"ctrl+Z" going back one step with XP to make things rights.

[Spin_Star]

Ok Friends...You are welcome to rip into me as much as you want, but I really
need some help here. I did something stupid. Bought a retired government PC.
..Inexpensive, a nice Dell, big CRT monitor, and a TOTALLY scrubbed hard
drive in accordance to DOD regulations.

Not doing my research first and being a total techno-ignoramus, I brought my
Dell WindowsXP Prof. Recovery disk from work and put it into the PC when I
first started it. It looked as though installation was going fine and I was
going to save a couple hundred dollars. Of course I don't have the key code
and installation remains incomplete. Not only was that stupid, now I've read
that it may be illegal!?!?

Since then, I've purchased an unopened/uninstalled copy of Win98se at a
garage sale. Windows XP wont let me uninstall, format, or nothing. I tried
looking for osuninst.exe but there’s missing registration info and the ever
drastic C:\ format from SafeMode with command prompts. Nothing…Nothing works.
All I want to do is undo this horrible install and legitimately install the
Win98 I acquired. I'm not great with code and so most of the Microsoft
support is too technical for me. What can I do and how can I do it without
spending what it would cost to buy a new cheap machine?

Regrettably,
JP_Spin_Star

 

[Malke]

Ok Friends...You are welcome to rip into me as much as you want, but I
really
need some help here. I did something stupid. Bought a retired
government PC. .Inexpensive, a nice Dell, big CRT monitor, and a
TOTALLY scrubbed hard drive in accordance to DOD regulations.

Not doing my research first and being a total techno-ignoramus, I
brought my Dell WindowsXP Prof. Recovery disk from work and put it
into the PC when I
first started it. It looked as though installation was going fine and
I was
going to save a couple hundred dollars. Of course I don't have the
key code
and installation remains incomplete. Not only was that stupid, now
I've read that it may be illegal!?!?

Since then, I've purchased an unopened/uninstalled copy of Win98se at
a
garage sale. Windows XP wont let me uninstall, format, or nothing. I
tried looking for osuninst.exe but there’s missing registration info
and the ever
drastic C:\ format from SafeMode with command prompts.
Nothing…Nothing works. All I want to do is undo this horrible install
and legitimately install the
Win98 I acquired. I'm not great with code and so most of the
Microsoft
support is too technical for me. What can I do and how can I do it
without spending what it would cost to buy a new cheap machine?

Try Linux? ;-) Seriously, you may have difficulties in finding drivers
for Win98 for the hardware in that box. You can try, although I don't
recommend it if you plan to go on the Internet with that box. So your
first step is to go to Dell's tech support site for that specific model
computer and see if there are drivers for Win98. If there are, download
them and burn to cd-r. If there are no drivers, forget it and see my
last paragraph. If there are drivers, to install Win98:

1. You need a Win98SE boot floppy with cd-rom support. If you don't have
one, get one from www.bootdisk.com.

2. Boot with the boot floppy and you'll now be at the A: prompt.
A:>fdisk [enter]

Delete all the partitions that you find and create a new one. Reboot
after you're finished with fdisk and leave the boot floppy in the
drive.

3. A:>format [enter]
When the formatting is finished, reboot - again, leaving the floppy in
the drive.

4. A:>c: [enter] (you're changing to the C:\ drive)
C:>mkdir win98 [enter]
C:>D: [enter] (you're changing back to the cd-rom drive)
D:>copy win98 C:\win98 [enter] - files copy
D:>cd C:\win98 [enter] (you're changing back to the Win98 directory you
made on the C:\ drive)
C:\win98>setup [enter] - The Win98 installation setup begins

After the installation is finished, install all your drivers, an
antivirus that works in Win98 (F-Prot still does, you'll need to check
around first for others) and a firewall that works in Win98 (don't know
of one offhand, you'll need to research this first). Don't go on the
Internet with that box without a firewall and av in place.

Sure you still want to do this? Linux is free. A good distro for
beginners is Kubuntu. Or go to the store and buy Windows XP Home
Edition Upgrade and use the Win98SE disk for the qualifying media.

Malke

 

[HeyBub]

Ok Friends...You are welcome to rip into me as much as you want, but
I really need some help here. I did something stupid. Bought a
retired government PC. .Inexpensive, a nice Dell, big CRT monitor,
and a TOTALLY scrubbed hard
drive in accordance to DOD regulations.

Not doing my research first and being a total techno-ignoramus, I
brought my Dell WindowsXP Prof. Recovery disk from work and put it
into the PC when I first started it. It looked as though
installation was going fine and I was going to save a couple hundred
dollars. Of course I don't have the key code and installation
remains incomplete. Not only was that stupid, now I've read that it
may be illegal!?!?

Since then, I've purchased an unopened/uninstalled copy of Win98se at
a garage sale. Windows XP wont let me uninstall, format, or nothing.
I tried looking for osuninst.exe but there's missing registration
info and the ever drastic C:\ format from SafeMode with command
prompts. Nothing.Nothing works. All I want to do is undo this
horrible install and legitimately install the Win98 I acquired. I'm
not great with code and so most of the Microsoft support is too
technical for me. What can I do and how can I do it without spending
what it would cost to buy a new cheap machine?

Dirt simple. Go to the BIOS and tell the BIOS to boot from the CD.

Everything will be made clear.

 

[paulmd]

Don't worry overmuch. Just find a legit XP, or use your 98 disk.

New: $500 ish. An emachine is cheaper still, but the things just up and
die, resist the temptation.

Dirt simple. Go to the BIOS and tell the BIOS to boot from the CD.

Everything will be made clear.

1) Boot from CD

Chose start computer without CDROM support (ironic, isn't it) (OPTION
2)

type fdisk at the prompt, yes you DO want to enable large disk support.

Delete the old partitions. (it's Non-dos in all likelihood)

exit fdisk and restart computer.

reboot computer

boot form CD again

this time chose option 1 (setup win98)

follow the prompts, there should be one more reboot after you chose to
configure unallocated disk space.

After you get a base install:

get your drivers from support.dell.com

(note: ie5+dell download site really don't mix well, use firefox)