Solutions: Installing Windows XP alongside Me

Q. I purchased Windows XP home upgrade. I have Windows Me on my computer with a 40-gigabyte hard drive. I also purchased a second 40GB hard drive. I see I have two installation choices: Quick Upgrade or New Installation. Can I do the New Installation to my new hard drive and keep Me on the old hard drive as a backup? If so, how would I do this? I'm sure it is not as simple as inserting the CD into the drive, then choosing send to drive F, my new hard drive.

A. As a matter of fact, it is as easy as that. When you perform a new installation of Windows XP (as opposed to an upgrade), by default the installation is placed on a partition on which no other operating system is located (in your case, the F drive), which you will specify during Setup. Files will be placed on your C drive (Windows Me) that will present you with a choice of operating systems each time you boot up. You'll need to install application programs separately to each operating system (if you want them available in each), and you'll want to keep your new XP installation as a FAT32 file system (as opposed to NTFS) if you want to be able to access files on your XP drive (the F drive) when booted into Windows Me. If you don't intend on accessing the XP drive from Windows Me, then accept the NTFS formatting when you install XP. It's a better file system and will provide extra security and recovery features not available in FAT32.

Moving e-mail to Windows XP

Q. I just added XP to a new hard drive and left Windows Me on a second drive. I have important messages in my old Outlook Express. I was going to move them to my C drive, but I cannot find them on the old drive. Can you tell me where they are?

A. The .DBX files will probably be found in the C:\Windows\Application Data\Identities\(a big long number)\Microsoft\Outlook Express folder on your old Windows Me drive. The reference to "big long number" is actually the globally unique identifier, or GUID, assigned to each Outlook Express user. You can try importing from Outlook Express on XP: Select the proper options and point it to the old directory. I've had mixed success doing it this way depending upon which version of Outlook Express used. One sure way to do this is:

If you can boot to your old Windows Me drive, open Outlook Express and drag the individual e-mails (select all of them within each folder) to a new folder that you can create off the root of the Windows Me drive. Now boot back to Windows XP, open Outlook Express and also the folder that you created on the Windows Me drive that contains the e-mails. Select and drag the e-mails to the appropriate Outlook Express folders.

Outlook Express stationery

Q. I'm running Windows 98 SE with Outlook Express. How do I add stationery?

A. From the Outlook Express menu bar, click Tools, Options, Compose tab. In the Stationery section, you can turn stationery on for Mail or News, then click the Select button to choose a particular stationery template.

Turning off spyware

Q. When I turned on my computer, I was greeted with the following: "Rundll32; this program has performed an illegal operation and will shut down." When I clicked Details, it read, "Rundll32 caused an invalid page fault in module NEWDOTNET3_23.DLL at 015f:1000ab5e." I could not find any solution on the Microsoft Web site. I am running Windows 98.

A. NewDotNet is a spyware program that loads alongside other programs or browser plugins such as Earthlink, At Home, Juno, Go!Zilla, BearShare, Mp3.com and Webshots. And it usually happens secretly. Spyware programs collect usage statistics for clients or display banner ads in associated programs and tailor the advertising to your interests. You want it off your system. Go to Add/Remove Programs (click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs) and remove New.Net. If the Add/Remove option fails, e-mail New.Net support (support@new.net) or call (626) 229-7800. To find out more about New.Net, go to www.cexx.org/newnet.htm.

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