[weaver007]

When I attempt to get online (open Internet Explorer) I get the "Explorer will now close...send report" box, OR, I get the Error Message "Explorer has caused an error in UNKNOWN (or, sometimes, there is something else where "Unknown" is). Explorer will now close." Essentially the computer locks up and prevents me from proceeding further.

Please give me some things to try. In the absence of those things working, assuming it is possible ME is corrupt, can I re-download ME over the top of the existing ME program without losing data? Can ME be completely DELETED without the risk of losing data and, if so, how do I do that? Lastly, would it be advisable to download a newer OS, say WIN XP, and if so, I return to the deleting ME questions. The point is I do not wish to lose data on hard drive if at all possible.

Thanks Geeks. The world would come to a standstill without you.

~~~~ jeff

[Advertisements]

I would not recommend Win ME to anyone, it's far more unstable than XP and even Win 98 is better than ME for stability.

If you can afford a legal copy of xp, that's the way to go, provided your system is up to the task of running it (minimum cpu Pentium 4 or eqivalent, and min 512MB RAM).

And the best way to install it is on to a freshly formatted drive, not on top of an unstable Windows ME.

[pip22]

I would not recommend Win ME to anyone, it's far more unstable than XP and even Win 98 is better than ME for stability.

If you can afford a legal copy of xp, that's the way to go, provided your system is up to the task of running it (minimum cpu Pentium 4 or eqivalent, and min 512MB RAM).

And the best way to install it is on to a freshly formatted drive, not on top of an unstable Windows ME.

[weaver007]

Thanks for your recommendations pip22. O.K. XP is out because I don't have a Pent 4 or that much RAM (this is a secondary computer, btw, so I don't want to invest much in it...it is just for my son to use and eventually destroy). So now since we all hate ME---and assuming there are no "fixes" possible---IF I MUST wipe the hard drive, would I be better off to buy and download ME, or, get Windows 98 (which I have been using for years on my primary computer)? This old Compaq has an AMD Duron processor (which means nothing to me in terms of power) and only 64 MB Ram (can you believe that?). I don't know if that is enough poop to even run Windows 98. This is probably the point where most reach a level of frustration and just buy new...but, I guess what I was hoping for was a remedy that would not require purchasing a new OS. Thanks to all. ~~~~ jeff

[weaver007]

Matter resolved and let me tell you how I accomplished it. First, I had tried "System Restore" at great length, perhaps a dozen different dates going back 2 years. I kept getting "...could not restore to this date...". Intuitively, out of desperation, and for reasons unbeknownst to me, I tried one last time...and went back THREE years. It worked! The system went back to normal. I lost a few programs I had to redownload but better than wiping the drive clean or other more expensive options.