WinME is a pile of crap to be honest. The default Dell installation is especially flakey. If you've got the time and the proper install media it is a much better idea to wipe it clean and reinstall from scratch.

Not sure what Dell does to it exactly but I've always had terrible trouble with the default install. It could be because they've got a vaguely standard HD image which they clone onto all of their PCs and then customise it from there. This standard image has extra cruft which affects the PC.

- Trevor