Location of all personal files in Win ME

I'm helping a friend do a clean re-install of Win ME on his computer
and, obviously, we need to backup all his personal data.

It's so long since I've used Win9x systems that I can't remember where
everything is. I know that there is My Documents, but from what I do
remember stuff tends to get scattered about a bit, unlike XP where
everything is neatly arranged under Documents and Settings so I just
dump that onto another machine.

Googling has failed to find a definitive list.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Regards,

Parish

Mart
Tue Oct 03 09:05:04 CDT 2006

You probably need to back-up his Address Book - xxxx.wab - wherever it may
be located and possibly his Outlook Express Mail database yyy.dbx files in
the C:\ ... \Outlook Express folder. Messy but *may* be useful.

Otherwise, search for .docs, .jpgs, and any other file types he tends to
use for his personal stuff. Passwords are probably
unrecoverable/non-transferable and are likely to have to be re-entered in
the new environment - so pencil and paper may be necessary <g>

Probably the most important item is the 25 digit product key (on the WinMe
CD) if known. This can be located in the registry - do a search for
"productkey" using regedit.exe

BTW - you can find your product key by using Belarc Advisor from
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

see also "Windows Millennium Edition Cleanhd.txt File Contents"
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;271673

Mart


"Parish" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:452266fb$0$8729$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net...
> I'm helping a friend do a clean re-install of Win ME on his computer and,
> obviously, we need to backup all his personal data.
>
> It's so long since I've used Win9x systems that I can't remember where
> everything is. I know that there is My Documents, but from what I do
> remember stuff tends to get scattered about a bit, unlike XP where
> everything is neatly arranged under Documents and Settings so I just dump
> that onto another machine.
>
> Googling has failed to find a definitive list.
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Regards,
>
> Parish

Mike
Tue Oct 03 09:13:12 CDT 2006

There is no definitive place as such other than "My Documents" just as XP
has no other definitive place although in the case of XP this object
together with the user's desktop, message store and favourites are all
found under Documents and Settings regardless of the number of configured
users. If the user uses Outlook Express and the machine is configured for
a single user and the user has not relocated their message store, the
default message store is located at C:\Windows\Application
Data\Identities. Similarly the desktop by default is located at
C:\Windows\Desktop, Favourites at C:\Windows\Favorites and My Documents at
C:\My Documents.

The user may however have chosen to relocate the My Documents
object/folder and or save files in other locations.
--
Mike Maltby
MS-MVP Windows
mike.maltby@gmail.com


Parish <me@privacy.net> wrote:

> I'm helping a friend do a clean re-install of Win ME on his computer
> and, obviously, we need to backup all his personal data.
>
> It's so long since I've used Win9x systems that I can't remember where
> everything is. I know that there is My Documents, but from what I do
> remember stuff tends to get scattered about a bit, unlike XP where
> everything is neatly arranged under Documents and Settings so I just
> dump that onto another machine.
>
> Googling has failed to find a definitive list.
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Regards,
>
> Parish

Parish
Tue Oct 03 09:28:16 CDT 2006

Mart wrote:
> You probably need to back-up his Address Book - xxxx.wab - wherever it may
> be located and possibly his Outlook Express Mail database yyy.dbx files in
> the C:\ ... \Outlook Express folder. Messy but *may* be useful.
>

I found a website with an excellent step-by-step guide, complete with
lots of screenshots, for doing backup and restore of OE files -
http://www.homeandlearn.co.uk/BC/bcs3p1.html if anyone's interested.

> Otherwise, search for .docs, .jpgs, and any other file types he tends to
> use for his personal stuff. Passwords are probably
> unrecoverable/non-transferable and are likely to have to be re-entered in
> the new environment - so pencil and paper may be necessary <g>
>

Passwords shouldn't be a problem, but I'll check.

> Probably the most important item is the 25 digit product key (on the WinMe
> CD) if known. This can be located in the registry - do a search for
> "productkey" using regedit.exe
>
> BTW - you can find your product key by using Belarc Advisor from
> http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
>

Good point, he says he has the original CD so presumably has the key as
well, but I'll double check.

> see also "Windows Millennium Edition Cleanhd.txt File Contents"
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;271673
>

Hmmm, from that KB article:

Before you start, make sure you have the following available:

- A floppy disk that can be used to start the computer and
provide the utilities you need to make the new hard disk
drive usable.

- A Windows Millennium Edition CD.

Is the ME CD not bootable? And does it not give you the option to delete
the existing partition(s) and create a new one prior to installing a la XP?

Thanks for your help.

Regards,

Parish


> Mart
>

Alias~-
Tue Oct 03 09:41:41 CDT 2006

Parish wrote:
> Mart wrote:
>> You probably need to back-up his Address Book - xxxx.wab - wherever it
>> may be located and possibly his Outlook Express Mail database yyy.dbx
>> files in the C:\ ... \Outlook Express folder. Messy but *may* be useful.
>>
>
> I found a website with an excellent step-by-step guide, complete with
> lots of screenshots, for doing backup and restore of OE files -
> http://www.homeandlearn.co.uk/BC/bcs3p1.html if anyone's interested.
>
>> Otherwise, search for .docs, .jpgs, and any other file types he tends
>> to use for his personal stuff. Passwords are probably
>> unrecoverable/non-transferable and are likely to have to be re-entered
>> in the new environment - so pencil and paper may be necessary <g>
>>
>
> Passwords shouldn't be a problem, but I'll check.
>
>> Probably the most important item is the 25 digit product key (on the
>> WinMe CD) if known. This can be located in the registry - do a search
>> for "productkey" using regedit.exe
>>
>> BTW - you can find your product key by using Belarc Advisor from
>> http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
>>
>
> Good point, he says he has the original CD so presumably has the key as
> well, but I'll double check.
>
>> see also "Windows Millennium Edition Cleanhd.txt File Contents"
>> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;271673
>>
>
> Hmmm, from that KB article:
>
> Before you start, make sure you have the following available:
>
> - A floppy disk that can be used to start the computer and
> provide the utilities you need to make the new hard disk
> drive usable.
>
> - A Windows Millennium Edition CD.
>
> Is the ME CD not bootable? And does it not give you the option to delete
> the existing partition(s) and create a new one prior to installing a la XP?
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> Regards,
>
> Parish

No, it doesn't.

Alias
>
>
>> Mart
>>

Mart
Tue Oct 03 10:01:41 CDT 2006

> Is the ME CD not bootable? And does it not give you the option to delete
> the existing partition(s) and create a new one prior to installing a la
> XP?

In short - as Alias stated - No.

However see :-

"How to Create a Startup Disk in Windows Me"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/267287/en-us

and

"How to Use the Fdisk Tool and the Format Tool to Partition or Repartition a
Hard Disk"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/255867/en-us

Mart


"Parish" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:452272e3$0$16580$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader01.plus.net...
> Mart wrote:
>> You probably need to back-up his Address Book - xxxx.wab - wherever it
>> may be located and possibly his Outlook Express Mail database yyy.dbx
>> files in the C:\ ... \Outlook Express folder. Messy but *may* be useful.
>>
>
> I found a website with an excellent step-by-step guide, complete with lots
> of screenshots, for doing backup and restore of OE files -
> http://www.homeandlearn.co.uk/BC/bcs3p1.html if anyone's interested.
>
>> Otherwise, search for .docs, .jpgs, and any other file types he tends to
>> use for his personal stuff. Passwords are probably
>> unrecoverable/non-transferable and are likely to have to be re-entered in
>> the new environment - so pencil and paper may be necessary <g>
>>
>
> Passwords shouldn't be a problem, but I'll check.
>
>> Probably the most important item is the 25 digit product key (on the
>> WinMe CD) if known. This can be located in the registry - do a search for
>> "productkey" using regedit.exe
>>
>> BTW - you can find your product key by using Belarc Advisor from
>> http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
>>
>
> Good point, he says he has the original CD so presumably has the key as
> well, but I'll double check.
>
>> see also "Windows Millennium Edition Cleanhd.txt File Contents"
>> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;271673
>>
>
> Hmmm, from that KB article:
>
> Before you start, make sure you have the following available:
>
> - A floppy disk that can be used to start the computer and
> provide the utilities you need to make the new hard disk
> drive usable.
>
> - A Windows Millennium Edition CD.
>
> Is the ME CD not bootable? And does it not give you the option to delete
> the existing partition(s) and create a new one prior to installing a la
> XP?
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> Regards,
>
> Parish
>
>
>> Mart
>>

Parish
Tue Oct 03 10:29:57 CDT 2006

Mart wrote:
>> Is the ME CD not bootable? And does it not give you the option to delete
>> the existing partition(s) and create a new one prior to installing a la
>> XP?
>
> In short - as Alias stated - No.
>
> However see :-
>
> "How to Create a Startup Disk in Windows Me"
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/267287/en-us
>
> and
>
> "How to Use the Fdisk Tool and the Format Tool to Partition or Repartition a
> Hard Disk"
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/255867/en-us
>

Told you I was out of touch with Win9x systems :-)

I won't have any problems reformatting the disk, and I guess if he's got
the CD he should have the boot floppy too, but thanks for the link in
case we need to make one - just as well his laptop has a floppy drive -
none of my PCs do!

Thanks

Regards,

Parish