Windows How can i remove windows xp from my laptop and reinstall windows Me -the laptops orig

I have recently bought a used laptop that is old. The person I had bought it from had installed windows xp on it, even though it originally came with windows Me. I want to remove the windows xp because it runs slows on the laptop because it takes up more memory than the windows Me would. Also I want to remove windows xp because it is an illegal copy. So when I tried to run updates on it, windows would not install updates because the windows xp is not genuine.

 

DO NOT install Windows Me, unless you want to have un unstable OS with lots of incompatibility.

Install Win98 if you want something lighter and want to stick with Cro$oft ... or try some Linux distro ... but if it came with WinMe it might be an old, not powerfull, laptop.

Try to change the HDD and add some memory (eBay is your friend). HDD tends to get slower with the time. Try to replace the thermal paste too to keep the CPU cool. But DO NOT expect do much for this laptop.

Linux distro with XFCE all the way if you want to extract the more out of it .

 

I'd second linux, it's the way to go for older tech, I installed ubuntu on my old laptop and was suprised at how fast it ran, and it's a lot more user friendly than linux used to be. Windows ME is best ignored and forgotten

 

In all honesty, bung some more memory in or cut down on some of the startup programs in XP (i.e. msconfig>startup tab or try Soluto). When Me worked it was okay at the time, but my gosh if it didn't you were in a world of pain.

 

As above.

Do not install Windows ME.

If your laptop can't handle XP, then really you need to look at replacing it. Normally I would suggest upgrades as Guille above, however if the laptop originally came with ME, then it is an absolute false economy to invest in anything whatsoever, as parts will be hideously expensive for little to no gain.

If you absolutely must use this laptop, find yourself a Linux distro.

Sorry bro!

TSB

 

Hi , i don't know about install & remove OS.

 

lol, wait what..........

 

After Vista, ME is the biggest joke of OS take these guys advice and never go back to it ever!!!

But if you did want to there probably is a restore partition if the previous user has not removed it that you can access with a certain key combination on boot. Otherwise you would need the a ME disc and the license key which is usually located underneath the laptop.

 

LOL, the funniest part is that; at his/her current post count, that post had to be reviewed and approved by a moderator before it was shown - So someone read it and thought, yeah, that makes perfect sense *approve*.

TSB

 

maybe he is working up to his 20 post count.

anyway, i tend to agree, don't put me on it, put 98 or a clean install of xp, and if poss upgrade memory to min 512MB

check ebay for win98 or win xp, disks with license. but be careful as some are not genuine.

 

That's all I can say as well. 98 or XP if you have to. Or Linux as suggested if you you speak 'nix.

 

Ubuntu can be a nice first approach to Linux (very windowish) ... with XFCE as environment instead of KDE or Gnome, this will be a very light OS.

 

Alternately if you need a windows alike OS, you might give ReactOS a try. It's still 'alpha' but is more stable than ME. It's goal is to be an open source Win2000 clone. It's compatibility is fairly decent considering, but not everything will run correctly on it in its current state.
But if you need something reliable, I would also suggest a lightweight linux distro. I personally recommend CrunchBang. It is very light no nonsense distro, based on Debain like Ubuntu. I've ran CB on as little as a 333mhz Celeron with 96mb ram and it still felt snappy.

 

Geeeenttoooooooo aaalll the wayyyy .... Ok, forget it

 

lol succesful troll is succesful

 

I LOVE your avatar, I have that sitting next to my TV :

 

Windows ME is better than Windows 98, being that it is basically the same with a few slightly half assed but useful XP-ey features embedded. Or am I misremembering?

Anyway.
I'd second going with either a very minimalist XP install (nLited with light software installed), or a lightweight Linux distro.

 

Wait what ? After Vista ? Vista was at least usable.

 

me was botched, it had many faults, was unstable and generally a pain in the ass.

on the right equipment vista was absolutely fine, it's just oem's were building **** that didn't even meet the real minimum requirements

oops, sorry i normally edit previous post, but forgot this time :-S

 

Not really - a busy mod glanced at the post, thought "Hmmm... Does that contain spam? No." Hit approve and moved on to nuking the free nike trainers and penis enhancements.