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#1
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Updating Windows 98
My first laptop (bought in 1998 I think) is somewhat underpowered, but
otherwise perfectly functional. My wife uses it occasionally, and I would like to keep it updated as much as possible, particularly regarding security. It has Windows 98 first edition installed. I have the original Windows 98 CD, and I also have the German version of Windows 98 second edition, but not the English version. Am I right in assuming that the OS would get confused if I tried to upgrade the English version of Windows 98 first edition with the German version of Windows 98 second edition? How can I upgrade to Windows 98 second edition without removing the English version of the OS? Thank you. Herbert Eppel www.HETranslation.co.uk |
#2
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Updating Windows 98
You're right -- the language versions don't mix, and there's no way that I
know of to do what you want. You'd have to either reformat the existing system and reinstall in German from scratch, or if the drive is large enough, you can use a partitioning tool to shrink the existing partition, slide it to the end of the drive, then create a new one for the German Second Edition -- or spend $50 for a copy of Second Edition in English. -- Gary S. Terhune MS MVP Shell/User "Herb" HE@UK wrote in message ... My first laptop (bought in 1998 I think) is somewhat underpowered, but otherwise perfectly functional. My wife uses it occasionally, and I would like to keep it updated as much as possible, particularly regarding security. It has Windows 98 first edition installed. I have the original Windows 98 CD, and I also have the German version of Windows 98 second edition, but not the English version. Am I right in assuming that the OS would get confused if I tried to upgrade the English version of Windows 98 first edition with the German version of Windows 98 second edition? How can I upgrade to Windows 98 second edition without removing the English version of the OS? Thank you. Herbert Eppel www.HETranslation.co.uk |
#3
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Updating Windows 98
On 27.02.2006 20:27 UK Time, Gary S. Terhune wrote:
You're right -- the language versions don't mix, and there's no way that I know of to do what you want. You'd have to either reformat the existing system and reinstall in German from scratch, or if the drive is large enough, you can use a partitioning tool to shrink the existing partition, slide it to the end of the drive, then create a new one for the German Second Edition -- or spend $50 for a copy of Second Edition in English. Thanks - I'll see how I get on with my eBay bid for a Win98 SE CD :-) Regards Herbert Eppel www.HETranslation.co.uk |
#4
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Updating Windows 98
On 28.02.2006 05:03 UK Time, Herb wrote:
On 27.02.2006 20:27 UK Time, Gary S. Terhune wrote: You're right -- the language versions don't mix, and there's no way that I know of to do what you want. You'd have to either reformat the existing system and reinstall in German from scratch, or if the drive is large enough, you can use a partitioning tool to shrink the existing partition, slide it to the end of the drive, then create a new one for the German Second Edition -- or spend $50 for a copy of Second Edition in English. Thanks - I'll see how I get on with my eBay bid for a Win98 SE CD :-) Having now obtained a Win98 SE CD, I keep going round in circles with the upgrade/installation process. When I insert the CD with Win98 running, having performed some system checks, the system eventually says it already has an OS installed and can't upgrade from the CD, or words to that effect. During another attempt, an application called "suwin" generated a fatal error... I also tried in Safe Mode, but then the CD is not recognised. I also tried by booting from the CD, but then I get a warning to the effect that it would resemble a complete re-install, or words to that effect. I had hoped I could upgrade without losing the existing user data/software installations, but I'm beginning to wonder... Perhaps someone could enlighten me about the correct procedure for upgrading from Windows 98 to Windows 98 SE? Thank you. Herbert Eppel www.HETranslation.co.uk |
#5
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Updating Windows 98
Try this:
1. Boot to a Windows Emergency Boot Disk/Startup Disk. If you don't have one, use the appropriate tab in Add/Remove Programs. Choose "...with CDROM Support." and pay attention toward the end of the boot where it tells you what letter your CD drive is now, since it will be different. Let's assume it's now E:\ drive. 2. At the A:\ prompt, run the following commands: e: cd win98 setup See if that helps. -- Gary S. Terhune MS MVP Shell/User "Herb" HE@UK wrote in message ... On 28.02.2006 05:03 UK Time, Herb wrote: On 27.02.2006 20:27 UK Time, Gary S. Terhune wrote: You're right -- the language versions don't mix, and there's no way that I know of to do what you want. You'd have to either reformat the existing system and reinstall in German from scratch, or if the drive is large enough, you can use a partitioning tool to shrink the existing partition, slide it to the end of the drive, then create a new one for the German Second Edition -- or spend $50 for a copy of Second Edition in English. Thanks - I'll see how I get on with my eBay bid for a Win98 SE CD :-) Having now obtained a Win98 SE CD, I keep going round in circles with the upgrade/installation process. When I insert the CD with Win98 running, having performed some system checks, the system eventually says it already has an OS installed and can't upgrade from the CD, or words to that effect. During another attempt, an application called "suwin" generated a fatal error... I also tried in Safe Mode, but then the CD is not recognised. I also tried by booting from the CD, but then I get a warning to the effect that it would resemble a complete re-install, or words to that effect. I had hoped I could upgrade without losing the existing user data/software installations, but I'm beginning to wonder... Perhaps someone could enlighten me about the correct procedure for upgrading from Windows 98 to Windows 98 SE? Thank you. Herbert Eppel www.HETranslation.co.uk |
#6
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Updating Windows 98
Oops! You have an OEM CD. That can only be clean-installed. My sincerest
apologies that I didn't remember this before. Ask anyone, my memory is shot these days. Only a Full Retail Windows 98 Second Edition CD can update an earlier version of Windows. Or, the "Updates" CD can update a Win98 (only) to Win98SE. Unfortunately, both of the latter CDs are hard to come by. The OEM version is by far the most commonly available. I can't recall if anyone has come up with a decent workaround. Seems to me some have. You might want to also ask in the General Discussion group. I suggest a new post asking how to use an OEM 98SE CD to upgrade an in-place WIn98 system, and cross-post it to here and the Gen_Discussion group. -- Gary S. Terhune MS MVP Shell/User "Herb" HE@UK wrote in message ... On 28.02.2006 05:03 UK Time, Herb wrote: On 27.02.2006 20:27 UK Time, Gary S. Terhune wrote: You're right -- the language versions don't mix, and there's no way that I know of to do what you want. You'd have to either reformat the existing system and reinstall in German from scratch, or if the drive is large enough, you can use a partitioning tool to shrink the existing partition, slide it to the end of the drive, then create a new one for the German Second Edition -- or spend $50 for a copy of Second Edition in English. Thanks - I'll see how I get on with my eBay bid for a Win98 SE CD :-) Having now obtained a Win98 SE CD, I keep going round in circles with the upgrade/installation process. When I insert the CD with Win98 running, having performed some system checks, the system eventually says it already has an OS installed and can't upgrade from the CD, or words to that effect. During another attempt, an application called "suwin" generated a fatal error... I also tried in Safe Mode, but then the CD is not recognised. I also tried by booting from the CD, but then I get a warning to the effect that it would resemble a complete re-install, or words to that effect. I had hoped I could upgrade without losing the existing user data/software installations, but I'm beginning to wonder... Perhaps someone could enlighten me about the correct procedure for upgrading from Windows 98 to Windows 98 SE? Thank you. Herbert Eppel www.HETranslation.co.uk |
#7
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Updating Windows 98
On 01.03.2006 21:33 UK Time, Gary S. Terhune wrote:
Oops! You have an OEM CD. That can only be clean-installed. My sincerest apologies that I didn't remember this before. Ask anyone, my memory is shot these days. Only a Full Retail Windows 98 Second Edition CD can update an earlier version of Windows. Or, the "Updates" CD can update a Win98 (only) to Win98SE. Unfortunately, both of the latter CDs are hard to come by. The OEM version is by far the most commonly available. I can't recall if anyone has come up with a decent workaround. Seems to me some have. You might want to also ask in the General Discussion group. I suggest a new post asking how to use an OEM 98SE CD to upgrade an in-place WIn98 system, and cross-post it to here and the Gen_Discussion group. Thanks for the explanation - yes, I now see that it says "Microsoft Windows98 for PCs without Windows" on the CD! I'll send a new message as you suggested. Regards Herbert Eppel www.HETranslation.co.uk |
#8
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Updating Windows 98
On 02.03.2006 00:16 UK Time, Herb wrote:
On 01.03.2006 21:33 UK Time, Gary S. Terhune wrote: Oops! You have an OEM CD. That can only be clean-installed. My sincerest apologies that I didn't remember this before. Ask anyone, my memory is shot these days. Only a Full Retail Windows 98 Second Edition CD can update an earlier version of Windows. Or, the "Updates" CD can update a Win98 (only) to Win98SE. Unfortunately, both of the latter CDs are hard to come by. The OEM version is by far the most commonly available. I can't recall if anyone has come up with a decent workaround. Seems to me some have. You might want to also ask in the General Discussion group. I suggest a new post asking how to use an OEM 98SE CD to upgrade an in-place WIn98 system, and cross-post it to here and the Gen_Discussion group. Thanks for the explanation - yes, I now see that it says "Microsoft Windows98 for PCs without Windows" on the CD! I'll send a new message as you suggested. One more question before I send a new message: What exactly should I look out for on the CD? For example, this one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Microsoft-Wind... cmdZViewItem says "Full Retail", but is also says "for PCs without Windows", so presumably I would end up in the same situation? Thanks Herbert Eppel www.HETranslation.co.uk |
#9
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Updating Windows 98
My tendency would be the pessimistic one -- that it *isn't* "Full Retail"
and is instead OEM. You can verify this by simply asking what the Product Key is, since the OEM product keys include "OEM" as the second alphanumeric group. But I should backtrack a bit... Really, unless your current Win98 system is recently installed and has *not* been brought up to date with things like WMP 7 and IE 6 SP1 -- unless it's danged near a virgin you would be *much* better off installing a clean copy. I could go into all the reasons, but suffice it to say that overinstalling, even upgrading, seldom fixes real problems. In the scenario I warn against above, the issue is primarily that Setup defaults to overwriting newer versions of system files with older ones. There are a couple of safeguards against this, one being that the default for this or that component happens to be to keep the newer files, and the other called VCM -- Version Control Manager -- which allows the older versions to be installed but keeps backups of the overwritten files that you can restore later. NEITHER of those protective mechanisms works well, so you almost certainly end up with a bit of DLL Hell (mismatched system files and Registry entries) AND you haven't remedied any real problems other than to get the benefits of upgrading -- maybe. How large is your hard drive? It really isn't that big a deal to clean install and move your personal files to the new system, provided you have a bit of extra space. The biggest issue left is installed programs for which you've lost the installation files. You will end up with a *much* leaner, higher performing system in the end. -- Gary S. Terhune MS MVP Shell/User "Herb" HE@UK wrote in message ... On 02.03.2006 00:16 UK Time, Herb wrote: On 01.03.2006 21:33 UK Time, Gary S. Terhune wrote: Oops! You have an OEM CD. That can only be clean-installed. My sincerest apologies that I didn't remember this before. Ask anyone, my memory is shot these days. Only a Full Retail Windows 98 Second Edition CD can update an earlier version of Windows. Or, the "Updates" CD can update a Win98 (only) to Win98SE. Unfortunately, both of the latter CDs are hard to come by. The OEM version is by far the most commonly available. I can't recall if anyone has come up with a decent workaround. Seems to me some have. You might want to also ask in the General Discussion group. I suggest a new post asking how to use an OEM 98SE CD to upgrade an in-place WIn98 system, and cross-post it to here and the Gen_Discussion group. Thanks for the explanation - yes, I now see that it says "Microsoft Windows98 for PCs without Windows" on the CD! I'll send a new message as you suggested. One more question before I send a new message: What exactly should I look out for on the CD? For example, this one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Microsoft-Wind... cmdZViewItem says "Full Retail", but is also says "for PCs without Windows", so presumably I would end up in the same situation? Thanks Herbert Eppel www.HETranslation.co.uk |
#10
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Updating Windows 98
On 02.03.2006 00:54 UK Time, Gary S. Terhune wrote:
My tendency would be the pessimistic one -- that it *isn't* "Full Retail" and is instead OEM. You can verify this by simply asking what the Product Key is, since the OEM product keys include "OEM" as the second alphanumeric group. But I should backtrack a bit... Really, unless your current Win98 system is recently installed and has *not* been brought up to date with things like WMP 7 and IE 6 SP1 -- unless it's danged near a virgin you would be *much* better off installing a clean copy. I could go into all the reasons, but suffice it to say that overinstalling, even upgrading, seldom fixes real problems. In the scenario I warn against above, the issue is primarily that Setup defaults to overwriting newer versions of system files with older ones. There are a couple of safeguards against this, one being that the default for this or that component happens to be to keep the newer files, and the other called VCM -- Version Control Manager -- which allows the older versions to be installed but keeps backups of the overwritten files that you can restore later. NEITHER of those protective mechanisms works well, so you almost certainly end up with a bit of DLL Hell (mismatched system files and Registry entries) AND you haven't remedied any real problems other than to get the benefits of upgrading -- maybe. How large is your hard drive? It really isn't that big a deal to clean install and move your personal files to the new system, provided you have a bit of extra space. The biggest issue left is installed programs for which you've lost the installation files. You will end up with a *much* leaner, higher performing system in the end. Hi Gary, thanks for your message. The laptop we are talking about here obviously isn't my main computer, and come to think of it, it doesn't actually have that much stuff on there, so I think I'll take your advice and install Win 98 SE from scratch. Just one last question: what's the best way of actually doing it? Presumably I should boot from the CD and take it from there? Thanks Herbert Eppel www.HETranslation.co.uk |
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