Released in 2000, Windows ME is the successor to Windows 98, and unlike Windows 98, was aimed specifically at the home market since Windows NT professional had taken over the business workstation market. Windows ME is a hybrid 16/32 bit DOS based operating system with a small UNIX kernel primarily used for scheduling the CPU time slots and isolating hardware from the operating system to prevent hardware drivers from causing compatibility problems.Windows ME came bundled with windows movie maker software and an updated graphical interface reminiscent of Windows 2000. Real mode DOS access was limited to speed up boot time so many older DOS applications would no longer work under ME.

Although Windows Millennium Edition had many new features, its life time was very short lived even in computer operating system terms. It was replaced one year later with Window XP home edition, a totally UNIX based operating system. Microsoft stopped supporting Windows ME on July 11, 2006. The self help database is still available on the Microsoft Support Website at http://support.microsoft.com/gp/hublist

New Features

Some of the new features that were released in Windows ME were:

• System Restore - a safety feature that could restore the system files and the registry if a new installation trashed the system.
• System File Protection - this feature made backup copies of system files and automatically restores the backup if a system file is modified.
• Networking improvements - a new TCP/IP stack was included plus the ability to use firewire and infrared networking
• New Utilities - such as Plug and Play support, USB mass storage drivers, compressed folders, a system configuration utility, a system monitor and automatic updates.
• Better Image Support - support for image previews and import from digital cameras and scanners

Tips to Improve Windows ME

First keep in mind that anytime you plan to start modifying the default settings of an operating system, you should make a complete backup of the system. You can only use the built in system restore if you manually create a restore point after each and every minor change you make. That way you can step back without losing all of the changes you made. You should also create a system boot disk. I prefer a windows 98 rescue floppy with CD drivers although any bootable floppy, CD or DVD will work.

Go to the Microsoft website and install all of the available updates and also update to the latest version of windows internet explorer. You need to do this even if you normally use another web browser because the operating system calls several of internet explorer’s shared files to perform routine tasks.

Getting Better General Performance

Next right click on My Computer then select Properties -> Performance -> File System. Select the Hard Disk tab and select Network server for the typical role. This will increase the cache allocated to hard disk operations and speed processing up a little bit.

Next select the Floppy Disk tab and uncheck Search for new Floppy. This prevents the system from checking for a bootable floppy every time it starts. This also prevents your floppy disk drive from wearing out as quickly.

Then on the Removable Disk tab select enable write behind caching. This speeds up accessing things on your flash drive, CD, external hard drive or floppy.

Next go to the Device Manager, right click on My Computer then select Properties -> Device Manager. Select Disk Drives. For each hard drive, CD-ROM and DVD drive listed, select Properties. Make sure the DMA (Direct Memory Access) box is checked. This can give you a 10% to 15% improvement in access speed.

Next, go to My Computer then select Properties -> Performance -> Virtual Memory. Select Let me specify my own settings and set a fixed size for the swap file. The swap file is a hard drive location that the operating system uses as additional memory when it runs out of system RAM. The minimum virtual memory setting should be as large as the amount of RAM in the computer and the maximum whatever the operating system suggests. I usually make the minimum a little larger. This speeds up processing considerably because the operating system no longer has to recalculate the swap file size and allocate space each time it uses it.

Next you need to find out what terminate and stay resident programs are running on the machine, the system tray will show you the ones that put an icon there, the task scheduler will show you anything scheduled by an application or the operating system and the task manager will show you what processes are currently running on the computer. Usually it is safe to right click on an icon in the system tray and close the associated program. The same is true for the task scheduler. But be very careful before you stop processes in the task manager. If you don’t know what it is, don’t stop it.

Networking Optimization

Basically you want to remove any networking components you never actually use. If you don’t use a VPN connection to log into your company’s network from home or use a dial up modem, you can remove these networking components if they are installed. Most home users only need TCP/IP installed and running. Laptops usually need wireless and infrared networking installed as well since they usually have both network adapters built into the motherboard.

Conclusion

All of the suggestions presented in this article will help you get the best performance from Windows ME. However, the best solution is to upgrade to windows XP home if your hardware is capable of running it. XP is by far a much better operating system.