Well i have no operating system on my computer but i do have the bootdisk and product key. My computer didnt come with the windows 98 se cd-rom. Is there a way i can install windows 98 se? If anything i have the windows me product key and UPGRADE cd-rom. Anyone able to help me. Thank you for your help.

search your hard drive for a folder named win98 .If you find it then open it and see if it has all the files necessary for installing windows 98 including the setup file. If you have this file on your c drive then copy it to another partition. Boot the computer with bootdisk and when installing windows point to this setup file of win98 folder.

If you have the Compaq restore disks that should have come with your computer, you'll need to use those first to get the OS back. Once the machine is setup again, you can use the WinME upgrade disk to install that OS if you want. The othere alternative is to buy a Win 98se disk and start from scratch. They're pretty cheap on Ebay, but if your going to spend money and your machi8ne meets the specs, you might as well buy WinXP. Microsoft will be dropping support for Win98 soon. Good Luck. When all is said and done More is said than done..

sorry for wrong interpretation of your question. I mistakenly took it that you have windows 98 installed on your computer and want to install it again. Please ignore my answer. I was in hurry . sorry again.

I put in my recovery cds and it said error. Remember that the OS isn't on the hard drive and that my hard drive is completely washed. Thank you for your help.

i have the windows xp pro cds to install but my computer cant handle it so can i downgrade to windows me? Thank you for your help.

What you really, really need to do, is aquire a '98 cd. Do you have any other computer (working) with '98 on it? If so, and IF it has the .cab files on the hard drive, and IF you have a CD burner, you can make your own. However, you must find out what "type" or "group" of key you have. A Whendoz key will work with ANY cd of the same "type." What I mean, is, if you bought your original copy "store bought" so called "retail" then that key from that box should work with many, many other cd's that came "retail." It will NOT WORK with an upgrade version, or a so called OEM version. SO if you "know" what the "key" is, find a friend with a similar '98 cd and copy it. Copying a '98 cd has NOTHING to do with stealing or pirating software. So long as you have the license and key, you are ok. Ya might call Microshat. There's always eBay. SOME restore cd's are set up in such a way that you can "make" a "generic" cd from the restore cd. I did this with a couple of Emachines. The restore cd's for them (back then) had the .cab files on the restore cd, so with a little work, and a burner, you could "make" your own '98 install cd. Put your restore CD in a working computer, "browze" the cd, and use find to see if there are .cab files present.