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ME scrub and reinstall



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 15th 06, 06:38 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.setup
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default ME scrub and reinstall

I have a secondary computer running Win ME. It only has 6.4GB of hard disk
but it is useful as an internet network machine for my family to access the
internet/email.
It is currently partitioned. It is a little unstable (every second boot it
hangs and I have to restart + other annoying things) and I want to scrub
everything off both partitions and reinstall WinME and I am not bothered if I
have 1 partition or none.
I would be grateful if someone could explain how to do this in easy steps as
I am very unsure. Alternatively if anyone could point me to an article that
would help I would also be grateful.
Many thanks
--
AW
  #2  
Old April 15th 06, 07:18 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.setup
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default ME scrub and reinstall

If you want to do a clean install then as a starting point, take a look at
(and print out) the "cleanhd.txt" file in the win9x folder on your WinMe CD.
You can also view the "Windows Millennium Edition Cleanhd.txt File Contents"
at:
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;271673
Study it carefully and be sure you have a note of your 'productid' code (the
15 digit code that is supplied with your CD) and - if your WinMe CD is an
'upgrade' version (rather than a 'full version') - some proof of a 'previous
version'. - e.g. a Win98 CD (N.B not required for OEM)

Also, remember that ALL data will all be erased when you format the disk.

HTH and good luck

Mart



"AW" wrote in message
...
I have a secondary computer running Win ME. It only has 6.4GB of hard disk
but it is useful as an internet network machine for my family to access
the
internet/email.
It is currently partitioned. It is a little unstable (every second boot it
hangs and I have to restart + other annoying things) and I want to scrub
everything off both partitions and reinstall WinME and I am not bothered
if I
have 1 partition or none.
I would be grateful if someone could explain how to do this in easy steps
as
I am very unsure. Alternatively if anyone could point me to an article
that
would help I would also be grateful.
Many thanks
--
AW



  #3  
Old April 15th 06, 07:25 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.setup
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default ME scrub and reinstall

This might be helpful:

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/inst...llme/index.htm

Before you begin MAKE SURE that you have your Windows product Key! You
need that to install Windows. I can't see much benefit having a small
drive like that devided into 2 partitions. It's up to you but if you
want to make it into a single partition use fdisk to delete and recreate
the partition:

How to Use the Fdisk Tool and the Format Tool to Partition or
Repartition a Hard Disk
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;q255867

FDISK SIMULATION
http://www.computerhope.com/sfdisk1.htm

John

AW wrote:
I have a secondary computer running Win ME. It only has 6.4GB of hard disk
but it is useful as an internet network machine for my family to access the
internet/email.
It is currently partitioned. It is a little unstable (every second boot it
hangs and I have to restart + other annoying things) and I want to scrub
everything off both partitions and reinstall WinME and I am not bothered if I
have 1 partition or none.
I would be grateful if someone could explain how to do this in easy steps as
I am very unsure. Alternatively if anyone could point me to an article that
would help I would also be grateful.
Many thanks

  #4  
Old April 16th 06, 09:11 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.setup
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default ME scrub and reinstall

Mart and John John.
Many thanks for your assistance with this thread - this will help me
enormously.
Regards
--
AW


"John John" wrote:

This might be helpful:

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/inst...llme/index.htm

Before you begin MAKE SURE that you have your Windows product Key! You
need that to install Windows. I can't see much benefit having a small
drive like that devided into 2 partitions. It's up to you but if you
want to make it into a single partition use fdisk to delete and recreate
the partition:

How to Use the Fdisk Tool and the Format Tool to Partition or
Repartition a Hard Disk
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;q255867

FDISK SIMULATION
http://www.computerhope.com/sfdisk1.htm

John

AW wrote:
I have a secondary computer running Win ME. It only has 6.4GB of hard disk
but it is useful as an internet network machine for my family to access the
internet/email.
It is currently partitioned. It is a little unstable (every second boot it
hangs and I have to restart + other annoying things) and I want to scrub
everything off both partitions and reinstall WinME and I am not bothered if I
have 1 partition or none.
I would be grateful if someone could explain how to do this in easy steps as
I am very unsure. Alternatively if anyone could point me to an article that
would help I would also be grateful.
Many thanks


  #5  
Old April 16th 06, 10:08 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.setup
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default ME scrub and reinstall

You're most welcome - remember to come back here if you hit any snags,
there's always someone around to help you resolve most WinMe issues.

Good luck

Mart


"AW" wrote in message
...
Mart and John John.
Many thanks for your assistance with this thread - this will help me
enormously.
Regards
--
AW


"John John" wrote:

This might be helpful:

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/inst...llme/index.htm

Before you begin MAKE SURE that you have your Windows product Key! You
need that to install Windows. I can't see much benefit having a small
drive like that devided into 2 partitions. It's up to you but if you
want to make it into a single partition use fdisk to delete and recreate
the partition:

How to Use the Fdisk Tool and the Format Tool to Partition or
Repartition a Hard Disk
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;q255867

FDISK SIMULATION
http://www.computerhope.com/sfdisk1.htm

John

AW wrote:
I have a secondary computer running Win ME. It only has 6.4GB of hard
disk
but it is useful as an internet network machine for my family to access
the
internet/email.
It is currently partitioned. It is a little unstable (every second boot
it
hangs and I have to restart + other annoying things) and I want to
scrub
everything off both partitions and reinstall WinME and I am not
bothered if I
have 1 partition or none.
I would be grateful if someone could explain how to do this in easy
steps as
I am very unsure. Alternatively if anyone could point me to an article
that
would help I would also be grateful.
Many thanks




  #6  
Old April 17th 06, 01:14 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.setup
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default ME scrub and reinstall

Mart
I may not have to do the reinstall if you could possibly help with a problem
using ME.
Sometimes the machine locks up and I have to reboot. The boot starts
normally but hangs in the middle of it. Then I have to switch the box off and
restart which brings about the check disk/files and folders and I have to
wait for this to finish and then it boots normally.
Sometimes the machine hangs on the first boot of the day. Have you
encountered this and can you offer any advice?
Thanks
--
AW


"Mart" wrote:

You're most welcome - remember to come back here if you hit any snags,
there's always someone around to help you resolve most WinMe issues.

Good luck

Mart


"AW" wrote in message
...
Mart and John John.
Many thanks for your assistance with this thread - this will help me
enormously.
Regards
--
AW


"John John" wrote:

This might be helpful:

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/inst...llme/index.htm

Before you begin MAKE SURE that you have your Windows product Key! You
need that to install Windows. I can't see much benefit having a small
drive like that devided into 2 partitions. It's up to you but if you
want to make it into a single partition use fdisk to delete and recreate
the partition:

How to Use the Fdisk Tool and the Format Tool to Partition or
Repartition a Hard Disk
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;q255867

FDISK SIMULATION
http://www.computerhope.com/sfdisk1.htm

John

AW wrote:
I have a secondary computer running Win ME. It only has 6.4GB of hard
disk
but it is useful as an internet network machine for my family to access
the
internet/email.
It is currently partitioned. It is a little unstable (every second boot
it
hangs and I have to restart + other annoying things) and I want to
scrub
everything off both partitions and reinstall WinME and I am not
bothered if I
have 1 partition or none.
I would be grateful if someone could explain how to do this in easy
steps as
I am very unsure. Alternatively if anyone could point me to an article
that
would help I would also be grateful.
Many thanks




  #7  
Old April 17th 06, 02:35 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.setup
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default ME scrub and reinstall

AW, could be a tricky one, but I have heard/seen 'similar' reports and
symptoms.

What happens if, at the 'first boot of the day' you boot from your floppy a
couple of times and THEN boot normally?

That you have a 6.4GB hard disk suggests a 'fairly old' one whose bearings
*may* be beginning to dry out and a first-of-the-day 'cold boot' *might* be
just enough for it to struggle to spin up to speed to load WinMe properly.
That first (failed) boot *may* then be just enough to 'warm-up' the hard
drive so that the next re-boot proceeds (a forced scandisk will result, due
to you having to switch off and on again, without a 'proper' shutdown) and
WinMe loads normally.

I have come across this condition myself once with a HDD and several times
with old CD-ROM's - and in the case of CD-ROM's, I have actually managed to
put a spot of oil on the bearing, prolonging their lives slightly - not
possible with HDD's of course.

There is another condition (although not quite the same as yours) where the
pc always boots straight into a 'forced' scandisk - even when it has
previously shut down normally. This *may* be worth a look at and confirming
that the patch has been installed/updated on your machine, perhaps even
experimenting with. See :-
"ScanDisk Runs Even Though Windows Shut Down Correctly"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/273017/en-us

Take a look at the files bootlog.prv and bootlog.txt (in the root folder of
the C: drive) using Notepad to read them. You *might* get a clue as to what
is causing it to hang.

It might also be worth trying Boot Log Analyzer (Freeware) from
http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/pk29/
It might help you to pin down the cause of the slow boot-ups. (NB - Although
it says Win95/98, it also works on WinME)

Look at the 'Duration' column and look for an event (or events) taking
several 'tens' of seconds, instead of fractions of seconds.

Also see "Load Failures Listed in the Bootlog.txt File"
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;127970

If you not sure how to decipher the results, you might need to seek the
assistance of your local PC repair shop. See their note :- " ...
interpreting the results requires in-depth technical knowledge."

Plenty to go at and I hope that it helps

Mart



"AW" wrote in message
...
Mart
I may not have to do the reinstall if you could possibly help with a
problem
using ME.
Sometimes the machine locks up and I have to reboot. The boot starts
normally but hangs in the middle of it. Then I have to switch the box off
and
restart which brings about the check disk/files and folders and I have to
wait for this to finish and then it boots normally.
Sometimes the machine hangs on the first boot of the day. Have you
encountered this and can you offer any advice?
Thanks
--
AW


"Mart" wrote:

You're most welcome - remember to come back here if you hit any snags,
there's always someone around to help you resolve most WinMe issues.

Good luck

Mart


"AW" wrote in message
...
Mart and John John.
Many thanks for your assistance with this thread - this will help me
enormously.
Regards
--
AW


"John John" wrote:

This might be helpful:

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/inst...llme/index.htm

Before you begin MAKE SURE that you have your Windows product Key!
You
need that to install Windows. I can't see much benefit having a small
drive like that devided into 2 partitions. It's up to you but if you
want to make it into a single partition use fdisk to delete and
recreate
the partition:

How to Use the Fdisk Tool and the Format Tool to Partition or
Repartition a Hard Disk
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;q255867

FDISK SIMULATION
http://www.computerhope.com/sfdisk1.htm

John

AW wrote:
I have a secondary computer running Win ME. It only has 6.4GB of
hard
disk
but it is useful as an internet network machine for my family to
access
the
internet/email.
It is currently partitioned. It is a little unstable (every second
boot
it
hangs and I have to restart + other annoying things) and I want to
scrub
everything off both partitions and reinstall WinME and I am not
bothered if I
have 1 partition or none.
I would be grateful if someone could explain how to do this in easy
steps as
I am very unsure. Alternatively if anyone could point me to an
article
that
would help I would also be grateful.
Many thanks






  #8  
Old April 17th 06, 05:13 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.setup
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default ME scrub and reinstall

Mart
Nine times out of ten the first boot of the day is OK. The machine has been
locking up at times recently (for no apparent reason) and if I switch it off
at the box and start it up again the boot starts but hangs. If I switch it
off at the box again it boots normally. I have recently had trouble with
Liveupdate from Norton for my Firewall and AV software (i.e it wouldn't
update). I then took the decision to remove Norton Firewall 2003 and Norton
AV 2004 but I had problems removing these (i.e they wouldn't uninstall -
that's when I considered a clean install). Finally I managed to remove Norton
AV 2004 correctly (Control Panel\Add or Remove Programs) but I had to access
the Symantec site for a tool to uninstall Norton Personal Firewall 2003. All
components are now uninstalled. Do you possibly think it was the Norton
products that were causing the problems? I network the ME machine with my
main machine (XP) and I have reconfigured the XP machine so that everything
should now go via Norton Personal Firewall on the XP machine. I will give it
a few days and see what happens. If everything is OK I will download the
Grisoft AVG software for the ME machine instead of Norton. If not I will read
the links/bootlog files that you provided and if I can't find an answer I may
yet do a clean install. Do you know of any free tools that would check the
software status/stability of the computer running ME that offers fixes?
Thanks again
--
AW


"Mart" wrote:

AW, could be a tricky one, but I have heard/seen 'similar' reports and
symptoms.

What happens if, at the 'first boot of the day' you boot from your floppy a
couple of times and THEN boot normally?

That you have a 6.4GB hard disk suggests a 'fairly old' one whose bearings
*may* be beginning to dry out and a first-of-the-day 'cold boot' *might* be
just enough for it to struggle to spin up to speed to load WinMe properly.
That first (failed) boot *may* then be just enough to 'warm-up' the hard
drive so that the next re-boot proceeds (a forced scandisk will result, due
to you having to switch off and on again, without a 'proper' shutdown) and
WinMe loads normally.

I have come across this condition myself once with a HDD and several times
with old CD-ROM's - and in the case of CD-ROM's, I have actually managed to
put a spot of oil on the bearing, prolonging their lives slightly - not
possible with HDD's of course.

There is another condition (although not quite the same as yours) where the
pc always boots straight into a 'forced' scandisk - even when it has
previously shut down normally. This *may* be worth a look at and confirming
that the patch has been installed/updated on your machine, perhaps even
experimenting with. See :-
"ScanDisk Runs Even Though Windows Shut Down Correctly"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/273017/en-us

Take a look at the files bootlog.prv and bootlog.txt (in the root folder of
the C: drive) using Notepad to read them. You *might* get a clue as to what
is causing it to hang.

It might also be worth trying Boot Log Analyzer (Freeware) from
http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/pk29/
It might help you to pin down the cause of the slow boot-ups. (NB - Although
it says Win95/98, it also works on WinME)

Look at the 'Duration' column and look for an event (or events) taking
several 'tens' of seconds, instead of fractions of seconds.

Also see "Load Failures Listed in the Bootlog.txt File"
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;127970

If you not sure how to decipher the results, you might need to seek the
assistance of your local PC repair shop. See their note :- " ...
interpreting the results requires in-depth technical knowledge."

Plenty to go at and I hope that it helps

Mart



"AW" wrote in message
...
Mart
I may not have to do the reinstall if you could possibly help with a
problem
using ME.
Sometimes the machine locks up and I have to reboot. The boot starts
normally but hangs in the middle of it. Then I have to switch the box off
and
restart which brings about the check disk/files and folders and I have to
wait for this to finish and then it boots normally.
Sometimes the machine hangs on the first boot of the day. Have you
encountered this and can you offer any advice?
Thanks
--
AW


"Mart" wrote:

You're most welcome - remember to come back here if you hit any snags,
there's always someone around to help you resolve most WinMe issues.

Good luck

Mart


"AW" wrote in message
...
Mart and John John.
Many thanks for your assistance with this thread - this will help me
enormously.
Regards
--
AW


"John John" wrote:

This might be helpful:

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/inst...llme/index.htm

Before you begin MAKE SURE that you have your Windows product Key!
You
need that to install Windows. I can't see much benefit having a small
drive like that devided into 2 partitions. It's up to you but if you
want to make it into a single partition use fdisk to delete and
recreate
the partition:

How to Use the Fdisk Tool and the Format Tool to Partition or
Repartition a Hard Disk
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;q255867

FDISK SIMULATION
http://www.computerhope.com/sfdisk1.htm

John

AW wrote:
I have a secondary computer running Win ME. It only has 6.4GB of
hard
disk
but it is useful as an internet network machine for my family to
access
the
internet/email.
It is currently partitioned. It is a little unstable (every second
boot
it
hangs and I have to restart + other annoying things) and I want to
scrub
everything off both partitions and reinstall WinME and I am not
bothered if I
have 1 partition or none.
I would be grateful if someone could explain how to do this in easy
steps as
I am very unsure. Alternatively if anyone could point me to an
article
that
would help I would also be grateful.
Many thanks







  #9  
Old April 17th 06, 07:01 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.setup
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default ME scrub and reinstall

Wow!! - That puts a completely different complexion on the whole story - so
much so that you can probably ignore my previous posts.

Far be it for me to comment on (any) Norton (product) - others who visit
these pages are far better qualified vbg but I'm sure that it would be
'helpful' to remove ALL Symantec/Norton utilities and find (free)
alternatives. Let Google be you friend!

Although not an endorsement, I use AVG (free) and have for quite some time
and it's kept me clear of virii (famous last words!). Avast is also
'approved' by many of the visitors to these pages. ZoneAlarm (free) is often
regarded as a reasonably good Firewall, although I now use the one integral
to my router for WinMe.

Mart


"AW" wrote in message
...
Mart
Nine times out of ten the first boot of the day is OK. The machine has
been
locking up at times recently (for no apparent reason) and if I switch it
off
at the box and start it up again the boot starts but hangs. If I switch it
off at the box again it boots normally. I have recently had trouble with
Liveupdate from Norton for my Firewall and AV software (i.e it wouldn't
update). I then took the decision to remove Norton Firewall 2003 and
Norton
AV 2004 but I had problems removing these (i.e they wouldn't uninstall -
that's when I considered a clean install). Finally I managed to remove
Norton
AV 2004 correctly (Control Panel\Add or Remove Programs) but I had to
access
the Symantec site for a tool to uninstall Norton Personal Firewall 2003.
All
components are now uninstalled. Do you possibly think it was the Norton
products that were causing the problems? I network the ME machine with my
main machine (XP) and I have reconfigured the XP machine so that
everything
should now go via Norton Personal Firewall on the XP machine. I will give
it
a few days and see what happens. If everything is OK I will download the
Grisoft AVG software for the ME machine instead of Norton. If not I will
read
the links/bootlog files that you provided and if I can't find an answer I
may
yet do a clean install. Do you know of any free tools that would check the
software status/stability of the computer running ME that offers fixes?
Thanks again
--
AW


"Mart" wrote:

AW, could be a tricky one, but I have heard/seen 'similar' reports and
symptoms.

What happens if, at the 'first boot of the day' you boot from your floppy
a
couple of times and THEN boot normally?

That you have a 6.4GB hard disk suggests a 'fairly old' one whose
bearings
*may* be beginning to dry out and a first-of-the-day 'cold boot' *might*
be
just enough for it to struggle to spin up to speed to load WinMe
properly.
That first (failed) boot *may* then be just enough to 'warm-up' the hard
drive so that the next re-boot proceeds (a forced scandisk will result,
due
to you having to switch off and on again, without a 'proper' shutdown)
and
WinMe loads normally.

I have come across this condition myself once with a HDD and several
times
with old CD-ROM's - and in the case of CD-ROM's, I have actually managed
to
put a spot of oil on the bearing, prolonging their lives slightly - not
possible with HDD's of course.

There is another condition (although not quite the same as yours) where
the
pc always boots straight into a 'forced' scandisk - even when it has
previously shut down normally. This *may* be worth a look at and
confirming
that the patch has been installed/updated on your machine, perhaps even
experimenting with. See :-
"ScanDisk Runs Even Though Windows Shut Down Correctly"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/273017/en-us

Take a look at the files bootlog.prv and bootlog.txt (in the root folder
of
the C: drive) using Notepad to read them. You *might* get a clue as to
what
is causing it to hang.

It might also be worth trying Boot Log Analyzer (Freeware) from
http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/pk29/
It might help you to pin down the cause of the slow boot-ups. (NB -
Although
it says Win95/98, it also works on WinME)

Look at the 'Duration' column and look for an event (or events) taking
several 'tens' of seconds, instead of fractions of seconds.

Also see "Load Failures Listed in the Bootlog.txt File"
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;127970

If you not sure how to decipher the results, you might need to seek the
assistance of your local PC repair shop. See their note :- " ...
interpreting the results requires in-depth technical knowledge."

Plenty to go at and I hope that it helps

Mart



"AW" wrote in message
...
Mart
I may not have to do the reinstall if you could possibly help with a
problem
using ME.
Sometimes the machine locks up and I have to reboot. The boot starts
normally but hangs in the middle of it. Then I have to switch the box
off
and
restart which brings about the check disk/files and folders and I have
to
wait for this to finish and then it boots normally.
Sometimes the machine hangs on the first boot of the day. Have you
encountered this and can you offer any advice?
Thanks
--
AW


"Mart" wrote:

You're most welcome - remember to come back here if you hit any snags,
there's always someone around to help you resolve most WinMe issues.

Good luck

Mart


"AW" wrote in message
...
Mart and John John.
Many thanks for your assistance with this thread - this will help me
enormously.
Regards
--
AW


"John John" wrote:

This might be helpful:

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/inst...llme/index.htm

Before you begin MAKE SURE that you have your Windows product Key!
You
need that to install Windows. I can't see much benefit having a
small
drive like that devided into 2 partitions. It's up to you but if
you
want to make it into a single partition use fdisk to delete and
recreate
the partition:

How to Use the Fdisk Tool and the Format Tool to Partition or
Repartition a Hard Disk
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;q255867

FDISK SIMULATION
http://www.computerhope.com/sfdisk1.htm

John

AW wrote:
I have a secondary computer running Win ME. It only has 6.4GB of
hard
disk
but it is useful as an internet network machine for my family to
access
the
internet/email.
It is currently partitioned. It is a little unstable (every
second
boot
it
hangs and I have to restart + other annoying things) and I want
to
scrub
everything off both partitions and reinstall WinME and I am not
bothered if I
have 1 partition or none.
I would be grateful if someone could explain how to do this in
easy
steps as
I am very unsure. Alternatively if anyone could point me to an
article
that
would help I would also be grateful.
Many thanks









  #10  
Old April 17th 06, 11:47 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.setup
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default ME scrub and reinstall

Well, I'm quite shocked to say the least. I had no idea that Norton products
could interfere with the smooth running of a machine. You would expect such
high profile, fairly costly products to be trouble free. I have also Norton
AV 2004 and Norton Personal Firewall 2003 running on my main XP machine and
they don't (yet) appear to cause any problems but I take your (sort of)
advice and may exchange them if problems do occur.
I will watch the ME machine and report back if there are still problems.
Thanks again for all your help
--
AW


"Mart" wrote:

Wow!! - That puts a completely different complexion on the whole story - so
much so that you can probably ignore my previous posts.

Far be it for me to comment on (any) Norton (product) - others who visit
these pages are far better qualified vbg but I'm sure that it would be
'helpful' to remove ALL Symantec/Norton utilities and find (free)
alternatives. Let Google be you friend!

Although not an endorsement, I use AVG (free) and have for quite some time
and it's kept me clear of virii (famous last words!). Avast is also
'approved' by many of the visitors to these pages. ZoneAlarm (free) is often
regarded as a reasonably good Firewall, although I now use the one integral
to my router for WinMe.

Mart


"AW" wrote in message
...
Mart
Nine times out of ten the first boot of the day is OK. The machine has
been
locking up at times recently (for no apparent reason) and if I switch it
off
at the box and start it up again the boot starts but hangs. If I switch it
off at the box again it boots normally. I have recently had trouble with
Liveupdate from Norton for my Firewall and AV software (i.e it wouldn't
update). I then took the decision to remove Norton Firewall 2003 and
Norton
AV 2004 but I had problems removing these (i.e they wouldn't uninstall -
that's when I considered a clean install). Finally I managed to remove
Norton
AV 2004 correctly (Control Panel\Add or Remove Programs) but I had to
access
the Symantec site for a tool to uninstall Norton Personal Firewall 2003.
All
components are now uninstalled. Do you possibly think it was the Norton
products that were causing the problems? I network the ME machine with my
main machine (XP) and I have reconfigured the XP machine so that
everything
should now go via Norton Personal Firewall on the XP machine. I will give
it
a few days and see what happens. If everything is OK I will download the
Grisoft AVG software for the ME machine instead of Norton. If not I will
read
the links/bootlog files that you provided and if I can't find an answer I
may
yet do a clean install. Do you know of any free tools that would check the
software status/stability of the computer running ME that offers fixes?
Thanks again
--
AW


"Mart" wrote:

AW, could be a tricky one, but I have heard/seen 'similar' reports and
symptoms.

What happens if, at the 'first boot of the day' you boot from your floppy
a
couple of times and THEN boot normally?

That you have a 6.4GB hard disk suggests a 'fairly old' one whose
bearings
*may* be beginning to dry out and a first-of-the-day 'cold boot' *might*
be
just enough for it to struggle to spin up to speed to load WinMe
properly.
That first (failed) boot *may* then be just enough to 'warm-up' the hard
drive so that the next re-boot proceeds (a forced scandisk will result,
due
to you having to switch off and on again, without a 'proper' shutdown)
and
WinMe loads normally.

I have come across this condition myself once with a HDD and several
times
with old CD-ROM's - and in the case of CD-ROM's, I have actually managed
to
put a spot of oil on the bearing, prolonging their lives slightly - not
possible with HDD's of course.

There is another condition (although not quite the same as yours) where
the
pc always boots straight into a 'forced' scandisk - even when it has
previously shut down normally. This *may* be worth a look at and
confirming
that the patch has been installed/updated on your machine, perhaps even
experimenting with. See :-
"ScanDisk Runs Even Though Windows Shut Down Correctly"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/273017/en-us

Take a look at the files bootlog.prv and bootlog.txt (in the root folder
of
the C: drive) using Notepad to read them. You *might* get a clue as to
what
is causing it to hang.

It might also be worth trying Boot Log Analyzer (Freeware) from
http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/pk29/
It might help you to pin down the cause of the slow boot-ups. (NB -
Although
it says Win95/98, it also works on WinME)

Look at the 'Duration' column and look for an event (or events) taking
several 'tens' of seconds, instead of fractions of seconds.

Also see "Load Failures Listed in the Bootlog.txt File"
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;127970

If you not sure how to decipher the results, you might need to seek the
assistance of your local PC repair shop. See their note :- " ...
interpreting the results requires in-depth technical knowledge."

Plenty to go at and I hope that it helps

Mart



"AW" wrote in message
...
Mart
I may not have to do the reinstall if you could possibly help with a
problem
using ME.
Sometimes the machine locks up and I have to reboot. The boot starts
normally but hangs in the middle of it. Then I have to switch the box
off
and
restart which brings about the check disk/files and folders and I have
to
wait for this to finish and then it boots normally.
Sometimes the machine hangs on the first boot of the day. Have you
encountered this and can you offer any advice?
Thanks
--
AW


"Mart" wrote:

You're most welcome - remember to come back here if you hit any snags,
there's always someone around to help you resolve most WinMe issues.

Good luck

Mart


"AW" wrote in message
...
Mart and John John.
Many thanks for your assistance with this thread - this will help me
enormously.
Regards
--
AW


"John John" wrote:

This might be helpful:

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/inst...llme/index.htm

Before you begin MAKE SURE that you have your Windows product Key!
You
need that to install Windows. I can't see much benefit having a
small
drive like that devided into 2 partitions. It's up to you but if
you
want to make it into a single partition use fdisk to delete and
recreate
the partition:

How to Use the Fdisk Tool and the Format Tool to Partition or
Repartition a Hard Disk
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;q255867

FDISK SIMULATION
http://www.computerhope.com/sfdisk1.htm

John

AW wrote:
I have a secondary computer running Win ME. It only has 6.4GB of
hard
disk
but it is useful as an internet network machine for my family to
access
the
internet/email.
It is currently partitioned. It is a little unstable (every
second
boot
it
hangs and I have to restart + other annoying things) and I want
to
scrub
everything off both partitions and reinstall WinME and I am not
bothered if I
have 1 partition or none.
I would be grateful if someone could explain how to do this in
easy
steps as
I am very unsure. Alternatively if anyone could point me to an
article
that
would help I would also be grateful.
Many thanks










 




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