Windows OS help, XP -----> ME

Veovis

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Veovis
Okay. About a year ago now, my girlfriend bought me FFXI for the PC. My PC was up to the challenge (at the time >_<), and so I went out to Virginia to hang with her and pick it up. Upon getting back, im stoked to get to playing. So I install it, then let it sit for 8 hours as it updated. Well, it finished updating and such. So I went to get on, and it worked fine. Well, a few weeks pass, and I notice my computer had begun to suck. Horribly. Soon enough, my computer super-crashes. Seriously. Its a Dell Dimensions 2200 model with XP included. My friend bought the same computer. When I went to turn it on, it would boot up to the 'Dell Dimensions' loading screen, and then go on to windows where it would go "BUZZ" and the Blue Screen of Death appears, informing me Windows caused a Fatal Error number 000000X2000221X00 or some crap. This also happens to my friends comptuer, and to several other computers of people that I know.

Well, as fate would have it, my contract with Dell had been let up and I lost my Windows XP install disc. All I had was my backup disc. Disgruntled but left with little else to do, I did a bare install with the backup disc. I no longer have Calculator, Wordpad, any of the games, my Sound Recorder, my DirectX was gone, I had about....1gig of space used on my 40gig harddrive. At a loss, I reinstalled what I could, restored applications with backup discs and the like, but I cant play FFXI anymore on it (like I originally did). It tells me DirectX 8 failed to initialize, but I have downloaded directx 8 and when I check my version, it says I even have 9, so thats above it, right? I cant even use model viewer. But I digress.

This terrible tale was spun so I could come to my next question. Can I somehow install Windows ME -over- my XP? My XP is barebones, and does very little for me. Some stuff doesnt even work anymore. Its been like this for a year now. I might be able to bum a copy of XP off of a friend, perhaps, but chances are slim. As I said in another post, my parents have ME, and they have their fullinstall disc and everything.

Do I have to delete Windows XP from my harddrive? If so, how would I do that? Would it hurt my system any? Or can I just drop ME over it and use it instead? I heard that because XP is the upgrade for ME, that XP will not allow ME to function with XP on the system. I know a thing or two about computer stuff, but im far from an expert, and I was hoping one of you could help me with this dillemia. If I can get my computer running properly again, I can play FF again and be on -all- day lol. Oh, also, I used to be able to run my computer in 16bit, 24bit, 36bit, and 255true color schemes, but now I'm only limited to 16 and 24. POL Viewer says it can only be run in 36. Would there be any way I could get my video card to work right again? A lot of questions, I know, and i'm sorry. But I'd like to know before I started installing stuff and screwing everything up. Thanks in advanced.

~Veevoohiss.
 
What type of video card do you have?

If your card is capable of running 32 bit color and Direct X 8+, then you might want to try downloading the most recent drivers from the manufactures website.

If you're getting a fatal error with a string of numbers on startup, then most likely one of your devices is broken and/or not suitable for your system.

most commonly people install the wrong type of ram, which can cause this, but it could also be a bad video card or anything else plugged into the motherboard.

To see if any devices conflict you can check the device manager. (hotkey is "Window key + pause break) then click the hardware tab and you will see the device manager. If there's a yellow exclaimation point on anything, then you'll know whats giving you troubles.

Thats all i can really think of without more info.
 
1 - I don't know for sure, but I'm almost posotive that you cannot install ME over XP. Since it's a downgrade. I know that you can install XP Pro over XP Home, but I've had bad experiences with it so I wouldn't recomend trying that either.

2 - Do not install Windows ME. It's terrible. Get 2000 if you want an old version. Personally I recomend XP Pro or Linux.

3 - If it were me, I'd ditch the computer and start fresh. I've heard of this kind of stuff happening to a lot of Dell PC's. If you want to get a new comp, and don't want to build one yourself from scratch, I suggest checking out Cyber Power Inc. They have good systems at a reasonable price.

4 - The easiest way to un-install an operating system from your computer is to re-format your hard drive. Look in the Windows Help section for more info on that. Be warned that you will lose all data on the hard drive that you reformat, so back up what you want to save before you do so.


Hope that helped.


Edit:

Orestes said:
What type of video card do you have?

If your card is capable of running 32 bit color and Direct X 8+, then you might want to try downloading the most recent drivers from the manufactures website.

If you're getting a fatal error with a string of numbers on startup, then most likely one of your devices is broken and/or not suitable for your system.

most commonly people install the wrong type of ram, which can cause this, but it could also be a bad video card or anything else plugged into the motherboard.

To see if any devices conflict you can check the device manager. (hotkey is "Window key + pause break) then click the hardware tab and you will see the device manager. If there's a yellow exclaimation point on anything, then you'll know whats giving you troubles.

Thats all i can really think of without more info.
I doubt that its a hardware problem. Not to say it isn't possible, it just seems unlikely since he said that a few weeks passed after he installed FFXI that the problems began.

But it's always good to cover all your bases, so you should probably check your hardware drivers just to be safe.
 
When installing another MS OS on top of another one, you will be prompted to delete the existing one there. It will also prompt you if you want to format the drive, which I recommend. Oh and another thing, I would back up important data, and updated driver setup files.

If your folks have the upgrade version of ME, I would have a copy of any existing window's OS so it can verify that it is an upgrade. Hope this helps.
 
I have 1 question? What exactly is on the "backup" disk?

If you do instal ME never install it "on top" of another operating system. Always to a repartition, reformat, and fresh install.
 
As far as your graphics card its an easy fix. YOu just have to know what type of graphics chip you use and either install the correct driver from the company website or from Dell.

A change like that means you have a generic one installed, so you can use full functionallity.
 
This could also be a bad harddisk in which case your in for more headaches till you find out what it really is. Hopefully you find it soon.
 
*shoots the previous poster for triple post when edit is available*

Well Veo, best I can tell you is that you do NOT want to install ME, you will crash more than you already do. Go get Windows 2000 / Professional. -edit, deleted piracy reference- Oh, fine, meanies...

Also, how much data is left on your drive that you can't backup and absolutely have to keep? Because it'd be in your best interests to just format the drive, seeing how some stuff is obviously corrupted.

As said, the graphics situation is because of lack of drivers. An easy fix, just download the latest ones once you upgrade (Because XP < 2k ), because it doesn't look like you're going to be able to do much with your current system.

And finally, if all else fails... buy a new comp, can get a FFXI-capable one for pretty cheap if you buy all the parts yourself and use that copy of ME/XP/2k.
 
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