Win98banter - View Single Post - I want to install Win-ME on a blank HDD

**J. P. Gilliver (John)** · January 22nd 16, 08:31 PM posted to microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion

In message ,
writes:
I'm trying to figure out the best way to install Win-ME. I got a .ISO
file of it, but I used Winimage run under Win98 and extracted it. I dont
burn CDs and dont even want to try.
(See below)

The computer I want to install W-ME to is older. It has USB 1 ports, but
dont have the settings to boot from USB. It does have a floppy drive.
The plan is to boot the computer from a Dos floppy, then install DOS to
the HDD from the Dos floppy.

Yes, the sys command (IIRR) will do that.

Then comes the task to copy the Win-ME installer files to that HDD. I
think I can do that by using a cable from the HDD to the USB port on my

If by a "cable" you mean one of those things with a USB port on one end
and an IDE connector on the other, then yes; such a cable has
electronics in it, it isn't just a cable. (It's in effect a poor man's
version of an external drive enclosure.) You'd probably need a power
supply for the HD as well - the example I have of such a "cable" came
with one - especially if it's a desktop drive, which I think from your
description it is.

XP machine. -OR- I can just plug in a second HDD with these install
files already on it.

Indeed. (I'm assuming you have some software that will let you "unpack"
the ISO file you have.)

Then all I need to do is run the W-ME installer.

Is this correct?
Is there an easier way?

I'd say you've got it, more or less. 98Guy's post is definitely worth
reading.

Dont waste your time telling me to burn a CD. I DO NOT burn CDs or DVDs,
Period!

I can't help wondering _why_; doing so, especially from an .ISO file, is
pretty trivial, once you've found the "burn from ISO" (rather than burn
as data) option in whatever burning software you choose. It's something
you can just leave to run. And you'd then have a WinMe CD you could use
in future without all the palaver, should you ever want to do it again.

I presently run Win98SE nearly all the time. I only have XP on my
laptop, but rarely use it. I've always wanted to try Win-ME, and since I
got this spare computer, thats what I want to do. Win98 has always been
the best OS ever made. I have always heard bad things about Win-ME, but
few people have ever proven it. I bet I can make it work just fine, the
same way I have made Win98 the most stable OS ever developed. I can
watch XP crash fairly often, but W98 just keeps running......
I dont run Vista, Win7, Win8, or Win10, or any form of Linux. Its all
rubbish...

I liked 98SE: I ran it as 98SElite, meaning with the 95 shell, which I
found quicker and simpler. The general opinion was that Me was one of
the duds: I think a disadvantage was that it was harder to boot an Me
system into (true) DOS, and the advantages were that one or two things
were improved (I think the defrag was better? [but can be ported to '9x
systems], and maybe it had bigger disc and/or memory size limits). But
there were folk who liked Me, as there are who like Vista.

Personally I've now got XP (with the POS hack 98Guy mentions) to how I
had '98SElite: I just turn it on and it works, and I use the computer
for what I want to do. I've also found Windows 7 (it was imposed on me
at work [though they only got round to it in IIRR late 2014!]) nothing
to really complain about, and I have a 7 machine (mainly to support
friends, including some blind ones), but equally I've not found it
offers me any advantages I'd really notice (the only real ones are
because it's a more powerful machine, not really anything to do with the
OS - but I find this XP one does all I need for nearly all of the time).

--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"Address the chair!" "There isn't a chair, there's only a rock!" "Well, call
it a chair!" "Why not call it a rock?" (First series, fit the sixth.)