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im trying to reinstall win98se and cant seem to do it. i
have never installed an os before and am strugleing with
it. i have a win98se install disk. i have looked on the
internet and i am unable to find anything which has
helped. i do not think the disk is bootable as i have set
the first bootable device as cd rom. i have been told to
use a floppy boot disk but can not seem to get my floppy
working. the lights ar on but it does not show up on
computer and does not try to read fromt he floppy inside.
any ideas on how to reinstall windows 98 se and would it
be easier to wipe hardrive then install it?thanks in advance,
piercy
You've said a lot, but you really haven't told us much.
FIRST What does it say on your Windows98 CD? THE ONLY version that will boot is the so called "OEM" version, WHICH WILL SAY on the front of the cd
"to be distributed only with a new PC"
Any other Windows CD must be used with a floppy startup disk WHICH MUST LOAD a CDROM driver.
You can download and make one from bootdisk.com
NOW
WHAT EXACTLY does the display do/say when you try and boot from the CDROM?WHAT EXACTLY does the display do/say when you boot from the floppy?
Frankly, if you can't get the machine to boot from either of these two basic methods, you're in for a long road.
DO NOT ATTEMPT to "wipe the hard drive" until you understand a little more about how to start and function a computer with a floppy or a CDROM
A last hint. IF and when you DO get the machine to boot from the CDROM, the machine will boot to a "virtual" floppy---that is, the boot sector of the CDROM will "think" it's the "A:" floppy drive.
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may not need to wipe drive yet,
if A drive not working, check cables, and cmos settings,
if you can access CD, open folder and click on setup manually to start,
may try repairing system files using sfc.exe to replace corrupt sysytem files, and /ro verify changes,
suggest running scandisk, and verifing space on drive for swap file,
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What problem are you having that makes you feel W98SE re-install is necessary (or is it just because the floppy isn't working)?
We might be able to help you fix the system some other way if you tell us.
DerekW
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ok thank you all for your help i think i have it sorted it now.
the reason i need to reinstall was posted in different thread a
while back here is the link http://computing.net/
windows95/wwwboard/forum/166700.html whole situation
was because of me being stupid. well they say you learn
from mistakes and hopefully this one included.
thank you all for your help including people who posted in
other thread.thanks again,
piercy
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i have reinstalled windows 98 se and the installation was
fine untill the end then i started getting lots of error
messages. the installation continued and finished. now
that i am back on. i got about 6 error messages between
log in screen and the desktop loading and then 2 find out
start menu will not open at all and the explorer has
performed illegal opperation. any ideas on what to do
next?
here are the error messages i am getting at log in screen:unicode wrapper not found: uncows.dll.
error loading powrprof.dll a device attached to the system
is not functioning.after logging in i am getting these messages(while
desktop is loading):solhyiz has performed illegal opperation etc. (this keeps
coming up even after i click close after about 5 times it
finally goes).unicode wrapper not found: uncows.dll. (this twice)
error loading powrprof.dll a device attached to the system
is not functioning. (this again)the comdlg32.dll is linked to missing export shell32.dll:
712any ideas
thanks again
piercy
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That must not be a fresh installation. At least some of those messages are referring to files that windows setup wouldn't install.
Unless you have a reason to keep what's on the drive you should reformat the drive and then install windows. To do that boot up with the bootdisk, choose cdrom support and at the prompt type format c: and enter. Then when it's done, do the windows installation.
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Yes, but before you do that, look over to the left of the page, here, for some links on how to do an installation.
Also, get into device manager, and write down what all your devices are, such as graphics, sound, modem, network/LAN, and so on. Make sure that you can find the drivers for all of them.
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if i do format c: i dont know if i will be able 2 install again...?
cos last time i did it by finding setup.exe and clicking it.
do you know if formating it will mean that i wont be able to
install?
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Get your Startup Disk (boot floppy previously made using Windows) or download one from www.bootdisk.com on some other computer.
Power off, put it in the floppy drive, then power on again and wait. If it comes up with a menu then your floppy drive is working in DOS, which is all you need to worry about if you want to reformat.
Note that if you download one from www.bootdisk.com make sure it is for W98 with CD-ROM support. You will have to "create" the floppy on another machine (not just copy the download onto it). The machine you do this on doesn't need to be running W98.
I want to be quite certain the floppy drive itself is faulty and, if so, that the bootdisk is OK too.
DerekW
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"""also i still do not have a boot disk because my FDD is not""
READ AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS I asked above.If you have a bootable '98 cd, you won't need a floppy.
If you don't you are going to have to fix the floppy problem
There are only two ways to format a hard drive and do a clean install
One is to boot from a floppy
Two is to boot from the installtion CD
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i already said above that the cd is not bootable
and sorry name i thought i ansered already
when booting from cd it says searching for boot record
from cd... not found.when booting from floppy it says same put for floppy.
i am going to attempt to make a boot disk from my mums
laptop now but as it is her work laptop permissions may
be against me. i will post wether or not it has let me in a
secondthankyou for all your help
piercy
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why does everything have to have an error!!! okay i ried to
create a bootdisk of my mum laptop running xp and got
error saying disk error on track 6, head 1 sector not found.
after ignoring this i got same for track 7 and presumed it
was going to continue.
i tried the other downlaod on bootdisk.com and this got sam
error message.
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Perhaps you have that magic touch LOL.
OK, so we're on XP now.
The file you downloaded should have been boot98se.exe (maybe just boot98se if XP not set to show all extensions).
If you double clicked the file and it errored then I can only guess you had a dud floppy.
Try another floppy and format the floppy first. Check to ensure it shows no errors when it has finished formatting. It should then create it (I've just tried).
DerekW
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By the way, don't just ignore/accept errors. It is important that you have a good floppy which has displayed no errors at all.
DerekW
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Do you have your boot floppy disk write protected?Have you tried a new floppy disk to see if the one you are using is bad?If you try a new one make sure it is write protected after you make it on your mums machine.It appears you may have a boot sector virus on your hard drive or floppy diskette that keeps infecting your floppy boot diskette.
http://antivirus.about.com/od/securitytips/a/bootsectorvirus.htm
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well im running across 3 OS LOL cos my macintosh is the
only one with an internet connection at the moment. . i
just ignored errors last time to see what error messages i
would get after. okay we have one boot disk. finnally
gettin somewhere. i ahve just inserted it into win98se pc
and put 1st 2nd and 3rd boot devices as floppy to make
sure and it said searching for boot record... not found.
and then started normally. if it helps i have drivers for an
external hardrive i just cant seem to install them. whats
next then? :)thankyou very much!
piercy
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o no street your message did not appear till after id
finished anyway how do i write protect it. also i do not
think that is the reason why my FDD is not working as the
computer was given to me as a freebie from a friend who
is very skilled in computing. i feel that the way the virus
spreads can not of happened liek that because the only
floppy disks i have had in my computer is a bootdisk
(when i 1st got it) other than that no other floppys have
bene entered. i think it was just me fiddling and have
mucked it up some how...but ill have a look and do a virus scan see if i get anything
any other ideas appreciated?thanks
piercy
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okay i just tried to virus check the other machine and i am
getting an error mesage saying unicode wrapper not found:
uncows.dll when trying to open my antivirus. what is also
wierd is when i click the c: drive in my computer it opens up
the search box.thanks
piercy
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You said in #16:
"i ahve just inserted it into win98se pc and put 1st 2nd and 3rd boot devices as floppy to make sure and it said searching for boot record... not found. and then started normally"So Windows then started normally with a boot disk still in the floppy drive?
Sorry, that confuses me and I'm not sure where we are with all this.
DerekW
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but if you don't format hd you may never find out what's going on.SOunds like something is really screwd up in your box weather it's your motherboard or harddrive.I would get a cheap but working 1gig hardrive and see if the same thing happens then i'd replace the motherboard but before you do that remove all the cards you have plugged into it and give the installation a last try.I did have a similar problem on an old box i picked up from the street and i also had to throw it out because tha motherboard was defective.If the motherboard and the harddrive is in good working con. and the jumpers on it are set right and your inst.CD is good,an OS installation should be problemfree.Check your floppy too ,i once found a box that had all 3 (hd,cd-rom,floppy)broken down,most likely a short in one of them destroyed the other 2 thankfuly the motherboard was spared.What i'm saying is that if you keep some spare parts it is a lot easier to isolate and find the problem.Good luck.
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okay ive press delete on start up gone into bios and put boot
devices all as floppy it has said it cant find boot record then
presumably it booted from the hard drive. also by normally i
still mean broken but starts liek it always does. i hope this
helps you too understand.
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I haven't the faintest idea why you set BIOS to boot from floppy in all three cases.
It can't find the HD because you've told it not to boot from it. It won't find the master boot record on a floppy.
Set it back to normal A then C then D.
Boot with floppy in drive and see if you can get the menu.
DerekW
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okay its been set back to boot from a then c then d but i still
dont get the menu. :( anything else you can think of?
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"i have reinstalled windows 98 se and the installation was
fine untill the end then i started getting lots of error
messages"Above is quoted by you in response 5.
You say"i have reinstalled windows 98 se"How did you reinstall it?
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I'm assuming that you get nothing whatever on the screen (your #25):-
If the boot disk when viewed on the XP machine shows 24 files (3 hidden) then either the floppy drive itself is faulty or it's connections.
As your CD is not bootable then you need to fix the floppy drive problem.
If there is an error message what does it now say when you boot from floppy?
DerekW
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from post # 17 {macintosh is the
only one with an internet connection at the moment} are you makeing the 98 bootfloppy on the macintosh ??: any one know if that will work ??
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In cmos/bios setup, make sure the floppy controller is enabled and the floppy drive is identifed as 1.44. Enable 'search for floppy drive' if that is an option. Does the posting screen show the floppy drive as being seen?
Format the floppy disk before creating the bootdisk.
If the floppy drive light is continuously on that can mean the cable is backwards. Also if the floppy cable has two connections make sure the drive is attached to the one after the 7-wire twist (motherboard connection--7-wire twist--floppy drive).
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Came on to add an afterthought but DAVE has picked it up in his first line. Wording in BIOS can vary, Installed instead of Enabled and so on but it should be there somewhere.
DerekW
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okay floppy drive is working... on boot it says searching for bootrecord from floppy...ok.
but then does ity again and again. befor ei shut down computer it had done it 5 times. is this normal? i am unable to look at it right now because i am at school :( but any information posted now i will look at when i am home.by the way dave it seems it was the cables. i checked that they was in and flipped it round and that seems to done the trick.
thanks to you all
piercy
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Hello everyone,
Hi Piercy,
Sounds like the bootdisk is bad.
Download a new bootdisk from here
.Download the Win98SE OEM so we all know which one you are using. There are differences in the bootdisk and this may simply later questions.
Do not copy the download directly to the floppy disk. Click on the downloaded file and you will be prompted to insert a floppy disk.
Use a Windows machine and not the MAC.
Also, if you have another floppy use it.
Best Regards and Wishes,
Mesich, Webmaster of mesich.com
Currently stored on a temporary webhost.
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i just did that one before reading your post and yes that was
the problem the hard drive has been reformatted and
widnows is installing hopefully this is an end to it. except
now i gtta set up a perr to peer connection from that to my
mac but hopefully i be able to do that.many thanks to you all
piercy
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okay this should be a quick one. i seem to only have the
option for 16 or 2 colours and a resolution of 640 by 480.
any ideas?also just to let you know win98se and mac networked easily
and shared internet connection easily. i think this should be
the final problem.thanks once again.
piercy
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Hi piercy,
You need to install the drivers for your video adaper.
help identify what adapter you have.Best Regards and Wishes,
Mesich, Webmaster of mesich.com
Currently stored on a temporary webhost.
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okay i tryed that and under display it said standard PCI
graphics adapter (VGA). what does this mean? i searched in
google for standard PCI graphics adapter (VGA) drivers and
didnt get much luck. i then noticed the first bit of screen that
comes up says about nvidia tnt2 & nvidia corp. so i
downloaded the tnt2 drivers and it says that now nvidia chip
was found on system. what do i do next?
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Go to this site and download everest free edition and see what video card or onboard model graphics it says you have.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html
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Yes, I think Everest (or Aida32) serve best because they report about your "actual hardware". Other programs often report the drivers you are using (software), even if they are just standard VGA, or even the wrong ones.
Standard VGA drivers are very basic. They get some sort of picture on the screen but that is about all.
DerekW
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okay it says i ahve nvidia riva tnt2 m64 but on the nvidia
website there are drivers for tnt2 or riva 128?? mines a bit of
both? i have already downloaded the tnt2 version but it said
it could not find any nvdia chips??
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i think i have managed to download the correct driver but am unable to test it as i am at school again *yawn*. so as soon as i am home i will try it and get back to you. if you guys find a url for a driver please leave it here.
thanks again
piercy
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okay thankyou all for your help computer seems to be fully
working again now.thank you very much
piercy
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