Reinstalling W98SE from upgrade disc

My old PC running W98SE is in a sorry state - I suspect "rogue"
installer progams have overwritten or deleted system files and so on
because several things no longer work properly (notably multimedia).
System File Checker isn't showing anything obvious although, to be
fair, this PC has been upgraded successively from Win3.1 - Win95 -
Win98SE.

Because I'm about to buy a new super whizzer with WinXP, I would like
to re-install Win98SE on the old one from scratch, using the upgrade
disc that I have. I can then use the old computer for "utility" work.

I've got:

DOS6 installation floppy
Win3.1 setup disc set
Win95 upgrade CD
Win98SE upgrade CD

and, of course, a Win98SE startup floppy (and even a 95 one!).

What's my best plan? Should I format the drive initially with the DOS6
disk or the Win98 one? Will the Win98 upgrade CD recognise any or all
of the previous setup discs when it check compliance?

Many thanks if anyone can help.

Regards

--
John Gruffydd (Mold, Wales, UK)

Format with the Win98 disk.
For the compliance check, it will recognise the Win95 disc and IIRC also the Win3.1
disk. I don't think it will accept the DOS disk for compliance, but I may be
wrong....going on memory here.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


wrote in message
...
My old PC running W98SE is in a sorry state - I suspect "rogue"
installer progams have overwritten or deleted system files and so on
because several things no longer work properly (notably multimedia).
System File Checker isn't showing anything obvious although, to be
fair, this PC has been upgraded successively from Win3.1 - Win95 -
Win98SE.

Because I'm about to buy a new super whizzer with WinXP, I would like
to re-install Win98SE on the old one from scratch, using the upgrade
disc that I have. I can then use the old computer for "utility" work.

I've got:

DOS6 installation floppy
Win3.1 setup disc set
Win95 upgrade CD
Win98SE upgrade CD

and, of course, a Win98SE startup floppy (and even a 95 one!).

What's my best plan? Should I format the drive initially with the DOS6
disk or the Win98 one? Will the Win98 upgrade CD recognise any or all
of the previous setup discs when it check compliance?

Many thanks if anyone can help.

Regards

--
John Gruffydd (Mold, Wales, UK)

Similar question.

I have a Win98SE machine whose hard disk has multiple partitions. I wish to
remove these (to make a single large C: drive) and reinstal Win98SE.
I have the Win 98 installation disk that came with the machine plus a Win
98SE upgrade disk.
What is the best strategy to perform this?

TIA
Chris

If you plan to wipe everything out (all partitions and everything on them),
re-partitioning as one big C:, followed by a format and clean installation, then you
can do a clean install using the Win98SE upgrade disc and show the win98 disc when
asked for proof of prior Windows ownership. This assumes that the Win98
installation disc is exactly that, rather than a "restore" disc provided by some
major brand computer manufacturers.

If the Win98 installation disc is in fact a proprietary restore disc, you would have
to install that first, then upgrade with the upgrade disc.

Best strategy? Well that a matter of opinion, as there are many good reasons to
keep multiple partitions, and many reasons to avoid one big C: You can re-size
and/or merge partitions without data loss, using third party partitioning tools.
One that I can recommend is BootIt NG:
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com

For more info on the uses of multiple partitions, see he
http://aumha.org/a/parts.htm
and
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/partitions.html
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Chris Watts" wrote in message
...
Similar question.

I have a Win98SE machine whose hard disk has multiple partitions. I wish to
remove these (to make a single large C: drive) and reinstal Win98SE.
I have the Win 98 installation disk that came with the machine plus a Win
98SE upgrade disk.
What is the best strategy to perform this?

TIA
Chris

The simplest way to do this removes everything from the hard drive. Be sure
you have copied off everything of importance. If this isn't feasible, post
back for an alternative procedure.

To clear the partitioning, boot with a W98se boot floppy and run FDISK.
Delete all existing partitions, reboot, and create a new primary DOS
partition. Be sure to answer Y to the question about large hard drive
support.

You can get a utility to create a W98se boot floppy at
www.bootdisk.com
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"Chris Watts" wrote in message
...
Similar question.

I have a Win98SE machine whose hard disk has multiple partitions. I wish
to
remove these (to make a single large C: drive) and reinstal Win98SE.
I have the Win 98 installation disk that came with the machine plus a Win
98SE upgrade disk.
What is the best strategy to perform this?

TIA
Chris

Thanks to Glen and Jeff for their suggestions etc. I now need to think out
my "best" stategy!

I made the mistake, a few years ago, of overpartitioning the disk. It
was only 10Gbyte (big in those days!) and I wanted the partitions all to be
below 2GB - now I have five partitions with unusably small bits of space
left on them! I intend to get a new workhorse machine with a much bigger
disk and use the old one as utility machine for adds and ends - everything
is networked. I have an old copy of Partition Magic that I might experiment
with - but I will back up the essentials just in case!

Thanks
Chris


"glee" wrote in message
...
If you plan to wipe everything out (all partitions and everything on
them),
re-partitioning as one big C:, followed by a format and clean
installation, then you
can do a clean install using the Win98SE upgrade disc and show the win98
disc when
asked for proof of prior Windows ownership. This assumes that the Win98
installation disc is exactly that, rather than a "restore" disc provided
by some
major brand computer manufacturers.

If the Win98 installation disc is in fact a proprietary restore disc, you
would have
to install that first, then upgrade with the upgrade disc.

Best strategy? Well that a matter of opinion, as there are many good
reasons to
keep multiple partitions, and many reasons to avoid one big C: You can
re-size
and/or merge partitions without data loss, using third party partitioning
tools.
One that I can recommend is BootIt NG:
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com

For more info on the uses of multiple partitions, see he
http://aumha.org/a/parts.htm
and
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/partitions.html
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Chris Watts" wrote in message
...
Similar question.

I have a Win98SE machine whose hard disk has multiple partitions. I
wish to
remove these (to make a single large C: drive) and reinstal Win98SE.
I have the Win 98 installation disk that came with the machine plus a
Win
98SE upgrade disk.
What is the best strategy to perform this?

TIA
Chris