I acquired a computer left behind in a rental property that has Linux installed. It is password protected so I can't even access the program; or at least I don't know how. I simply want to clean the hard drive and start anew... I don't care what's on the computer's hard drive now. I noticed other websites mentioning fdisk floppies and stuff, I don't have that. Is this possible or do I need a new hard drive? Thank you. Randy
Just put your Windows install disk in the CD drive and boot from it. It should give you the option, when installing, of deleting and existing partitions and using the whole disk for Windows.
You'll need to boot up with a 98 bootdisk or the installation cd. The 98 OEM cd's are bootable. That's probably what you have. Then you run fdisk to remove the existing partition(s) and recreate a suitable 98 partition. Then you reboot, format and install the OS. I went into quite a bit of detail on all that in my # 13 posting in this previous thread:
Dullishus Your spec says Windows XP and you are on the W95/98 forum. You don't say which operating system you wish to install. What have you in mind?
Always pop back and let us know the outcome - thanks
Yeah, he never mentioned 98. I guess I'm not paying attention today. If it's an XP install you want to do then ignore my # 2 above. Just boot with the XP cd and choose to do the install. It'll ask where to install it and will give you the option to remove the existing partition. Do that. Then choose to do the install in the available space. Setup will partition and format.
An idea of the spec would be useful too, including the make and model. If you should be going for XP you ought to have at least 512M RAM. Always pop back and let us know the outcome - thanks
Thanks for your reply. I tried booting the computer w/ Win 98 disk, but it won't boot to the disk, it simply continues on to the password screen. Any other possible options? Thx. Randy
Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, the computer won't boot to the Win 98 disk, it simply goes directly to the password screen. It gives me the options of del: setup menu and F12: boot options or something like that when the computer is initially loading. Any ideas or questions?? Thx. Randy
Ty for your reply Derek. The specs are: Acer Aspire X1200, 4050e AMD Athlon, 3GB DDR2 memory, 320GB SATA hard drive, SuperMulti drive and it apparently came w/ Windows Vista originally. Thx for your help. Randy
Is it Windows 98 you are trying to install then? We need to know. It is probably seeing the C drive (HD) first and therefore skipping the floppy.
Go to the BIOS screen (Del) and ensure that the floppy drive is set permanently ahead of the C drive. Sorry I can't give more detail because all BIOS screens are different. If you should goof it, back out without saving (usually Esc key).
Alternatively you can use the simpler F12 option which will allow you to put the floppy drive ahead of the C drive for the next boot only. You then put in the floppy and reboot. If you need further tries repeat the F12 procedure.
Always pop back and let us know the outcome - thanks
Yeah do the F12 boot menu and put the cdrom or floppy (whichever you want to boot from) as the first device. It's best not to try a 98 install with that hardware. I don't think you'll be able to install 98 on a SATA drive anyway. And then you'll have to hunt down 98 drivers for all the hardware and it's likely most of those drivers were never written.
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