After some ten years of using an Amiga computer for every possible purpose I eventually had to join the 21st century as the Amiga just could no longer compete with the faster racier PC models that dominate the computer world. Not that there was anything wrong with the Amiga as I could surf the web and hold my own on the ’net. After all what is the point of having a machine with a CPU rated in Ghz for Internet use when the modem is only a 56K device. But the Amiga was showing its age and it was the software that was not keeping pace with advancing web site technology rather than the computer.
So with much regret I bought myself a PC just before Xmas 2000. Having heard all sorts of bad tales about the Microsoft Operating System, Windows, and how unstable it was and the problems people had with it, I decided that instead of buying a naked computer and installing the OS and programmes myself I would go for a computer off the shelf as it were. After a little bit of research I eventually opted for a computer with the then latest OS on offer already installed. I chose a computer that had Windows Millennium Edition already installed as well as a selection of software that is so well integrated with the OS that it is difficult to know where the OS ends and the applications begin and what part the computer maker, Packard Bell, has played in putting them together. So this review has to be for Windows ME as is pre-installed.
After some four months of use I have to admit that it seems like the tales about Windows OS have been greatly exaggerated and probably down to the user trying to get the OS to do what it wasn’t designed to do, hence all the instability and crashes. But that is only my guess based on the fact that although the Amiga OS (Workbench X.xx) was an easy system to understand, it too would crash if you tried to do something that it wasn’t designed to handle. I mean you wouldn’t try to hang a one-ton weight using a rope with a breaking strain of 50 lbs now would you?
Keeping in mind that I have never used a PC other than the one I have now with ME on it, Windows Millennium works just fine and has never crashed or locked up if used properly. I did load one programme that had so many patches to make it work it is no wonder that Windows ME threw its hands up in disgust and opted out of working. It was at this point that I blessed the “Factory Restore” facility because I was able to restore my computer to the state that it was in when it left the factory. No need for expensive phone calls to the technical help line or sending the machine back to the shop to be put right. I could do it all myself in less than one and a half hours and with virtually no knowledge of PC operating systems.
From what I can gather Windows ME is the first of the Microsoft OS’s to incorporate the “Restore” facility, which is a great asset to people like me who’s PC knowledge is strictly limited. I think that it was Packard Bell who took this one stage further and introduced the “Factory Restore” so the next paragraph may not apply to those people who install ME onto an empty hard drive.
My hard drive has a capacity of 20GB yet only 17.6 GB is available for use as the other 2.4GB contains the back up software, which is used when you go through the ‘Factory and System Restore’ procedures. But before trying this you first have to produce 3 CD’s and a Master Recovery Disk. It is all done with the greatest of ease and a nice old wizard guides you through the procedure. Once the 3 CD’s have been burned, 1.37GB of hard drive space has been freed up and is now labelled Local Disk ‘D’. This can become very useful space when in the future you decided to do a “Factory Restore” as you can dump data from the main part of the hard drive (Local Disk ‘C’) into it for safe keeping whilst you restore the computer to its factory condition because the Local Disk ‘D’ is not affected by a “Factory Restore” procedure whereas Local Disk ‘C’ is trashed. Things like your Address Book, Favourites list and your documents etc. In fact you can dump anything you like in there for safe keeping during a factory restore. Or you can use it as another hard drive.
Readers with a mathematical bent will have realised that there is still just over 1GB unaccounted for. This part is untouchable by normal means as it is the hard disk back up that is used for the normal ‘System Restore’.
Whether the following is applicable to those people who install Windows Millennium onto an empty hard drive or not, I don’t know but I suspect that it will.
When you first switch on, the machine boots up in High Colour at a screen resolution of 800x600 and a Wizard appears to guide you through a very simple setting up procedure. Upon completion a ‘System Restore Point’ is created and using this point the system can restore your computer and all the settings to what they were up to and at that point, at your command. Also when executing a “System Restore”, the folder named ‘My Documents’ in Local Disk ‘C’ is not touched by the procedure and nor is Local Disk ‘D’.
I then activated all the pre-loaded software and adjusted the various settings to my requirements, loaded some additional software and set them up and once that I was satisfied that everything was working as I wanted it to, I set my own “System Restore” point.
So now I had the potential, should anything go wrong in loading some crappy software or a virus hit me, to restore my computer to the condition that it was in at the “System Restore” point that I had created. Or I could go back further to the original “System Restore” point or even to the “Factory Restore”. In short I am free from needing expensive help from ‘experts’ should my system let me down.
However no amount of “System Restore” will be of use if the hard drives dies completely so to get around that problem I will be making a complete back-up of my hard drive on RW CD’s.
One final point. In the bottom right hand corner of the screen there is a tiny yellow speaker icon. Double click this and you get a GUI for controlling the sound on your computer. For some strange reason the Line Input section has the ‘mute’ ticked which means that any sound coming from your hi fi etc. will not be heard, if a lead is connected between them that is. If you intend to sample sounds from your hi fi, records etc. then un-tick this.