Thinkpads Forum

To address an apparent driver issue with my new thumb drive, I decided to just upgrade the O/S on my Thinkpad 600E, from Windows98 to Windows98SE. I deluded myself into thinking that surely that was easiest, and most durable long-term fix to my thumb drive and any number of other future compatibility issues.

Upon running the first attempt at the upgrade, the system reported a problem due to a virus protection program running. I dutifully disabled all two programs from the Autoexec or the Startup files under MSCONFIG. Still no luck.

So, to ensure everything was being disabled, I booted under Safe Mode, and then my CD-ROM couldn't be accessed. So, I copied the whole system disk to my hard disk to eliminate that problem. Then the upgrade reported that I didn't have enough free memory to run Scandisk. So, I bypassed that by running the Setup/IT option under Safe Mode command prompt only, but the system still reported that a virus protection program was running.

Does anyone know whether these Thinkpad enable a BIOS or CMOS-based virus protection routine and if so, where can that be disabled, since I'm at a loss for where this program is being executed.

Any other suggestions toward effecting an the upgrade also welcome. The only unwelcome suggestion would anything that suggests, intimates or hints that I should just reformat the whole hard drive. That suggest will make me cranky and surly (okay more cranky and surly than I already am about this problem).

CDobyns wrote:Does anyone know whether these Thinkpad enable a BIOS or CMOS-based virus protection routine

No, they don't. Unfortunately, I don't know what is causing this virus protection warning to crop up, but it isn't some kind of BIOS-level virus protection.

CDobyns wrote:Upon running the first attempt at the upgrade, the system reported a problem due to a virus protection program running. I dutifully disabled all two programs from the Autoexec or the Startup files under MSCONFIG. Still no luck.

You also checked the CONFIG.SYS file, right? Is it possible that whatever virus protection software you have installed has wormed itself into your Master Boot Record, and won't let you fiddle with it, even if you've disabled the runtime programs? -- No real knowledge here, just a guess.

Phil.

Okay, some good feedback, especially the part that confirms that no internal virus protection routine is built into the BIOS or CMOS setup.

I'll take another look at the CONFIG.SYS file, but I think I saw that it was blank/empty. Any other suggestions, other than what I've tried in order to install the upgrade, without incurring the virus program protection. Maybe something that starts the system from a Windows boot disk? Not sure why I can't get the system to just try to boot from the upgrade CD-ROM directly, even though I modified the startup source peripherals to make the CD-ROM the primary boot source. Maybe just make the CD-ROM the only boot source. Right now the HD is the secondary source, which is where it seems to be booting from (for reasons unknown).

CDobyns wrote:Maybe just make the CD-ROM the only boot source. Right now the HD is the secondary source, which is where it seems to be booting from (for reasons unknown).

It is possible that your Windows 98SE Update CD is not bootable. I don't know if they were or not. And you are using a Windows 98SE Update CD, right, not a regular Windows 98SE CD?

Note that I don't think you should need to boot from the Windows 98SE Update CD -- you should be able to boot into Windows normally and then run the update CD like a normal program and it will reboot as required during the update. Though I gather that is probably what you were trying to do to begin with...

Phil.

Right, and it is a Window98SE upgrade disk.

Again, the reason not to just start-up normally and then just invoke the upgrade Setup program, is to try to sidestep the system loading any of the virus protection files.

I'm talking myself into (mostly because I haven't tried it) trying the Windows boot disk or somehow force-feeding the bootup from the CD-ROM. I think both of those approaches are probably winners to getting around the virus protection problem. We'll see.

Setting the CD as the only boot deveice should help. If you do a "clean install" your WIN98SE upgrade disc should boot normally but should ask for the original OS CD to check that you are doing a kosher upgrade (this allows a clean install from an upgrade CD).

Sorry to invite a "cranky" response but this really is the best way to go (and it doesn't look like you're having much success the other way?)

Well, it's been a pretty good weekend, although not quite as productive in my quest to upgrade to Window98SE as I would have hoped. Mostly I'm somewhere north of cranky and surly, at least for right now.

I tried both angles on the upgrade this weekend, without success. I created a Windows Startup Disk, to bypass the virus protection problem. I also had installed all the upgrade files from the CD-ROM to my hard drive, in order to bypass any problems if my CD-ROM was not accessible.

Unfortunately, booting from the Windows Startup Disk would not allow me access to my hard drive, in order to access the setup file. It only seemed to allow me access to the emergency diagnostic files that the Windows Startup Disk installed. The startup also reported that the C: drive did not have recognizable FAT or FAT32 partition, or that I was using a third-party partitioning software (I'm not). I'm not sure what was actually happening there behind the scenes, since the diagnostic files were installed on the C:\ drive, but would not allow me further access to any of the other drive directories.

I'm really drawing on my old DOS knowledge now, but could I modify one of the files (Autoexec?) and force the directory recognition using the Path command?

I also tried starting up in the MS-DOS mode, but when I got to the DOS prompt, the system reported that it could not invoke the Setup file, using a "private configuration", or something like that. Not sure what that was all about.

Trying to boot from the CD-ROM presented a whole different (and apparently insurmountable) series of challenges. My original CD/RW drive failed so I bought a H-L Data Storage Laptop CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive GCC-4240N, but the WIN98 software has trouble recognizing the drive. The system only recognizes the drive when you restart the system, but it will not "see" the drive if do a cold reboot. So, you need to do a warm restart, then change the BIOS to designate only the CD-ROM as the startup and then restart and hope the drive will be recognized - this sequence which unfortunately I was not able to master this weekend. Ugh.

Will welcome further suggestions or input to any of the barriers encountered above. Reminder: No suggestions about reformatting the whole hard drive, at the risk of incurring a outburst of crankiness and/or surliness. Thanks!