Forgot all this old Win 98SE stuff - can't install Win 98SE

[DoctorBill]

Continuing my 760XD saga....

Have new battery.

Formatted 3 GB HD.

Found old Win 98 boot disk with OAKCDROM.SYS on it that allowed the
CD to be used upon bootup with that disk.
The BIOS (1.45) doesn't have bootable CD ROM choice!

Now the computer says I don't have enough XMS memory to run the Win 98 SE CD Install. Needs ~ 3,000,000 bytes.

Arrgg...

I don't remember enough DOS to set that up!

Also....does anyone know what Win 98SE files are required to be on the HD so that my CD won't ask to read all my old Win 95 floppies?

I seem to remember some file had to be in a C:\Windows directory.

I have a desktop still running Win 98SE, so I can copy whatever is
needed and transfer it to the Thinkpad....just don't remember which
file I need.

DoctorBill

[al7kz]

edit

[DoctorBill]

I have done all those things.....

I have the Win98 directory on my HD.

When I go to run it, the Insallation says I don't have enough extended/XMS memory to continue the installation - I need 2,816,000 bytes of extended/XMS memory.

The problem is, I don't know how to do that....!

It has been so darned long since I thought about that stuff.

It has something to do with Highmem.sys and emm386.exe doesn't it?

Do you or anyone else have an AUTOEXEC.BAT and config.SYS that I
can use to get started?

DoctorBill

[al7kz]

deleted

[jdhurst]

Find a Windows 98SE startup diskette. Start with the diskette, FDISK the drive to delete partitions, FDISK the drive to create one DOS partition, FORMAT the drive (format c: /s /v).

Start the computer (it should start because of the way we formatted above). At the C:\> prompt:

1. MD C:\Windows
2. CD \Windows
3. MD Options
4. CD Options
5. MD Cabs
6. CD Cabs.

Change to the CD Drive (with the Windows 98SE CD in it). CD to the directory where all the .cab files are (I forget).

Change back to C: (you should still be in the Cabs folder)

Copy E:\*.* (or whatever drive letter the CD is).

CD C:\

C:\windows\options\cabs\setup

When Setup says there is a windows folder and it is going to install in windows.001, change it to windows (yes, you know you are going to overwrite it and that is fine).

Let Setup finish (takes an hour) and you are done.
... JDH

[DoctorBill]

I had an old Win98SE boot floppy with CD-ROM support on it
(OAKCDROM.SYS) and after booting with it, I copied the Win 98SE
CD's WIN98 directory to the Thinkpad HD into C:\setup98 directory.

I tried to run setup and ran into this:

"Setup needs approximately 2816000 bytes of free Extended/XMS memory to continue.....OK"

Yah - right....OK!

So having long ago forgotten that old Extended/XMS Memory stuff, I flopped about on the Internet and got nowhere.

Finally in desperation, I typed in the above error message and BINGO,
I got right to a Web Site that said I needed to boot with Config.sys
containing this:

device=highmem.sys
dos=high,umb
device=emm386.exe noems

So I did that - no go!

After [censored] and swearing for about an hour, I transferred the
config.sys to the Thinkpad C:\ root directory along with the two files

Himem.sys
and
Emm386.exe

and booted from the hard drive.....BINGO!

The WIN98 "setup" got past the memory wall and ran...!

I DO NOT understand why THAT happened....wouldn't work from
the floppy but did work (with the same config.sys) from the HD...(?)

THEN - since I had clean formatted the 3 Gig Thinkpad HD, I had no
evidence that I owned Win98SE...!

Luckily, I had kept my old 13 disk set of Win95 setup disks and fed
them to the Floppy Drive to prove I owned it.

First time it stopped at disk 5 and said they were not proof....

More swearing and [censored]....tried again...went all the way thru the
entire 13 disks and kept going...!

So now I have the HD loaded up with Windows 98SE....

All is well.

I have not tried the modem or the CD-ROM yet....but they should work.

I am still draining/recharging the new battery as per BatteryRefill.com
instructions.

QUESTION(S)....

1. Should I try finding and loading IBM Drivers for the Display, CD-ROM, Floppy Drive, MODEM etc etc...?

2. Should I leave the Win98 install Directory on the HD ?

3. Any sage advice on having one of these old buggers?

DoctorBill

PS - That old WIN98SE Boot Disk with CD-ROM Support saved my [censored]!
I would advise to always keep such a boot disk around!
You NEVER KNOW when you;ll need it to save your butt...!

[jdhurst]

I had an old Win98SE boot floppy with CD-ROM support on it
(OAKCDROM.SYS) and after booting with it, I copied the Win 98SE
CD's WIN98 directory to the Thinkpad HD into C:\setup98 directory.

I tried to run setup and ran into this:

"Setup needs approximately 2816000 bytes of free Extended/XMS memory to continue.....OK"
<snip>

Strange indeed. Doing it as I suggested into Windows\Options\Cabs yields no errors when running Setup. It performs perfectly for Win98 and Win98SE. I do the latter for clients in Virtual Machines and for restoring very old machines needed for radio programming. I have not run into setup errors.
... JDH

[DoctorBill]

But you probably have something in your config.sys to handle Extended Memory where I did not.

It couldn't be a matter of "where" it was started from since the problem was with memory. Apples and Oranges....

Check your Config.sys or Autoexec.bat.....you are covered however you are doing it.

Can't be......

DoctorBill

[leoblob]

Wow, sorry to hear that it was such a struggle. I've loaded WIN98SE a number of times and never had any memory problems.

I would load the IBM drivers next.

Yup, that WIN98SE boot disk is one of the most important tools there is. I have one onto which I also copied fdisk, format, and a few others. It's saved my butt many times.