Windows 98 re-install failure (help!)

[spelunker121]

Hi Forum,

I have asked many questions over the course of time that I have been a member of this forum, And have ALWAYS recieved awsome advice
(thanx to ALL)

Anyway, this is just a general question.....
I have been trying to reinstall windows 98 from the liscenced disk we own.
I have reformated the c: drive for a clean install.
My mystery is this: It hangs on the install.........everytime.
but not always at the same spot of the installation.this varies greatly

Do you all have any idea what may cause this??????????????????????????????( I suspect a bad cd-rom or hard drive)I have restored all the bios defaults as well( had to bypass password protection using jumpers per the motherboard manual)

Its not that big a deal, but it is very baffling to me and its driving me nuts.

If more info is needed just ask

I have an older Comp. with a 233 Mz celeron chip
a 32mb vid card
a 20 gig hd


thanx in advance

[peat moss]

Try fdisk from win98 floppy disk . then format and install win 98.


After reading your post again this jumped out!" Bios defaults". While this usually applies to older motherboards, it can affect some newer ones as well: Try turning off the BIOS virus protection, as Win 95 and Win 98 had troubles loading with the virus protection turned on in most mobos.

[Virtualbody1234]

I would try another CD ROM drive first.

[spelunker121]

Thanx for the replies,

Peat-moss: I actually have done what you suggested after a couple of failed attempts at the windows install. Also, I did have the virus protection disabled in the bios when I was trying to install.

Unfortunantly, I dont have a spare cdrom around(without breaking into my working like a charm computer)

I thought maybe there was something obvious I was missing(maybe there still is)

Any other ideas???

[Virtualbody1234]

You could copy the contents of the cab files onto your harddisk and launch the installation from there instead of the CD.

The idea is to make an extra separate partition and copy the folder named Win98 from the CD into that extra partition. Also, copy the Setup.exe from the root of the CD to the root of that partition. You can then launch the setup from the DOS prompt.

[Spindulik]

Try SCANDISK. I bet anything that you have random bad sectors. Every time you try to install it, you come across a bad sector, and the thing quits.

You may need a new hard drive.

[spelunker121]

You could copy the contents of the cab files onto your harddisk and launch the installation from there instead of the CD.

The idea is to make an extra separate partition and copy the folder named Win98 from the CD into that extra partition. Also, copy the Setup.exe from the root of the CD to the root of that partition. You can then launch the setup from the DOS prompt.

HHMMMM, I will give that a try....at least it will help determin if it is a bad cdrom drive or not.

[QUOTE=spindulik]Try SCANDISK. I bet anything that you have random bad sectors. Every time you try to install it, you come across a bad sector, and the thing quits.

You may need a new hard drive.

Thats interesting that you mentioned that....cuz, SOMETIMES(not all the time) it will get to the scandisk part of the install and and then to the part where it checks disk surface and it says "skipped" next to it.

or it will get all the way thru the scandisk part and onto the actuall install, and hang at various point of the install.(thats one reason I was suspecting maybe a bad HD also)

[Duffman]

I say leave it on over night, because sometimes it hits a spot and takes a while, I find I have no patience, so start it goto bed, and maybe it will work come morning.

[Galloform]

Best piece of advice is to bin win98 and get a copy of win2k or XP, lol.

Very happy day when last win98 peecee left my office....

[peat moss]

I say leave it on over night, because sometimes it hits a spot and takes a while, I find I have no patience, so start it goto bed, and maybe it will work come morning.

Probably the best peice of advice so far ! I know, I'v done all of the above more than once. I'm stuborn tho ,I'd take my working cd rom and plug it in and try. You don't have to screw it in to the bay.Cripes it could be the cd is dirty . You'll figure it tho !