For $50 you can get a copy of Linux from Sun that comes with an MS-Office knockoff suite. www.staroffice.com They are advertising it as a nice desktop version of the Linux OS.
Dude, what you need is a boot disk. Go to Windows website and make your self some boot disks on another system. I had this problem a while back, and now my pc is healthier than a 5year old still sucking a teat.
Do you have the original Windows ME CDs? I'd format the drive and reinstall Windows ME. But be prepared for the possibility that your hard drive has failed. I too had something like this happen. I couldn't reformat the disk, reinstall Windows or anything. So I had to replace the hard drive. I'm not saying that's definitely your problem. Try to format the disk and reinstall first.
Before you go out and buy Windows XP or Linux or some other OS, make sure that your computer has the necessary hardware to run them. How much memory and how fast is the CPU and how big is your disk drive?
Find someone with a copy of windows XP (find a nerd, in otherwords) pay him 5 bucks to use his copy. Windows ME is the biggest piece of trash ever. I'm so glad that I get the college student discount on software.. my copy of XP cost me 5 bucks..
