A Windows ME question?

[1966]

I have been brought a Windows ME machine with the complaint of it running slowly, meaning it takes for ever just to click the start button and get any thing to open. Click anything and its F O R E V E R before it goes where you ask. This emachine, don't laugh needs to be reformatted and since the budget is supertight she can't afford to spend a whole bunch of money right
now and to make matters worse she doesn't have Win ME. I put more memory
in it, 64 megs of pc100 and machine begin acting like a jet but anyway the question, I saw on another forum a comment about Win ME being easily corrupted after being used on the internet. Is there any truth to that? I ask because the machine trys to works but gets lost in a loop of error messages
after a while, over and over and the only way to get out is to shut it down which is what the owner was doing. I may recommend putting Win98SE on it instead for stability reasons anyway. It just used to surf the net. Any thoughts? Is there a repair mode for ME?

[Donn]

Sorry for all the edits, I am a little slow tonight. . . .


That's a lot of questions, but let's see if I can deal with the phenomena you report.

1. It would help a lot if you would report exactly what the error messages are, what they say, what reerence numbers they display.

2. It would also help to know if it is updated on Win Me, Internet Explorer, AV, and any anti-spyware tools like Spybot and Adaware.

3. The symptoms you report--slow operation, error messages, could indicate the presence of spyware or adware or trojan/viruses infecting it.

4. No, there is not truth to the idea tha Me corrupts just becauswe you use it on the internet; what causees the corruption is the machine being unprotected.

5. Yes there is a repair mechanisms called "System Restore," but, of course, you have to know a date to restore it to when the symptoms were NOT operating. [edit] I wouldn't recommend doing that now.

6. First thing is do a basic clean out--Tools > Internet Options > Delete Cookies > Click ok > Click Delete Files > check the box for off line content > click ok, click ok to close the box. Dump your recycle bin. Dbl click 'My Comuter' put %TEMP% in the address bar and delete all that will delete. If you do it from safe mode you can delete everything.

It wouldn't hurt to do all this from safe mode. (You cannot download from safe mode).

7. [edit] Since you are not reporting that you have checked it for spyware and adware, I am going to assume at least the likelihood that this could be what is slowing everything down. There are a number of hardware issues to be addressed, but without knowing what those error boxes say exactly, perhaps the best thing to do is treat it like a spyware/adware clog-up, and download the tools to check it, and then clean it if it needs. Download Spybot here:

http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022-10122137.html?part=dl-spybot&subj=dl&tag=but

as soon as you download it, BEFORE you install it, log off the net, then disable your AV (right click the tray icon and choose to close or disable it), and then ctrl-alt-del- to close the AV program, THEN, and only then, install it. Once you have it installed look for the update icon and go back on the net and update it--VERY important. Then run spybot. Quarrentine everything it finds (just follow the prompts) then delete the quarrentine file.

Do the same for Adaware: http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5

Once you run these two tools, you should have a better idea of what is going on there.

I would also run an online scan: http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

click on "Scan Your PC" that will tell you if you have any viruses or trojans operating:

http://www.windowsecurity.com/trojanscan/

Click on "Scan my computer for Trojans"

If you have trojans you will have to disable your 'system restore' function because trojans will hide in those files, follow the instructions here:

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001012513122239?OpenDocument&src=sec_doc_nam

After all these things are done and whatever else needs to be done is completed, then you can update Me and IE if it needs to be done, but DO NOT attempt to update now. Let's just deal with the symptoms you report as above.

Do those things and post back what results. You have to let us know what you did/did not do so we can see what the next step to recommend is to be.

[pip22]

Sorry to butt in - hope you don't mind me adding my views. Whenever I see someone having problems with Windows ME I always give the same advice - dump it. You'll spend hours trying to fix it's many problems instead of using it for productive output or fun. If XP is out of the question (either because of money or inadequate hardware, then put 98SE on it which beats ME for stability (and fewer bugs) by a country mile. THEN deal with any other problems that may crop up (spyware, viruses etc.). Trying to sort out problems such as yours on an OS which itself is famous for all the wrong reasons, is just making life more difficult for you than it needs to be. Start off with an OS that is even today recognised by many as the best version of Windows prior to XP - and that's 98SE.

[1966]

Thanks, for the response. I have already done just that.

[stefanus]

Pip22 I agree with you, after the problems my Daughter has had recently I do not even want XP. Widows SE is okay by me. (Simple things for simple minds.)
Quote by: Andrei Kaleshnikov ;)

[Donn]

Well just for the record I disagree with all three of you--I have and Me and I love it, yep, gives a few problems now and then, but it's so simple, and Xp or Me or whatever, if you don't keep maintenancing them with anti-spyware and AV--as long oas you are using IE--you are a disaster wiating to happen, and you will be back on a forum fairly soon looking for help. The problem is not so much Me, it Internet Exploiter.

Good luck :)

[Whyzman]

I agree Donn, I have WinMe and it works just fine. I run it lean and mean...System Restore set to a minimum. I also use a couple of different Registry Cleaners on a regular basis which I'd do with any OS...

It might do well to set the option for this individual to dump the temporary internet files when the browser is closed in Advanced Security. Running Spybot Search & Destroy regularly also would take care of this possible issue.

[rond36]

I too agree with Donn and Whyzman. Win ME is a fairly good OS as long as you keep it cleaned out and defragmented and keep programs running in the backround to a minimum. I still run it on my other PC duel-boot with XP Pro. I can't run ME in this PC because ME doesn't support HT CPUs and detects my system as if it has 2 CPUs and it doesn't support duel CPUs

[Whyzman]

and keep programs running in the backround to a minimum.Thanks for adding that part rond!

I use selective startup also to constantly monitor/control background programs. It is most irritating the number of software programs that dump stuff into your startup without asking permission...

And, for those who enjoy letting their computers run 24/7 this is not a good idea with WinMe. One of the downsides of the OS is that it does not manage system resources well and the easy solution is to simply reboot resetting their values...