I have recently installed Windows ME on my home computer. Because it did not interact well with my existing modem, I bought a new modem. The modem manufacturer has talked me through the procedure to make my system accept the modem drivers from the provided CD as Windows ME was not letting me install any drivers but its own. Now, every time I start up, the hardware wizard appears inviting me to try to load new drivers all over again (even though experience tells me it would not accept them readily anyway). There is no obvious option under ‘msconfig’ for me to stop this message appearing at start up, and I would be very grateful for your advice on how to do this.

I don’t believe that there is any way to actually stop the Add Hardware Wizard appearing at startup except by installing the drivers it wants. Before you read on, make sure that you know the procedure for forcing the installation of the manufacturer’s drivers in the event that we need to reinstall them. Once you have made sure you know how to do that, try installing the WindowsMe generic drivers for your modem, through the hardware wizard that appears at startup, in order to satisfy the Add Hardware Wizard. If you do this, you will probably end up with something like ‘Standard 56000bps Modem’ and ‘Joe Bloggs Brand 56k Modem’ (where Joe Bloggs is your modem manufacturers name/drivers) in your modem list in the ‘Modems’ control panel. You will have two modems listed here as you have two sets of drivers installed and Windows treats these two separate sets of drivers as individual devices. If you have progressed this far, make sure when you dial up your internet connection that the modem selected is that of your manufacturer’s drivers (ie. ‘Joe Bloggs Brand 56k Modem’). This is to ensure that your modem is used with the manufacturer’s drivers instead of the WindowsMe generic drivers. However, you may still encounter problems as a double set of drivers are installed. If this is the case, I suggest that you remove the WindowsMe generic drivers. If this does not solve the problem, you may need to uninstall the manufacturer’s drivers and then reinstall them.