What is a good beginning source to figure out what .dll files do and how to fix errors in Windows ME?

January 30, 2004 7:23 PM

Where is a good beginning source to figure out what .dll files do and how to fix errors in a Windows ME computer?
posted by brent to computers & internet (5 comments total)

DLL Help Database

And the way to fix a Windows ME is to upgrade to XP or downgrade to 98SE. ME was a disaster of an OS. Recovery from DLL Hell usually involves a clean re-install anyway.
posted by srboisvert at 9:12 PM on January 30, 2004

Or upgrade to Win2K which has less demanding hardware requirements than XP does, and runs just as well if not better :) I recently installed 2K on two old family computers, both low-end Pentium IIs with ~100MB of RAM or less. Runs fine, and no more Win98/ME crashes or instability.
posted by cyrusdogstar at 10:06 AM on January 31, 2004

Strange; I run winME fine with virtually no problems: boot up in the morning, shut down at night with nary ever a need to reboot.

Can't help with the .dll thing, but what are the errors you speak of, brent?

[BTW, I thought we'd nixed the "Get a Mac" school of help?]
posted by Blue Stone at 11:26 AM on January 31, 2004

brent: Can you clarify the questions a little? Are you asking what it is particular DLLs are for, or do you want an explanation of the purpose and mechanism of dynamically loaded libraries?

And "how to fix errors" does, in fact, depend quite heavily on what those errors are. Are you after a general guide to troubleshooting Windows, or trying to learn to troubleshoot technical problems at all, or are you facing a particular set of failures you want to solve? It's difficult to know how to answer your question usefully.
posted by majick at 12:38 PM on January 31, 2004

majick-I was just looking for general information as to what the .dll files do. More or less what the "start up" sequence is when a computer is turned on. What a "missing x(.dll) file" does and its purpose.

As for fixing the errors, yes I had an error in the registry when the computer would turn on. "Can not load c:\ie.reg". Just a general where do you go for help when things aren't working quite right.
posted by brent at 11:35 AM on February 1, 2004