Microsoft finally moved Windows away from DOS & 16 bit computing (long, long overdue). What this means is simply that programs now have their own memory to work in so if Excel crashes it does not bring down the whole system like Win 98 & ME would. 98 & ME shared the same memory so if one program crashed they all crashed (usually).
* Win XP does however, still share one of 98 & ME's very irritating problems... lock ups for apparently no reason. I see this all too often. XP may not crash as often but it will suddenly stop responding thereby requiring a re-boot. The end results being that XP may not crash as much but you still have to reboot about as often as 98 or ME. Was really hoping that was a thing of the past but no, Microsoft in their infinite wisdom found a way to keep that old charming feature intact in Win XP.
The above aside, Win XP has a whole new set of problems to contend with that can be a lot worse then anything we ever experienced with 98 or ME.
Windows Won't Load...
* In Win 98 sometimes a file would become corrupted or deleted & 98 would not load. I would then simply do a re-install of 98 which copied all the Windows files on top of the old ones & 98 would then come up like nothing had happened. This would usually take less then an hour to resolve.
* I bought Win XP Home 1 day after it came out. I later also bought Win XP Professional. Since that time I have experience the Windows won't load problem on three occasions. But, unlike 98 there is no easy way to recover from this. True, XP does offer a re-install Windows option, but nothing will run afterwards as it overwrites the registry, you loose the restore points, and all the Documents and Settings folder is overwritten. About the only thing saved intact is your documents. Come on Microsoft... I'm sure if you worked really hard at it, you could of found a way to get rid of them too!
Does Anyone Know What's Going On Here?
As mentioned earlier I have experience the Windows won't load problem on three occasions. This is what happens...
* I will use Windows one day & all is fine. Will do a successful close down in the evening.
* The next morning I turn on the computer & Windows won't load... no messages, no error screens, it just won't load.
* OK, lets go to Safe Mode. Guess what... Safe Mode won't load either... no messages, no error screens, it just won't load.
* Well... it's time to use the Restore from last good boot-up. Yep, you guessed it... It won't load either... no messages, no error screens, it just won't load.
* So now is the time to bring out the big guns... select a Restore point from an earlier time. Oh no... it won't load either... no messages, no error screens, it just won't load.
* No I'm really dead in the water.
* NOTHING WORKS (so what's new, remember this is Windows).
* The only thing left is to do a complete install & then restore from my last complete backup.
Any ideas... anyone?