Installing Windows9X |
|
Here are a few suggestions if you need to
Install or Re-install Windows9X
|
|
|
|
Overview |
|
| 1. |
If you need to partition or format the hard drive first then you can boot with a Win98 disk and do whatever is required. If this is a brand new drive you will likely need to run FDISK to create a new partition. Then reboot and format the C: drive ( format c: ). Details are in the next section |
| 2. | Also, as you will see later on, if you are wanting a clean install or upgrade, and have an operating system already on the computer, you do not need to format in order to safely do either one. There are many benefits as noted in that section. |
| 3. | Given the size of hard drives these days, I recommend copying the source files to a directory from the hard drive. Then install from that directory. The main reason is that should the operating system need files at a later date (e.g. print drivers etc.), you won't be prompted to insert the CD. It will take it right from that directory. This happens often and can save a lot of hassles. Also, if there is a defect in the CD itself, you will find out about it a lot sooner than part way through the install process. |
| 4. |
If you are doing an reinstall or upgrade, you can boot to the current version of Windows and copy the source files to a directory on your hard drive from within Windows. It is usually faster that way. Otherwise, boot from a DOS boot disk that will let you access your CD ROM. You can download a Win98 floppy with many extras that are not normally included. |
FDISK and/or FORMATThe following steps to partition a hard drive will assume it has not already been partitioned and that you want to create a single, FAT32 partition on the drive and format it. |
|
| 1. |
Boot with the Win98 boot disk |
| 2. | Run FDISK |
| 3. | Select Y (the default) to enable large hard disk support. This is for FAT32. |
| 4. | Select 1. Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive |
| 5. | Select 1. Create Primary DOS Partition |
| 6. | Select Y (the default) to use the maximum available size for a Primary DOS Partition and to make the partition active. |
| 7. | Reboot the computer with the disk still in the floppy drive |
| 8. |
You can Format the hard drive by running format c:
Enter Y to Proceed with Format Note: You don't need to include the /s switch after the format since Win9x will overwrite any files with it's own version anyway. |
| 9. | If you want to, you can then give it a Volume Label |
| 10. | If there were any partitions on the drive, you can also use FDISK to first delete them and then recreate a single primary partition. |
| 11. | I also have another page with details and scenarios to Use FDISK |
First Time Install |
|
| 1. | For a new install, I would recommend copying the source files to a directory on the hard drive and then installing from that directory. This way when Windows will need additional files like print drivers, you won't always be prompted to insert the CD. |
| 2. |
Make a directory on the hard drive . I like to use one that
reflects the name of the operating system |
| 3. |
XCOPY the source files on the CD to that directory ( e.g. xcopy x:\win98 c:\win98se /s ) where x: would be replaced by the drive letter assigned to the CD ROM and win98 would be the actual location of the source files on the CD. |
| 4. |
From that directory on the hard drive, run the setup.exe program. ( e.g. cd\win98se, then run setup ) |
| 5. |
If the hard drive is not large enough, then you can always install from the CD ROM. In this case, change to the directory where the source files are located and run the setup.exe program from that directory. Instructions for creating or downloading a boot floppy can be found at Creating Boot Floppies |
| 6. | Note: You cannot run the setup.exe program that is on the root on the CD from DOS. |
Note: If you have a FAT32 partition, the same basic steps
can be used for
Windows2000 or WindowsXP.
This site is copyrighted. No portion may be reproduced without my written permission.