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Resolved Question

Old laptop questions?

Dec 16, 2011 4:56AM PST

My computer crashed. Until I can afford to replace it, I have a really old laptop that runs on Windows 98 that I am thinking of trying to convert to wireless.

I have read that it can be hard to find a wireless card that is compatible with Windows 98, so my question is, can I upgrade my Windows version if I have a Windows Vista disc?

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ericanikki has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

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Nearly impossible today.
Dec 16, 2011 4:59AM PST

But I have used GAME BRIDGES to do this. And to add more insult, almost all that did support 98 required 98se.

As to Vista, I see little hope given no make, model and other details. For example Vista comes on DVD and many Windows 98 laptops had CDROM drives. No hope there.

But why run Windows on such hardware? I'd look again at UBUNTU for this one.
Bob

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Thanks for the advice
Dec 16, 2011 5:04AM PST

I am apparently in a message board that is over my head, since I do not understand most of what you said, LOL

But If this isnt something that is fairly easy to do, I will take your word for it and not try it.

I can use the laptop as is, wired for now, and hopefully replace it soon.

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Does it have . . .
Dec 16, 2011 5:08AM PST

a PCMCIA port? If so there are many wireless PCMCIA cards that will work. You only need to find out if the PCMCIA port is 16 or 32 bit.

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Answer
If the laptop has USB ports ...
Dec 16, 2011 7:19AM PST

you can still find wireless USB adapters that have Windows 98 support although a good share of them require Win 98 SE (you didn't state which version of Win 98 you had).
http://www.google.com/search?q=windows+98+wireless+usb

If it has a PC Card slot but no USB you have the option of locating a PC Card that provides USB connections or better yet a Wireless PC Card that supports Win 98
http://www.google.com/search?q=windows+98+wireless+pc+card

Vista would most likely be a non-starter for hardware and processor reasons BUT you might be able to install Windows 2000 or even XP depending on the laptop's actual hardware (including memory and hard drive size).