# Bringing an old Win98 box back to life **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 3, 2008, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-an-old-win98-box-back-to-life/436116 "2008-02-03T19:14:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-an-old-win98-box-back-to-life/436116/1 "2008-02-03T19:14:54Z")
Back-story aside, I’m trying to reinstall Win98 on an older computer (PIII, 256 Mb RAM). I have a retail “For computers without Windows” CD, and a Win98 Startup floppy. I also have a headache—_I can’t get the %$#@ machine to boot from the floppy._ It’s my understanding/recollection that to install Win98, I need to boot from the floppy first (with CDROM support), then run setup off the CD. Here’s a whole bunch of settings/things I’ve tried/information: [ul] [li]I’ve tried two different floppy cables, the original (old) and a new Asus cable from a build I did this week. [/li][li]I’ve tried two different floppy drives, the original and another old drive from my parts shelf. The drive worked when it was removed some years ago. [/li][li]I’ve tried putting the floppy into my ‘regular’ machine (WinXP), rebooted, and got the expected DOS-like prompts asking me if I wanted to start with CDROM support, etc. [/li][li]I’ve tried formatting a disk from my desktop, selecting bootable from the menu, and using that.[/li][li]I can boot from CD-ROM fine, as an older Norton Emergency CD boots up, as does Partition Commander[/li][li]I used Partition Commander (an older program) to set up a primary partition[/li][li]I set boot order (in setup) to floppy, CD, IDE; and many other derivations (i.e., floppy, disabled, disabled) but it still won’t boot to the floppy[/li][li]I enabled floppy drive seek in setup, which makes the nostalgic buzz-click-whirr in the floppy when restarting[/li][li]In frustration I even pulled the CMOS battery for a few minutes, then reset everything again[/li][li]If I boot to Partition Magic, then have it exit, I get a DOS prompt. From the DOS prompt I can’t read from the floppy. I can’t run setup from the Windows CD, because it returns a “you need to make a bootable partition” error. [/li][li]When I do let it boot until it can’t boot no more, I get a non-system disk error, and am asked to insert a DOS disk and press any key. [/li][/ul] I _think_ that’s everything. I don’t know what kind of motherboard it is, but I do know it would boot fine (though not stable) before I deleted the primary partition (I had no idea I’d forget how to boot from a floppy). I’m assuming I’m forgetting something idiotic (I once spent a couple hours scratching my head before remembering that I had to fdisk a drive first), but I’ve gone through everything I can remember or think of. Any thoughts? Thanks, Rhythm ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-an-old-win98-box-back-to-life/436116/2 "2008-02-03T19:23:40Z")
It has been a while but I seem to recall that 98/SE will install straight from the CD. The boot floppy was for machines that didn’t have the capability to boot directly from a CD. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-an-old-win98-box-back-to-life/436116/3 "2008-02-03T19:25:40Z")
This one’s not doing that. At first I thought I had a problem with the CD (even cleaned it), but it reads fine in my desktop, and the old box boots fine from either the Partition or the Norton CD. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-an-old-win98-box-back-to-life/436116/4 "2008-02-03T19:54:36Z")
You’re certain that the machine is actually trying to boot from the floppy? What’s the boot order in the BIOS? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-an-old-win98-box-back-to-life/436116/5 "2008-02-03T20:00:22Z")
[QUOTE=Rysto] You’re certain that the machine is actually trying to boot from the floppy? What’s the boot order in the BIOS? [/QUOTE] I’ve tried many different configurations, among them: Floppy CD-ROM IDE Floppy IDE CD-ROM Floppy CD-ROM Disabled Floppy Floppy Opal and so on … ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-an-old-win98-box-back-to-life/436116/6 "2008-02-03T20:04:55Z")
This sounds too simplistic to mention but you ARE connecting the ribbon cable the right way round, aren’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-an-old-win98-box-back-to-life/436116/7 "2008-02-03T20:07:29Z")
Hey, I’m all about making stupid mistakes. There is a pinnout (pin-out?) on the board side, but I’ll go and check the drive-side. I didn’t build this machine originally, and am fairly sure the floppy worked fine between the last time the case was opened and now. I’ll go check… ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-an-old-win98-box-back-to-life/436116/8 "2008-02-03T20:23:17Z")
Win98 cd’s that are not upgrades, are bootable from the cd drive. The Win98 2nd edition supports the fat32 partition. The earlier does not. It says 2nd edition on the cd. Remember to set the Bios boot order to the cd being fisrt before the hard drive. Set the floppy as the fist boot device if you want to use it to boot from. You must install the cdrom drivers onto the floopy and edit the startup files to have cdrom support. Here’s an easier way. 1. Hook the hard drive onto a computer with a working operating system and cdrom. After partitioning the drive you want to use and setting it as active, make a folder in the root directory and call it Win98. Copy the cd files into the subfolder. 2. Copy these 3 files into the hard drive root directory. [command.com](http://command.com) io.sys msdos.sys 3. Put the hard drive into the computer you will run it on and start it. The computer will boot to the c drive prompt. Type these commands and press \: cd Win98 setup.exe The system should now install on the hard drive without the cd. If you have problems post and I will help, but I will ask you questions first. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-an-old-win98-box-back-to-life/436116/9 "2008-02-03T22:39:39Z")
Argh! Thanks Harmonious Discord – I’m almost there. The CD is an original Windows 98; original as in not SE. (I also have an OEM Win98 disk, but that too is non-SE, and I have a 98 SP1 CD). I can’t find either io.sys or msdos.sys. I checked the CD, have hidden files visible, searched in subs and hidden folders, and even searched on \*.sys and looked through the alphabatized list. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-an-old-win98-box-back-to-life/436116/10 "2008-02-03T22:49:37Z")
Just wanted to say, what a concise and straightforward answer, Harmonious Dischord. Now I know who to ask next time I spend two weeks without my pc before I remember (okay, am gently reminded) to reset the BIOS battery! ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-an-old-win98-box-back-to-life/436116/11 "2008-02-03T23:22:23Z")
Well, that was weird. I put in the other Win98 CD to search for files, restarted (not related), and foom – up came the Windows startup (i.e., the CD was bootable). Now that I had a bootable CD, I abandoned workaround attempts, swapped the drive cage back to the old computer, plugged everything in and … and … it _freakin’ booted from the floppy!_ I’d pulled the drive cage in more times than during a hokey-pokey marathon (for example, before I formatted the drive I’d imaged it to the new drive in the new machine), I’d checked and rechecked cables and BIOS settings, all five or ten times before posting, tried again after posting, and nadda… until now. Everything’s the same as it was last time, but for whatever reason it booted from the floppy, let me access the CD, run setup, and the install is humming along. Go figure. (When I used to manage a software store (anyone remember Software, Etc.?) we called it the Pickle Jar method. Named after the ability for pickle jars to easily open for no apparent reason, despite hours of others’ struggling with the lid. ) Thanks for the input here!!! Rhythm ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-an-old-win98-box-back-to-life/436116/12 "2008-02-03T23:24:31Z")
That’s computers for ya! Good result anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-an-old-win98-box-back-to-life/436116/13 "2008-02-03T23:27:57Z")
All the Win98 versions have fat32 support. It was during the life of Win95 that fat support changed to fat32, and USB was supported. I wanted the correct information here. I’m done then. I still like to install the hard disk method. You don’t have to insert the cd later whenever Win98 wants files. ---
**Author:** ![oldboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aca169/32.png) [@oldboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldboy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-an-old-win98-box-back-to-life/436116/14 "2008-02-04T12:36:42Z")
something usefull if you want to know whats in your pc is,download pc wizard 2007 its free. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-an-old-win98-box-back-to-life/436116/15 "2008-02-04T12:42:54Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] All the Win98 versions have fat32 support. It was during the life of Win95 that fat support changed to fat32, and USB was supported. I wanted the correct information here. [/QUOTE] Glad you clarified that - I was going to query it, but I couldn’t quite remember it myself. I think it was mid-way through Win95’s life that USB support kicked in too. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-an-old-win98-box-back-to-life/436116/16 "2008-02-04T12:47:54Z")
BTW, I hope this suggestion isn’t out of place, but… Win98 is really a bit creaky now - is there anything specifically-Win32 that you need to run, or is this just a fun/spare computer project? If it’s the latter, you might have just as much fun (but less of the creaky insecurity) dabbling with Linux on it - I’d recommend one of the lighter-weight distros, such as [Puppy](http://www.puppylinux.org/user/viewpage.php?page_id=1), although I think a PIII with 256MB RAM will run the current release of ubuntu (although without the flashy composited effects for the GUI). ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-an-old-win98-box-back-to-life/436116/17 "2008-02-04T14:00:01Z")
The USB support of Win95 never worked with a lot of the USB devices. The updated Win95 with the USB and fat32 partition support was only available as an OEM product. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bringing-an-old-win98-box-back-to-life/436116/18 "2008-02-04T16:32:01Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] BTW, I hope this suggestion isn’t out of place, but… Win98 is really a bit creaky now - is there anything specifically-Win32 that you need to run, or is this just a fun/spare computer project? [/QUOTE] The box is going back to my Uncle – the back-story for the build was that this box was finally giving him too much trouble, so I put together a modest system to bring him into the 21[sup]st[/sup] century. I’m giving him the old system as a fall-back of sorts. I haven’t connected to the 'net yet to gather updates, but found it jarring that it wouldn’t recognize a USB flash drive. It recognized the device in name, but couldn’t read. I was thinking of using a USB wireless NIC, but that might be a bit much. Hey… if it’s a USB device, it’s not right to call it a NIC, is it? Or does the card inside the key count acronym-wise?