Very simple question about Windows ME

[Noreene Patrick]

I have a computer that was bought many years ago with Windows ME and later ME had a problem, bought XP, and had installed(by someone else)..ran fine for about 2 years, then just last week the computer wouldnt pull windows up, just sat there trying to load. I took it to the local computer store to have it fixed. Since I couldnt find any of my windows cds (3 small children here) they only rebuilt the original windows ME. Now, I cant get my printer (Lexmark) to work.

If I buy ANOTHER windows xp cd, can I just insert the cd and it will load over ME or do I have to uninstall ME...I am a novice at windows and I am afraid to try things on my own..but, I really cant afford to take it back to the computer store again.

Thanks,

PS also, everything I had on my hard drive was erased..is that what they would have to do to rebuild my windows?

 

[Minkey]

I would recommend removing ME completely (it's a rubbish version of windows and is no longer supported) and installing XP from scratch here is a very comprehensive guide with screen shots on the left hand side, don't be too put off it does go into a lot of detail but one thing I would point out that at stage 9 it will detect you copy of ME at this point you can choose to delete the partition ME is on.

You'll then need to recreate a partition for XP to be installed on (choose NTFS - not the quick option).

Don't worry about service packs, if you buy a new copy of XP it will have SP2 on it already. Unfortunately because they installed ME again I doubt you can get your XP key which is a shame because you can get your XP key from an installation then you could have used a friends disk to do the install with your key (perfectly legal to do).

One other thing to be aware of you may have download drivers and software for all your peripherals and hardware if they are not part of windows by default, again may sound daunting but it does depend on what hardware you've got and it's not too difficult.

If you have any questions before you go ahead post them.

Oh one more thing if you do buy a new XP disk it comes with a sticker of the key why not put it on your PC out of prying hands and you can always e-mail it to yourself then you'll never loose it. You can then make a copy of the original onto a disk and store it safely or use someone else's XP disk.

 

[Noreene Patrick]

Thank you, Minkey..it does sound daunting. Especially to a beginner like me.

It may come to that and if so, I will certainly ask more questions.

Thank you very much.

Noreene

 

[zelld]

believe me mate, it is worth the effort. just make sure you have a good antivirus setup running in your system, and you'll be golden.