windows me help please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jimmydingle]

i was given a computer with mil edition + a # of other programs-i think it has been infested wth viruses as it is very very slow (unuseably so)-there is no anti virus software installed-i want to keep it but how do i make it useable again? i am computer challenged so i reallt appreciate any help

 

[TTinCO]

First, go to windowsupdate.com & make sure you have all the critical updates.

Then go to www.trendmicro.com & select free tools-they have a free online virus scanner. Let me know what it finds.

Regardless of the virus situation, go to www.download.com & download the free version of AdAware. Install and run it-remove whatever it detects as a threat.

That's a good start.

 

[jimmydingle]

will do-thanks

 

[BaseballGuy]

i was given a computer with mil edition + a # of other programs-i think it has been infested wth viruses as it is very very slow (unuseably so)-there is no anti virus software installed-i want to keep it but how do i make it useable again? i am computer challenged so i reallt appreciate any help

Your best bet is to upgrade the operating system to Windows XP, or Windows 2000 Professional.

Windows ME is loaded with bugs and will never work 100 percent. That said your computer may not be able to handle XP. You need atleast 256MB of Ram and I would suggest 512MB

Good Luck.

 

[jimmydingle]

thanks bg-how do i delete me (and everything else on there) before installing xp?

 

[1cheater]

You would have to formatt? Not familiar, I have Win98 and that's all I have dealt with, But I believe formatt and load the other OS..

 

[hellah10]

thanks bg-how do i delete me (and everything else on there) before installing xp?

if you have an XP CD...then pop it in...restart your computer and it should boot off the CD...it will say "Press any key to boot off CD"...or something like that...it`ll then go through what they call a text install (blue screen)...it`ll have you format (where you lose everything...so back up what you need) and re-partition the drive...then once thats done, it`ll start copying and installing the system files needed to install XP. It`ll then restart and go into the XP splash screen where it installs the rest of the crap

If you dont have XP...I can upload and ISO image for ya (corp. edition) and instructions on how to get around the validation process.

Remember...back yo stuff up

 

[TTinCO]

Actually, I'm almost certain you can upgrade to XP from ME without reformatting (but that won't get rid of your virus if you have one).

 

[1cheater]

Best bet would be to formatt if he is infested?

 

[TTinCO]

Yeah, a reformat would definitely get rid of it-but there are much less drastic measures than can be taken to get rid of the virus.

Windows ME is pretty crappy-so I'd upgrade it anyhow (after getting rid of whatever virus it may or may not have).

 

[jimmydingle]

thank you all for the help-

i have a xp disk that came when i bought my laptop-can i stick that in this computer to load (and get rid of everything else as hellah suggests?)

 

[TTinCO]

You have a couple options.....


1) Reformat & install Xp clean (you lose EVERYTHING)
2) Get rid of the virus(do you have one?), and then upgrade\install over the top of the WinME installation (you lose very little if anything).

If you don't care about anything on the machine, a reformat is the way to go-but you'll have to reinstall all your applications.

After you get Xp running, be sure to go to windowsupdate.com repeatedly until you have all the critical updates. Then do a virus\spyware scan to get rid of what you got before being fully updated (it's really that bad).

 

[jimmydingle]

thanks for all of the suggestions gang

i took the xp cd that came with my laptop + installed it in the desktop-things seem to be working well after following TTInco advice about getting updates/spyware software-now i just need to get another xp disk to reinstal in the laptop, right? as soon as i put the disk in the desktop, my laptop shut down (maybe licensed software?)