What are my options, if any, for a clean install?

  • Thread starter Thread starter VernMan
  • Start date Start date
V

VernMan

Sorry to ask this here, but I have been checking this ng for a month
or so and I didn't see this particular type question answered. I
couldn't find much useful help on the windows website or on google
either. So here goes:

I have a Pavilion 8670C which is quite old (>4 years). It came
installed with 98SE (OEM).

The machine has the following hardware specs:

Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel Pentium IIIE, 600 MHz (4.5 x 133)
Motherboard Chipset VIA VT82C693A Apollo Pro133
System Memory 512 MB (SDRAM)
BIOS Type Award Medallion (02/02/00)

Display:
Video Adapter NVIDIA Vanta/Vanta LT (8 MB)
3D Accelerator nVIDIA Vanta
Multimedia:
Audio Adapter Rockwell Master Riptide Audio Device

Storage:
Floppy Drive
Disk Drive Maxtor 93073U6 (30 GB, 5400 RPM, Ultra-ATA/66)
Optical Drive LG CD-RW CED-8080B (8x/4x/32x CD-RW)
Optical Drive SAMSUNG DVD-ROM SD-608 (8x/40x DVD-ROM)

I purchased the Windows XP home edition at Best buy last month
(upgrade version) and upgraded. All went fairly well, and I have since
converted my C drive from FAT 32 to NTFS. Before I did that, I did
make plenty back of my entire system using drive image. And I burnt a
copy of the win98SE cab to a CD.
My boot up is quite slow, several minutes, and I have been reading
much about doing a clean install instead of an upgrade. Apparantly I
still have old stuff from my 98SE system strewn all over, which
probably causes this very slow boot. It boots fast to the desktop and
I can move my mouse, but then it takes 2-3 minutes before I can
actually use my system as it is loading something in the background.
Only after I hear the sound and then after Norton AV autoprotect icon
is showing, can I start using the PC.

So I am seriously contemplating doing a clean install.
But now I am worried that if I do that by booting from my Win XP CD
disk, it won't recognize the CD I burnt with the CAB's from 98SE as a
valid disk to upgrade from. Is that true? I am also worried that I
won't be able to reinstall my old 98SE from these cabs in case I get
stuck, because my drive is NTFS now. So I am basically concerned that
I am stuck with my current set-up, and could get stuck with a doorstop
PC if anything goes wrong.
Is it possible to reformat my C drive to FAT 32 again if I need to? I
read on several places, including the WinXP manual that the conversion
to NTFS is one way, so that worries me.
I don't mind formatting my drive and clean up my system, but I need to
know if FDISK will let me repartion my C drive to FAT 32 if I need to
reinstall 98SE for some reason. I also have my rescue disks that came
with the machine. In those days HP still supplied panic disks instead
of the recovery partition the do now.

So my questions:

1. Will XP Home upgrade edition accept a CD with the cabs of 98SE (I
have the product key that is stuck on the cover of my OEM Windows 98Se
mannual)

2. If not, will I be able to reformat my C drive to FAT 32 in case I
have to reinstall my old 98 SE version so I can re-upgrade?

Thanks for your time in reading this lengthy question. I just wanted
to make sure I include as much info as possible.

==VernMan==
 
In order to perform a clean install, you'll need the original Microsoft
Windows 98 installation CD, not just the "CABs" burned on a CD.
The CABs do not contain the Windows 98 license, which XP will
want to check for since you have the "Upgrade Version".

Clean Install Windows XP
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

[Courtesy of MS-MVP Michael Stevens]

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


| Sorry to ask this here, but I have been checking this ng for a month
| or so and I didn't see this particular type question answered. I
| couldn't find much useful help on the windows website or on google
| either. So here goes:
|
| I have a Pavilion 8670C which is quite old (>4 years). It came
| installed with 98SE (OEM).
|
| The machine has the following hardware specs:
|
| Motherboard:
| CPU Type Intel Pentium IIIE, 600 MHz (4.5 x 133)
| Motherboard Chipset VIA VT82C693A Apollo Pro133
| System Memory 512 MB (SDRAM)
| BIOS Type Award Medallion (02/02/00)
|
| Display:
| Video Adapter NVIDIA Vanta/Vanta LT (8 MB)
| 3D Accelerator nVIDIA Vanta
| Multimedia:
| Audio Adapter Rockwell Master Riptide Audio Device
|
| Storage:
| Floppy Drive
| Disk Drive Maxtor 93073U6 (30 GB, 5400 RPM, Ultra-ATA/66)
| Optical Drive LG CD-RW CED-8080B (8x/4x/32x CD-RW)
| Optical Drive SAMSUNG DVD-ROM SD-608 (8x/40x DVD-ROM)
|
| I purchased the Windows XP home edition at Best buy last month
| (upgrade version) and upgraded. All went fairly well, and I have since
| converted my C drive from FAT 32 to NTFS. Before I did that, I did
| make plenty back of my entire system using drive image. And I burnt a
| copy of the win98SE cab to a CD.
| My boot up is quite slow, several minutes, and I have been reading
| much about doing a clean install instead of an upgrade. Apparantly I
| still have old stuff from my 98SE system strewn all over, which
| probably causes this very slow boot. It boots fast to the desktop and
| I can move my mouse, but then it takes 2-3 minutes before I can
| actually use my system as it is loading something in the background.
| Only after I hear the sound and then after Norton AV autoprotect icon
| is showing, can I start using the PC.
|
| So I am seriously contemplating doing a clean install.
| But now I am worried that if I do that by booting from my Win XP CD
| disk, it won't recognize the CD I burnt with the CAB's from 98SE as a
| valid disk to upgrade from. Is that true? I am also worried that I
| won't be able to reinstall my old 98SE from these cabs in case I get
| stuck, because my drive is NTFS now. So I am basically concerned that
| I am stuck with my current set-up, and could get stuck with a doorstop
| PC if anything goes wrong.
| Is it possible to reformat my C drive to FAT 32 again if I need to? I
| read on several places, including the WinXP manual that the conversion
| to NTFS is one way, so that worries me.
| I don't mind formatting my drive and clean up my system, but I need to
| know if FDISK will let me repartion my C drive to FAT 32 if I need to
| reinstall 98SE for some reason. I also have my rescue disks that came
| with the machine. In those days HP still supplied panic disks instead
| of the recovery partition the do now.
|
| So my questions:
|
| 1. Will XP Home upgrade edition accept a CD with the cabs of 98SE (I
| have the product key that is stuck on the cover of my OEM Windows 98Se
| mannual)
|
| 2. If not, will I be able to reformat my C drive to FAT 32 in case I
| have to reinstall my old 98 SE version so I can re-upgrade?
|
| Thanks for your time in reading this lengthy question. I just wanted
| to make sure I include as much info as possible.
|
| ==VernMan==
|
|
 
Do you have your 98SE CD? I'm not certain exactly for what setup searches.
If this is an exact duplicate of your 98SE CD, then the only issue would be
whether or not it recognizes the disk based on its being a burned copy. You
said this was a backup but your post is worded in such a way that it implies
you no longer have access to the original CD. If you want to test your
current situation, you could try creating a separate partition, and running
XP setup on that partition at least to the point where it asks for proof of
a previous OS and see if it will install.

As to your second question. If you wanted to go back to 98SE given that
your partition is not NTFS, you would first need to boot with a 98 boot
floppy with the appropriate drivers for your CD-ROM drive; if you don't have
such a floppy, check www.bootdisk.com, after booting from the disk, you
would need to type fdisk and press enter. Then, delete the Non-Dos
partition, create a new primary partition, set it active, exit fdisk,
reboot, format the drive, change to the CD-ROM drive which contains the 98SE
CD and run setup.
 
Oh yeah, the license, that's what it checks.

Thanks, Carey.:-)

--
Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

Carey Frisch said:
In order to perform a clean install, you'll need the original Microsoft
Windows 98 installation CD, not just the "CABs" burned on a CD.
The CABs do not contain the Windows 98 license, which XP will
want to check for since you have the "Upgrade Version".

Clean Install Windows XP
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

[Courtesy of MS-MVP Michael Stevens]

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


| Sorry to ask this here, but I have been checking this ng for a month
| or so and I didn't see this particular type question answered. I
| couldn't find much useful help on the windows website or on google
| either. So here goes:
|
| I have a Pavilion 8670C which is quite old (>4 years). It came
| installed with 98SE (OEM).
|
| The machine has the following hardware specs:
|
| Motherboard:
| CPU Type Intel Pentium IIIE, 600 MHz (4.5 x 133)
| Motherboard Chipset VIA VT82C693A Apollo Pro133
| System Memory 512 MB (SDRAM)
| BIOS Type Award Medallion (02/02/00)
|
| Display:
| Video Adapter NVIDIA Vanta/Vanta LT (8 MB)
| 3D Accelerator nVIDIA Vanta
| Multimedia:
| Audio Adapter Rockwell Master Riptide Audio Device
|
| Storage:
| Floppy Drive
| Disk Drive Maxtor 93073U6 (30 GB, 5400 RPM, Ultra-ATA/66)
| Optical Drive LG CD-RW CED-8080B (8x/4x/32x CD-RW)
| Optical Drive SAMSUNG DVD-ROM SD-608 (8x/40x DVD-ROM)
|
| I purchased the Windows XP home edition at Best buy last month
| (upgrade version) and upgraded. All went fairly well, and I have since
| converted my C drive from FAT 32 to NTFS. Before I did that, I did
| make plenty back of my entire system using drive image. And I burnt a
| copy of the win98SE cab to a CD.
| My boot up is quite slow, several minutes, and I have been reading
| much about doing a clean install instead of an upgrade. Apparantly I
| still have old stuff from my 98SE system strewn all over, which
| probably causes this very slow boot. It boots fast to the desktop and
| I can move my mouse, but then it takes 2-3 minutes before I can
| actually use my system as it is loading something in the background.
| Only after I hear the sound and then after Norton AV autoprotect icon
| is showing, can I start using the PC.
|
| So I am seriously contemplating doing a clean install.
| But now I am worried that if I do that by booting from my Win XP CD
| disk, it won't recognize the CD I burnt with the CAB's from 98SE as a
| valid disk to upgrade from. Is that true? I am also worried that I
| won't be able to reinstall my old 98SE from these cabs in case I get
| stuck, because my drive is NTFS now. So I am basically concerned that
| I am stuck with my current set-up, and could get stuck with a doorstop
| PC if anything goes wrong.
| Is it possible to reformat my C drive to FAT 32 again if I need to? I
| read on several places, including the WinXP manual that the conversion
| to NTFS is one way, so that worries me.
| I don't mind formatting my drive and clean up my system, but I need to
| know if FDISK will let me repartion my C drive to FAT 32 if I need to
| reinstall 98SE for some reason. I also have my rescue disks that came
| with the machine. In those days HP still supplied panic disks instead
| of the recovery partition the do now.
|
| So my questions:
|
| 1. Will XP Home upgrade edition accept a CD with the cabs of 98SE (I
| have the product key that is stuck on the cover of my OEM Windows 98Se
| mannual)
|
| 2. If not, will I be able to reformat my C drive to FAT 32 in case I
| have to reinstall my old 98 SE version so I can re-upgrade?
|
| Thanks for your time in reading this lengthy question. I just wanted
| to make sure I include as much info as possible.
|
| ==VernMan==
|
|
Click to expand...
 
Do you have your 98SE CD? I'm not certain exactly for what setup searches.
If this is an exact duplicate of your 98SE CD, then the only issue would be
whether or not it recognizes the disk based on its being a burned copy. You
said this was a backup but your post is worded in such a way that it implies
you no longer have access to the original CD. If you want to test your
current situation, you could try creating a separate partition, and running
XP setup on that partition at least to the point where it asks for proof of
a previous OS and see if it will install.

As to your second question. If you wanted to go back to 98SE given that
your partition is not NTFS, you would first need to boot with a 98 boot
floppy with the appropriate drivers for your CD-ROM drive; if you don't have
such a floppy, check www.bootdisk.com, after booting from the disk, you
would need to type fdisk and press enter. Then, delete the Non-Dos
partition, create a new primary partition, set it active, exit fdisk,
reboot, format the drive, change to the CD-ROM drive which contains the 98SE
CD and run setup.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. I never had an original Microsoft 98SE CD. My
Pavilion PC came preinstalled with it. I have 2 recovery CD's from HP
that came with my system to supposedly let me reinstall my Pavilion PC
to the original state it was in when I bought it. I did burn a CD from
the cab files, thinking that may be simpler instead of reinstalling
the whole shebam (these Pavilions come pre loaded with a lot of
software and other stuff a person never uses)
I have been able to reinstall 98SE on my PC from that CD I burnt in
the past. But then I didn't have to FDISK, just reformat.
The big concern I had is that I won't be able to this now because I am
NTFS.
But from your reply it sounds that I will be able to go back to FAT 32
using a 98SE bootdisk and running Fdisk in case I need to. That wasn't
clear to me before. And from what Carey posted, I won't be able to use
that CD with the cabs only to do the clean install. Looks like I'll
have to reinstall 98SE on a FAT 32, and then do the upgrade.
Thanks for your time

==VernMan==
 
You are correct in your conclusions.

Good luck.
 
Back
Top