Window 98 ugrade

[Steve/Chris]

I have a Pentium 166MHZ with a 1 GB hardrive and 32MB of memory, I was intalling the window 98 upgrade and half way through the instalation it stops and says cannot proceed system error. Basicaly I can't get the win. 95 back, because I have half 98 and half 95. I could not save my files to the hard drive because I didn't have enough room. All I want to know right now is how to get my win 95 back.

[PostCode]

I hate to say it, but it looks like a reinstall of Windows 95. You have a jumble of system files from two OS's. Nothing else to do except wipe it and start from scratch.

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[Randy_tx]

If you have data on the drive which is REAL important to you...it can be saved...but I don't know how experienced you are at this stuff. If you dont know how to move data from one drive to another then pay someone to do it for you ...once the data is moved (assuming you do that), then you're easiest and least expensive solution is to format and reinstall Win95. Have you considered a larger hard drive? Your space problem will continue to limit what you are able to do with this system.
Additionally, you could delete all of the Windows Directory, Program Files Directory etc without deleting your data and reinstall windows 95 without doing a format...but again, it takes a fair amount of experience to do that sort of stuff.

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My 386 notebook is faster than yours -nanny nanny boo boo !

[Steve/Chris]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by PostCode:
I hate to say it, but it looks like a reinstall of Windows 95. You have a jumble of system files from two OS's. Nothing else to do except wipe it and start from scratch.

If I wipe it, can I install the win 98? I have nothing important on it anyway. If so how do I start over?

[Steve/Chris]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Randy_tx:
If you have data on the drive which is REAL important to you...it can be saved...but I don't know how experienced you are at this stuff. If you dont know how to move data from one drive to another then pay someone to do it for you ...once the data is moved (assuming you do that), then you're easiest and least expensive solution is to format and reinstall Win95. Have you considered a larger hard drive? Your space problem will continue to limit what you are able to do with this system.
Additionally, you could delete all of the Windows Directory, Program Files Directory etc without deleting your data and reinstall windows 95 without doing a format...but again, it takes a fair amount of experience to do that sort of stuff.

Could I not start from scratch and install the win 98? I have nothing important on it. If so how do I do this?

[Randy_tx]

Nope... you have a Win98 Upgrade disk and it won't work if there isn't Win3.1 or Win95 ALREADY on system. If you want to install win98 you have to first install Win95 or get an OEM Win98 ver. To install win95 or win98 you need a win98 startup disk...it gives you accessiblity to the CD rom and all you type is "setup". You can download the startup disk (i think) or get it from someone who already has win98 (its best for either win 95 or 98 since it has the option to start the computer with cd rom support.

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My 386 notebook is faster than yours -nanny nanny boo boo !

[Randy_tx]

Well ok.......there IS supposed to be a command switch you can use with Win98 upgrade to put it on an empty hard drive......but it didnt work when I tried it and it's not authorized anyways......

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Open letter to Bill Gates:"I just want 1% of your net worth...I'm not greedy"

[Steve/Chris]

Originally posted by Randy_tx:
Nope... you have a Win98 Upgrade disk and it won't work if there isn't Win3.1 or Win95 ALREADY on system. If you want to install win98 you have to first install Win95 or get an OEM Win98 ver. To install win95 or win98 you need a win98 startup disk...it gives you accessiblity to the CD rom and all you type is "setup". You can download the startup disk (i think) or get it from someone who already has win98 (its best for either win 95 or 98 since it has the option to start the computer with cd rom support.

I do have the win 98 oem. Do I still need to wipe the system out and start over?

[PostCode]

Actually, you can install an upgrade as a full product quite easily. Just run the setup from the Upgrade CD and when it comes time to verify, direct it to the location of the Windows 95 CD or Windows 3.1 disk (assuming the floppy here) and your off and running. My advice is to create a directory, like c:\windows\options\cabs and copy the setup files, located on the CD in \win98. Run the install from the cab files you just copied over to the hard drive in the windows\options\cabs directory (setup) and during the first part of the install it will want to verify product ownsership. Here, slip the 95 CD in, and browse to the CD, such as d:\win95 or just d:\ (assuming d:\ is your CD) and the setup will continue from the cab files. Nice clean Windows 98 install. Hope this helps.

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[spaceAlien]

> Do I still need to wipe the system out and start over?

Well isn't that what this is all about? Aren't we looking for fun and excitement?

Do you have a "startup disk?" Put it in 'A' and restart.

Do you know how to change drives?

Can you access your CD-ROM? If so, then sounds like you have the parts you need to reinstall OS on your HDD.

Once you get to a command prompt "a:\>" type in "FDISK" and follow the instructions to remove all partition(s) on your HDD -- this "wipes" everything off your hard drive

Reboot again and and run "SETUP.EXE" on the CD-ROM.

Grins --


> My advice is to create a directory, like c:\windows\options\cabs and copy the setup files

Good idea in general -- bad idea in this instance cause only 1GB HDD

[Steve/Chris]

Originally posted by spaceAlien:
> Do I still need to wipe the system out and start over?

Well isn't that what this is all about? Aren't we looking for fun and excitement?

Do you have a "startup disk?" Put it in 'A' and restart.

Do you know how to change drives?

Can you access your CD-ROM? If so, then sounds like you have the parts you need to reinstall OS on your HDD.

Once you get to a command prompt "a:\>" type in "FDISK" and follow the instructions to remove all partition(s) on your HDD -- this "wipes" everything off your hard drive

Reboot again and and run "SETUP.EXE" on the CD-ROM.

Grins --


> My advice is to create a directory, like c:\windows\options\cabs and copy the setup files

Good idea in general -- bad idea in this instance cause only 1GB HDD

Thank you for the advise, this mite sound stupid, but I'm planning on purchasing a new hard drive in a month or so. If I do it sooner I won't even need to do all these steps you just told me about. Right? Go easy on me I'm just learning. Now my next question would be what do I need to know about installing a new hard drive?

[Paleo Pete]

OK, first, look below all the posts, you'll see a link that says "Post Reply". Please use that instead of the "Reply with Quote" at top of an individual post, saves us a lot of scrolling...thanks.

Next, I just updated my site, and posted basic instructions on installing Windows. Nothing complicated, just the basics. If you have the full install, then you don't have to worry about whether it has an earlier version of windows, if I read your info right that's what you have. Check the link at bottom of my post. Several other sites there also have installation instructions. Several links also have good info you might want to look at concerning the hard drive installation. check the "Build your Own" type links.

Hard Disk Partitioning and Formatting (http://www.pcguide.com/proc/setup/hdd.htm) will help you if you need to get more familiar with the formatting process, partitioning should not be necessary, that's already done.

Installing a hard drive isn't that difficult, you bolt it in, make sure you have the ribbon cable and power supply cable plugged in correctly, boot the computer and set the drive parameters in BIOS, usually Auto Detect works great, then reboot and run the drive installation software that came with the drive, which will even transfer your existing data to the new drive, if you set it up as Master, and the older one as Slave, using the jumpers.

Hard Disk Installation (http://www.pcguide.com/proc/physinst/hdd.htm) has more detailed info, definitely suggested reading.
Hard drive Connection Procedure (http://www.pcguide.com/proc/config/hdd.htm) goes with it.
Initial Boot Procedure (http://www.pcguide.com/proc/setup/assyboot.htm) has some info that may help with setting it up, links to more info you may need.

If you have problems, drop us a note.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines!
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[spaceAlien]

> I'm planning on purchasing a new hard drive in a month or so.

So practice installing the operating system (OS) on your old Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

1) Do you have a Startup Disk?

2) Can you boot your computer from your floppy (A :) drive?

If you can answer YES to both these questions, then YOU'RE A WINNER!

You too can learn all about the command line interface -- no mouse required!

Do you see A:/> ?

Try typing A:/>dir -- you'll get a directory listing

Try typing A:/>c: -- you will either see
C:/> or
Invalid drive specification

Waddaya say Pete? Am I feeding Steve/Chris too much too fast? Should we be discouraging or encouraging said person(s)?

By the way -- I accept absolutely no liability what-so-ever for any of my comments ---

Grins ...



[This message has been edited by spaceAlien (edited 02-09-2001).]

[Randy_tx]

It might REALLY help if you found a "Mentor" to physically assist you in this endeavor.....no kidding.

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Open letter to Bill Gates:"I just want 1% of your net worth...I'm not greedy"

[Paleo Pete]

I agree, someone who knows what he or she is doing to watch and help, but not do it him/herself would be a very good idea.

Yes, practicing on the old drive would be a good thing. Then when the new one is installed, knowledge and confidence would be a plus.

No, I don't think that's going too fast, learing how to deal with a few DOS commands should be helpful. Pulling a directory listing and switching drives won't harm a thing. Checking out books and websites with good info would be a good idea too, so when it comes time to do it with the new drive, maybe some of the questions will be answered and kinks will be ironed out.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines!
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)