I'm trying to install Windows ME onto an External HardDrive. I have an internal one with Windows XP Pro on it, but I want a dual boot with Windows XP Pro and Windows ME. I bought an 80 GB Harddrive, partitioned it so 50 GB was for Windows ME, and 30 GB for miscellanous files I want to save. I put the install CD in for windows ME, and I load the setup from CD-ROM. It goes to the setup menu, but I keep getting messages saying I can't install the OS. The first time I tried, I got to the part asking about If I wanted to enable Large Disk Support. I said yes, but then It wouldn't load. I restarted my PC, and it wouldn't get to that part again. What I want to know, is can I choose my Drive/Partition to install Windows ME on? It's default is C: but I have the External Drive I want to install on. Any suggestions?

The "short" answer is that the DOS-based versions of Windows (Win9.x, which includes WinME) are hard-coded to be installed on the C: drive, so it will be difficult to make this work properly. WinXP is currently installed on the "recognized" C: drive, so this can get complicated rather quickly. If you boot into WinXP and open the Computer Management, you should be able to change the WinXP drive to a different letter, from C: to something further along in the alphabet, maybe E:, F:, or G:. Once you do that, you'll need to change your CMOS settings to boot from the external drive first (if that is even possible), then try to install WinME again. I would recommend that you disconnect the WinXP drive, by removing BOTH the power and data cables from it, before you attempt this. You're risking data corruption by trying to install WinME on one drive while the WinXP drive is attached to the system... For the record, I urge you NOT to do this; changing the drive letter on the WinXP drive might cause problems you can't forsee. I've seen enough nightmares caused by good intentions in the past... Of course, you COULD physically swap the WinXP drive into the external drive housing, or use a program such as Norton Ghost to transfer it there, then disconnect it and install WinME on the internal drive, but that seems like an awful lot of work just to use WinME, which isn't designed to work with more than 512MB of RAM... Is there some specific reason why you feel the need to install WinME? It won't work with all that RAM, so you'll have to install a patch just to get it to boot up, and this will be a LOT more trouble than it is worth, IMO... Let us know what you decide to do next; if you want an alternative OS to play with, you can always install Linux on the external drive and dual-boot without a problem...

Seems that I mis-stated the amount of RAM WinME can load with; see this article for details: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q304943 According to M$: "If your computer has more than 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of memory (RAM), the computer may reboot continuously when you try to start Windows Millennium Edition (Me) or Windows 98. "Or, when you try to install Windows Me or Windows 98 with more than 1.5 GB of RAM installed, Setup may stop responding (hang) or reboot continuously. "Windows Me and Windows 98 are not designed to handle more than 1 GB of RAM. More than 1 GB can lead to potential system instability." IOW, WinME won't even install if there is more than 1.5GB of RAM in a system, and if you add the RAM AFTER you install WinME, it might reboot continuously... Either way, you'd have to remove at least 512MB of RAM just to install (or boot) WinME (though it can only address 1GB total); seems like an awful lot of trouble simply to use a problematic OS...

THe short answer is this isn't going to work. The oldest WIndows needs to be installed first, in the absence of Partition Magic or some similar program) and NO O/S should be expected to function well, if at all, from an external drive. Do it the right way!

Well.... "short" was in quotes 1.5Gb??? 9x/ME have problems with more than 512Mb We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true

Ok first off, the reason I want Windows ME on my system is because theres this game my brother plays. It's a game made in '96. It's most compatible with Windows ME because all other operating systems cause the program to crash and he loses stuff in that game, etc... Therefore I want to get ME installed on it. I know that 2 GB RAM works with Windows ME. My brothers friend has 2 GB PC3200 400 Mhz RAM on his PC, and ME is completely stable to play on.

It can work but not on an external drive. That's the point.