Danny said:
Installed XP pro and comp. is too slow to run the system.
I need to format the hard drive and do a clean install of
98. Only prob. is I can't get into DOS to format c:.
*INSTALLATION OF WINDOWS 98 after removing Windows XP*
First, make sure you have the following READY BEFORE you start the process:
A) Either a Windows 98 FULL Retail install CD, PLUS the correct 25 digit
Alpha-numeric CD key.
or
B) a Windows 98 UPGRADE CD/w the correct 25 digit alpha-numeric CD key, PLUS
either a FULL Windows 3.1 install set or a FULL Retail Windows 95
installation CD.
NOTE1: You will be UNABLE to complete installation of a Windows 98 Upgrade
CD without (B) above.
NOTE2: You will be UNABLE to complete installation of Windows 98 in general
without the 25-digit alpha-numeric CD key provided with the original CD.
C) A Windows 98 startup floppy which contains all needed utilities and CDROM
drivers. If you don't have one, get one here:
http://www.ez-pc.org/default.asp?midx=109&didx=1
Follow the directions given to burn it to a floppy (disregard version
specific text)
NOTE:
If your version of Windows 98 is the ORIGINAL version, download the boot
disk for "Windows 98".
If your verison of Windows 98 is "Windows 98 SE", download the boot disk for
"Windows 98SE"
D) All "Windows 98" drivers needed for installation of video cards, sound
cards, mice, printers, network cards, motherboards, disk controllers, or any
other devices. Windows 98 cannot use Windows XP drivers.
START HERE:
1) Boot your machine using a Windows 9x startup floppy which contains fdisk
and format, plus the cdrom drivers, making sure to choose "start without
cdrom support".
2) start fdisk, and remove all non-dos partitions. While you're at it,
remove ALL partitions.
NOTE1: This will DELETE ALL DATA on your hard drive, so PLEASE back up any
needed data or programs BEFORE you run fdisk, while still in Windows XP.
NOTE2: There is NO OTHER WAY TO DO THIS. To downgrade from XP to an earlier
version of XP requires a CLEAN installation. So again, don't forget to back
up any data you want to save BEFORE you start the process.
3) while still in fdisk, create a new primary fat32 partition, and make it
active
4) reboot, this time choosing "Start with CDROM support". Format the
partition you just created.
5) put the Windows 98 installation CD in the drive and logon to the CD
6) at the CD prompt, enter the command "setup", then hit <ENTER>
Setup will start.
NOTE: If your only version of Windows 98 is an UPGRADE CD, and you do not
have an original FULL version of Windows 3.1 or Windows 95, you will be
UNABLE to complete the installation of Windows 98. Therefore, MAKE SURE you
have a FULL version of Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 BEFORE you start the
installation of Windows 98 from an upgrade CD.
NOTE2: If your version of Windows 98 is an upgrade cd, and you have the
necessary FULL version of Windows 3.1 or Windows 95, there is no need to
install Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 to use the Windows 98 upgrade cd: All you
have to do is start the Windows 98 installation program, and when it fails
to find a previous version of Windows, take the W98 CD out, and put W95 CD
in the cd drive or W3.1 #1 floppy in the floppy drive. The Windows 98
installation program will examine the disks, then tell you to take the Win95
or Win3.1 disks out and put the Win98 CD back in the drive, and will
continue the installation process.
Next, install all needed drivers. If you plan on using your CDROM drive
under real-mode DOS, you will need to install a real- mode CDROM driver,
obtainable from the manufacturer of your CDROM drive.
Good luck!
