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General discussion

How do youFormat C: Drive and install win 98

Dec 9, 2003 11:27AM PST

I was trying to format c: drive and install Windows 98, but for some reason, it did not work. It is too complictated for me to explain. So I would like to know the steps in formating the hard drive and installing OS system. I am starting from scratch..

Thanks

Discussion is locked

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Re:How do youFormat C: Drive and install win 98
Dec 9, 2003 2:10PM PST

1. Boot your PC with a bootable floppy for Win98 (You can get it from http://www.bootdisk.com). Remember the drive letter being assigned to your CD Rom.

2. At the A:> prompt, type FORMAT C: then press "ENTER".

3. After the format completed, point to your CD drive (mentioned on item 1) then type SETUP then press "ENTER".

Regards,

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Beauty, Here Are Some More Links That Should Help
Dec 10, 2003 12:50AM PST
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Re:Beauty, Here Are Some More Links That Should Help
Dec 10, 2003 11:51AM PST

Thanks for the advice..

I followed the steps but Windows 98 did not automatically finish set up.. Everything went smooth until I got to the step of SETUP. The message I received was " windows copying files needed to install windows" Then the system just jumps to A:/ nothing else happens. The screen is still blank. anything I type in the prompt says, bad command. I do not have a clue on what to do next. Help..

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Re:How do youFormat C: Drive and install win 98
Dec 10, 2003 6:59PM PST

On most any computer you can install 98 by just placing the software in either the floppy or cd-rom then turning the unit off, then turn it on and it should ask you if you wish to format the operating system that you have now, then after it formats it will install the win 98.

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Re:Re:How do youFormat C: Drive and install win 98
Dec 11, 2003 1:04AM PST

Thanks Leonard,

I already tried that. It is like windows is still loaded. I formatted c and set partitions. When I turn the system on It boots up to c: prompt and reads Windows 98 second additon.. Could it be that when I reformatted the system, I did not erase Windows 98 originally. I just put the bootdisk in. It does flash quickly Windows 98 screen saver. That is it. I am ready to throw away my system and buy a new one..

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Beauty, Let's Start From Scratch...
Dec 11, 2003 1:08AM PST

In your previous posts, you mentioned that you had a donated computer AND that you were thinking about "building a system". Regarding THIS thread, are you working with the "donated" machine, or with one that has new hardware????

The results you are having could be caused by a bad hard drive that isn't working correctly and therefore won't accept the files. (It might also explain why it was donated.) When you boot from the Win98 boot floppy, did you Fdisk the drive, then format, then attempt to install from the Windows 98 CD? At the A:\> prompt, can you type C:, then press the "Enter" key and does it "see" the C drive??? Please describe everything you've done up till now.

Hope this helps and let us know.

Grif

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Re:Beauty, Let's Start From Scratch...
Dec 11, 2003 3:06AM PST

Thanks,

It is not the donated one. The donated one is real slow and I cannot install anything..Too long to discuss.
This is my daughters system...
the system was working fine, I do not know if she installed something or what she did to it. But I kept getting an error message illegal operation and the system would freeze. And when I turned it on to boot up, it would take forever. something to do with interupt boot 18h. So I decided to format the system and start from scratch. I performed fdisk, than format c: It did that. Set the partitions . The last step to install. I booted the system and pressed 1 for cd-rom support, when the a: prompt pop up, I typed E:\setup. (E: the cd rom), setup starts, scan the disk, than the part when it says, wait a moment setup is intializing , than it says setup copying files for windows. The A prompt pops up. A:/ nothing else.

Oh I forgot, I have a zipdrive on the system and when the drivers are loaded it looks like
It says something about files are loaded to D:

I tried setup with d: , still the same results

Thanks for your help

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Beauty, Try This....
Dec 11, 2003 6:01AM PST

...as you didn't mention the parameters with which you did the format. Place the boot floppy back in the floppy drive, restart WITHOUT CD-Rom support (for now), then, at the A:\> prompt, type: sys c:, then press the "enter" key. The system files will be copied to the C drive. Now restart the computer WITH CD-ROM support, place the Win98 CD in the drive and run "setup.exe" from the CD Rom. Hopefully, everything will install correctly now.

Hope this helps.

Grif