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#21
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windows 98 floppy disk version
"DanT" wrote in message
... Ok everyone, I did mention that my laptop only uses ONE drive at a time (EITHER FLOPPY OR CD) Eventually, yes. But you did say at the beginning that it's a laptop, and that implies only one or the other. Second of all, windows 98 (i'm not sure about SE though) did come on FLOPPIES because it says it right in the manual for WIN 98. But you certainly can't get any now, except through sheer luck. And AFAIK it's only Win98 "Gold" that was available on floppies, not Second Edition. Now does anyone know how to, or where to get win 98 on floppy disks? No. You've got to find someone who already has a set. They're so rare that there's nobody out there selling new ones, or even old ones. You certainly can't get them from MS. My laptop is 12 years old, originally came with 95, and the BIOS doesn't boot CD's ok. You can't boot *any* CDs? Note that the CD has to be bootable. You are trying it with a bootable CD, right? Is there a boot order setting in your BIOS, and if so is it set to boot CD before HDD? All I asked was if someone could help me get the Windows 98 floppy disks, I don't know why everyone is writing about something else that I don't care about. Because you can't get what you want except via some real miracle. Thus we try to come up with other methods. If you accept that you won't find a floppy version, then a bootable CD solution is the only way to go. If your system really can't boot CDs, then I suggest the following: The system has to now function (presumably Win98), or you will have to reformat and install Win95. Then use BootIt NG to slightly shrink your existing partition and create a second small one. Boot to the installed system and then copy the WIN98 folder from the CD onto the second partition. Then boot to the Startup floppy (aka Emergency Boot Disk, EBD), reformat C:\ and run setup from D:\WIN98 (assuming the second partition is D:\). Note that the second partition only needs to be large enough to hold the WIN98 folder (note that sub-folders aren't needed, just the files in the WIN98 folder.) I suggest 1GB. If you need more detailed instruction, just ask. -- Gary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User www.grystmill.com |
#22
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windows 98 floppy disk version
On Mon, 2 Jul 2007 17:42:01 -0700, DanT
wrote: Ok everyone, I did mention that my laptop only uses ONE drive at a time (EITHER FLOPPY OR CD) Second of all, windows 98 (i'm not sure about SE though) did come on FLOPPIES because it says it right in the manual for WIN 98. Now does anyone know how to, or where to get win 98 on floppy disks? My laptop is 12 years old, originally came with 95, and the BIOS doesn't boot CD's ok. All I asked was if someone could help me get the Windows 98 floppy disks, I don't know why everyone is writing about something else that I don't care about. Dan, I searched E-Bay and Google for them with no luck. Maybe you can find them there. Other than that you might try a computer store or repair shop. I know you are missing Win.com but that can be extracted from the CD after booting to DOS with CDrom support and the two changes I suggested in the two system files without using the diskette. There's an easy way to do that if you are interested. You boot with the Startup diskette then use the EXT utility on the startup diskette and extract Win.cnf to the Windows folder then rename it Win.com. Just enter EXT after booting, it's self explanatory. EXT is not on the Startup diskette made from the Fat32ebd file on the CD. If you know what other files are missing you could also extract them. After that the system may boot but if not you may be able to boot to windows from the Startup diskette by re-naming Msdos.sys on the diskette ( it's empty anyway ) and copying the one in the root of your HDD to the diskette. That could bypass the usual startup problems. This will boot to Windows unless there are severe problems. You can use Windows that way as long as the diskette remains in the drive. Try a Computer Repair shop. Good luck, Regards, Bill Watt Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/ |
#23
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windows 98 floppy disk version
"DanT" wrote in message ...
Ok everyone, I did mention that my laptop only uses ONE drive at a time (EITHER FLOPPY OR CD) The method I suggested in one of my other posts is compatible with this. Second of all, windows 98 (i'm not sure about SE though) did come on FLOPPIES because it says it right in the manual for WIN 98. Now does anyone know how to, or where to get win 98 on floppy disks? My laptop is 12 years old, originally came with 95, and the BIOS doesn't boot CD's ok. You typically don't need to boot from a CD to install from it. All I asked was if someone could help me get the Windows 98 floppy disks, I don't know why everyone is writing about something else that I don't care about. Laptops have unusual hardware, often requiring customized versions of Windows. If you want to see if the Windows CD you already have is usable, please try the method I suggested. Since the CD drive will probably be assigned drive letter "R:", I suggest you try typing "R:\win98\setup" at the "C:\" prompt. Ben |
#24
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windows 98 floppy disk version
On Mon, 2 Jul 2007 17:42:01 -0700, DanT
Ok everyone, I did mention that my laptop only uses ONE drive at a time (EITHER FLOPPY OR CD) Ahhh(rgghhh), laptops. In which case, assuming blank HD, do this: - boot diskette, Sys C:, etc. - copy contents of diskette to a C:\DOSMODE - write the files in C:\ that follow... C:\CONFIG.SYS Set Path=C:\DOSMODE Device=C:\DOSMODE\HiMem.sys DOS=High, UMB DeviceHigh=C:\DOSMODE\OakCDROM.sys /D:CD1 C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT @Echo Off LH MSCDEx /D:CD1 LH SmartDrv.exe /X Power off, disconnect 1.44M, connect CD-ROM. Boot off HD; if C:\DOSMode is populated correctly from the diskette, you should now have a DOS mode boot that includes CD-ROM support. If so, carry on - i.e. copy the file set from CD's \WIN98 to a \WIN98 on the HD (preferably a partition off C, then change to that volume, CD \WIN98, enter Setup as a command. When you run Setup, it doesn't matter whether the diskette drive, CD-ROM drive or nothing is connected at the time. When done, go back and edit C:\CONFIG.SYS to remove the lines we added earlier, and do the same to the lines we added in C:\Autoexec.bat Second of all, windows 98 (i'm not sure about SE though) did come on FLOPPIES because it says it right in the manual for WIN 98. Whatever. Would you like to shlepp slowly through a pile of 8-year-old diskettes, hoping that they all work? My laptop is 12 years old, originally came with 95, and the BIOS doesn't boot CD's ok. See above. All I asked was if someone could help me get the Windows 98 floppy disks, I don't know why everyone is writing about something else that I don't care about. Because it's a better solution, that's why. Else you'll be faced with bad diskettes looking like some sort of Win98 installation issue, because you'd be trying to copy from them and installing the OS at the same time. Any pile of diskettes that high is likely to have one or two bad ones; the odds are far better on CD, plus its faster, plus you don't have to hang around swapping disks, plus there's no risk of HD boot malware attempting to infect a diskette. ------------------------- ---- --- -- - - - - I'm on a ten-year lunch break ------------------------- ---- --- -- - - - - |
#25
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windows 98 floppy disk version
sorry that I'm not very good with all the command line stuff so I need you to
tell me exactly how to do all of this stuff, like for example I have no Idea how to copy the contents of my floppy disk to a c:\DOSMODE, and I don't have a blank Hard Disk, will this still work? "cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)" wrote: On Mon, 2 Jul 2007 17:42:01 -0700, DanT Ok everyone, I did mention that my laptop only uses ONE drive at a time (EITHER FLOPPY OR CD) Ahhh(rgghhh), laptops. In which case, assuming blank HD, do this: - boot diskette, Sys C:, etc. - copy contents of diskette to a C:\DOSMODE - write the files in C:\ that follow... C:\CONFIG.SYS Set Path=C:\DOSMODE Device=C:\DOSMODE\HiMem.sys DOS=High, UMB DeviceHigh=C:\DOSMODE\OakCDROM.sys /D:CD1 C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT @Echo Off LH MSCDEx /D:CD1 LH SmartDrv.exe /X Power off, disconnect 1.44M, connect CD-ROM. Boot off HD; if C:\DOSMode is populated correctly from the diskette, you should now have a DOS mode boot that includes CD-ROM support. If so, carry on - i.e. copy the file set from CD's \WIN98 to a \WIN98 on the HD (preferably a partition off C, then change to that volume, CD \WIN98, enter Setup as a command. When you run Setup, it doesn't matter whether the diskette drive, CD-ROM drive or nothing is connected at the time. When done, go back and edit C:\CONFIG.SYS to remove the lines we added earlier, and do the same to the lines we added in C:\Autoexec.bat Second of all, windows 98 (i'm not sure about SE though) did come on FLOPPIES because it says it right in the manual for WIN 98. Whatever. Would you like to shlepp slowly through a pile of 8-year-old diskettes, hoping that they all work? My laptop is 12 years old, originally came with 95, and the BIOS doesn't boot CD's ok. See above. All I asked was if someone could help me get the Windows 98 floppy disks, I don't know why everyone is writing about something else that I don't care about. Because it's a better solution, that's why. Else you'll be faced with bad diskettes looking like some sort of Win98 installation issue, because you'd be trying to copy from them and installing the OS at the same time. Any pile of diskettes that high is likely to have one or two bad ones; the odds are far better on CD, plus its faster, plus you don't have to hang around swapping disks, plus there's no risk of HD boot malware attempting to infect a diskette. ------------------------- ---- --- -- - - - - I'm on a ten-year lunch break ------------------------- ---- --- -- - - - - |
#26
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windows 98 floppy disk version
sorry I didn't mention that by not having a blank hard disk, I meant to say
that I already have Win98 installed. "DanT" wrote: sorry that I'm not very good with all the command line stuff so I need you to tell me exactly how to do all of this stuff, like for example I have no Idea how to copy the contents of my floppy disk to a c:\DOSMODE, and I don't have a blank Hard Disk, will this still work? "cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)" wrote: On Mon, 2 Jul 2007 17:42:01 -0700, DanT Ok everyone, I did mention that my laptop only uses ONE drive at a time (EITHER FLOPPY OR CD) Ahhh(rgghhh), laptops. In which case, assuming blank HD, do this: - boot diskette, Sys C:, etc. - copy contents of diskette to a C:\DOSMODE - write the files in C:\ that follow... C:\CONFIG.SYS Set Path=C:\DOSMODE Device=C:\DOSMODE\HiMem.sys DOS=High, UMB DeviceHigh=C:\DOSMODE\OakCDROM.sys /D:CD1 C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT @Echo Off LH MSCDEx /D:CD1 LH SmartDrv.exe /X Power off, disconnect 1.44M, connect CD-ROM. Boot off HD; if C:\DOSMode is populated correctly from the diskette, you should now have a DOS mode boot that includes CD-ROM support. If so, carry on - i.e. copy the file set from CD's \WIN98 to a \WIN98 on the HD (preferably a partition off C, then change to that volume, CD \WIN98, enter Setup as a command. When you run Setup, it doesn't matter whether the diskette drive, CD-ROM drive or nothing is connected at the time. When done, go back and edit C:\CONFIG.SYS to remove the lines we added earlier, and do the same to the lines we added in C:\Autoexec.bat Second of all, windows 98 (i'm not sure about SE though) did come on FLOPPIES because it says it right in the manual for WIN 98. Whatever. Would you like to shlepp slowly through a pile of 8-year-old diskettes, hoping that they all work? My laptop is 12 years old, originally came with 95, and the BIOS doesn't boot CD's ok. See above. All I asked was if someone could help me get the Windows 98 floppy disks, I don't know why everyone is writing about something else that I don't care about. Because it's a better solution, that's why. Else you'll be faced with bad diskettes looking like some sort of Win98 installation issue, because you'd be trying to copy from them and installing the OS at the same time. Any pile of diskettes that high is likely to have one or two bad ones; the odds are far better on CD, plus its faster, plus you don't have to hang around swapping disks, plus there's no risk of HD boot malware attempting to infect a diskette. ------------------------- ---- --- -- - - - - I'm on a ten-year lunch break ------------------------- ---- --- -- - - - - |
#27
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windows 98 floppy disk version
On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 11:22:02 -0700, DanT
sorry that I'm not very good with all the command line stuff so I need you to tell me exactly how to do all of this stuff, like for example I have no Idea how to copy the contents of my floppy disk to a c:\DOSMODE MD C:\DOSMODE Copy A:\*.* C:\DOSMODE You may also have to edit two files on the new hard drive, so that they will point to CD-ROM drivers, etc. and I don't have a blank Hard Disk By "blank hard disk", I was thinking of context, i.e. where you haven't yet created anything on the system (i.e. you are installing the OS "fresh", rather than doing a repair install) In that case, the procedure to install Windows from scratch, onto a freshly-formatted (thus empty) hard drive, would be: Boot off the Emergency Boot Diskette Enter the following commands... Sys C: MD C:\DOSMODE Copy A:\*.* C:\DOSMODE Edit Now that you are in Edit, create the following file... Device=C:\DOSMODE\HiMem.xyx Device=C:\DOSMODE\OakCDROM.sys /D:CD1 ....and then go File, SaveAs, save as C:\CONFIG.SYS Next, create this file content... @Echo Off Path C:\DOSMODE LH MSCDEx /D:CD1 LH SmartDrv ....and save that as C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and exit Edit. Now shut down the PC, and swap the diskette drive for the CD drive, then boot the PC. If all has gone well, the PC should boot into DOS mode with driver support for the CD-ROM drive. Now insert the Windows 98 CD, and enter the following commands... MD C:\WIN98 Copy D:\WIN98\*.* C:\WIN98 Attrib -r C:\WIN98\*.* ....assuming all of your hard drive is C: and your CD-ROM drive letter is D: - if you skip the last (Attrib) command, it's no big deal. Now you can either leave the CD-ROM drive in place, swap it for the diskette drive, or leave neither in place, as you start the install: C: CD \WIN98 Setup From there on, just follow the dots. You will end up with an installation that "thinks" it came from C:\WIN98, rather than the CD-ROM drive, so if it even needs files from the installation set, it can find them without nagging you for a drive that may not be there. When done, you'll want to clean up the DOS-orientated startup files. You can edit C:\Config.sys and C:\Autoexec.bat in Notepad to remove the lines you added before doing the installation, or disable the lines by putting the word REM in front of them. ------------ ----- ---- --- -- - - - - The most accurate diagnostic instrument in medicine is the Retrospectoscope ------------ ----- ---- --- -- - - - - |
#28
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windows 98 floppy disk version
"Gary S. Terhune" none wrote in message
... "DanT" wrote in message ... [] My laptop is 12 years old, originally came with 95, and the BIOS doesn't boot CD's ok. You can't boot *any* CDs? Note that the CD has to be bootable. You are trying it with a bootable CD, right? Is there a boot order setting in your BIOS, and if so is it set to boot CD before HDD? The ability to boot from CDs wasn't that common, not too long ago - and it wouldn't surprise me if it was even less common on laptops. (Is it relevant though: I thought most - if not all - '98 CDs weren't bootable anyway.) All I asked was if someone could help me get the Windows 98 floppy disks, I don't know why everyone is writing about something else that I don't care about. Because you can't get what you want except via some real miracle. Thus we And you'd have no certainty that they were all OK anyway! try to come up with other methods. If you accept that you won't find a floppy version, then a bootable CD solution is the only way to go. If your system really can't boot CDs, then I suggest the following: [] Depends if he's trying to rescue stuff already on the laptop's HD. If not, then as others have said, it's a matter of: o Booting from the boot floppy o (Formatting the HD if a clean start is wanted) o copying from the boot floppy to the root of the HD, then editing some files, so that the system can boot from the HD - just to a DOS prompt - but with CD-ROM support. Check this works (at least that it boots), by taking the floppy out and rebooting o turning off, and swapping over the drives o turning on, and letting it boot from the HD o installing '98 - either from the CD, or (I much prefer, but depends if it's a tiny HD, which it may well be on a 12YO laptop) by copying the \WIN98 directory (root files only) from the CD to somewhere* on the HD, then running setup from there. Note that the CD drive will probably appear as E:. *"somewhere" is often recommended to be \WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS (which requires knowledge of the DOS commands md and probably cd, but is trivial). No-one, however, has ever explained to me _why_ this location is recommended. (Also note that if you do use that location, which obviously involves creating a \Windows directory, with nothing in it but the Options subdirectory, then setup will detect it, and offer to install to \windows.000, which you shouldn't accept, but change it to \windows - i. e. by deleting the .000 - instead. It won't overwrite or delete the Options subdirectory.) |
#29
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windows 98 floppy disk version
On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 11:28:00 -0700, DanT
sorry I didn't mention that by not having a blank hard disk, I meant to say that I already have Win98 installed. Oh, OK; then you don't want to install WIndows again, but probably want to prevent Windows from nagging you to insert the CD into a drive that may not be present, if you're using the diskette drive instead. You can "retro-fit" the path to hard drive (instead of CD) as if you'd installed Windows from there, as follows. First, create a folder in C:\ called WIN98, then copy all of the files from your Windows CD's \WIN98 directory to this new location. You can leave out folders within there, such as OLS etc. Then you can highlight all those files in C:\WIN98, right-click them, click Properties, an UNcheck the "Read only" attribute. It's not essential to do this, but it allows Defrag to move them, etc. Having done this, you use Regedit to change the setting that points to where your installation "thinks" its files came from. Cut the following lines and paste them into Notepad... -------------cut here REGEDIT 4 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Setup] "SourcePath"="C:\\WIN98" -------------cut here ....and then safe that as Source.reg, and "open"it. It will point your existing install to C:\WIN98 (the double \\ is intentional, as Regedit reads the first \ as an "escape" character, and the second as the "real" \ that you wanted in the first place. You also need that extra blank line at the end, due to an old Regedit bug. -------------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - - Tip Of The Day: To disable the 'Tip of the Day' feature... -------------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - - |
#30
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windows 98 floppy disk version
The retail versions of 98 were not bootable--many OEM versions were
bootable. -- Regards Ron Badour MS MVP 1997 - 2007 "J. P. Gilliver" wrote in message ... "Gary S. Terhune" none wrote in message ... "DanT" wrote in message ... [] My laptop is 12 years old, originally came with 95, and the BIOS doesn't boot CD's ok. You can't boot *any* CDs? Note that the CD has to be bootable. You are trying it with a bootable CD, right? Is there a boot order setting in your BIOS, and if so is it set to boot CD before HDD? The ability to boot from CDs wasn't that common, not too long ago - and it wouldn't surprise me if it was even less common on laptops. (Is it relevant though: I thought most - if not all - '98 CDs weren't bootable anyway.) All I asked was if someone could help me get the Windows 98 floppy disks, I don't know why everyone is writing about something else that I don't care about. Because you can't get what you want except via some real miracle. Thus we And you'd have no certainty that they were all OK anyway! try to come up with other methods. If you accept that you won't find a floppy version, then a bootable CD solution is the only way to go. If your system really can't boot CDs, then I suggest the following: [] Depends if he's trying to rescue stuff already on the laptop's HD. If not, then as others have said, it's a matter of: o Booting from the boot floppy o (Formatting the HD if a clean start is wanted) o copying from the boot floppy to the root of the HD, then editing some files, so that the system can boot from the HD - just to a DOS prompt - but with CD-ROM support. Check this works (at least that it boots), by taking the floppy out and rebooting o turning off, and swapping over the drives o turning on, and letting it boot from the HD o installing '98 - either from the CD, or (I much prefer, but depends if it's a tiny HD, which it may well be on a 12YO laptop) by copying the \WIN98 directory (root files only) from the CD to somewhere* on the HD, then running setup from there. Note that the CD drive will probably appear as E:. *"somewhere" is often recommended to be \WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS (which requires knowledge of the DOS commands md and probably cd, but is trivial). No-one, however, has ever explained to me _why_ this location is recommended. (Also note that if you do use that location, which obviously involves creating a \Windows directory, with nothing in it but the Options subdirectory, then setup will detect it, and offer to install to \windows.000, which you shouldn't accept, but change it to \windows - i. e. by deleting the .000 - instead. It won't overwrite or delete the Options subdirectory.) |
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