Clean InstallUsing Win 98 Upgrade Disk

Clean Install
Using Win 98 Upgrade Disk

The following applies to using a Windows 98 First Edition (also called Windows 98 Gold) and Windows 98 Second Edition Upgrade Disk. Much of the process can also apply to doing a clean install with a Full version or OEM disk. The Windows 98 SE Update disk can not do a clean install (see here for version info Windows 98 Editions)

A clean install involves reformatting the C: drive and installing the software. The reformat is the simple part. What you do before and after is more important. For information how to do a clean install without reformating click here.

To Reformat you will need a Windows Startup Disk with CD-ROM support. You can also check out these sites for more information about creating a bootable startup disk
Reinstalling Win 95/98 to A Clean Disk
www.bootdisk.com

1) The logical first place to try making a bootable startup disk with CD-ROM Drivers is by going to Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs->Startup Disk Tab and click on Create Disk

The Dry Run
2) TEST the disk out first by shutting down and booting with it in the drive. Choose the option for starting with CD-ROM support. If you use the Windows Startup Disk it will create a RAM Drive for help files and such and designate it as D. Your CD-ROM drive will be designated as E (no matter what you call it now). If you create your own bootdisk or obtain it from one of the above links then the RAM drive won't be created

3) THIS IS A DRY RUN! Pop your Win98 CD into it's drive. Change drives from A:> by typing E:

4) Then at E:> type DIR this will give you a directory of the drive and you will know it is working.

5) If all goes well you will find that you can access your CD-ROM.

6) Change back to A drive again by typing A:

STOP! Make sure you have everything backed up that you need. The next command FORMAT will cause your current C Drive data to become lost and you will likely need third party software to retrieve it.
The Format
7) At the A:> type "FORMAT C:" without the quotes of course and hit Enter then sit back as the format is completed.

8) You'll be asked for a label and can supply one if you wish but you can also just hit Enter

9) There is no *need* to run FDISK to partition unless you want to. You are doing a reinstall on a drive that already has been partitioned so that would be an unnecessary step. However additional partitions can be a good idea especially if you have a huge HD. Check out the Partitioning Primer or FDISK Information page. If your current drive was FAT16 and you want to upgrade to FAT32 you will have that option presented during the install of windows 98 or you can run Drive Converter afterwards to upgrade the FAT. FAT32 makes partitioning of large drives unnecessary.

The Clean Install
10) Once formatting is done you can then install Win 98 by changing drives to E:\ and type SETUP.EXE

11) You will be prompted for your CD Key. If you are using an Upgrade CD you will need to pop your old Win95 or 3.1 disk during it's compliance check and you will be asked for proof of authenticity. Windows98 Setup will search for the necessary files and then prompt you to put the Win98 CD back into the drive and setup will finish. Along the way you will need to re-enter info about yourself and your system.

12) When Win98 first Starts up and you are prompted for a password just press Enter (unless you want or need one) and you won't have that annoyance again.

Configuring Windows 98

13) Go to Control Panel->System Properties->Device Manager and check to see that your hardware has been found and installed properly. If there is a Yellow Mark (! banged out) next to any of your hardware you will need to install the drivers for it. Click the Properties button for each device that is banged out and then choose the Driver Tab. You can click on Update Drivers Button and follow the Wizard to install the drivers off the disks that came with your device.

14) Each time you install drivers you will have to reboot. You can save time by clicking cancel and then moving to the next device if you have more than one banged out.

15) Run the Internet Connection Wizard to establish a new connection for Internet Explorer. If the modem does not connect at first try a reboot before you try reinstalling software. Some modems seem to require an extra reboot even though you are not instructed to do so!

16) Go to the Windows Update Site and download all of the relevant patches and upgrades starting with the Virtual Machine (even though it is not listed first). This can take some time and requires reboots along the way. You can also go to the Windows Corporate site and download and save many of the updates

17) Install WinZip and Tweakui first off. Use Tweakui (see below about Tweakui) to disable Active Desktop and Menu Animations ASAP

18) Go to Start->Settings->Folder Options->View Tab and uncheck "Hide file extensions for known file types" and check on "Show all files"

19) Open any folder and go to View and uncheck "As WebPage" then go to View->Folder Options->View Tab and click "Like Current Folder" . You can always go back and reset these later but for ease of reinstalling I find it best to keep it as friendly as possible.

Tidying Up
20) Run Go to Start->Run type defrag and Hit Enter and defrag your disk

21) Go to Start->Run type scanregw and backup your registry

This is quite an undertaking but I found it to be worth the effort in overall speed and stability

Helpful Hints

- Before you get into this ensure that you have the latest drivers for all of your hardware. Take nothing for granted, remember that Win98 was released in June 98---that is a long time ago in computer years <G>

- Make sure you have backups of all your important data.

- You will need to reinstall all of your applications and programs again so if you have downloaded programs make sure you know where to find them. The same holds true for additional screensavers that you like.

- Remember to backup copies of your Address Book and e-mail folders as these will be lost during the reformat. If you use OLE you can find your Address Book at C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book with the extension .wab. Your e-mail folders are found at C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook Express. I simply made a backup of the folder C:\Windows\Application Data and then copied it back onto my C:\Windows directory. I then had my Address Book and all of my e-mail folders intact. If you changed the name for the user when you where installing Win 98 you will need to change the name of your Address Book to reflect this. If you can't remember the name you used you can find it by launching OLE and then looking under File. It will be listed in "Log Off". You must make sure your Address Book has that name. Just make the appropriate change to the .wab file. (My Log Off says "Harry Ohrn" therefore my Address Book is called "Harry Ohrn.wab")

- Backup a copy of your Favorites folder. This is found in C:\Windows\Favorites. Just save the entire Favorites folder and then copy it back onto the C:\Windows directory again after the reinstall. It will overwrite the Favorites folder that is created during the re-install and you will have your Favorites back.

- Make sure you have recorded the settings for your internet connection from both Dial Up Networking and Internet Properties as you will have to re-establish all of those. An easy way to do this is to open a window then press Alt+PrintScreen to take a snap shot and save it using MsPaint as a .gif file. You can then open these up after the reinstall and see your settings. A great little freeware program PrintKey simplifies this process.

- Remember that Tweakui and Windows Messaging will not auto install so you will need to get these yourself. The version of Tweakui on the Win98 CD is buggy you can get a functional version by going here Tweakui For 98 and checking out Tweakui For 98. Make sure you have a copy of WinZip to install. You can link to that site from WinZip 8.0

- Windows Messaging and MS Fax are found on the Win98 CD at \tools\oldWin95\messages\us Read the .txt file before installing

If you have experience with this install process drop me a line. And what ever else you can think of to include in a pre and post install I'd like to hear about.

Good Luck