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

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

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

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

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

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

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

me is an unstable programme as well as 98 and 95,i recommend reinstall this
will not fill up your hard drive and you will still be left with a decend
amount of free space aprox what you have now.as 4 partitions there is no need
to make a partition there is one automaticaly made by the pc programme format
disk.partitins are only realy recommended for a slave drive or when you have
a large gig hard drive so you dont loose stuff on the large drive so then you
make a secondry partition and also if you are making several partitions then
you need to make enough raids also.i would recommend installing a new drive
of 80 gig this will cost £45 then xp home the computer.this will in the long
run save you a lot of time and effort.

Would you like to say that again - in English, so that we can actually form
an opinion as it it's validity? - at the moment it looks like total rubbish!


--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"charlie tee" wrote in message
...
me is an unstable programme as well as 98 and 95,i recommend reinstall
this
will not fill up your hard drive and you will still be left with a decend
amount of free space aprox what you have now.as 4 partitions there is no
need
to make a partition there is one automaticaly made by the pc programme
format
disk.partitins are only realy recommended for a slave drive or when you
have
a large gig hard drive so you dont loose stuff on the large drive so then
you
make a secondry partition and also if you are making several partitions
then
you need to make enough raids also.i would recommend installing a new
drive
of 80 gig this will cost £45 then xp home the computer.this will in the
long
run save you a lot of time and effort.