I ve been trying to install DOS and Win 98 on a Pentium 2 350mhz computer, I dont know diddly about DOS so you will have to help me along more than most, Anyhow this computer has a cdrom without driver, and I had to put in a 15gb hard drive. Ive got a copy of WIN98 from a friend on cdrom, the boot disk he gave me didnt have a setup file or an install file. How can i get these files copied to the hard drive so I can get the cd up and running so i can load windows?
HELP ME Please,
Duh

If you don't want a real version of DOS, then 98 comes with version 7.x. So you needn't worry about that. Also, there are no setups or installs on the floppy. If it is a standard 98 setup disk, it'll allow you to load CD-ROM drivers and then you can run setup. Choose the menu option that states it will load CD-ROM drivers, then when at the a:\ prompt type [cd-rom drive letter]:\setup [Enter]. If your boot disk doesn't have a neat little menu like this, then download one that does. Also, if your system is empty you'll want to create a partition using fdisk and then format it with format. Those may be uneccessary so try what I actually explained first then come back for more info if you need it.

Download a Win98 boot disk from www.bootdisk.com

Boot using the boot disk, it will ask you whether you want to boot with CD-ROM drivers or not. After you finish booting up, change directory to the CD and run the setup program for Win98.

ok how do i partition the hard drive using fdisk?
Duh

Boot with the boot disk and type "fdisk" [Enter] at the a:\ prompt. Type 'y' when prompted for whether to support large disks. Go into option 4 and see if any partitions are defined. If there are, come back here and list them. If there aren't, you can go back to the main menu and choose option 1. Choose option 1 again and then when prompted say 'y' to create full size and make active. [Esc] to exit and then reboot the machine. Boot with the disk again and then type 'format c: /u' [Enter] when back at the a:\ prompt. Then follow the instructions from the first reply (or Preston's) to install 98.

fixed disk drive 1 partition c:1 status a type pri dos mbytes 14645 system fat 32 usage 100%

Try typing 'c:' [Enter] when at the a:\ prompt and then typing 'dir' [Enter] and see if it works. If it's not formatted, it'll give you an error. If it IS formatted, it'll list whatever is in the root of the drive. Tell me how that goes.

command com
Thannks for replying,
Duh

The drive's formatted so all you need to do is run setup. I am assuming you a) have a standard 98 boot disk or b) downloaded one. Boot with the disk. Tell it to load the CD-ROM. One of the last lines it'll print out is what drive the CD-ROM is assigned to. Take that letter and put it into the following instructions. Type '[drive letter]:' [Enter]. Then type 'setup' [Enter]. It should run setup. If not, type 'dir /s setup.exe' [Enter] and tell me what you see.

I dont think I was given a boot disk without the setup files it tells me file not found, also when i try to boot with this disk it gets stuck on verfying dmi pool......
I'll have to get a download from another computer because I'm on this site on my Mac, all your help is appreciated
Duh

Well download the boot disk from the site that Preston and I provided on a PC. Each one is different as to how to install it to a floppy, but if you're lucky you'll get a self-extracting winimage file. In which case you should open a DOS box, place yourself in the same folder as the file you download (c:\ would be preferred as it is easy to reach) and then call the file as 'filename.exe a:'. As for your setup disc, the 'dir /s setup.exe' will tell you if there IS a setup on the disc as there are some version (ie. MSDN) that have the setup.exe file in a place other than the root. Tell me when you get the 98 boot disk (or if you have problems) and we'll work from there.

Duh is having you on here! Can you not see that.. Whatever you say he will reply to it..I would leave this guy alone if I were you

Dont seem like that to me, at least he is replying, most people dont updated the page with the results... no even a thank u.

'Having me' or not, it doesn't really matter. It's not like I'm having to do extensive research here to help. It's something I've done a zillion times and can help him with from memory. So as I said before. Tell me when you get the 98 boot disk (or if you have problems) and we'll work from there.

(erm is right, though. Most people don't update you or answer your questions and especially don't thank you or tell you how things went.)

Sorry I didnt get back with you sooner , whats up with kev? anyhow Im having a little trouble getting a good copy of the boot disk, my Dad is supposed to send me a copy from CA. I"ll get back to you as soon as I get something. I do appreciate the help and the only thing I am "having" is trouble.
Thanks,
Duh

Okee, let us know when you get it...

Okay I made another attempt to get a download on win98 and got it, its loading right now and all the info you gave is working perfect. I will let you know if I have any other problems, I have learned alot about DOS commands during this problem. I greatly appreciate all of your help you have given and hope to be able to consult you in the future.

Ok, another problem: It does fine on the install all the way up to setting up hardware and finalizing settings it gives me an error message: setup (.cab) file error , it says setup has detected a corrupt setup (.cab) file and trys to recover but cant this was the second time I tryed to install it. The first time I tryed it came up with the same error message but at the copying windows98 files to computer. Do I try to reinstall again? I don't know.
Duh

corrupted .cab file? is it an authentic windows cd or was it burned? go ahead, try reinstalling, but clean the cd first.

I ran across this sight in an attempt to try and fix my IBM ( which they are useless by the way ). Fortunatly I had my mac book to surf the net and I just wanted to thank you as I had forgotten a couple of things and my memory was refreshed. Nice sight!

I finally got it to copy all the way it took about 6 total trys but its done, now I need to find a decent modem. Thanks to all who gave help and those who didnt give help,
this is a pretty cool site.
Thanks again,
Duh no more

I'm having the same problem as 'Duh'. Except I can't get a C: prompt even with a boot disk and when I run fdisk, it says something like 'no fixed disk'. How can I format or anything if I can't get a C: prompt? HeLp!

Ive just formatted the whole computer which is a 486. When i inser the bootdisk and selct it to load with a CD-ROM it says it can't find the right CD-ROM driver. SO i went to downloads it off a website but i needs win 3.1 or dos. But i don't have any of those! help!

setup says .cab corrupted i try cleaning the disk..but it still give me the same thing..can anyone help me?

I have been trying to install windows98 on a clean pc the same as duh, My problem is that when I try to run setup, it gives me this message; "If you have HPFA or NTFS installed on your hard drive, you will need to create an MS-DOS boot partition to set up windows".
Can you help me to 1. Identify weather or not I have HPFS or NTFS, 2. How to create a MS-DOS boot partition? Please can you help?

Same situation, dirrerent message.
I boot from a startup disk,run win98 setup.
Windows restarts my comp. It gets to the
"starting windows 98", then dos says to "Type
the name of command interpreter"
eg.(C:\windows\command.com) I tried that,
no luck. I tried everything I could think of,
including "Don't know, I never met him" and then some "bad words". Nothing worked.
If anyone knows my command interpreter, tell
him that I have heard a lot about him and
would really like to meet him.

I partitioned, then formatted my hard drive. Next, used a startup disk, started with cd-rom support, with setup disk loaded. Then it just works its way back to A/prompt, repeatedly. Even if I type , at the D:\ prompt, "setup", it just says, "not reading drive", whatever...my sister-in-law has the same problem, only her's says "Boot from Atapi: none". Any help is appreciated. Thank you, Sam