I need a little help reloading win 98Me os

[LaurenG]

The problem is I live in Oh and the computer is in Colorado. I sent my computer to my son in May. I had msn, he loaded aol. It also had norton antivirus/firewall etc. I thought I had removed most of the junk on the system but the computer is really in bad shape. It's a dell pentium 4, a couple of slots for memory but can only take up to 256 megs. My guess is that norton has taken over and needs to be totally removed. However we all know finding all the "parts" in the registry is very difficult. Anyway, my best solution is to reinstall (fresh install) the os. Should I have him take it to a pro and if so where? Also would it be better to just buy xp? Solutions or suggestions appreciated.

on edit: Denver metro area

[hobbit709]

1. Most likely AOL is the culprit

Is that 98SE or ME? 98SE works better than ME any day. Unless it's a totally weird configuration 98 should install fairly easily as long as you have the drivers CD to finish up the install. Personally I wouldn't use XP. PM me with the specs such as motherboard, video, etc. and I can probably give you some hints.

[LaurenG]

2. It's ME

I have no idea on the specs as it's gone now and I will have to research that. I know that all of the disks are with the computer so the drivers can be reinstalled with the OS. Here is my question. Will he just put in the windows 98ME disk and the thing will re-install? I thought it would only correct problems but not do a brand new install. I am confused about using a start up disk to get it to do this. I have worked with 2000 here at work and the disk gives me the option of a clean install or a repair. I don't think ME has that option. Thanks for your help, I appreciate so much.

[hobbit709]

3. It should reinstall

It will ask if you want to save the old configuration. Click "Yes" and save the old one. If everything works OK after that you can delete the old configuration.

[LaurenG]

4. Thank you for your help I will pass this on to Colorado

I appreciate you taking your time to help me. Thanks again.:)

[hobbit709]

5. No problem

All I do is sit and fart around on computers all day. Just had to replace a CPU fan on my housemate's computer.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

10. You cannot "downgrade" from ME to 98SE

If you want 98SE you need to do a backup of your vital stuff and just start over (the hard drive must be reformatted). If you upgrade to Win2K, just put the 2K cd in, and the process will start. Before you start the upgrade, you will need to uninstall any virus programs and the printer, as 2K uses different drivers than 98 or ME.

[FormerDittoHead]

6. Here's what I would suggest:

You should be able to get a cheap copy of Windows 2000 on eBay. (Retail & new = $54 - http://tinyurl.com/agcdf )

Then, you want to get a copy of Norton Ghost. Again, you could probably find an older version on eBay (I see $20). (you'll need a CD burner or another PC and a network connection) Ghost is your Godsend. After you do a fresh install (including main applications and updates, use Ghost to make a copy of the windows partition (you should make a partition just for Windows and your main apps, to keep the data away from the programs) and you'll save yourself aggravation over and over again.

For the future, if it were to crash / become unusable, you'd boot from the CD/DVD, upon command it would completely wipe / restore your system, take the disk out, boot and everything works again!

Periodically, and certainly everytime BEFORE you add some major program (Windows updates, Photoshop, programming software, etc) I'd make another backup. The new versions of Ghost can do incremental backups, but I still use the old version so I don't know of the new features...

[LaurenG]

7. I am very comfortable with win2K

I have always partitioned using ntfs rather than the fat 32. I have found it more stable than any other version. I also would rather stay away from Norton because it will not un-install all the reg junk. However, I am open to suggestions and if Ghost is a good product, I'll go with it. Thank you for the suggestions. :hi:

[FormerDittoHead]

8. Ghost didn't start out as a Norton product.

In fact, the first version I used ran off of a floppy, but as I said I can't speak for the new versions.

I DO wish that software companies would respect their customers more and not "infect" their computers with a bunch of stuff that they didn't think they were getting. It would be like paying for cable TV and yet still having to watch commercials.... HEY!

[LaurenG]

9. Well Thank you again. I appreciate your help