Bugs and Fixes: Windows Me: Problems for You?

Is Windows Millennium Edition driving you crazy? You're not alone. We've received a ton of complaints recently about all kinds of Me woes--even though the new operating system has been around since last fall.

Readers grumble about installation nightmares, subsequent software and hardware incompatibilities, and good old system crashes. On top of all that, some users can't get Me to shut down properly.

If you upgraded to Me from an older version of Windows, you might feel that the term Millennium refers to the length of time it will take to fix the glitches.

Microsoft has posted some information on its site to help you surmount the most common Me problems you're likely to encounter. The company organized its online troubleshooting section into two parts: installation and its aftermath. The setup section takes you through several scenarios.

It tells you what to do when your PC mysteriously crashes and how to deal with a stubborn installation wizard that refuses to accept your valid Me ID. It also explains how to get rid of pesky error messages that pop up when you reboot after installing the OS. Find the solutions at Microsoft's support site.

Me may also stumble when it detects any one of a slew of incompatible third-party programs, hardware device drivers, and utilities. When Me encounters these conflicts, it generally stops the installation process and spits out an error message stating that you can't proceed.

To deal with the problem, you must either upgrade to a newer version of the app, utility, or driver (if one is available) or uninstall the current one. Either way, it's a drag.

Specific problems include Me's clashes with early editions of Dr. Solomon's Anti-Virus (versions earlier than 7.71) and BlackICE Personal Defender packages (versions 1.8.6.8 and 2.0.23). Go to the support site for a list of conflicting programs, utilities, and drivers. To find updated device drivers for popular products, visit this link.

Even if your computer survived the upgrade (or your machine shipped with Me), you may run into a bunch of other problems. For example, you may have trouble using Windows' disk defragmenter or simply restarting your computer. Or your browser may have difficulties displaying Web pages.

Microsoft lumps the workarounds for these problems together in one spot, where you'll find descriptions of the snags and step-by-step solutions.

According to Tom Laemmel, a product manager in the Windows group, Microsoft has no plans to release any service packs for Me. Instead, users should regularly visit the Windows Update site to get all current and future updates.