I bought a new computer in October 2000. It’s operating system is WindowsMe. A few weeks ago it prompted me for WindowsMe updates via the internet which I downloaded. Once I restarted the computer, a message appeared about possible problems I could encounter with such updates. It gave me a long list of instructions which were too confusing for me to follow. I decided to attempt a reinstall of WindowsMe but it would not let me. I can still use my current programs but if I decide to install anything new it will not let me. For example, I bought a CD writer and WindowsMe will not let me install the software. If I attempt to, SETUP.EXE generates errors. I tried to do a system restore to a few weeks prior to doing the internet updates which seemed to work. However, when I installed my new anti-virus software the system is unable to shutdown properly (the screen goes grey but will not shutdown). Once I remove this Virus software the system shuts down successfully. Any suggestions?

Now that you have done the system restore, I assume that your problems regarding installing new software are resolved. So, the real issue here is the anti-virus software preventing your computer from shutting down properly. If you really do want to keep anti-virus software on your computer, you could try swapping to another package to see if you can use that without any problems. One good package is InoculateIT Personal Edition which can be downloaded for free from antivirus.cai.com. The latest version (5.2) comes with WindowsMe support. However, what intrigues me is why WindowsMe wouldn’t let you reinstall Windows. It can’t exactly prevent you from doing it per-se as you do it through DOS using either a boot disk or a bootable CD. As your computer is new, I can assume that you have got a full version of WindowsMe which comes with a boot disk. If you place the boot disk into your drive while the power on self test (POST) is taking place (ie. all the tests which happen directly after you switch on your computer) it should boot off that disk and run the WindowsMe setup where you can reinstall WindowsMe. However, before you even attempt this procedure, make sure that you backup all the data you wish to keep in case something does go wrong. I would only reinstall WindowsMe as a last resort.