need help installing windows 98se

bman91 · 01-18-2005, 09:53 PM

I need help please
i have a dell and when i try installing windows 98se it doesnt wanna start up
it seems that it cant find the cd

Please help me

JCNiest5 · 01-18-2005, 10:00 PM

First, is the CD recognized by the BIOS? Do you see the boot summary with both the IDE HDs and CD-ROM displaying? If so, have you set CD-ROM as the first option to boot from? That is accomplished through the BIOS, so you have to know how to get to the BIOS Setup, usually it's Del (for most), F2 for HP, Intel, Dell and F1 for some. I'm not 100% sure which key is used, so you have to look for it during POSTing. Let us know if you need more help.

dddibley · 01-19-2005, 03:37 AM

Try a DOS floppy boot with CDROM support. Change to CD drive and run SETUP.EXE

You can get a DOS floppy image at www.bootdisk.com

ddd

bman91 · 01-19-2005, 04:45 PM

the cd is not regodnized by BIOS. and i also set to boot from CD first but it doesnt work.
All i get is a blank screeen with a little line flashing

i also tried the DOS floppy but it doesnt work

Markim · 01-19-2005, 05:26 PM

Did you add a new hard drive or cd rom?

bman91 · 01-19-2005, 05:30 PM

no, it is the same one that came with the system
i had windows 98se on before but i tried to install windows Xp but it didnt work and wiped out everything on my HD

teng029 · 01-19-2005, 05:48 PM

is this an original windows cd or a copy? it could very well be just a bad copy of windows. have you used this cd to install windows on a different pc?

Cogar · 01-19-2005, 06:09 PM

Did you change the filesystem on the hard drive from FAT32 to NTFS when you tried installing Windows XP? If so, you will need to remove the partition and reformat the hard drive using FAT32. (If you do not know, you probably did not change it. The Windows XP installation utility would have asked you if you wanted to reformat your hard drive.)

JCNiest5 · 01-19-2005, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bman91

the cd is not regodnized by BIOS. and i also set to boot from CD first but it doesnt work.
All i get is a blank screeen with a little line flashing

i also tried the DOS floppy but it doesnt work

More than likely, it's a dead CD-ROM drive when it's not recognized by the BIOS. Or a disconnected cable or no power to the CD drive. Check all those. Try different (known working) CD-ROM drive and IDE cable.

bman91 · 01-19-2005, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCNiest5

More than likely, it's a dead CD-ROM drive when it's not recognized by the BIOS. Or a disconnected cable or no power to the CD drive. Check all those. Try different (known working) CD-ROM drive and IDE cable.

the CD-ROM has power because when i put the cd in it lights up
and also when i went to setup the primary drive was the HD and the secondary was CD-ROM reader and i guess that means that the computer found the CD-ROM but it still doesnt wanna work

bman91 · 01-19-2005, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cogar

Did you change the filesystem on the hard drive from FAT32 to NTFS when you tried installing Windows XP? If so, you will need to remove the partition and reformat the hard drive using FAT32. (If you do not know, you probably did not change it. The Windows XP installation utility would have asked you if you wanted to reformat your hard drive.)

I didnt to this because the CD i want it to install this windows was made for only emachine and my computer is a dell
i only read the label after everything got erased

bman91 · 01-19-2005, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teng029

is this an original windows cd or a copy? it could very well be just a bad copy of windows. have you used this cd to install windows on a different pc?

well i think it is because I ordered it from HighTech online

JCNiest5 · 01-19-2005, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bman91

the CD-ROM has power because when i put the cd in it lights up
and also when i went to setup the primary drive was the HD and the secondary was CD-ROM reader and i guess that means that the computer found the CD-ROM but it still doesnt wanna work

Did you connect the HD and CD to the same cable/channel? If you did, try putting the CD on Secondary channel (master or slave doesn't matter) with a different IDE cable. Try that and see if it would work.

bman91 · 01-19-2005, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCNiest5

Did you connect the HD and CD to the same cable/channel? If you did, try putting the CD on Secondary channel (master or slave doesn't matter) with a different IDE cable. Try that and see if it would work.

wats an IDE cable and i cant find where the cd is conected to the HD

Monkey Hanger · 01-20-2005, 04:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bman91

the cd is not regodnized by BIOS. and i also set to boot from CD first but it doesnt work.
All i get is a blank screeen with a little line flashing

i also tried the DOS floppy but it doesnt work

Win98 CD's are not boot CD's. You need to boot from a floppy.
Get a boot disk from www.bootdisk.com. They come with generic CD drivers!

01-18-2005, 09:53 PM	#1
bman91 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 78	need help installing windows 98se I need help please i have a dell and when i try installing windows 98se it doesnt wanna start up it seems that it cant find the cd Please help me
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01-18-2005, 10:00 PM	#2
JCNiest5 Computer Maniac Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: The Twin Boys, MN. Posts: 1,387	First, is the CD recognized by the BIOS? Do you see the boot summary with both the IDE HDs and CD-ROM displaying? If so, have you set CD-ROM as the first option to boot from? That is accomplished through the BIOS, so you have to know how to get to the BIOS Setup, usually it's Del (for most), F2 for HP, Intel, Dell and F1 for some. I'm not 100% sure which key is used, so you have to look for it during POSTing. Let us know if you need more help. __________________ Asus Rampage 2 Extreme, Intel i7 920, 6GB (3x2GB) Corsair DDR3-1333, EVGA 8800GTS 320MB Asus P5B Deluxe Rev. 1.10G, Dual Core E2200, 2GB OCZ Platinum Rev. 2 (2x1GB), EVGA 8500GT 1GB DDR2 Gigabyte GA-945GCM-S2C, Dual Core E2180, 2GB OCZ Platinum Rev. 2 (2x1GB, PNY8600GT 256MB DDR3 ECS 945GCT-M/13333, 1GB, EVGA 8400GS Abit KN8 Rev. 1.1, A64 4000+, 1GB G.Skill PC-3200 (2x512MB), MSI 8500GT 256MB DDR3
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01-19-2005, 03:37 AM	#3
dddibley Time well wasted Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: British Columbia Posts: 2,276	Try a DOS floppy boot with CDROM support. Change to CD drive and run SETUP.EXE You can get a DOS floppy image at www.bootdisk.com ddd
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01-19-2005, 04:45 PM	#4
bman91 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 78	the cd is not regodnized by BIOS. and i also set to boot from CD first but it doesnt work. All i get is a blank screeen with a little line flashing i also tried the DOS floppy but it doesnt work Last edited by bman91 : 01-19-2005 at 04:50 PM.
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01-19-2005, 05:26 PM	#5
Markim Registered User Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Charlotte NC Posts: 807	Did you add a new hard drive or cd rom? __________________ My Toys LANPARTY LP-PRO 875B REV B1, Intel 2.8E, 2x512 3500 OCZ, GIGABYTE GV-N57L128DP XFX 6600GT, 80G Seagate SATA SERVER Giga-Byte GA-8KNXP(non ultra)Bios F5,P4-2.6c 800, 2x512MB, PMI 32Mx64 PC3700, Asus Video Card V9280 128mb, 4x80GB Seagate SATA Raid 1 / 5, 1x120gig IDE backup, Test Box: Supermicro P4SBA+, Intel 1.5A, 384mb PC133, 60G IDE Wifes Toys DFI 875P Infinity, Intel 2.4c, Geil PC3500 2x256, 1 80g IDE, 128mb vid, Aopen AX4GPRO, Intel 2.0a, 512mb, 40g IDE, 64mb vid,
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01-19-2005, 05:30 PM	#6
bman91 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 78	no, it is the same one that came with the system i had windows 98se on before but i tried to install windows Xp but it didnt work and wiped out everything on my HD
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01-19-2005, 05:48 PM	#7
teng029 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 455	is this an original windows cd or a copy? it could very well be just a bad copy of windows. have you used this cd to install windows on a different pc?
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01-19-2005, 06:09 PM	#8
Cogar Level 15, lawful good Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: It varies, but usually within 100 yards of a keyboard. Posts: 7,236	Did you change the filesystem on the hard drive from FAT32 to NTFS when you tried installing Windows XP? If so, you will need to remove the partition and reformat the hard drive using FAT32. (If you do not know, you probably did not change it. The Windows XP installation utility would have asked you if you wanted to reformat your hard drive.)
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