Did clean install and things did not go smoothly?

Recently I did a clean install of window 98 SE on my laptop. During
the end of the installing it, it asked for me to find and install a
group of files for what I think was for the different hardware in the
laptop. I.E. modem, infrared port, sound card and etcetera. And I only
have 16 colors and can't make my screen larger in area so the adaptor
is wrong for the laptop's screen.
When I tried the path it gave or one I thought it should be it said it
could not find the files. I just hit skip a bunch of times in
frustration.
I can boot but in device manager I have a number of yellow explanation
marks after things.
First off if I was booting with the Installation CD would that have
been C drive and not the typical D drive and that may have been why it
could not find the files it was asking for? And should the path have
been the drive letter C and everything should have been found in the
win98 folder there? Now when I go and try to update or install a new
driver it just says that the best driver is already installed. And if
I go to install and guess at another driver it says something like
this driver is not recommended using it may be wrong. How can I find
out what companies equipment and the model number is used in the
laptop so I can go to the web and find the drivers I need. And could
the win98 install CD have them already on it. And what path name would
it be on D at the CD-ROM?
When booting during installation from the CD is the CD always being
booted from even after the restarts that take place during
installation of 98 and would that make it the first drive in line so
it is actually C and not D? Is there a Ram disk created at boot up
with the CD that pushes all the drive letter down the line one? And
the Ram disk is C? I have read here at the groups that a lot of people
copy part or all of the CD to the hard drive in order to have it handy
for installing new or reinstalling old files needed by the system.
Since I have a booting hard drive at present what folder exactly
should I copy to the hard drive and should they be copied to a folder
or the top level of C? And then in the future if I am asked to insert
the windows 98 installer CD is there just one path name I need to
remember to use the copied folders from the CD on the C drive.
Assuming I copy the stuff to the Top level of C. is it the win98
folder that is the only thing needed to be copied? So C:\win98 should
always find the files it is asking for. Is windows smart enough to
find drivers etcetera there or do I have to dig deeper in the path to
some files? Is windows smart enough to know that the files are already
copied to the C drive and just go get them in order to copy them to
where they are needed within the system files?
If I reinstall windows 98SE can it do it with what I copy to the hard
drive? How would I start that? And is that ok or should I try a clean
install running FDISK and Format first? During a reinstall over an
existing OS is only the things missing or in the wrong place (deleted)
copied new? Or is all the files recopied and is a bit of fragmenting
happening which would slow things down a bit?

"DJW" wrote in message
...
Recently I did a clean install of window 98 SE on my laptop. . . .
When I tried the path it gave or one I thought it should be it said it
could not find the files. I just hit skip a bunch of times in
frustration.
I can boot but in device manager I have a number of yellow explanation
marks after things.

First off if I was booting with the Installation CD would that have
been C drive and not the typical D drive and that may have been why it
could not find the files it was asking for? And should the path have
been the drive letter C and everything should have been found in the
win98 folder there?

If you boot from the installation CD it is (probably) drive D.
It is never drive C: (assuming you have a hard drive and
BIOS recognizes it OK.)

Your Registry records full filepaths for installed drivers and
other software. These Registry items can be edited and corrected.

How can I find
out what companies equipment and the model number is used in the
laptop so I can go to the web and find the drivers I need. And could
the win98 install CD have them already on it. And what path name would
it be on D at the CD-ROM?

1. From the laptop manual or manufacturer's web site
2. Laptop installation CDs are usually customized because
laptops have custom hardware (e.g. for video display). Some
laptop installation CDs are OEM type, others are "restore" CDs
to rewrite onto the hard drive whatever OS and software is
preinstalled at the factory.
3. We cannot tell you the filepath to an unidentified driver.
You need to identify (a) the device (hardware), (b) the driver
(software) peculiar to this device. If you lack a manual
Belarc diagnostics may identify 3(a) (www.belarc.com)
and the manufacturer's web site should have 3(b) for free download.

When booting during installation from the CD is the CD always being
booted from even after the restarts that take place during
installation of 98 and would that make it the first drive in line so
it is actually C and not D?

BIOS settings determine whether you boot from the hard
drive or CD or floppy. After switching on, the first screen of
text ought to tell you which key takes you to BIOS menu.

In a normal Win98 PC the CD can never be drive C
(and nor can the RAM drive if any.) If your instal routine
uses a RAM drive commands in its AUTOEXEC.BAT and
CONFIG.SYS load the RAM drive software, i.e. the commands
can be read in these two files.

If I reinstall windows 98SE can it do it with what I copy to the hard
drive? How would I start that?

We cannot answer this because we do not know what type
of system CD you have -- see #2 above.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

DJW wrote:
Recently I did a clean install of window 98 SE on my laptop. During
the end of the installing it, it asked for me to find and install a
group of files for what I think was for the different hardware in the
laptop. I.E. modem, infrared port, sound card and etcetera. And I only
have 16 colors and can't make my screen larger in area so the adaptor
is wrong for the laptop's screen.

From that, I assume you used a standard W98 CD (hopefully SE), as the
manufacturer's own one would have had the necessary drivers (and _usually_
would have loaded them with minimal intervention from you - possibly you'd
have to select from a limited list a few times). I'll assume this for the
rest of this post.

When I tried the path it gave or one I thought it should be it said it
could not find the files. I just hit skip a bunch of times in

If by a clean install you mean to a blank hard disk, then the necessary
files would indeed probably not be there.

frustration.
I can boot but in device manager I have a number of yellow explanation
marks after things.

To be expected - things it found as new devices, but didn't have drivers
for. (see later.)

First off if I was booting with the Installation CD would that have
been C drive and not the typical D drive and that may have been why it
could not find the files it was asking for? And should the path have
been the drive letter C and everything should have been found in the
win98 folder there? Now when I go and try to update or install a new

As Don says, provided you have a hard drive and your BIOS recognises it, and
the fact that you succeeded at all means this is so, then the CD would have
been D (or E if you used a boot floppy that installed a RAM drive).

driver it just says that the best driver is already installed. And if

Yes, it tends to do that. Sometimes you have to mess around quite hard to
tell it otherwise - removing the device it thinks it has is a start;
usually, these days, the manufacturer's drivers that you will get from their
website are actually an executable which will look after everything for you.

I go to install and guess at another driver it says something like
this driver is not recommended using it may be wrong. How can I find
out what companies equipment and the model number is used in the
laptop so I can go to the web and find the drivers I need. And could

Laptops tend to use fairly customised hardwa I certainly wouldn't try to
get the drivers from the individual hardware manufacturers. The laptop
manufacturer's website will probably have all the drivers you need, though
you might have to work quite hard to get all of them, especially for '98.
(You'll need: graphics, sound, network if there is one, possibly motherboard
if there is anything unusual about it, USB ports, ... if you're lucky, one
or a few drivers will cover several or all of these.)

the win98 install CD have them already on it. And what path name would

Unlikely.

it be on D at the CD-ROM?

I _think_ all the drivers the W98 CD has on it are in the CAB files in
\WIN98, but if it's asking you for drivers, then it's already looked in
those.
[]
the Ram disk is C? I have read here at the groups that a lot of people
copy part or all of the CD to the hard drive in order to have it handy
for installing new or reinstalling old files needed by the system.

Very good idea. (You only need the files in \WIN98 on the CD, and not even
the subdirectories of that, just the files.)

Since I have a booting hard drive at present what folder exactly
should I copy to the hard drive and should they be copied to a folder
or the top level of C? And then in the future if I am asked to insert

The folder usually recommended to copy the files to is
C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS, though no-one has ever been willing to explain to
me why that particular structure.
[]
always find the files it is asking for. Is windows smart enough to
find drivers etcetera there or do I have to dig deeper in the path to
some files? Is windows smart enough to know that the files are already
copied to the C drive and just go get them in order to copy them to
where they are needed within the system files?

In my experience, Windows is extremely thick when it comes to remembering
where things are. I frequently have to - when installing something new -
keep pointing it back at c:\W\O\C above, then back at the installation
directory of whatever I'm installing, then back, then back ... and yes, I do
know the trick (registry hack) for telling it where the W98 install "CD" is.
It still forgets. And, the procedure for getting it to carry on after you've
told it where the files are isn't exactly intuitive - it's something like
when it says it can't find a particular file, you show it where it is (in a
Windows 3.1 browse window; at least it shows what file[s] it is looking for,
and you can tell when you've got to the right place because it finds them),
then have to press OK on the "can't find" window, something like that. You
get used to it and it becomes a matter of routine, but it is tedious, and
frightening to the inexperienced who are watching.

If I reinstall windows 98SE can it do it with what I copy to the hard
drive? How would I start that? And is that ok or should I try a clean
install running FDISK and Format first? During a reinstall over an
existing OS is only the things missing or in the wrong place (deleted)
copied new? Or is all the files recopied and is a bit of fragmenting
happening which would slow things down a bit?

Rather a lot of questions in one go. If you've not done much and it was a
clean system before, then yes, go ahead and (make a boot floppy first if you
haven't got one! And I'm assuming your laptop has both a built-in floppy and
CD drive; we can get round it if not but it's a _bit_ more tedious) boot
from the floppy and FDISK and format, then copy the files from the CD (using
MD to Make Directories and CD to change to them), then put the CD away and
run setup from the directory on the hard disc. (Personally I'd get 98lite
and install using that, using the sleek shell for which you'd need a W95 CD
or three files from a 95 system, but that's just my preference). To answer
your later question, reinstalling over an existing system doesn't usually
delete any actual files other than ones that are part of the install, but of
course it will delete (or at least substantially rewrite) the registry and
other system files, such that anything you had (all but the simplest
software, anyway) that worked before probably won't work straight away
afterwards.
--
J. P. Gilliver | Tel. +44 1634 203298

Essex home for sale, £59,950: see http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/home/