I want to wipe out and reload win 98

[tkddude]

Hi, I want to wipe out and reload windows 98 on my compaq. Here is the skinny. I attempted too and it looked like I completed it after 3 attempts but I still see all the same things on my desktop. Can someone walk me through it or direct me to the info? I am going to be taking a class for my a+ certification so I thought this would be a good place to start.

I have a win 98 cd. I don't seem to be able to boot off it. Is there a specific drive letter that the cd plaer should be? I had one in it added another then took one out because it stopped working and I don't know which drive letter the original should be. I was wondering if that could cause it to not boot. I also can't make a boot disk. It keeps on asking me for the win 98 CD even if it iis in. Is there a special way to boot off the disk?

If that doesn't work how do I wipe the disk out and then reload win 98 from my cd?

I am a mac guy and we just hold down the c key and poof it starts....

 

[kpetursson]

You should check your BOIS settings (press del, or F9, or F2, or whatever it is) when you computer is booting up, BEFORE windows starts to load. You computer may be set to only read from the c: drive, or from the a: drive, then the c: drive. You Want to set it to a: d: c: (floppy, CD, Hard drive)

Is there data on you computer you want to keep? if there is I would suggest burning to to a CD, before doing ANYTHING else.

How did you "Wipe out" windows?

Kevin Petursson
--
"Everyone says quotable things everyday, but their not famous... so nobody cares."... Some Person

 

[edfair]

Suspect that you may be dealing with a restore CD, which restores all the stuff that was put on by Compaq.
The fact that it won't boot from CD may be an issue, but since the OS can't find it to make a floppy would probably point to the same conclusion.
Normal way is to have a boot disk, boot to it, and run fdisk and delete all partitions then create the partitions you want. Then boot with CD, but possibly with floppy with CD support and run setup off the CD.
But trying this with a restore CD will result in frustration and failure.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[tkddude]

Ok, here is a new twist. My compaq has a dell mouse. This morning I couldn't use the keyboard so I rebooted and now I can't us my mouse but now i can with the keyboard. But i can't get it to stop showing me the welcome to windows 98 window which launches each restart because it has a check box that is checked saying show this screen each time win 98 starts, I can't uncheck it because i can't us the mouse and so I am stuck there. do I need drivers for the dell mouse?

The CD is a win 98 cd i do too have a restore cd but ihaven't used it. I put some propietary software on this computer to run a high end scanner. This software took over my computer last year. i was able to get it off but some of the control panels where cahnged soI want to wipe it out and start fresh.

This computer is just for surfing and games for the kids.

 

[tkddude]

my mouse works now...

What does the BIOS Look Like?

 

[vacunita]

THe Bios is the main setup, of your PC. It Won't be nice and graphicky. Its text based, and you move around it with the keyboard.

To get to it, as Kpetursson said, you have to hold a key when your PC starts. before Windows even begins to load. Right when you turn it on.

It is tipically "delete", or f2. this will get you into the bios. There you have to look for the boot sequence and change it so that it boots off the CD first.

You could also create a Win98 boot floppy. or go to

http://www.bootdik.com

to get one. When you boot from it, it will detect and assign a drive letter to the Cd rom so you can access it. the just trype at the prompt

format C:\

wait for it to finish, and then change to the Cd letter, by typing :
d: and enter
once there type in setup and press enter, the win98 setup should begin.

If you have any questions please post back.

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[vacunita]

And before you do, I recomend getting the latest drivers for all the hardware on the PC.
video card, modem, network card, sound card, motherboard, etc...


----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[edfair]

Some Compaq use [F10] when the cursor is in the upper right hand corner.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.