HP running Win ME Errors Galor....Total reinstall.....??

[Denvers Dawgs]

My sister just came home from school for the summer and her computer is a mess (errors galor popping up at start up, cd drives won't read disks, etc.) My question is how can I wipe out everything that is on the computer and then, reinstall with the recovery disks? I tried to do a system recovery today, but it wouldn't read the disks, in either drive? So is it possible to do a full system re-install, after totally emptying the hard drive? ANy help would be greatly appreciated....

[rallynavvie]

Your problem lies in the OS. If you want to avoid future problems I'd suggest getting a full install of XP or even 2000.

[reboot]

rallynavvie, why would the OS matter? The attempt is to do a complete install from scratch.

Most HP's (and others) are designed to boot to the cd-rom if no other bootable media is present.
I suggest you put in the first disk of the recovery set, and then start the computer. It should simply begin the "recovery".
If it doesn't, you can usually start the system with a floppy diskette, and then recover from there.

[rallynavvie]

My sister just came home from school for the summer and her computer is a mess (errors galor popping up at start up, cd drives won't read disks, etc.)

Preventive measures. If you're going to go to the trouble of completely reinstalling the OS you should maybe think about what got you to that point in the first place. I'd look at this as a good excuse to get something better

[gmatov]

So, is 2k or XP going to stop her from deleting stuff that she has no inklink whether she needs or not?

ME was a viable OS, not a good one, but still came on probably a few million computers, and I'd wager that over 90% are still running it.

Not an OS problem, probably the errors lie in the connection between the seat and the keyboard.

Also possible that there is a virus or worm or trojan on it. Possible also that it is an imaging program, filling up the drive, though he doesn't state that, and hogging memory. Bad programs that don't release memory. Etc.

Wipe and re-install, anyway. Never hurts, if you can save your data elsewhere.

Cheers,

George

[Scottie]

ME sucks really bad, I go back to 3.1 or 95 brfore I touched that again.

[Denvers Dawgs]

I hear what you are saying rallynavvie, but When she is at school I have no idea what she does with her comp like gmatov said. I agree the the OS isn't great, I myslef have XP, but it is built in to my hard drive so I can't put it on my sisters computer, and I'm not going to buy a new OS for her, so thats why I'm just re-installing the Original OS...Also, no doubt there are viruses on her comp. She has had her computer for 1 1/2 years with no virus software on it......Couldn't be leave that myself.....people who can't work a computer, shouldn't own one I say, but thats just cause I seem to be the only one around me that knows some about them, so ofcourse, when someone screws up there computer they come crying to me to fix it, like I'm some kind of comp tech, or program. I say why not do what I did, fool around so much on your computer and you'll learn what it doea/can do, and perhaps "YOU" can fix it yourself........

Sorry about the rant, got a little off track,,,,, thanx for all the suggestions guys....

[Cobra]

I used to run Windows ME before I got XP, and I wouldn't go back. It is a much easier system for people who just want their PC to work. If you are serious about making her PC "just go" then XP is a worthy investment. Although ME was an acceptable system, it just wasn't anywhere near as stable as XP and didn't ever "bounce back" from abuse like XP will.

Otherwise, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to reinstall ME from the recovery discs after a wipe. I used to do this with my Dell recovery discs under ME no bother. Your PC was sold with an operating system - it must be able to work with them. Try booting from them in your PC and see if they are bootable to test.

Should your PC ignore the CD, check in your BIOS that the boot sequence is:

1 - Floppy
2 - CD-ROM
3 - HDD

Invest in good antivirus software too, Norton AntiVirus 2004 is only £30 in Dixons. Again, I bought this and I haven't looked back. It's on auto and it just works.

You may want to put ZoneAlarm on her PC - I know for a fact that this works under both ME and XP, and does a good job of keeping the "nasties" out.

Also, why not put Ad-Aware on her PC? When kept updated, and run once a week, her PC will be kept nicely clear of spyware and all the other crap that comes down from the Internet.

Lastly, and most importantly, you must educate her on how to treat the PC and how to keep it updated so it is safe. A basic knowledge of what a PC needs will allow her to maintain it nicely.

I myslef have XP, but it is built in to my hard drive so I can't put it on my sisters computer, and I'm not going to buy a new OS for her

This would be piracy anyway, and XP would require activation which would be impossible - the copy would try to register itself against a new computer and Microsoft wouldn't allow it.

Anyway, hopefully some of this helps.

Cobra

[Denvers Dawgs]

OK I finally got it all to work, problem was an error on the cd drive, that I fixed. Thanx for all your help.

Cobra

Using Ad-aware is something that I do use and had mentioned to her to use, but not sure if she did. Also, I would recommend the CWSHredder program, which deletes and fixes any website hijacks and things of that nature....Once again thanx for your help...

One last question how do you highlight what I say with "Denvers Dawgs wrote"?

[Cobra]

Here's what you type:

	

		

			

			
				
				
I am a member of VideoHelp.
			
		
	

Which results in:

I am a member of VideoHelp.

All you add is:

="username here"

...into the quote box as shown.

Glad you got your PC to work.

Take it easy,

Cobra

[Denvers Dawgs]

thanx for the info....

[Greg12]

Me was a piece of Sh!t operating system that was low quality even for microsoft.


BURN THOSE RECOVERY DISKS and upgrade to Windows XP. Dont waste your time doing a reinstall, just go to Windows XP. You will be much happier

As for backup, you can just burn the stuff to CD.

I'm serious

Get rid of ME

You can get a windows xp upgrade for Windows me, it will ask u to insert the ME disk during install if u do a clean install, it just makes sure it's a ME disk and then it' will install XP.

[gmatov]

Not all people can spring for a hundred or 2 for a new OS.

Not all people want to learn a new OS.

Not all people even have a machine that can load XP, as it does, I believe, require more RAM than ME, just as 98 requires more than 95, and will not even attempt to install.

It is all well and good of you to say "Get rid of it.", but then, you don't know the circumstances of thi particular person's system nor finances.

When some of you get to the age where you are putting kids through college, rather than having your parents pay the tariff for you, you might have a better idea of the funds that can be freed up.

I was able to work OT to get my youngest through, but it was a few years ago. In the interim, tuition has risen to the point that you almost have to be considered rich to put 1 or more through school.

Good luck to you youngsters. I would not want to have to put a kid through college, today. Tuition is at least twice what it was. And, that is big bucks, kiddies.

Cheers,

George

[Greg12]

Windows XP upgrade is like 79 dollars and u might be able to get it even cheaper if your in school.

[Denvers Dawgs]

I just wanted to say that I started this thread to get MY SISTERS computer up and running again.....I thank you all for your info, I was able to do a full re-install.....so problem solved.


I myself do have Win Xp, and yes it is much superior to ME, but I'm not going to spend $$ on a computer that is not mine....and ME is just fine for her (used for school), doesn't use it to do video stuff, just the basic college crap......thanx again for answering my original post

[gmatov]

And, if Greg12 is in college, and types as he does, I would suggest that his parents either send him to remedial typing, or juat yank him out of school, alltogether.

Jesus, lad, get your act together. Learn the basics. At least learn to spell and type.

You win no kudos, here, by spelling as though you bypassed the first 8 years of school.

Cheers,

George

[Cobra]

Denvers Dawgs,

I am a student, and I know what basic requirements your sister will be placing on her machine. If Windows ME still gives her trouble, you could try Linux. I use Mandrake Linux because it's the most newbie-friendly, with the Gnome GUI (slightly more friendly than KDE). It looks good, it's stable and comes with a full complement of office tools. It also has a decent media player so she can use her PC for music etc. and I know that's important!

However, Linux can be a total in my experience, especially when you download something needing compiled. You may be better learning (it shouldn't take long, I still need to do this) how and installing everything she needs.

Linux comes with the Lilo bootloader. Don't use Grub, trust me. On startup, your sister could select Windows or Linux. This means you could have both Windows and Linux on the machine, which is ideal. This is what I do, and it's good.

Mandrake Linux is free to download.

Just a suggestion...

Cobra

(Edited to add link for download)