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Is there a way to find out when my Windows system 98/ME/XP/2k was last booted?
I mean I want to find out how long ago the system was started.
Is there some command for this? or any other way I can see it?

98/ ME use System Information (Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Information)
XP use the SYSTEMINFO command (ie. "C:\>systeminfo")
For 2000 try http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/d ... efault.asp

Source

Well you could write a simple program that runs at startup, logging the time in a file. Then you check the file if you want to know.

Of course, the average human reboots their Windoze box 2-3 times per day. So if you can remember the last time you rebooted, for the rest of the day, you're good. ;D

My desktop is usually up for about a week.

Windows XP, for example, can easily be held up for months, I know it from my own experience. I very rarely turn off or restart my computers.
But really, I guess NotTheCHEAT was just kidding, as it is not that bad even with Windows 9x/ME.

Oh no, it is.

I have ME (AMD64 MOBO backordered) and I just now started it up the second time in 3 minutes, as it will freeze 1/2 the time when I start it.

Then after a few hours it begins to get unstable, ESPECIALLY if I let it go into hibernation (It's impossible to get out of if it's enabled. Every time it comes out, it does the "Windows is preparing to go into standby" over and over! I had to grab the settings and switch it off before it did it again......)

Sorry to hear that. When I used ME, I didn't have such problems, but then again, I always use Intel CPUs, which are perhaps better supported (and more stable ). I never use hibernation, either.

Eero R?nik wrote:... I always use Intel CPUs, which are perhaps better supported (and more stable )

That is far from a fact, I've always used AMDs and haven't had any stability problems relating to the CPU (I've have had various problems with chipset drivers though [video, sound, VIA motherboard]), I've had far more application instability on the Intel computers I have to work with then my own systems.

IK, the only time I EVER dared to use an intel (lol) was when we got our first computer - a $2000 W95 with a P1 at 133mhz. As soon as we got an AMD K6 for another computer, I noticed just how bad a job the other had done

I haven't ever really noticed a difference between the different motherboards...

But on my laptop (P3, 256mb ram, etc) I very VERY rarely crash. If it does happen, it's because of a faulty driver I have installed (I have a feeling it's my wireless card) or because it goes into hibernation. That's really annoying that it does, cos it means I had to change my power settings before I could close the lid.

It might just be that I'm lucky, but XP doesn't seem to be as unstable as everyone says. At least if a program crashes, you can Ctrl+Alt+Del to close it manually.

Calum wrote: ... XP ... At least if a program crashes, you can Ctrl+Alt+Del to close it manually.

Well... you could do that ever since the first version of Windows NT, since it was designed to do that. Using version 5.1 doesn't add any sort of real new improvement, it just looks a little different and works a little different. It's like building a new body around an old engine... it'll look better, but it won't operate very differently.

If some program crashes, which doesn't happen too often in my Windows box. But, then again, maybe my computers are just different from others'. Strangely, I haven't really had any problems with system stability for a while.

Same here, I use Windows XP and have had no problems.

Eero R?nik wrote: If some program crashes, which doesn't happen too often in my Windows box. But, then again, maybe my computers are just different from others'. Strangely, I haven't really had any problems with system stability for a while.

There is more truth in this statement than you might think. Imagine that some computers may have bad sectors or bad connectors on their disk, or bad bytes in ram. There are mechanisms that should detect this, but recently I had problems with the hard disk of my win2000 computer, it showed strange errors with filesystem inconsistency, bad system files, and needed a repair installation every 5 or 6 reboots. If I didn't know that this could be due to bad hardware, I probably would have blamed the operating system, like so many other people do.

cheers Joe

I know that, but I assumed most people would check their hard drives or RAM for bad sectors/bytes before reinstalling or in case of problems.

Cheers.