I just obtained an extremely old computer, running Windows ME. It's only housing 3.25 GB, and I want to clear it off and leave nothing but windows. I'm sticking with this HD until I save up enough for a better HD. (I'm 14 mind you.)

Is there any program that will just wipe all programs and make this beast of a machine like a default install of Windows?

Just reinstalling would probably be the easiest and the quickest way. It will give you the best performance. If possible get rid of ME it is a terrible operating system really slow and buggy.

Yeah, but I don't have the CD's for ME, it was preinstalled from the store. I would wipe the drive completely, but Linux is a new learning curve and I refuse to go through that again.

Weird that you didn't get media for the computer from the store, does it have a back up partition?
Other than that you are just going to have to uninstall all the stuff you don't want and delete any files you don't need

My suggestion to you would be to use a program like this:
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html to get your CDKey (unless there is a sticker on your case) and then goto a torrent site and downloads Windows ME.

When you buy windows you pay for the key not really the CD so as long as you use your CD Key it's legit.

This install is so old and buggy, I can't just unistall the programs. They wont uninstall correctly. Vital windows files are missing; it's insane. Is there an alternative OS? I need an OS that I don't need to sit down and learn, Linux isn't that friendly. I'm not buying another Windows install (my small Drive wouldn't support the space requirement).

Which version(s) of Linux have you tried? I've heard that Ubuntu is not too difficult to learn (though I can't say that from my own personal experience.) You could download a CD, boot from that, try it for an hour and decide then if you want to install it or not. Worst case scenario, you played with Linux for an hour and learned something new?

That's not the main issue, if have the simple Windows function can't work, then I can't run Ubuntu. I'm on the 'Wipe or Die' phase on that PC. I just need that damn thing clear for a a couple basic apps. (Firefox, PlayerWorlds, etc.)

I am not generally one to reccomend Linux, specially as you said you don't want to learn it, but Ubuntu or really any distro is many, many times better than Windows ME and will run well on your old hardware. Even at the time, ME was garbage

So, should I wipe my HD clean? And If I do, how can I run a program CD if Windows isn't installed? (My expertise in computers lies in the web coding department)

I'm running an old IBM, Personal Computer 300PL, it's the Horizontal one most old schools have.

i recommend upgrading to windows vista Microsoft's latest product or windows XP

if you want to get these "cheap" buy a new PC

lmfao.

Lol, you didn't realy mean that did you?

I'd say go for Windows 98SE or if the hardware allows you to, go for Windows XP and clean it up a little bit (remove unnecessary programs and services).

Good luck!



Lol, you didn't realy mean that did you?

I'd say go for Windows 98SE or if the hardware allows you to, go for Windows XP and clean it up a little bit (remove unnecessary programs and services).

Good luck!

I would go for Windows 98 SE / XP Home anyway.

Besides, even if you do obtain a Windows ME CD, you can't boot from it. So it'd be just as useless.

Windows ME is single handedly the worst OS I have ever used, I reccomend you put something else on it, such as widnos 98SE if you can, and there's always linux as mentioned, it would probably run good on your old hardware, and any modern distro (such as ubuntu) would be much better than ME.

I'll use Linux I guess, My Laptop and Family computer run Windows, so it's not like it's absent from my house. And to Nic; Vista? I'll switch to Vista when Britney Spears put's some clothes on.

I think I might use xubuntu, because 3.25 GB of space is evil. I need as much space as possible.

I have another problem, my items that need drivers, (USB Flash Drive, Camera, etc.) I got rid of the CD's because all the PC's in my house are up to date for the most part. So i'm screwed if I install 98SE. What can I do? Besides, 98SE's USB support is pretty lacking