I have a Dell dimension 4100 series computer with Windows ME on it. I recently downloaded several security patches and upgrades that Microsoft.com had told me were availiable for my computer, and now my computer stalls and won't get in to windows now. When the Windows ME screen came on I hit ESC and it said "Please wait while setup updates your configuration... This may take a few minutes." Then all it says is "Could not update file: %1 to %2: %1 to %2". It just keeps repeating that. I tried to start it in safe mode that wouldn't work. I also tried to change the boot order and start it up with me Dell Resource CD, my Windows ME CD and also by starting it with a 3.5" boot disk. I also tried to do a system restore and a thorough scan disk and that didn't turn up anything at all. I was a idiot and didn't back up much is there anyway to fix this or at least recover my files in windows and re-install? Can anybody give me any advice on recovering my lost data.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=http://support.microsoft.com:80/support/kb/articles/Q283/0/69.ASP&NoWebContent=1 Enjoy :)

MO 1.Start your computer, press and hold CTRL, and then choose Safe Mode, Command Prompt Only from the Windows 98 Startup menu. If you are running Windows Me,start your computer with the startup disk. 2.At the MS-DOS pompt,type cd\windows\command,and then press ENTER. Where windows is the name of the folder in which Windows is installed. 3 At the C: prompt, type scanreg /restore, and then press ENTER. 4.Select the previous registry you want to restore, and then press ENTER. NOTE: A properly working registry has the word "Started" next to the date. Use the registry restore with the oldest date. This will return your computer registry to a good file that was stored prior to your problem. 5.When you receive notification that you restored a properly working registry, press ENTER to restart your computer. Hope this helps. DD

hello try this link m.e wont start http://computing.net/windowsme/wwwboard/forum/30687.html