Windows 98 SE Installation Problem

Hello folks,

My first ever question so apologies if i inadvertently break any rules.

Ive just taken delivery today of a new PC - and have attempted to load Windows 98 SE onto it.

It's a good system with ample memory and speed etc. When the installation is about 80% complete, Windows says it needs to reboot then comes back and attempts to load drivers for hardware. This is where it crashes and just totally locks up every time.

All i can get is safe mode, with no CD or DVD available. Does anyone have any clue as to what might be wrong?

The PC is Pentium 4, 200 GB Hard Drive, 512MB memory etc.

Would greatly appreciate some advice - i've been messing with it since 10am today - almost 12 hours. Thanks a lot.
Damian

 

i'm curious why you're trying windows 98 SE on that machine? That machine is easily capabale of XP and would probably run much better in XP than it would in 98.


what method of install are you using? are you booting off of the CDROM? or using the windows98 boot floppy?

windows 98 (FAT32 file system more accurately) will not entirely support a 200GB hard drive.

if it WILL work, the drive will be limited to 127? (i believe) gigabytes anyway.

 

Well, to start with, Windows 98se will not support that large of a hard drive without a drive overlay.

You may want to check and make sure you have one installed.

Sure seems like a waste of hardware to be using such an inferior OS...

 

Right thanks. I am trying to load 98 SE simply because that is all i have in the house -and the PC came without an OS installed - not to mention the fact that PC World are asking £179 for Windows XP.

Looks like i'll have to buy one doesn't it. Credit card is taking a hammering

 

look for an OEM license of XP, its much cheaper.

 

My I.T guys at work tell me that Win98SE will no longer load onto many of the newest computers coming out...I guess the MOBO's & processors are so alien to the OS that it just comes up with general protection faults & other errors when trying to install.

That said, you could try & partition your drive...make the C drive much smaller, maybe even less than 8GB (since Win98 had some sort of limitation beyond that) and try to reinstall onto that partition.

Have you tried copying the files from the CD into a folder on the freshly formatted hard drive & doing the install from there? Sometimes that'll get you through an install that otherwise won't complete. Lots of walk-throughs on the 'net for that, here's one of them:

http://home.pacbell.net/dbk4297/preinstall.html

Good luck,

 

I agree with everyone as what I have heard is that Microsoft is no longer supporting Win 98 or Win ME. Best to start off right, and go with XP or how about Win 2000???

 

You can still get updates for 98.
You can also download this here at MG:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4131


W2K will work fine on your PC.
You probably get Xp for about same price as W2K
I've seen XP pro OEM for as little as $80 online.

Xp will boot faster than W2K
Xp is better, more bells & whistles.
Another nice feature of XP, is System restore.
I happen to like W2K, but I love XP, I have one PC that's is dual boot with both W2K & XP pro.
Which ever you get also make sure you load using NTFS file system.

 

Plenty of free O/S out there in various linux guises, why not try one of those and give crappy micro$oft the elbow?

 

* if BIOS is up-to-date (meaning supports Drives over 127GB), make sure you are using a ATA-66/100/133 data cable and the Drive is connected to the first IDE port. In any event my guess as to cause of the problem:
80-90% - 200 GB Hard Drive
10-20% - 512MB memory < assuming this is a DDR type.
How did you do the partitioning(how many partitions and how big and what FDISK utility)? If you are using Windows based 'fdisk' utility, my guess is you will have approximately 185-188GB of total space (that can be used). Try creating partitions this way C (no more than)32GB!
Then the rest will be extended (approx. 150-155GB)partition, you could divide it up to 22 logical partition (if I remember correctly). So try this for the sake of narrowing down the problem:
Primary partition > C=31GB
Extended partitions > D=75GB, E=80GB (you could make these ones different since they are not that important for our analysis).
Install windows98se on C, then the drivers and let's see what happens.
Another cause of Windows/Drivers installation cause (besides the incorrect drivers or corrupt media) is RAM.

PS. if there are any BIOS updates on manufacturer's website check the update info for each to see if this was a known problem that got fixed and if yes, d/l and update the BIOS (but seeing it is a P4 mobo, this may not be the case).
Good Luck.

 

The drive should not be a problem since you've got this far. If the drive isn't supported at all you won't even get to the 'accept license agreement' because it will stop and tell you you don't have any drives to install upon.

I do however belive that it's your hardware. Probably as Wavetar says here above. Especially since you mention it's freezing/dying when drivers are being installed.

If you still want to install windows 98 I'd recommend you take all extra bits and pieces out, leave just one memory module, graphics card, processor, harddrive and cd-rom and remove any other things you might have there, then try. If that works you at least know it's the drivers for some of the other stuff that's bad/missing/wrong somehow, then you can narrow the problem down and maybe fix it later. Main thing is to get that o/s on there first, then start troubleshooting.

Good luck.

 

Unsupported Drives or partition size would not necessarily always give an error or stop the user from installing the OS or applications. This is a fact not a guess. Unsupported doesn't mean it will NOT work for sure, it means it may work but when and if you do have problems...good luck! That is at least Microsoft's version of what 'unsupported/not supported' means.
Anyhow, the problem could still be elsewhere but I wanted to comment on what Phatsta posted earlier.

 

Linux is free, if your time is worthless.

 

If 98 cannot support 48 bit lba, then it cannot see that drive size. It might see part of it, but thats best case scenario.



That is a fact as well.

 

Theory is one thing, but have you ever tried it yourself?
I promise, it's not to be a jerk I'm saying this, it's simply a practical fact.

 

Neither of you are completely right.

 

I would not make that statement if I didn't have 1st hand personal experience.
I have built only a few dozen PCs, to some who do that every day it might be nothing, but I have done more single/multi-boot Operating System installations over the last 6 years than I care to remember.
As I said earlier, I put in my 2 cents based 90% my own personal experiences and 10% technical info I had read from a reputable source.
I don't dispute or debate a fact just simply I have not experienced it or I have not been able to replicate it but If I have, I don't care what others say, to me that particular 'possibility' exists and is valid.

Heck, it could be anything, after all we get to read and know what the person asking the question gave us. He might be holding back a piece of info that would make us go 'oooh, in that case...', so as it stands all my statements about HD, RAM,etc. are simply 'possibilities' nothing more.

PS. you are not being a jerk, by all means challenge me anytime and correct me if I missed something or gave an illogical answer.
Remember, we are only human!

 

I just noticed this, loved the info, you are absolutely true the 48-bit support is needed. But it is not a limitation of OS but a limitation of a BIOS (if it doesnt support it). If the mobo's BIOS can be updated to support 48bit LBA, then you can install Windows9x/ME without any problems!
And that Adrynalyne is a fact as well...

 

If the OS doesn't support it, the OS won't see the full size, no matter what the hardware supports.

I've been saying that all along.

 

Bottomline: Windows98SE would see it (not as fully as a 3rd party sw that could do a better partitioning job but still) if BIOS supports 48bit LBA partition structure. But the debate seems to be getting bitter so I will assume you guys are right and I am wrong...but would like to hear and learn what the culprit was nonetheless.

 

Read this friend

http://www.48bitlba.com/win98.htm

 

I am sorry, what are we debating here Adrynalyne?
If BIOS supported 48bit LBA structure you could install and use Windows98SE but it could and might cause problems, hence the info on that site and hence my first initial post stating that the size of the HardDisk alone with how the partitioning was done could be the cause....

You are a very knowledgeable person and I don't doubt your knowledge...but I wanted to put my 2 cents in without claiming it was worth $2!...

 

THATS what we are debating.

But as you say, we will leave it at that so as to stop hijacking the post.