Microsoft Windows Me FAQs (Part II)

Windows Me Is there support for a “rollback” feature that guarantees a working system in case of Windows Me failure?
There is a feature in Windows Me called “System Restore” – this feature allows Windows Me to revert to an earlier “known working” configuration of the Windows Me installation if the current configuration becomes corrupted and makes Windows Me unbootable or unusable. For further information on this feature and how it is used, please contact Microsoft.

Will Windows Me still run my older 16-bit applications and DOS applications?
Microsoft has stated that Windows Me will have complete compatibility for older 16-bit applications that run in DOS, Windows 3.xx, and Windows 95/98.

Will this be the last Windows operating system based on DOS?
Microsoft has stated that Windows Me will indeed be the last operating system based on the 16-bit DOS code base.

How do I make a bootable floppy or bootable hard drive with Windows Millennium (WinMe)?
Right clicking on a drive (floppy or hard drive) in My Computer or Windows Explorer only allows for formatting, WinMe no longer offers an option to copy system files and make the drive bootable. Use the following procedures for making a drive bootable.

Floppy: Making a WinMe Startup Disk is the only way to make a bootable floppy with WinMe. The WinMe Startup Disk is made the same way as in Win95/98 (My Computer-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs-Startup Disk Tab-Create Disk).

Hard Drive: Using the SETUP command contained on the Distribution CD is the only way to make a bootable hard drive with WinMe. Although the WinMe Startup Disk still includes the FORMAT and SYS commands, you will receive the following notices when trying to use FORMAT C: /S or SYS C: “Microsoft Windows no longer supports the FORMAT /s command” or “Cannot find the system files in the standard locations on drive c:. SYS can only be used on drive c: to attempt repair of an already existing installation of Windows. Use Windows SETUP (Distribution CD) to make drive c: bootable”.

Will my Windows 95/98 programs run under Windows Me?
Because Windows Me shares so many common features and inherent programming structure with Windows 95/98, most, if not all, programs and applications from the previous versions of Windows 95/98 will work under Windows Me. However, contacting your software vendors and/or Microsoft for software application compatibility before purchasing Windows Me is a good idea.

Will Windows Me be available to purchase in retail stores, or will it be available only pre-installed on new PCs?
Windows Me should become available in retail stores sometime during the late Spring or early Summer months of 2000. It is believed that during this same time, many retail PC manufacturers will begin offering Windows Me pre-installed on many computer systems.

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Western Digital Enters Solid State Drive Market

western digital Western Digital, a world leader in hard drive storage for computing and consumer electronics applications, announced that it has completed a $65 million cash acquisition of SiliconSystems, Inc., Aliso Viejo, Calif., a leading supplier of solid state drives for the embedded systems market.

Since its inception in 2002, SiliconSystems has sold millions of SiliconDrive® products to meet the high performance, industrial, embedded-computing, medical, military and aerospace markets. These markets accounted for approximately one third of worldwide solid-state drive revenues in 2008. SiliconSystems’ product portfolio includes solid-state drives with SATA, EIDE, PC Card, USB and CF interfaces in 2.5-inch, 1.8-inch, CF and other form factors. SiliconSystems has developed extensive intellectual property to address the stringent embedded systems market requirements to ensure data integrity, eliminate unscheduled downtime, protect application data and software and provide for data security and protection through its patented and patent-pending PowerArmor®, SiSMART®, SolidStor® and SiSecure™ technologies.

WD’s storage industry leadership, worldwide infrastructure, and technical and financial resources will enable further growth in SiliconSystems’ existing markets and customer relationships. SiliconSystems’ intellectual property and technical expertise will provide additional building blocks for future products to address emerging opportunities in WD’s existing markets.

“We are delighted to have the SiliconSystems team join WD,” said John Coyne, president and CEO of WD. “The combination will be modestly accretive to revenue and margins as a result of SiliconSystems’ existing position as a trusted supplier to the well-established $400 million market for embedded solid-state drives. SiliconSystems’ intellectual property and technical expertise will significantly accelerate WD’s solid-state drive development programs for the netbook, client and enterprise markets, providing greater choice for our customers to satisfy all their storage requirements.”

Integration into WD begins immediately, with SiliconSystems now becoming known as the WD Solid-State Storage business unit, complementing WD’s existing Branded Products, Client Storage, Consumer Storage and Enterprise Storage business units.

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32% of IT Professionals Have Lost Corporate or Private Data

Research by the portable storage and digital encryption firm revealed 57 percent also admit to carrying unencrypted data on USB sticks, portable hard drives or optical media, despite 98 percent acknowledging data loss to be a ‘serious and growing’ concern. Furthermore, 96 percent believe encrypted hard drives are preferable to unprotected drives for daily data use.

“The survey’s results are disappointing and alarming at the same time because our respondents should be setting a better example,” said John Michael, Managing Director of iStorage.

“Despite nearly all of the IT experts we questioned acknowledging data loss to be a serious and growing concern it seems many are not connecting that to their own data security procedures, with nearly a third admitting to losing a portable device containing confidential data. This is putting themselves and their organisations at risk.”

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