I am trying to help an 85 year old friend that has ME, and I know nothing about this operating system.  The problem is, she HIT a button (doesn't know which one) and all the icons on the DESKTOP are now in a 3 x 3 box that is called "Desktop".  How do I restore these icons back to the desktop?  Also, the picture she had on the desktop switched to something else.  Hers will appear while the computer is booting up, but when the reboot is finished, a different picture shows.  I also have tried doing a restore from a previous date, but the computer is running so slow, it won't do a restore.  It took four days for the computer to finally do a defrag.  Please help!!  Thank you.Does she have the Windows ME CD?  A FORMATTING of the hard drive and fresh installation of Windows would the best solution here.  If possible, backup any files she would not WANT to lose.  She does have the disk for ME installation.  But what is needed for formatting the hard drive?  This is a first for me.  Thank you so much for your quick response.I've never done the procedure for Windows ME, but I believe it's simliar to Windows 98.  If so, you need to create a boot or startup disk, on floppy disk.  You will insert it into the floppy drive and then start the computer.  This will give you the format command.  

This reference should be helpful: HOW TO INSTALL WINDOWS ME.  I believe you can skip the part about partitioning unless you want to CHANGE the existing partition(s) on the drive.  If not, then skip that part and go to the directions on formatting and proceed.

A note on the Startup Disk: She may already have a startup disk that came with the computer.  If not, create one by going to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, and click on the Startup Disk tab.  Click on the Create Disk button.  Again, I'm referring to Win 98SE, so this may not apply to Win ME.  

Is her Windows ME CD one that came with the computer?  If so, it should have the device drivers needed for sound, video, USB, modem, etc.  If it's a Microsoft CD with just Windows ME, one that perhaps did not come with the computer, you will probably need to obtain various drivers and install them after installing Win ME.