Been running XP on my machine for almost 1 year now - every few months needs upgrading re-installation or complete re-installation, where I have to go through a headache of saving files on a CDs, etc... My machine is a Compaq with 1mhz AMD Athlon and pre-installed WindowsME - was giving me problems right from the beginning (ME seems to be quite a crap!).. So I thought XP would be better - it is not! So, here's a question: HOW CAN I GO BACK TO WINDOWS98? I'm just sick/tired of crushes! My hard drive is 40g and it has partition - C=35gNTFS and D=5gFAT. I hear it's very hard, but not impossible, to install older version of Windows over a newer one. Any suggestions?

I wouldn't go back to Win 98, but it's your choice. I think your problems stem from your previous OS (ME). I would do a total reformat and start from scratch. Since your C drive is NTFS you'll have to remove it using a program called DELPART. You can find it on the web. When you reformat, if you use FAT32 you can also install Win98. Install Win98 first and then you can install XP on a different partition. You must make 2 partitons. After installation of the OS's you'll have a dual boot option at startup to choose between the two. Remove the NTFS with delpart first. Good Luck. You will loose everything though.

You can’t install Windows 98 on top of Windows XP. This is what you have to do: 1) Boot your PC with a Win98 or Win Me boot disk. 2) Fdisk/ say Yes to a Large disk support. 3) Delete Non Dos partition. 4) Shut down PC, put boot disk in turn it back on. Say yes to large disk support 5) Create DOS partition/ Shut down PC/ Reboot with boot disk 6) Format C 7) When formatting is done. Put Win 98 CDROM in and type : setup 8) After you typed setup the Windows 98 install will start, just follow the steps to finish. 9) In step 5 Reboot PC with CDROM Support. WARNING!: You will lose everything on your computer USE FDISK TO YOUR OWN RISK Can you tell us what problems were/are you having with your machine? You must have all the drivers for your hardware such as video/sound/modem etc… Robert

Thanks for speedy reply! I already lost everything yesterday (nothing super important) when I had to re-install XP - this time it crushed so fast I didn't have time to save anything. Got DELPART already (http://www.russelltexas.com/delpart.htm) - still at work now, so will try it later on and will keep you posted. However, when re-installing XP with total loss of previous files, doesn't it format this partition? Or it HAS to be rid of NTFS? And partitions altogether?? Also, why 2 partitions? And how big should they be? And do I need 2 of them if I go back to XP only? (maybe wipping hard drive clean will do the trick?).

You don't need 2 partitions if you use XP only, although I always like to keep my data on a separate partition so if you do have to format the partition with the OS on it you don't loose all your stuff. Size is up to you. I would say 10 gigs for a D partition to store data is fine. The C drive is the most important because it's contains the boot sector. I have 3 OS's on my machine and XP is my favorite and the most stable. Keep us posted. Good Luck.

Thanks again, guys! This PC fun never stops! I downloaded DELPART and tried to run it - it wouldn't! The message I get is: "an application has attempted to directly access hard disk, which cannot be supported..." When I click on "Ignore" - it says "no hard disks were found".... What do I do next?

Try putting the XP cd in the tray and do a clean install. This will wipe the old HD clean. After xp installs, format your other partition through XP. Right click My Computer / Manage / disk management.