I bought a new computer last summer, and sold my old computer to my brother. I recently bought it back from him because he didn't need it anymore. So he just thought that he'd delete all of his files so that I wouldn't be able to see them. Well, he got a little reckless, and deleted some stuff that I don't even know what it is. Anyhow, if you try to boot windows(in any mode), it says "Error Loading EXPLORER.exe. Please reinstall windows." At first I thought "no big deal, I can simply format it and reload the os. Or heck maybe I just need to fix the registry right?" Well, I was wrong. The problem is, computers do exactly as they are told, and I have no clue what the crap it has been told. The OS is Win Me, but it is an upgrade from Win 98(second)...and that was an upgrade from Win 95. I have tried boot disks for all three OSs, I have checked the bios and Cmos conigurations, but I can't find a trace of a hint of a clue as to why it won't boot from the floppy. So then I tried setting the CDROM in the first boot sequence, but it won't boot from that either. Even if I did get the CDROM to boot the setup, I know exactly what it would say to me. "You cannot install a previous version of Windows onto Win Me." I put in a different HD(a 1gb drive, so obviously I'm not simply going to replace my current one, and the computer for some other retarded reason won't allow the big one to be a slave drive or any other drive for that matter). This HD has 95 on it so I was able to restart the computer in MS-DOS. That went retarded on me too. None of the commands work, and it says that the CDROM drives are not valid. Though BIOS and Windows both have no problem with them. I don't know, anyone have a clue as to what the crap is happening here? I know I'm going to beat myself with a stick when I find out because I'll know how retarded I was being. FYI: Whenever I try a boot disk, the message I get says "Disk I\0 Error" then it says something else but I don't recall at the moment. It's been a few weeks since I've tried anything. Adam

Adam, suspect your dilemma stems partly from the fact of upgrades as opposed to original disks. If you had the originals, you could boot from them. Maybe you can get the files you need to restore the OS from a free bootdisk (?) @: www.bootdisk.com HTH. Ed in Texas.

First confirm that you have a viable boot disk by trying it in a good box. Next, as long as you're at it, may as well install 98se. When you get a usable boot disk, disconnect all HDs & CDs and get it booting on floppy. You may have a bad/dirty FDD, a cable/controller prob, or all the above. Once booting cleanly and consistently from floppy: DocMEM M2 If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.

ME has one some what good thing going for it and that is its system restore have you tried that yet, if you have not yet pick a day before you handed it over and go back to that day ! I have seen this work, before give it a try. Keep the old stuff running

Thanks for the replies. However, reading before posting is advisable. Most of you told me to do things that I clear already stated as "Can't be dones." Although M2 touched on something, when I did it, it didn't say "Disk I/0 Error," it just said that is verifying the DMI pool data...and then it froze there. I tried all of the bootdisks that applied to the system from that website already, none of them work. Except last time, I put in the win me custom disk, there was a spark, and now the computer will not turn back on. That's just great, I probably need to put in another power source. Guys thanks, and I'd love to be able to do something as simple as "System Restore," but this is something really weird. I swear to god this computer is an experiment in artificial stupidity. FYI-I'm not the typical puny brained twits you will find in these forums, so technical advice would be useful. Thanks for the imputs anyway. Sorry I'm so brusque with you guys, it's just one of those computer things where you want to throw it out the window. Then you realize that that's just testosterone talking so you quit. Thanks. Adam