I have an OEM install disk from a Micron system. When I tried to install ME on a non micron system I got an SU0173 error. I think that this version of ME is looking for something "Micron" and because this is not a micron system I can not install. Does anyone know a work arround for this?

Is the hard drive clean or does it have an active MBR

It is a clean drive. Fdisk, Fdisk /mbr, and a clean format.

If you do a search in this forum for "SU0173" you'll find the post that i started earlier about this same exact mofo'ing topic.
I had the same problem. My reasoning is this:
When you boot up the micron computer, it has a custom Micron logo on the screen, placed by the BIOS, not when windows starts up. From other snippets from this forum, my theory is that something in the precopy1.cab file on the loseME..er, winME looks at the bios to determine the "Micronness" of the machine. That's the only thing customized by micron in their systems, as far as I know. they use regular motherboards and other components. the only thing they do custom is put the micron bios chip in there.
At least as far as I've been able to tell, and I've had a chance to look at them in detail, where I work.. Unless you think that I'm way off base in this. I plan on extracting the files from the precopy1.cab and looking for the specific one that looks for the micron "signature" sometime this week. let me know if you resolve something before I do.

Down with Microsoft! Why'd they have to require vendors to put recovery CD's with systems rather than full versions?

Thanks, I thought it was something tied to the bios. I'll let you know what I come up with.

well, this is the exact email reply that i got from a micron rep today:

** Begin Quote **
Hi Jorden,

What you have just encountered is the latest in Microsoft's efforts to
curb software piracy. Per Microsoft requirements, all new systems from
ANY manufacturer that loads an MS OS must provide their own installation
disks which must be encoded so that they can only be read by the system it
was sold with. Essentially, the disk takes a look at the system bios. If
it
isn't Micron, (or Compaq, or Dell or whatever), it won't load. There's no
way around it I'm afraid.

** End Quote **

Well. I think that there IS a way around it. And now that M$ has really pissed me off, I'm gonna find a way. Download a bios from micron's site, and see what's different about it, and try to replicate it. OR, find what file needs to access the bios, and disable the check.

Sounds like a big project :(

I have a Dell with the same damned CD. I do not beleive that this should be legal , as you own the software once you purchase it. The law gives you the right to load it on to any machine you own, as long as you do not pirate it to someone else.
There has to be a way around it. What if both machines had the same BIOS????

One possible workaround that I haven't tried yet...install the hard drive from computer B (other computer) into computer A (OEM computer that came with Windows ME). Install Windows ME. Return hard drive to computer B and reconfigure for the different hardware.

If Windows ME only checks the BIOS during the initial setup, then this idea should work. If Windows ME checks the BIOS each time it boots, you're shrewed. Just a thought.

I thought of that. I took the hard drive from the Micron and placed it in the DELL. Then I was able to load WIN ME and get it up and running on the DELL. When I moved it back to the Micron machine, I get a corrupted vmm32.dll file. The system want sme to tell it where the correct file is. I tried loading it on disk (copying it from the DELL machine) but of course that it corrupted too.
So anyone know how to fix the VMM32.dll file??

The info is stored in the DMI Pool in the Bios. I am looking for any kind of utility that would alow me to copy the Dmi pool info and place it onto another bios. I am putting effort into this solely because MS has now pisssed me off again.

hi guys.

i've read your comments dealing with recovery-cd-rom's. i own a compaq with such a stupid cd-rom, which doesn't allow it, to install the os on another computer.
there seams no way to get it run right?
please mail me any solutions, you have find out.

thanks in forward.
marco

Email me when someone finds a fix or solution to SU0173 problem....Please :(

I agree with what everyone is saying, I too wanted to put ME onto my desktop after I got a DELL LAPTOP with ME. So I get the SU0173 error. There HAS to be a way around it, whether any of us can figure it out is another story. What we need is a former MS employee to "spill the beans". :)

Email me when someone finds a fix or solution to SU0173 problem...Please
Thanks

test

I found the exact same problem with a Gateway cd of win98SE when i tried to install it on my laptop, and for the last few weeks ive been searching for a workaround, and i seem to of found a partial work around with the win98se cd, i dont know if this will work for ME or not as i havent tried it.
firstly i copied the win98 directory to my hdd, then I found someone i knew on icq with an "un machine branded" version and had them to send me precopy1.cab and precopy2.cab which i copied over the existing versions
then when i ran setup it doesnt do the bios check anymore as the program isnt there
btw the program that checks to see what bios you have is biosid.exe and deleteing it doesnt make anydifference,
hope this is some help to that excruciating problem
let me know if you guys get any better results
thanks
Ross

hey,
if anyone knows how to get around SU0173 error please email me...
what i thought was that its just another stupid Upgrade error(cuz i alread have win 98) than i wanted to do a system format and just make a dir and copy all the .cab's in there and run setup from HD...didnt worl...so please if u kno how email me thanx...

I think this problem is interesting a lot of people.
If there is a superman to solve this, it will be very good if he can email us.
I think it's a big problem:
If you purchase a computer and get the OEM version of windows Me with it.
After one year, you want to upgrade your PC by purchasing a new motherboard, a new processor... You lose the OS, you cannot install it on your new PC.
It's not normal...
Same case, if your motherboard as a problem, and you have to change it...

I am having the same error message. I got a patch from CyberMom but that didn't seem to work. Unless I did it wrong..My Windows ME is from my Dell laptop. If anyone finds a workaround please email me.

PROBLEM SOLVED :-)

The SU0173 "error" is a copy protection feature built in to many vendors OEM versions of Windows ME. It blocks installation when it can't validate code from your vendors bios. This makes it almost impossible to install it on other machines. We have established that this protection lie in the precopy1.cab file. Taking this into consideration I discovered the workaround. All you need to do is copy the contents of the Windows ME disk to your hard drive. Then replace the precopy1.cab file in the windows9x folder with a non-vendor specific precopy1.cab. Then you can burn yourself a fixed copy or run setup from your hard drive. If you need the working precopy1.cab file email me.

The precopy1.cab file can be found at

http://www.homestead.com/brendrek

Click the file icon it will take you to another page where you can get the file.

Walter...you are god. heh

thanks alot dude

ok guys i gotta idea for ya it doesnt look like anyone tried it yet. Take your manufactured pc and get rid of anything on there you dont need. then make an image of your hard drive and burn it onto a cd. This may be a way around it. A good utility to make and image is norton ghost but you will have to get a copy of that. I have it but its on my home computer ill upload the program to my server as soon as possible. Any comments email me goku3316@dbzmail.com

Thanks Walter for the precopy1.cab.

But, for an international version this alone would not work.

You need to:
extract suwin.exe and setupx.dll from Walters precopy1.cab.

Then include those two files in your original precopy1.cab. (Use FREEZIP, which can create CAB files). Also, you have to adjust the files size of the two files in layout.inf (also included in precopy1.cab)

Then it worked (for me). I have a german version.

Im in the UK and have had to buy the win ME disk off Dell because they were only offering win 98 as standard. The Dell has been returned under waranty and my money refunded due to persistant problems. Two problems now exist. Dell will not refund me the money for the software because I have opened the disk (to install the software) that is a usual condition of software sale. I have tried using the ME disk on my new machine, and guess what happened... SU0173!!!! Microsoft have said... OEM - not our responsibility. Dell have said - tough... Not happy. Looks like microsoft are going to have more software pirated beacuse it is going peeve off people who have started buying legit software. This is not on.

I've had over 800 downloads of the precopy1.cab file on my site so far. I'm sorry to hear that it didn't work on the german/international versions with out some manipulation. This seems to mainly fix the Dell OEM (US) version.

I am an SA boy based in the UK. I always scour SA sites for "hints" such as the infamous SU0173 hint - we can't be beat! Thanks for the help - I hope you are working on hints for the XP hardware leech! By the way my ME copy was a PAN European copy that shipped with a Compaq Ipaq - no problem...