# Should I hate Win98 now?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-hate-win98-now/103519
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 14, 2002, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-hate-win98-now/103519 "2002-04-14T02:46:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2002, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-hate-win98-now/103519/1 "2002-04-14T02:46:42Z")
I’ll keep this as short as possible. I bought a new hard drive today. Took it home and installed it with old hard drive. Zapped both hard drives for a fresh start. Loaded Win98 then S.E. onto it. Used PartitionMagic to finish partitions. Loaded all my drivers and software and . . . . I decided to use the old hard drive (5GB) for mp3’s and movies. So I began to transfer songs from the computer downstairs (networked) but it locked about half way thru the transfer of all the songs. I took it upon myself to press reset. Started to reboot fine and dandy until i noticed that nothing was happening at the logo/Win98 loading screen. I think that the registry is gone. I tried doing Step-by-step confirmation load, pressed ‘Y’ at “Process Registry?” and it just locked.
Any ideas what I should do before I start over from scratch after I cuss and get mad at God?
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### Author:  [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2002, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-hate-win98-now/103519/2 "2002-04-14T07:27:01Z")
Check [www.annoyances.com](http://www.annoyances.com) for directions of manaully restoring registry backups.
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### Author:  [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2002, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-hate-win98-now/103519/3 "2002-04-14T10:24:47Z")
If you do start over, most Windows’ upgrades don’t require installing the previous version. It will ask you to insert the CD with the previous version during installation as proof of purchase, but that should be all you need it for.
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### Author:  [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2002, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-hate-win98-now/103519/4 "2002-04-14T15:59:14Z")
You don’t need W98 to load W98 SE, unless your copy is just for upgrade.
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### Author:  [@wooba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wooba)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2002, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-hate-win98-now/103519/5 "2002-04-14T16:00:58Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Urban Ranger \*
> \*\*You don’t need W98 to load W98 SE, unless your copy is just for upgrade. \*\*
If memory serves me correctly, even then you don’t have to, just insert the CD to prove you have it…
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### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2002, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-hate-win98-now/103519/6 "2002-04-14T16:09:04Z")
You can just boot to DOS (you made a startup disk right?), run setup from the cd & reinstall, it should be fine.
There is a registry restore from Dos, c:\>scanreg /restore
That works for me.