Reformating windows

[ben88]

i need to downgrade my sisters computer from windows xp to windows 98 as this runs better on the old computer.

the problem is i cant get the computer to boot from the windows 98 disk.

 

how do i reinstall windows 98 from a copy of xp that mis not unlocked?

 

cheers ben.

[MrWiggly]

Possibly the XP has superceded and overidden most of the 98 setups.

 

Probably your best option is to reformat, then reinstall 98 ... but wait for further advice !

[chesters1]

it wont boot because in the bios it isnt set up to ,it well may be instructed to boot first on drive 0,enable it to seek the floppy and away you should go ,if it does light the floppy drives light on boot up then your disk may be corrupted and another should be made.if your trying to boot from a cd then set CD as the first boot device (not sure though if win98 has this function)

windows 98 doesent exist on a XP disk :confused:

although its said that some windows versions are "upgrades" infact their all full installs ,you can do a full install on a formatted disk using an "upgrade" disk but you have to show a previous windows version disk as "evidence".

so all you need to install win 98 on a blank hard drive is either a full install "version" (where it doesent ask for a previous version disk) or a upgrade where it does, the win98 install disk + a win 95 one.

dont forget to format the disk using FAT or nothing will be seen by the new program and you will be asked to format again.

dont worry if you dont have an earlier version as "proof" there are command line instructions that stop it looking but you will have to search the net for them as the links i had to the pages that listed them have long been deleted.

 

you can if your running XP dual boot using 98 as a second operating system but as i forgot to do it the right way round i never got that far but it is built into XP as a function

 

[ 14. August 2005, 07:52 PM: Message edited by: chesters1 ]

[IanR]

Here we go.

 

You will need a copy of Windows 98/98SE on CD, ALL the drivers for any peripherals that you have, and a floppy drive, and two or three blank disks. Also bear in mind that everything on your hard drive will be lost during this process.

 

Windows 98SE will boot from CD, but older BIOS's will not permit it.

 

Firstly, if you don't have one, download a Win98 Bootdisk from http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm and save it to the hard drive. Run the exe file and save it to a new, blank floppy. Preferably twice.

 

Then see this site: http://www.putergeek.com/win98_install/index.shtml

 

Good luck.

 

Cheers

 

Ian.

 

[ 14. August 2005, 08:27 PM: Message edited by: IanR ]

[ben88]

ian the problem is i have installed xp on the system bnut that version of xp is now locked and asking for me to register it which i cant do as i borrowed it from a friend.

 

i have been trying to boot 98 from the cd via bios, but it just doesnt want to work.

 

is there a key comand i can press whle the system is booting to load straight into dos and not windows, as then i can reformat and reinstall windows from there.

[IanR]

Ben

 

Keep tapping the f5 and f8 (or DEL) keys on first boot. You should then get into the BIOS options. Configure it to boot from the floppy (A:) first. Save and exit. Then reboot, with the WIN98 bootdisk in the floppy drive.

 

Cheers

 

Ian.

 

[ 16. August 2005, 11:44 AM: Message edited by: IanR ]

[UK-Fishing-Tackle.co.uk]

Good point Chesters.

 

Given an XP install there is a good chance your C: drive will now be NTFS. So, make sure you delete any NON-DOS Partitions i.e. using FDISK in DOS, and then recreate the partitions as FAT32.

 

THEN ensure that the primary partition is made active (i.e. bootable) otherwise Windows will not start even when installed.

 

Google FDISK for further info - there is shtloads out there!!