"If at first you don't succeed, look in the trash for the instructions."
Windows
Me Tips!
The
Latest Windows Me News & Tips!
Part 8
a
How to Uninstall Windows Me
There may come a time that you decide you don't like Windows Me and you want to go back to your previous version of Windows or just start over. This is possible only if you selected the "Save your system files" option when prompted during Windows Me setup.
If you did select this option, Windows Me created the following hidden files and placed them on your hard disk in case you need them to uninstall later: W9xundo.dat, W9xundo.ini, and Winlfn.ini.
These files must be saved to a local hard disk, not to a removable disk or a network drive. You may, however, select a local hard disk of your choice to save the uninstall files to if two or more local drives have enough space.
If you ever delete the uninstall files, Windows Me will lose the ability to be uninstalled and restore your previous version of Windows on your computer. You may want to delete these files some time in the future to regain disk space, for example, don't just delete them. Instead, you should use the Add/Remove Programs control panel, as described below in "Removing Old System Files."
There are some other cases in which you cannot revert to a previous version of Windows after installing Windows Me. These may seem pretty obvious, but here we go:
* You install Windows Me into a new directory, not the one the previous version of Windows is in.
* You perform a clean install of Windows Me, and no previous version of Windows is present.
* You install Windows Me over DOS, but it is prior to DOS 5.0.
In any of the above cases, the Windows Me setup won't present you with a choice to "Save your system files," since it would not be possible.
In any event, if you've selected Save Your System Files during Windows Me setup, and you haven't deleted, removed, or damaged the uninstall files, it's pretty easy to uninstall Windows Me and get back to your previous version of Windows:
STEPS - Uninstalling Windows Me
1. Click the Start button > Settings > Control Panel.
2. Click the Add/Remove Programs icon.
3. Click the Install/Uninstall tab. Select Uninstall Windows Millennium Edition, then click Add/Remove.
The alternative to the above steps is to boot up with the Windows Me startup diskette. Then run the command:
c:\windows\command\uninstal
This is very useful if you can't even boot your computer into Windows Me due to some computer problem, and you've decided to revert to your previous version of Windows. This also can be used to remove an installation of Windows Me that failed partway through. Running the uninstall command from the hard disk starts the process of reverting to your previous Windows or DOS operating system.
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Millennium Edition!
