So you have a hard drive! You need the specific driver for external devices if not supported in the BIOS as a bootable device. You remove the laptop hard drive and via a IDE Adaptor install in a PC so can copy over the contents of the W98 CD, though you would still need to SYS the drive and ensure it has an active partition: http://linitx.com/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=219&osCsid=23fcd498032ee0746d252936f68c9125

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Let me get this straight. You have removed the hard drive from your laptop and connected to a PC using an adapter, right? If that's correct, insert the win98 installation CD in the desktops CDrom drive. Open My Computer on the desktop, select the win98 folder on the CD, press ctl/C on the keyboard to copy it. Then double click the laptop hard drive (that you have connected to the PC) and hit ctl/V to paste the folder on the hard drive. Restore the hard drive to the laptop and run setup in the win98 folder.

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bryansmiley - Your Thinkpad 560 does not support booting from USB devices. If I was you, I would not bother trying to load XP on it. Will not run very good at all. Stick with Win 98se or Win2K(maybe). There are minumum requirements for Windows OS's, Go to Microsoft to search for them. You should be able to boot from the external floppy plugged into the parallel port, but may have to set BIOS settings to enable this. Rule #1 Good computers don't go down. Rule #2 There is no such thing as a good computer.

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Hiho makes a good point. It shouldn't be necessary to do a SYS (the install will take care of that). Since the laptop once has an OS, it 'should' have an active partition. However, it might be a good idea to include the following files on the hard drive, just in case: fdisk format scandisk

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I was covering all bases, this is a W98 forum, but he mentions XP, did have a drive, did not have a drive, drive in PC, yea WTF!

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hiho I think this might just be a terminology thing and perhaps bryansmiley didn't realise that a HD is still known as an "internal drive". Not sure whether it is in the Laptop or the PC right now though. bryansmiley Seems you just want an OS (W98 or XP). W98 seems more appropriate from the spec. Next question, have you a W98 CD? DerekW

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Easiest solution is to take to a PC Shop, problem solved, it would take me a few hours to have it up and ready and fully updated.

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I'm fully aware the hard drive is an internal drive, but thought it would be clear I meant media drives (CD&floppy) as I'm trying to install an OS be it win 98, 2k or other. As said im original post, I have a win 98 boot floppy disk which has not worked. Could I use this, or do I need to download/buy a win 98 CD? A friend said a NICs and x-over cable should be used, not a IDE adaptor? Which is best/cheapest, and where shall I first get one, ebay, maplin? Obvioulsy from that question I have not yet got the hard drive out. 2nd, there are no options on the laptop when it starts up. All is shows is a black screen, a picture of a floppy disk, and all the F keys along the bottom of the screen. Most of these just take you to another black screen where it gives you "I9990302 I9990302 I9990305" and remains inactive. So I can't change any settings, go into setup or anything. Is this a problem? What does this mean and change, what should I do?

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560Z Thinkpads came with a proprietary Floppy Drive, I believe they were attached to the Parallel Port, without this you are going nowhere as it appears to be asking for the CONFIGURATION SETUP DSIK.

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The floppy is just used in the preliminary process before loading Windows. Windows is usually the biggest program on a system (hence MS - loadsamoney) and way too big for a floppy. So, yes, if you want W98 you need to get hold of a CD somehow. Just for info, floppy holds about 1.4M and CD holds about 650M. DerekW

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does it need to be for the exact model, or can I connect on not via USB, so its effectively direct or something? So I cannot use a floppy, but why a CD, I don't understand this, please explain. Where can a get a win 98 CD from, or download/create one?

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W98 is for any computer that meets the minimum spec (your's sounds fine). I thought I'd already explained the rest in #16. MS Windows (whether 98 or XP) is what runs the whole of your system. It is not some little download or something that would fit on a floppy. I'm rather amazed if you think this. My W98 CD is 625 MBytes. Windows is sold by Microsoft for big bucks. You will not be able to download it but sometimes people sell copies of W98 CD's on eBay. Not sure if it's legal or not but it's one way of getting one. You will probably need a floppy (bootdisk) as well, but these can be dowloaded from www.bootdisk.com You make the floppy by activating the files on some other machine. This is NOT Windows, it is just used for formatting and making your CD active from DOS. You still need a CD. DerekW

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I realise most of what you've just said. I have XP and 2000 CD's, they wont boot via external CD roms as said, so neither will a 98 CD!? There is no DOS, it does not boot external CDs, & I cannot get win 98 boot disks to work either. I am trying to install windows in the easiest way possible. In light of the above please advise my best options. If it is to link the hard drive to a desktop then what is the easiest way, with what cable, and how? I am getting conflicting advice as to what cable to use and how easiest to do this, and just want to get on with it in the simplest possible fashion.

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Well, that's all clear enough but I'm now about as puzzled as you about the best way forward, my main experience being W98 PC's. You are correct, there is no reason to think W98 CD will boot either (some copies don't even boot from an internal CD). The main stumbling block on W98 is that darned floppy. If you can boot with that then the disk contains sufficient DOS to start the ball rolling. Once you have a C prompt you can copy the Win98 folder from the CD over to the HD via another machine (see #2), then run setup from the HD instead of the CD. Unless you can somehow hitch up a floppy some other way (parallel port maybe - see #) then you seem to be stuck. A messy alternative is to put the HD in another machine and install W98 on there (if it is practicable to get it out of the laptop). The drivers would be wrong but you could then delete the c:\windows folder and install again from the laptop, so long as you have the "Win98 CD folder" on the HD. W2000 should run on your spec "reasonably well" so perhaps someone on that forum can come up with some fresh ideas about booting the CD externally. Nobody else seems to be chiming in on here anyway - it's not the number of responses (I've seen posts hit 200). DerekW

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I'm repeating myself: 1. There is no DOS. I have tried a win 98 boot floppy disk to no avail, via USB and 25 pin paralled to centrix connectors, neither worked. There is no reason why 25 pin paralell - centrix should not have worked as this is pretty much direct with no drivers - True or false? Otherwise it there another connector, specific floppy for the model, or different floppy, boot dis, anything? 2. If point 1 is no good, is hooking the hard drive upto a desktop the next simplest option? I've had conflicting guides on this also as to what connector to use, and whether or not an enclosure is needed. Again, the simplest, cheapest option is required.

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I totally appreciate that there is no DOS (as you said in an earlier post). Maybe we are both repeating ourselves, but as I said there is quite sufficient DOS on a boot disk to set W98 reload into motion. Windows will then install the full DOS7 as part of the later process. As I said, the initial stumbling block is that your floppy doesn't work. I don't know the reason for this, normally you just power up with the floppy in the drive and it all happens. It seems that if you can solve that problem somehow you would be one important step forward, at least with W98. Putting the HD in another machine is just an option, other options are outside my experience. On most PC's there are usually means within the ribbon cables to temporarily add another HD and there is no need to make some permanent fixing or put back the covers if you are careful. That's probably about all I can say but feel free to repost in the hope that someone new comes along with other ideas. Old posts seem to get less visitors, we seem to be on our own. DerekW

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You've got 3 options. 1. Buy the proprietary floppy that plugs into the port on the left side. 2. Buy a PCMCIA CD-ROM. 3. Hire a technician who knows what he/she is doing.

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press and hold the f1 key immediatly after turning the laptop on it will bring you into the easy setup bios. may be of assitance today is yesterday tommorow

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