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Uninstalling Windows Me

pazuzu

New Blood
P
Joined
Aug 18, 2002
Messages
16
Hi, I've been trying to reinstall or uninstall windows Me & I cant find any way to do it. When I try to reinstall It tells me I cant reinstall so I tried installing Xp with the disk from my new comp but it tells me I dont have the right version of Me to upgrade.
So I need to uninstall & do a fresh install.
I tried using add/remove programs in control panel but there is no option for removing windows...

Thanks
 
1. Save everything you can off the HD that you want to save.

2. Make sure you REALLY DO have the reinstall CDs, etc, for the drivers, apps and games you want to use on this machine.

3. Look up and print out all the excellent tips that many of the gurus here have posted about Windows NT/2K/XP setup & management. Read and inwardly digest.

4. Be VERY SURE you have saved everything you want to keep (I'm telling you twice, so it's important!).

5. Reboot the PC, go into BIOS, do a low-level reformat of the HD.

6. Install XP (NOT Me) by putting the CD in the drive and booting off it. Make sure you do all the right driver updates, etc, for your hardware, if required.

7. Put back all the apps and games, etc.

8. Have fun with a REAL OS for a change.

cheers
zep

PS. DEFRAG you disks! Really!
 
Zep, I don't think what you've proposed will work. If the XP disk is telling pazuzu that he isn't allowed to upgrade from the currently installed version of ME (I didn't know there was more than one version) then the XP disk he has is an upgrade disk, not a full product disk and it won't let him do an XP install onto a clean hard drive.

It's my understanding that you can get an upgrade disk to do a full install if you give it a different serial number to the one that came with the disk -- at least Win2K did that -- but in any case pazuzu should be aware that he will not have a legal installation if he proceeds down this route.
 
You could be right...

You might need to see if you can borrow someone's WinNT or Win2K CD and install a temporary copy of that first. THEN do the upgrade to XP. What about from Win98 instead of WinMe?

XP is great when it gets to running, but I reckon it is a BUGGER with regard to installing and licensing. It did take me a while to upgrade from Win2K, which had no such hangups...

And why do I have the vaguest recall that XP has no upgrade/install versions of CDs, just different install tasks depending on the stuff it "finds" on the PC? I won't claim to be the expert in this particular aspect - anyone care to comment here?
 
LOL, we just downgraded the new computer at our client's office from XP to Win98. XP sucked something awful.
 
Sorry, I'm confused-The ultimate aim is to reinstall ME or to upgrade to XP?.

If you want XP, remember you can't install XP twice, legally. When you register it for the old machine, MS will void your license for the new one. If you have Auto Update off on the new machine, that might make no practical difference to you, but your new machine would then be running an illegal OS.
Edit to add - and if you don't register it, XP will shut down in 30 days, which as Tami says may be no bad thing.

If your sole aim is to reinstall ME on the old machine, then you need to know the answer to this question-

Is the ME disc a full install, an upgrade or a manufacturer- supplied "recovery " disc? If the last, there should be a custom reinstall program already on the machine, which will have codes in it that should match your ME disc. The original documentation of the comp should explain how to use this. The program may be on a hidden partition, which, I hope, you have not somehow erased.

If your ME was an upgrade, you might be best to try uninstalling ME and reverting to 98, or whatever you had before, then reinstalling onto that. This can have problems. Be certain you have the CD and floppy drivers for the earlier system on a bootable floppy as you may have to install them before you can reload the earlier OS.
Nb- if the earlier OS was itself an upgrade, I seriously advise you to bite the bullet and buy another XP upgrade disc. It's just not worth the hassle.

If your ME disc is a full install version, revert to what ZEP said.
Back up everything on your new comp, reformat and start over.

I assume there is no hardware problem like a bad C drive.
 
Tami, -

I downgraded (retrograded??) ME to 98SE. In general I did not regret this, but I did miss the ability to view thumbnails and the onboard sound never worked with 98SE- I couldn't get the drivers.

If 98 does what you require, then great. I'll be interested to hear though if you have any downside to this move in terms of (say) 98 failing to support some of your new hardware.

In an office machine, where multimedia and the like are les important, you may have no regrets. Fingers crossed.
 
Soapy Sam said:
Tami, -

I downgraded (retrograded??) ME to 98SE. In general I did not regret this, but I did miss the ability to view thumbnails and the onboard sound never worked with 98SE- I couldn't get the drivers.

If 98 does what you require, then great. I'll be interested to hear though if you have any downside to this move in terms of (say) 98 failing to support some of your new hardware.

In an office machine, where multimedia and the like are les important, you may have no regrets. Fingers crossed.
Click to expand...

They went out and bought computers off the shelf at Wal-Mart! Without consulting me!! :mad:

Their new computer with XP wouldn't get online; that was the original problem. The Comcast guy told them it had spyware (it had never been online).

All the other computers on the network/in the office used Win98. They were going out to buy Word and other office programs for their new OS.

They were looking at an 11,000 dollar upgrade for their inventory program to work on XP?? Yeah...

They have been told not to make any computer moves without consulting us first. There are a lot of people out there gouging businesses in the computer field. 11 Thousand Dollars. It's a DOS program. :rolleyes:

We are crossing our fingers that this fix works and everyone will be happy and count their money saved.
 
And they'll pay you 10% of the savings by way of thanks, right?
:D :D

It dawns that Tami now has an unused and possibly licenced copy of XP, which can be mailed to Pazuzu, thus solving the original problem.
 
Their new computer with XP wouldn't get online; that was the original problem.
Click to expand...
Slightly OT, but if an XP pc has trouble on an 98/Me network or vice versa a trick is to install IPX/SPX on the machines. Even if you only use TCP/IP that can solve some compatibility problems.
 
[OS-religious-mode]

I would uninstall WinMe and break the CD into a thousand pieces rather than RE-installing it, personally. Pick something else - Linux, XP, WNT, W2K, W95, DOS 2.1, ANYTHING BUT WinMe! Erk. What a bastard of an OS. Nothing good ever came of it...

[/OS-religious-mode]
 
I wouldn't try to install Win XP on an older machine that originally had Win 98 installed. Too many hardware/driver incompatibility issues. Insufficient memory is another issue; I wouldn't bother installing Win XP on a machine with less than 512MB of matched memory. On a newer machine (built 2001 or later) Win XP is the best OS MS ever released, IMHO.

While I agree that Win Me is a dog of an OS, I have it running on my backup machine and I have it pretty well tamed. It'll run 6-10 days without needing a reboot and it crashes very rarely.
 
I have to tell you that I have just threw my laptop that had Windows ME off the window.

I got messages from VxD problems ( probably caused by PalTalk or ivisit). Dell told me that this message indicates a software problem.

It's a Dell Inspiron 8000 PIII 128 RAM.

What shall I put on? Windows 2000 or W98??? May I put XP on ?

I just can't keep on having the ME on!!!
 
Cleopatra, I'd recommend Win2K as the OS for that machine. It will run OK in 128MB and on the slightly lower power P3 CPUs. XP would work, but it would struggle to perform up to your expectations. Win2K may also struggle a little if you do not take care in setting up the pagefile to best advantage (PM me for some hints if you like).

[my_opinion]
Generally, I prefer to go with the Windows NT line of OS's (NT4, 2K, XP) in preference to the DOS-based OS's (Win95, 98, Me). They are much more stable, reliable and efficient on the same hardware, despite any loud comments you may hear to the contrary.
[/my_opinion]
 
I finally got rid of them. This new toy of mine Windows XP Profes. is very cool --it even has a voice recognition feature.

Anyway. A student of mine persuaded me to try to use OUTLOOK to manage my mails instead of OUTLOOK express.

I did it but I do not find how I program it to check for e-mail automatically every 5 min.

Any ideas?

Thanks.
 
Outlook

It depends on the Version Cleopatra,

For instance, on my version that option is under

Tools>Options>Internet E-mail>
There's a check box for "Check my local Network connection(s) for new mail every [xxx] minute(s)

Most of the slightly older versions have it in a similar Place. I believe Office XP's version is a little trickier to find.

SSR
 
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