Radically Simple...er...no

In a nutshell, I bought a new computer loaded with Ubuntu Linux as a sort of Christmas present to me. Bah! Humbug! Ubuntu was awful beyond description and I flat gave up. After some poking about I landed on PCLinuxOS2007. Looked okay, seemed to load from the live part, so went on and let it install.
It sort of worked, but frankly, it is not radically simple. It is radically frustrating-at least for me. I am tired of decoding Sesame Street-like lingo to try and get things to function. I am sick of being constantly lost while attempting to do the simple things that my old Win98, handled without breaking stride. And it is horribly slow.
I have tried to get rid of it. No, it tenaciously hangs on to my hard drive. I have tried to get into MS DOS to get to fdisk. No. I have tried the Linux command line. No. I tried a boot floppy of Win98. No-can't even figure out where the floppy drive is found on Linux! Tried booting from the clean Win98 CD that I have. No. And yes, I set the BIOS to boot from CD. Some one suggested a program called ZAP, but all I can find is smarmy hand cleaner or some such.
I am generally a reasonable guy, listen well, and follow instruction without problem. But this is starting to make me question my sanity. All I want to do is get rid of this garbage and install Win98. I wouldn't think it would be a big deal, but there you have it. If I have posted this in the wrong area, my apologies. But please do not suggest the Linux forum-I can't take any more of that.....Any help would be most appreciated.
Regards, danfixer

 

I would suggest using this to start again....

 

I feel your pain, i recently tried linux as well, and well...but im surprised you didn't like ubuntu..it's easy to use, for simple things. but anyhow, back to your problem...You may still have to boot up some sort of linux...probably the livecd you have, not from the hard drive. Use gparted, or whatever other partition program that is on that disc. You should be able to re-partion your harddrive (like fdisk) and be able to then boot from your win98 floppy to format and install 98..
another good program that i don't see on majorgeeks list of software, is parted magic, it's a bootable partition manager, works as advertised, pretty simple, and straight forward partition program.

BUT, Im not sure you really want to install 98...too many security holes, and such...also, if you have a new computer, i doubt that you would be able to get all the available drivers for win 98....I would suggest getting windows xp.

 

Boot to Darik's Boot-And-Nuke. It's a boot floppy that will completely wipe your hard drive clean so you can run fdisk to set it up how you want. Yes, it's free.
Darik's Boot-And-Nuke http://www.majorgeeks.com/Dariks_Boot_and_Nuke_d4596.html

Good luck!

 

Thanks Yargwel. I had wondered about partition managers, but since I am on dial up this is too huge for me to utilize. I will poke about for a smaller version, if they exist.
Smokingun-wouldn't the proper drivers be on the CD along with the rest of the bits and pieces? I have used XP on friends computers, but it is too glitzy and candy like for my taste. this old PII flies on 98se, and I expect the new one would do even better if I can ever get the penguin killed off. Thanks!!

 

Dusts cobwebs around in my brain...

I think your problem is Win98 can't recognize the Penguin file format. You might try using your Linux disk and format to a FAT32 format, or use the drive manufacturer's disk software to format it.

Seagate: http://www.majorgeeks.com/Seagate_SeaTools_for_Windows_and_DOS_d2858.html

Maxtor: http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.j...toid=7add8b9c4a8ff010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD

WD (not sure if this one will format the drive.) http://www.majorgeeks.com/Western_Digital_Data_Lifeguard_Tools_d2855.html

E

 

that should be the case, IF they make drivers for win98. Some manufacturs have stopped supporting drivers for older operating systems.

 

Ahh...the few things I employ-old scanner, simple digital camera, etc. are not "new" enough to have problems locating drivers. When the day comes that I can not use them I suppose i will have to do something else.
I tried to run the live CD of Linux yesterday and eventually wound up at a "black screen of death" sort of place. GRUB> was the only display followed by a blinking cursor. Thinking I had probably accidentally landed at the crux of the problem I fiddled around trying various commands from the help menu. No luck, but education is often slow.
My problem seems to stem from the fact that the only CD the unit will try to run is the Linux. I will go to the Western Digital site that Fred G provided(thank you) and see what happens from there.
It is becoming comical in a way-I flashed on that old picture of Hunter Thompson blowing away his typewriter with a shotgun....maybe that is really what he meant by "gonzo"! Thanks all.