After my signature, below, I've included advice from MVP Glen Ventura =
("Glee"). It addresses what is probably your problem. As for getting the =
new installation off of your 80GB drive, unless you already had Windows =
and Program Files folders on that drive, you can simply delete those =
folders, plus a small handful of files in the D:\ root folder. Be sure =
"Show All Files" is enabled in Folder Options, View tab before you =
delete things, or you'll miss a lot.

As for the SCSI drive, unless your system is incredibly old, I still =
think you should be able to go into BIOS and change the boot order so =
that the ATA (80GB) drive is not included in the list. Without knowing =
exactly what your BIOS offers for that list, I can't say precisely, but =
you need to change that order so that the SCSI drive is at least looked =
at before the ATA drive when BIOS goes looking for a bootable system.

Come to think of it... Instead of deleting the Windows and Program Files =
directories from your old (and presumably repaired) system, you can boot =
a Windows Startup floppy boot disk to get rid of those directories. =
Again, this only works if you did not previously have those directories. =
The command to use is:

DELTREE {driveletter}:\WINDOWS
DELTREE {driveletter}:\PROGRA~1

That should stop the drive from booting, and you can clean up the files =
in the D:\ root folder once you've repaired the old system. *If* you =
can't repair the old system (and it would be easiest to do that with the =
80GB drive disconnected), then you might consider reinstalling over the =
top, but I wouldn't recommend that as a log-term solution. It's OK for =
getting back in long enough to recover personal files, in preparation =
for a reformat an "clean" install, but installing Windows over an =
updated system is a serious retrograde--many newer system files will be =
overwritten with older files. You *could* follow that with a =
reinstallation of every patch and application, and *maybe* end up with a =
sane system, but a reformat/clean install followed by fully updating and =
reinstalling applications will much more successfully ensure a sane =
system.

--=20
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User

Here's the advice from Glen:

Follow the procedures he
Blank Desktop or Illegal Operations Error Message After You Install =
Internet
Explorer:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=3Dkb;en-us;249191

If those procedures do not help, have a look he
Recovering From a Failed Internet Explorer Upgrade in Windows 98:
http://www.cs.bsu.edu/~gjjones/admin.../21/recoverin=
gFromAFailedInternetExplorerUpgradeInWindows98.htm l
or
http://tinyurl.com/r5ba

Especially this section at the end:

"If you still have boot problems after you reboot, you should use the =
command prompt
to edit the c:\windows\system.ini file. On the command line type edit
c:\windows\system.ini.

"Once it is open, change the line shell=3Dexplorer.exe to =
shell=3Dprogman.exe. What you
are doing here is changing the default shell (that is having problems) =
from the
Windows Explorer to the old Windows Program Manager shell.

"Reboot Windows. It should now successfully boot with no errors into an =
empty
Program Manager shell. Use the File | Run | Browse drop down menu =
selection to
browse to c:\program files\internet explorer and launch ie5setup.exe or =
ie6setup.exe
(depending on what is there). Do a custom install and check all the Bold =
faced
options. When the setup program alerts you that these files are already =
installed,
tell it to reinstall all of the files.

"When the Internet Explorer Setup program is done and reboots, hit the =
F8 key to
bring up a Boot Menu. Choose Command Prompt and boot to the command =
prompt. Once
there, type edit c:\windows\system.ini and, once it is open, change the =
line
shell=3Dprogman.exe back to shell=3Dexplorer.exe. Save and exit the =
file. You have now
set the shell back to the original value."
--=20
Glen Ventura, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

=20
"Mathers" wrote in message =
...
I forgot to tell you that the 20bg drive is a scsi drive. What I did =
was=20
simply unplug the 80gb IDE drive and rebooted. It boots back to the 20 =
gb=20
drive but gets back to my original problem and why I tried =
reinstalling. Once=20
the machine goes through the boot sequence and begins to load start up =
apps,=20
I get an "explorer error", and the computer goes no further with =
loading. I=20
figured I would reinstall to fill into any holes in the system files. =
Don't=20
know what caused the explorer error but it has been some time since=20
restarting my machine. I leave it on constantly and had to reboot =
after=20
installing an auto update of IE6 SP1 patch or something like that from =

windows auto update service. Any ideas how to fix the error? Any =
further=20
suggestions on how to get 98 off the 80gb drive? Thanks for the help =
and your=20
patients.
=20
"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:
=20
I still want to go back to the question of "Why" you were installing =
over the top of the original installation. But we can get to that later.
=20
In BIOS, make sure that the 20 GB is visible and correctly detected. =
Make sure it is the Primary Master. Then look for the Boot Order item =
and make sure it reads:
=20
1. Floppy (or CDROM)
2. CDROM (or Floppy)
3. HDD0
4. No other devices.
=20
You don't want it looking for HDD1 if it can't find a bootable =
partition on HDD0.
=20
Try that and tell us what happens.
=20
--=20
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
=20
"Mathers" wrote in message =
...
Sorry about that. I didn't understand your question before. I have =
two=20
seperate drives. No partitions. I was attempting to reinstall over =
a previous=20
version. Drive C was a 20 gb for system files, Drive D was 80 gb =
for files,=20
docs, music, etc.. I set the 80gb as the primary slave when I =
installed it a=20
few months ago. It put the new os on this 80gb drive and now boots =
from this=20
drive. I would like it to boot from the 20 gb drive and dump the =
os off the=20
80 gb drive. Does this info explain better?
=20
"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:
=20
You still haven't answered all of my questions. For the sake of =
simplicity, we'll call them Old C and New C.
=20
1. Are these "drives" two partitions on the same physical hard =
drive? Or are they actually two different drives? If they are two =
different drives, how are they arranged? I assume one is Primary Master. =
Which one? The other is what, Secondary Master or Primary Slave?
=20
2. Are you attempting to install Windows over the top of a =
previous installation on Old C? Or did you reformat it?
=20
3. Why are you reinstalling? What error(s) led you to decide to =
reinstall?
=20
--=20
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
=20
"Mathers" wrote in message =
...
Somehow my drive letters were switched and what was the old D: =
became the new=20
C: and I didn't know it. When I run FDISK, will I lose any =
info from the=20
drive that I am making inactive? Any problems I should be =
aware of? Thanks!
=20
"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:
=20
I'm having difficulty deciphering your message. Windows 98, =
whichever one you have booted to, is *always* on C:\ drive. In order for =
your machine to boot to that drive, it must be the Active drive. If you =
have another Win98 system installed to what is now your D:\ drive, and =
want that to be the boot drive, you have to use a Windows Startup floppy =
boot, run FDISK, and make that partition Active. Then when you boot to =
that Windows, it will be the new C:\ drive.
=20
Why did you think you had to reinstall Windows? What else is =
on the current C:\ drive besides the new Windows installation? If =
there's nothing else, you can reformat that drive. If there was other =
stuff, and you can fix things to boot to the old system, you can then =
delete the Windows folder and the Program Files folder (provided you =
didn't already have a Program Files folder there.)
=20
Do you actually have two different hard drives, or only two =
partitions on one drive?
=20
--=20
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
=20
"Mathers" wrote in =
message ...
How can I uninstall win 98se from a second drive. Had to =
reinstall win98 and=20
it flip flopped my drive letters and the new os was put on =
the wrong drive.=20
Now this is the drive it boots up in. Old c drive is now =
the new d drive.=20
What the hell? Just want it back to booting up in the =
origional config.=20
Thanks!