Win ME won't complete upgrade of old 'puter

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ToolPackinMama

I tried to upgrade a friend's old HP relic to WinME from Win98. This
machine was new in 1998, FWIW. It seems to run OK, but it keeps
crapping out at the part where it is trying to search for and install
devices. We get the blue screen error that says it has encountered an
error and can't continue.

Why might this happen?

I did try running scandisk the first time it happened, and it fixed a
disk error, so I thought we were OK, but no.

I tried installing from the CD, and installing from files in a folder on
the HD. I did not try a clean install, because they didn't want to have
to reinstall everything. I told them it might yet come to that.

I am able to boot to ME safe mode, but the machine will not complete the
upgrade process that would render the PC useable. Any advice is welcome.
 
FWIW, ditch ME (if in any way possible) and go with 2K or XP. 2K would be
better for an older computer, but may be harder to find, and definitely
lacks drivers that XP may have (though this also may not be a problem). I
threw XP onto a dinosaur computer (a '98 compaq, i believe) i recovered from
my girlfriend's closet, and it works... sufficiently. Startup time is not
all that bad, to be honest. 2K would be just swift. But ME i think has to
be the least usable version of windows out there... it's like 98 but messed
up and bogged down by cute graphics. (though if you have a compelling
reason why ME is it, i'm curious).
Sorry for not directly answering your question :)
~Mike
 
ToolPackinMama said:
I tried to upgrade a friend's old HP relic to WinME from Win98. This
machine was new in 1998, FWIW. It seems to run OK, but it keeps
crapping out at the part where it is trying to search for and install
devices. We get the blue screen error that says it has encountered an
error and can't continue.

Why might this happen?

I did try running scandisk the first time it happened, and it fixed a
disk error, so I thought we were OK, but no.

I tried installing from the CD, and installing from files in a folder on
the HD. I did not try a clean install, because they didn't want to have
to reinstall everything. I told them it might yet come to that.

I am able to boot to ME safe mode, but the machine will not complete the
upgrade process that would render the PC useable. Any advice is welcome
Click to expand...


look at the device manager from safe mode
OB sound?, disable it until you get the OS installed. If you can boot to
safe mode windows is done installing, its probably a driver issue. ME as an
OS has served me well in business and at home.
 
JAD said:
look at the device manager from safe mode
OB sound?, disable it until you get the OS installed.
Click to expand...

Hmm... thanks.
If you can boot to
safe mode windows is done installing, its probably a driver issue.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought. BUT HOW TO BYPASS/FIX?
ME as an
OS has served me well in business and at home.
Click to expand...

I agree.
 
Falco98 said:
FWIW, ditch ME (if in any way possible) and go with 2K or XP. 2K would be
better for an older computer, but may be harder to find, and definitely
lacks drivers that XP may have (though this also may not be a problem).
Click to expand...

I have Win2K. Are you suggesting that I try Win2K instead?
 
JAD said:
look at the device manager from safe mode
OB sound?, disable it until you get the OS installed.
Click to expand...

Thanks. How to do that in safe mode? Maybe I should do it at the BIOS
level?

BTW, the BIOS on this dinosaur doesn't allow a person to set boot order.
MY GOD!
 
ToolPackinMama said:
Thanks. How to do that in safe mode? Maybe I should do it at the BIOS
level?
Click to expand...

There's a number of options depending on where you are and where the O.S. is.

As you just suggested, one is to disable in BIOS if there's an option for it.

If it's showing in device manager you should be able to disable it there,
even in safe mode. If not and it tries to install again tell it not to (you
are usually asked). Or, remove it from device manager in safe mode and
don't let it reinstall.

Or pick selective boot on the F8 screen and skip that driver when it comes
around.

A bit fancier, if the thing insists it knows what its doing and wants to
'auto install' without asking, is to remove the registry entries for that
device in hkey_local_machine\enum (at least that's where it is in win98)
and/or move the .inf file so it can't figure it out again after you remove
it in device manager.
BTW, the BIOS on this dinosaur doesn't allow a person to set boot order.
MY GOD!
Click to expand...

That's strange even for a dinosaur.
 
ToolPackinMama said:
We are talking about a 233 mhz, 64 RAM sys. Think about it.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I'd have stayed with win98 but it's too late for that.

Btw, you couldn't 'upgrade' to win2k now anyway because Me is a 'newer' O.S..
 
I tried to upgrade a friend's old HP relic to WinME from Win98. This
machine was new in 1998, FWIW. It seems to run OK, but it keeps
crapping out at the part where it is trying to search for and install
devices. We get the blue screen error that says it has encountered an
error and can't continue.

Why might this happen?
Click to expand...
Because WinME is a buggy POS and Win98 is far BETTER. Leave Win98 on.
 
ToolPackinMama said:
I don't happen to agree with you about that.
Click to expand...

It's true. ME is a broken version of 98SE. If you don't have SE and need
some of the features of SE/ME I could see maybe using ME. Otherwise it's
a major mistake and you will regret it and probably eventually format
and reinstall 98. ME was the worst OS M$ ever put out. And they have put
out some bad ones.
 
ToolPackinMama said:
We are talking about a 233 mhz, 64 RAM sys. Think about it.
Click to expand...

I'm running XP on such a system. Actually the RAM may be more like 96MB
now, since i combined in the RAM from another dinosaur. But XP runs --
don't get me wrong, it's not my primary system, but it runs Winamp, and most
other things i've tried. Thus, XP might be suitable, but 2K should be
perfect.
 
The advantages of any NT system would be significant. For
starters, the hardware will typically run about 20% faster
than using Windows 9x/ME systems. Also Windows 9x does not
provide advantages found in pre-emptive multitasking
environments. Just another reason why the system 'feels'
faster to the user. I still use 486/66 systems because they
are running Windows NT 4.0. Still fast enough for most
internet access and other functions. This same system would
have been scrapped long ago if still running Windows 98SE.

Depends on what you want to accomplish. Meanwhile, the
advantages of Windows ME over 98SE are trivial - and typically
not worth the effort. But it is a learning experience. That
also is an advantage.
 
Upgrading from Win 98 to WinMe was known to be VERY difficult to perfrom
successfully. Usually endless errors were encountered. You would be MUCH
better off doing a clean install of WinMe if you want to be successful.
 
Falco98 said:
I'm running XP on such a system. Actually the RAM may be more like 96MB
now, since i combined in the RAM from another dinosaur. But XP runs --
Click to expand...

96meg is a *big* difference over 64meg on a Win2k/XP machine because its
the threshold that gets the base system out of perpetual swapping.

64Meg is the absolute minimum it'll install in and you really don't want to
be running a system at MS rated minimums. Really, you don't.
don't get me wrong, it's not my primary system, but it runs Winamp, and most
other things i've tried. Thus, XP might be suitable, but 2K should be
perfect.
Click to expand...

Win2K is no 'better' than XP on memory as they both use the same base
amount, roughly 90Meg I think it was when I measured both. XP has more
bells and whistles that can eat up memory but those can also be turned off
so that it's back to essentially a 'win2k' look alike.
 
w_tom said:
The advantages of any NT system would be significant. For
starters, the hardware will typically run about 20% faster
than using Windows 9x/ME systems. Also Windows 9x does not
provide advantages found in pre-emptive multitasking
environments. Just another reason why the system 'feels'
faster to the user. I still use 486/66 systems because they
are running Windows NT 4.0. Still fast enough for most
internet access and other functions. This same system would
have been scrapped long ago if still running Windows 98SE.
Click to expand...

A fairer comparison would be an original issue Win95 as even that is newer
than NT4.

The speed threshold between original issue Win95 and a Win98'ish system
occurs with IE4 where another layer is added for enhanced drag/drop and
other desktop features such as right click menus. Win98 already has it.

I too run NT4 on some olden boxen but the advantages of a bit faster
hardware and pre-emptive multitasking are moot if one can't get the
hardware installed and NT4 doesn't have PnP out of the box so you have to
have already figured out the things it would have been most useful for,
display, IDE controllers, etc, before you can hope to find the hidden file
on the CD and install it. And then it's only ISA PnP so, as it turns out,
it wouldn't have been useful for those PCI/AGP devices after all. And then
there's the 'secret' on how to enable IDE DMA.

Nice O.S., for it's time, when running but a real pain in the neck for your
average user to get running.
 
DaveW said:
Upgrading from Win 98 to WinMe was known to be VERY difficult to perfrom
successfully. Usually endless errors were encountered. You would be MUCH
better off doing a clean install of WinMe if you want to be successful.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'll try that. I'm going to save their backups to floppies first.

I don't understand the fury against WinME. I don't think it's
justified. In any case, you people who are venting hysterically about
it are cordially invited to stop.

My question was not does ME suxors, my question was how to get the
computer to get past the place it was stuck. I have recieved some
~useful~ suggestions, and for those, I am grateful.
 
David said:
There's a number of options depending on where you are and where the
O.S. is.

As you just suggested, one is to disable in BIOS if there's an option
for it.
Click to expand...

Thanks again. I disabled sound in BIOS, it booted right up. When I
rebooted, I was able to enable the sound again, and no problem.

The upgrade was successful.
 
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