In order to use ME on a computer that already has XP installed, you would have to format the drive and install ME first then do a re-install of XP. 

The computer I have was purchased from a person who owned a small business. I don't understand xp pro, for my personal home use, so I want it off my computer and go with a operating system just for home use. Please advise me of what to do.

From everything I have read, XP is a much more stable system than ME. It can be tweaked to look almost exactly like ME. I recently did a clean install from ME to XP Home. I'm not sure of the differences between XP Home and XP Pro. I would quess it may be in the programs installed which you don't need to use if they don't apply to you. I was getting a lot of blue screen errors on ME. Have not received one since I've been on XP. I haven't found a huge difference in the systems, at least for what I use it for.

Think about it before you make the change.  What is it you don't understand?

I don't know how much computer experience you have. I have learned a lot but am not an expert, so, I'm hoping one of the regulars on this forum will jump in and help.

First, do not delete the hotfixes. They are Windows updates that were done on the computer. You should be checking for updates weekly or have your computer set up to update automatically.

Second, if the computer was used by a lot of people, you may want to just do a CLEAN install of Windows XP. Do you have the XP CD that came with the computer? A clean install would get rid of everything and could make yourself the only user. There are several web sites that will walk you through a clean install. I used http://winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp when I did a clean install from ME to XP Home.

I don't know how to put a link onto this forum so you can copy the above address and paste it in your browser window to go to this site and see what is involved in a clean install.

I would love to do a clean install because that is exactly what I need to do. Problem is I don't  have the xp disk because I purchased my computer from a person who had a small business, and he didn't have the disk. Am I out of luck?

The only other option I know of would be to purchase the upgrade CD for XP. The upgrade for the XP Home CD is $89.96 on the Dell Website. You may be able to find it for less on ebay or with a store coupon. For what you want to do, the Home edition should be fine but I would check with Dell to see if you can upgrade from XP to Home. Make sure you get the upgrade CD not the full one.