Wipe HDD & Re-Install Windows ME

Anonymous
2021-07-14T08:09:11+00:00

I'm hoping someone can help me out as I'm a little stuck. I have an old Dell Inspiron 4000 laptop running Windows ME. Me intention is to wipe the HDD so I can sell/recycle it safely, but I'm really stuck how to do this.

Few extras:

  • I have a floppy drive, but no floppy disks to create a startup disk (and I'm hoping that's not the only way)
  • I have a "Reinstallation CD WMe" that came with the laptop, but I get the impression it's not something I can boot from. I could be wrong – if it was bootable I expected to be shown the option on startup.

Any advice would be very welcome!

Windows for home | Other | Windows update

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  1. DaveM121 935.7K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2021-07-14T08:42:23+00:00

    Hi Taffston

    I am Dave, an Independent Advisor, I will help you with this, I need some more information to provide yo with a solution.

    Insert that 'Reinstallation CD WMe' into the Cd drive, then in File Explorer, navigate to see the contents of that disk

    Please provide a screenshot of the contents of that CD.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-07-14T09:18:38+00:00

    Hi Dave,

    That's so kind of you – and a fellow Gooner! It's my lucky day :)

    Here's the screenshot:

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  3. DaveM121 935.7K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2021-07-14T09:29:49+00:00

    Hi Taffston,

    Ah, you are a Gooner too :)

    Thank you for the screenshot, that is a Windows Millennium installation disk, you should be able to use that disk to re-install Windows.

    Backup any files you need to keep.

    Insert that disk and restart your laptop to see if it automatically boots from the disk

    If not,

    1

    Start the laptop, then repeatedly press the F12 key to see if that brings up the temporary boot menu, and choose to boot form that disk

    2

    If that does not work for you, start your laptop and repeatedly press the F2 key on your keyboard to boot into BIOS

    In there, you will find the option to set that disk drive as the primary boot device, apply that setting and restart your laptop to begin the installation

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-07-14T09:37:52+00:00

    Hi Dave,

    Thanks for that. I should have posted an update to say that I found the place in BIOS where I could boot from the disk and have managed to re-install Windows ME, but all my user files and preferences etc. are still there now that this is complete. Did I miss something during the re-installation process that would have given me the option to erase the HDD of any personal content?

    Thanks,

    Justin

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  5. DaveM121 935.7K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2021-07-14T09:42:08+00:00

    Hi Justin,

    Yes, there should be the option at the start of the installation to delete all partitions on the drive.

    It is a long time since I installed Windows Me, start the installation again, and please provide a photo of the options you have and I will work through that with you.

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