Troubleshooting Windows Millennium Edition

Trouble with Windows Me? Here are solutions to some common problems.

Common Problems:

1. I heard that DOS has been removed from Windows Me. Is that true and, if so, what does it mean? Real-mode DOS support has been taken out of the OS. This allows Windows Me to boot about 15 - 20 percent faster, and it makes the OS a little more stable. However, you can still boot your system with a DOS boot floppy or a Windows 95 or 98 boot floppy to get some real-mode DOS lovin'. The "Windows Startup disk" boot floppy made during the Windows Me installation will allow you to boot to a command line and invoke FDISK, FORMAT and several other basic DOS commands. For most users, this is all the DOS they'll need.

An article at Geek.com entitled "Windows ME stupified" incorrectly claims, among other things, that Windows Me refuses to acknowledge the "format" command from the command line. For the record, FORMAT, FDISK and SYS are all available and functional on hard disks when you boot with a startup floppy created with Windows Millennium Edition, which will not, as the story claims, be released in August. Windows Me (build 3000.2) has already been released to manufacturing, and will be available at retail on Sept. 14th.

However, a page at The Register reveals some details that are, in fact, true. Windows Me can no longer perform a SYS command on drive A, nor is the "/S" option available in the new operating system's Format command. If you don't know what these DOS commands do, lucky you -- you missed the dark ages of DOS. If, however, these issues trouble you, and you don't like the idea of building a bootup floppy using Microsoft's Windows-based "[Make] Startup Disk" option in the Add/Remove Programs control panel, then Windows Me probably isn't for you.
2. I've got the full retail version of Windows Me and, when I tried to update my Windows 9x system, it said I need to buy the upgrade version. Is this true? No. Boot from your Windows 9x startup floppy and rename WIN.COM to something else (e.g., WIN.BAK). This is the file the Windows Me installer looks for. If it doesn't find it, the installation will proceed. (Note that, if your startup floppy is from Windows 95, you may not have CD-ROM drivers on the disk. In this case, it is best to copy the Windows Me SETUP files and directories to your hard drive before renaming WIN.COM, otherwise you'll have no CD-ROM access and a hard disk that doesn't boot anymore.)
3. I can't view some Media Player visualizations in full-screen mode. This is normal. Only the visualizations in the "Ambience" and "Plenoptic" categories support full-screen mode, which you can toggle in or out of by pressing Alt-Enter. You can adjust the properties for full-screen mode on these or other full-screen compatible visualizations you may download via the Media Player's Options menu item. You may find that some of the Plenoptic visualizations (which are only available on systems with a DirectX accelerated graphics card) are broken up into horizontal panels unless you match the screen resolution and the off-screen buffer resolutions. Try setting them both to 320x200 for the fastest display performance.
4. The DVD player says it needs additional software. If you have DVD decoding hardware such as a Creative Labs Encore Dxr2 (etc.) and a DVD drive and Windows Me isn't supporting it, try installing the software that came with the drive or, better yet, downloading the latest version from the drive vendor's website. We got our Creative Labs DVD kit to work with WinME this way.
5. Where's the Personal Web Server? It's not included with Windows Me, but it is freely downloadable from Microsoft's web site, as part of the NT Option Pack 4.0. Change the destination directory to c:\mts instead of c:\program files\mts to avoid installation error messages.
6. Where's the hibernate function? I thought this was one of the new features. It is -- but only on the OEM version of Windows Me, and even then, it doesn't work on some systems. Microsoft, fearing a major (and justified) dissatisfaction point for its customers, removed the feature entirely from the Retail build. To get the OEM version to hibernate, your system's BIOS must support the feature; otherwise it is not available as an option in the Power control panel. Check the website of your PC's motherboard manufacturer before installing Windows Millennium Edition. Sometimes a BIOS upgrade will enable this and/or other features that can make Windows Me upgrades smoother.
7. The new Media Player looks cool, but it's slower. What can I do? You can choose the "classic" skin (which works only when you're not in full-screen mode, by the way) or, if you don't mind giving up the new player's features, you can run the old 6.4 player. It's installed into the Program Files directory, usually found at "C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\MPLAYER2.EXE" We find movies play more smoothly with the old Media Player 6.4. To set it as your new default, right-click an AVI, ASF or MPG movie file and use the "Open With..." command to browse to the above-noted directory. Clicking the "Always open..." checkbox will make your selection persistent.
8. I totally screwed my system up. How does the "System Restore" feature work? It's quite simple: from Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools, choose "System Restore." Then, choose "restore my computer to an earlier time" and click Next. A calendar will appear, with a list of available "checkpoints." Choose a recent date and time before the problem occurred and click Next. Follow the steps to restore your system to the state it was in at that time.
9. My ADSL Internet connection doesn't work properly after the upgrade. But strangely, I can "ping" other websites via TCP/IP, so I know that's not the problem. This issue can have several causes, but it may be due to Internet Connection Sharing being turned on. Try removing it from your Network control panel and restarting.
10. I open a lot of Zip files and, while I appreciate the built-in support for Zip archives in Windows Me, it seems that opening multiple Zip files at once involves a lot of clicking in dialog boxes and so on. Is there a solution? Yes. Use a third-party archiving program such as WinZip (available from www.winzip.com) or WinAce that supports Zip files, but can handle multiple archives without all those confirmation dialogs.
11. Is it possible to upgrade Windows Me to Windows 2000? Yes, but some no-longer-needed components of the Windows Me installation can't be easily uninstalled after upgrading to Windows 2000. For example, you'll find "Delete Windows Millennium Uninstall Information" and "Uninstall Windows Millennium" options in the Add/Remove Programs control panel if you upgrade an older system to Windows Me. However, once you upgrade this system to Windows 2000, these entries can no longer be removed from the control panel, without the aid of a utility such as Microsoft's free "Power Toy," TweakUI. Also, be forewarned: your lists of Favorites and email addresses will disappear, unless you back them up first.
12. Has already confirmed a number of problems in the OEM and retail release versions of Windows Me. See http://www.microsoft.com/windowsME/support/solutions/default.asp for a list of top issues and, in some cases, solutions or workarounds.

13. Make a Boot Disk: If you find a DOS program that Windows Me absolutely won't run, try making a custom boot diskette. Details on how to do this are at http://home.att.net/~epbrown01/bootdisk.html. An article on ANSI.SYS at http://www.melbpc.org.au/pcupdate/9407/9407article5.htm provides additional details.

For Further Reading

PC Buyer's Guide (Sept. 15, 2000): Microsoft Millennium and Beyond The retail release of Microsoft's consumer OS follow-up to Win98 is now available. Updated!
PC Buyer's Guide (Aug. 27, 2000): More WinMe Tips New
ActiveWin.com (Sept. 13, 2000): Interview with Nicolas Coudière, Chief Product Manager: Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition

In the near future, we'll be adding additional information and links to this page. Check back soon!

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Troubleshooting Windows Millennium Edition

Trouble with Windows Me? Here are solutions to some common problems.

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