Tom's Guide | Tom's Hardware | Tom's Games
 |
 |
 |
I have a Win98 CDROM that is supposedly Second Edition. That is what is written there among all the Hologram writing, and that is the name of the CDROM in Windows Explorer.
But when I look in System Properties it does not say "SE".
When I put the CDROM in the drive it autoloads and tells me it has a newer edition than the one that is installed, and would I like to update it? If I answer 'yes' it then tells me it can't be done!
The version number is 4.10.1998A.
Can anyone tell me if this is Second Edition, and is there another way of finding which Edition I have?
Terry@nz
4.10.1998A indicates 98FE (Security)(?)
If you r-click setup.exe in the Win98 folder on the CD, its version should reflect the Windows version
I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?
0 
Seems to be more of a security update disk than an OS upgrade - some discussion
I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?
0
My W98SE with all updates (except one I've "just" heard about on this board) is 4.10.2222A
You can check what you have at present by right clicking My Computer and selecting Properties.
If you already have SE then I'd give that CD a miss, from the standpoint of the version figures alone. Are you certain you read the message correctly?
Derek.W
0
It sounds like you've got first edition on that computer but the cd you're looking at is second edition.
0
Aha. From what DAVE says maybe I've misunderstood your posting. I thought the 4.10.1998A referred to "the CD". Perhaps you can clarify.
Derek.W
0
Yeah, I hope I'm not getting ahead of myself but 'system properties' is going to show the OS installed on the computer but the 98 SE icon showing in 'my computer' is describing the cd in the cdrom.
I'm assuming it's not upgrading because it's a full version.
0
You're losing me fast (it's not difficult).
Do we agree that right clicking My Computer/Properties (General tab) shows the OS installed on the HD?
Derek.W
0
Right, but if he's got a 98 SE cd in the cdrom, the cdrom icon in 'my computer' will read 'Win98 SE'. So system properties is showing he's got FE installed on his system and he just happens to have an SE cd in the cdrom--at least that's what I think is happening.
0
Er - I'm not sure whether to blame gremlins or question my own sanity.
1) The CD is version 4.10.2222!!! (read from a right-click on setup.exe as per jboy's first response)
I do have another Win98 CD for my old computer, and that is 4.10.1998 (NOT 1998A), and that is FE.2) I am 99.9% certain that I installed that "second edition" CD on a formatted C: drive, and am COMPLETELY certain about the Product Code I entered. That CD is quite different in appearance from the old FE CD.
3) but My computer/Properties does NOT say "SE" and does say 4.10.1998A. I have just finished the installation, and just rechecked the numbers.
Curiouser & Curiousier ...
Is there some other way of telling the difference between versions, say a file or two that is found in only one version?
Terry@nz
0
You definately have first edition installed on your computer. In system properties 4.10.1998 or 4.10.1998A is first edition. Second edition is 4.10.2222 and it'll be identified as 'Second Edition' there.
That's why when you inserted the SE disk it asked if you wanted to upgrade. Inserting either a full or upgrade SE disk will give that response. However if you insert a full version cd it will eventually say it can't install because you already have an OS installed and you need to get an upgrade version.
0
First edition file dates are 5-11-1998. Second edition are 4-23-1999. You can check the date of command.com for example to verify your version.
The same product key will work for both disks as long as they're both OEM or both retail. So you can't go by which product key you used.
0
ANY Product Key will work with ANY CD! I didn't know that! But if OEM is the same as "For distribution with a new PC only" then they don't have to be the same. I have one of each and the old (OEM) Product Key works with my new (bought) CD. I've just tried it.
Looks like my CD has been mislabeled. Is that likely?
Terry@nz
0
I've noticed that any OEM key I come across will work with my OEM cd. I can determine if OEM is installed on a computer by going to system properties and checking the 'registered to' line. It'll be of the form:
xxxxx-AAA-xxxxxxx-xxxxx
If AAA says OEM then it's an OEM installation, otherwise I assume it's retail.
I have an upgrade cd--retail of course--and one labeled 'not for retail or OEM distribution'. None of the OEM keys will work with these disks. Most of the keys I believe to be retail will work with these disks. A few won't but I'm not sure if it's because I copied them down wrong or they use a different algorithm to determine a correct key.
Assuming it's an original, I doubt your disk is mislabeled. I'd still think you used a first edition disk when you installed your OS. But then I wasn't there when you did it.
You can check the file and folder dates on the SE cd. They should be dated 4-23-99.
0
Thanks to all of you. I have found the problem at last. It was DAVEINCAPS' last comment that did it. I checked the dates of the folders.
I found out that all this weirdness (and other things I could not understand) was because I had TWO copies of the Win98 CD on my Hard Drive in different folders: I was installing from the Hard Drive copy, not directly from the CD.
How I came to have one CD copy from an old Win98FE I can only guess at, but I did it - Duhh.
Thanks again.
Terry@nz
0
At least you got it figured out. Having the installment running from the HD instead of the cd wouldn't have occurred to me.
0  |
 |
 |
This post is quite old and has been locked from receiving new replies. Please create a new posting instead.
| Ads by Google |
