Help on installing Win 98FE

[Awdiofreq]

Would someone tell me the correct procedure for re-installing Windows 98FE safely without losing all my files please (my main concern is saving 25 mp3 files I have)? Is it just a matter of inserting the installation disc & choosing a regular install instead of a clean install ? Also, I don't have a backup program either or is there another way to back everything up. Do I have to go through the process of re-formatting & re-partitioning again. As a side note, I checked my system and it shows I have 53 cab files. I read an old post that stated you need 55 cabs to perform a complete install, but not sure if this is correct. Any help is greatly appreciated ! Thanks in advance.

[Sylvander]

See this http://tinyurl.com/v0m1 for background.

Then use the instructions here http://tinyurl.com/v0ml

[Awdiofreq]

Thanks for your quick response & pointing me in the right direction. I'll give it a try.

[Sylvander]

My chosen course of action was to copy the Windows installation files to a folder [with a nice simple name like win98temp] on a different partition or even better a different physical HDD.
Then use a Windows Startup disk command prompt to run the "Setup.exe" file that is among them.
This installs Windows from one HDD [or partition] to the C: partition with DOS in control. DOS is said to be slower but safer than Windows.
Then you leave the Windows installation files where they are.
This means that any time in the future that a Windows file is needed, then Windows knows where the files are and will go get the one it needs and will not ask you to put your installation disk in the CD-Drive. This avoids any problem caused when the CD drive letter has changed since Windows was installed. [You see, Windows will ONLY accept the disk in a drive now having the same letter as then.]

[1966]

I have to ask, you do mean Win98SE don't you? Did I miss one?;)

[Awdiofreq]

I have Windows '98, first edition (the original windows 98). And I was able to reinstall my OS yesterday without losing any of my files. During the install process you are given an option to save all your files, checked this & all went smooth. Thanks to all !

[Sylvander]

I think you have probably, slightly misunderstood the process.

When you already have a certain version of an O/S installed [Win98 in your case] and you run Windows Setup:
Setup.exe will detect that you already have this O/S installed and give you the option to repair the Windows System Files.
It only checks that all the Windows files are present and un-corrupted.
It won't touch your other files.
When it asked if you wanted to save your existing files, it meant your existing Windows files.
That was definitely done when you upgraded to more advanced Windows version so you could uninstall and revert to your previous O/S.
If you didn't do this and you wanted to go back to your old O/S you had to re-format and begin the installation from a blank drive.
I'm guessing that in this situation you could revert to your previous set of Windows files if you found the new set simply didn't work.
But that is most unlikely to happen, so there is little point in saving these Windows files.
They are using up valuable space on your HDD.

[Awdiofreq]

Sorry for all the confusion. In an earlier post i stated that i installed windows 98 SE, which solved my problems. Well, it turns out that i was told it was win 98SE by a friend, but just recently i decided to double check & found out it was not the second edition (was scammed by my friend). I just discovered the problem all along was internet explorer (i kept getting this error message "explorer not responding" & the system would constantly lock up). After reinstalling my os all would work fine for a short time then the same symptoms would occur. My os had IE version 4.0, which i then upgraded to 5.0 by copying the setup file from an old Earthlink cd i had (couldn't get the 5.0 version from the Microsoft Internet Explorer home page since that version had entered the extended support phase, meaning they no longer offered it for downloading). Once i had IE 5.0 installed i then downloaded the 6.0 version and all has been working and very stable since. No more error messages or system lock-ups. So the root of my problem was the IE version 4.0. Not sure why it started causing problems & affected my entire system, i thought this was just an internet program ? Once again, thanks for the replies & help !