Every two to four months, I must re-install Windows98 SE to my harddrive. I do not know what causes this, and am hoping someone can assist me.
I have an Athlon 1.2 ghz system with 256 mb ram, a 40 gig IDE harddrive that is partitioned into a 10mb c:, and 30 mb e:\
I also have a dedicated scsi drive d, and a Pinacle DV-500 video capture system.
About once a quarter, the system becomes unusable. Currently I cannot run DEFRAG on the C:, it just sits at 0%. Scandisk from within windows hangs while looking at the FAT. I can run scandisk from a dos prompt, though.
This wouldn’t bother me, but, now my video work does not play back from the scsi drive, and sometimes the audio cuts out. I have defragged that drive, but still get the errors.
Last time this happened, I bought a new IDE harddrive and re-installed everything, thinking that my harddrive went bad. Now I’m getting the same symptoms, but I don’t know what I’m doing to cause this. After buying the new harddrive, I decided that this system would only be installed with the video gear, and no other programs would be installed. I have kept to that, but still have the issues.
HELP!!!
If you need more specs, I can certainly add them.
You should get a third party computer maintenace program. I prefer System Suite 2000. Programs like this handle just about everything you can imagine & then some to keep your computer working.
My guess is you’re the proud owner of a VIA chipset, which “features” all sorts of incompatibilities and bugs.
If you do have a VIA-based motherboard, have you updated the 4-in-1 drivers yet? They are theoretically an improvement. However, BEFORE you start downloading anything from this page, you must first establish exactly what kind of motherboard you have and read the available documentation from the manufacturer. Let us know.
P.S. I’ve got both Linux and Windows, and I still havent been able to install my sound card, and my modem won’t even work under Linux, so unles it’s REALLY hopeless, stay with Windows.
You’ve got a nice big hard drive, so next time you reinstall, partition the drive so that you can keep all your data on one partition(D:) and your installed OS and programs on the other(C:), copy the entire Windows install CD, plus copies of all your driver disks to a folder on D: and then you can just format C and reinstall from the copy on D: - it’s really easy and quick to get up and running that way and you’ll end up looking forward to your next system wipe, well, almost.
Think about getting something like System Suite - it’s good for fixing what Windows breaks. I’ve used the Norton product before, and it seemed to work well.
I’m far from a 'puter expert, but I prefer a “clean install” of Win 98, it’s not exactly intuitive if you prefer to work without following the manual – This will install Win 98 as a standalone OS on a completely wiped harddrive. Make sure you have your Win 3.1 or 95 registered disks/floppies handy, though.
Good advice above. Especially the part about partitioning your hard drive, and putting data on your d: drive. That has saved me SO many headaches! I had a lot of trouble with win98 too. The BEST thing I ever did was replace it with Windows 2000. That’s the only microsoft product I haven’t had real troubles with.
Copy the C:\ partition to my D: this is where I need help
Do I just drag c:\ into a folder on D:\ and that’ll do it? When it comes time to reinstall next time, what will I do?
Also, when is the best time to install the System Suite program, early on, or after all of the hardware, etc is installed?
I suppose you could do that if you want. I think what Mangetout is saying (at least this is what I do…) is to partition your drive into a c: and a d:. Install Win98 on the C: drive. As you install programs, and it asks you where to put the programs, it will display a path name that will probably start with c:\blah\blah\blah. Now is the time to change that c: to a d:. Furthermore, you can move your My Documents folder over to your D drive as well. If you’re using outlook, you can move your mail file over to your d: drive too. Anything that has a setting in it that you might want to save, is a good thing to put on the d: drive.
The reason this is good, is because one of the biggest pains in the ass about reformating your hard drive is re-setting up the little shit that you’ve done to tweak your computer just the way you like it… Your browser quick links, and stuff like that. Not only that, but with your applications stored on your d drive, when you go to reinstall them, some install programs will only install files that are newer than the ones out there, which means faster time til you have a computer with something more than just an OS. Next time your OS fails and you have to re-install win98, you can just format the c: drive, and not worry if you’ve saved everything you want to keep.
I am in the process of re-installing right now.
I have formatted the c:\ in dos and am rebooting now with the 98 cd in the rom and the boot up disk in the a:
I couldn’t download the latest VIA drivers (actually I downloaded them twice but when I run the .exe I get a header error) I have downloaded newer drivers than what I had, though.
My initial intention when I partitioned the drive was to keep the OS on the smaller partition and programs on the other one. This time I’ll stick to that plan and make the backup on the other drive.
I’ll post back once complete, or if I need further assistance,
Well, you could do it that way, but it probaly won’t help if you are forced to reinstall, unless most of your drivers came from the internet rather than CD.
Since I used to have to reinstall W95 every 2 months or so, I just made I list of what to do on a 5x8 card. but this was before I was on the internet, and before I had W98. Ever since I got W98 I have never had to reinstall.
I suppose if I were in your shoes, I would copy everything from my C drive to my D drive (after everything was working correctly), then delete anything I had on CD. Then I would note on 5x8 cards where necessary programs could be found, and in what order to load them. Then if forced to reformat my C drive, I would have backup drivers on D or CD. Since I have 2 physical HD and 4 virtual, I would agree to keep OS on one, backups/data on another, and programs on a third.
I know this sounds anal, but I have not had to reformat my C drive in almost 4 years.
I am back up and running, though I forgot to jot down some network settings. A little fumbling around and checking the box that says I want to share files seems to have helped.
I have not copied my c:\ anywhere yet, as I’m still thinking about my best option. How does one make a bootable recovery cd like you often get with a new computer? I would like to just compress the c:\ to cd and if it ever happens again, I’ll just put in the cd.
I don’t think that will work as well as you think it will. There is software that will help you image your hard drive, but to just copy your C: drive to your d: drive really won’t do anything for you.
Glad to hear everything went pretty well on the reinstall.
Another thing you will want is a really good registry backup program. (I borrow my own from the Gateway Help Spot CD.)
Here is a place to start, but I recommend you check other sites and try to find a freeware review before you pick one. The feature you are looking for is the ability to crank your broken rig up in safe mode and backtrack to a previous registry setting. Finding one that records the settings at each shutdown is the way to go, because you lose the least amount of information that way.
Also, don’t overlook the various tweak guides out there. While we all want more speed, what you’re looking for is stability. If you begin to suspect the operating system rather than the hardware behind it, you can always consider W98Lite.
The KT133 is a good chipset these days, mainly because the geek community helped to fix it. You’ll want to search message boards such as the ViaArena, the Ars OpenForum and the Anandtech forums. Chances are you won’t even have to ask the question, as it has already been answered, somewhere.
I view my own computer, affectionately known as the Sanford Box, sort of like the great horse Bucephalus: big, fast and powerful, yet skittish and afraid of its own shadow. Once you learn to walk the fine line between performance and stability, you’ll never go back to a dependable system.
