Clean Install of Windows 98/Me
without Formatting

 

While many people know about  doing a clean install without formatting I have Shep to thank for giving me this piece of information.

On another page I describe in detail how to do a clean install of Windows 98. The instructions guide you through the process of reformatting your Hard Drive and then installing the Operating System. The Format command basically erases everything on your drive and prepares it for the install. However there may be numerous reasons for not wanting your entire Hard Drive partition to be erased. The instructions below will tell you how to retain most of your data and information on your drive. Primarily you will be erasing the Windows Operating System files stored in the C:\Windows directory. The information stored in other locations such as  My Documents and folders you created that reside outside of C:\Windows  will not be erased. The usual warning still applies and that is to make sure you Backup any important data. 

Getting Ready

1) Make sure you have a Windows Startup Disk that works. You can create one by  going to Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs->Startup Disk or you can download one from here www.bootdisk.com . Ensure that the Startup Disk contains an application file called DELTREE.EXE . If Deltree.exe is not on your Startup Disk then  locate it in C:\Windows\Command and copy it to the Startup Disk. Try booting with the Startup Disk to ensure that it works!

2)  Make sure you have driver disks for your Modem or  have your settings written down for your DSL or Cable connections. Ensure that you have access to drivers for your  Hardware. You can visit this site to find drivers  if needed The Driver Zone

3) If your Windows OS is working then start transferring the data you don't wish to loose out of C:\Windows to another directory. Remember that you will be deleting your C:\Windows directory and all subfolders. First you should create a new folder in C:\ and call it something like Backup. Then copy these folders into it - 

  • C:\Windows\Application Data - this folder contains your Outlook Express settings, saved E-mail, newsgroups and settings, Addressbook, and Quick Launch Toolbar items

  • C:\Windows\Favorites - this folder contains your Internet Favorites bookmarks

  • C:\My Documents - if you save important info to this folder make sure it is backed up too.

  • ICQ and other database files that contain your contacts or special settings

4)  Make sure you have the Product Key for your Windows 98/Me CD-Rom available as you will need to enter it. If you are doing the install with a Windows Upgrade disk make sure you have a version of your previous OS handy to satisfy the authenticity check during the Windows setup. Have your ISP username and password written down as you will need them to setup your internet accounts after the install.

5) Because this procedure will completely strip out your current operating system all of the registry entries will be gone. After the install you will need to reinstall all of your Programs. However because you have retained the Program Files folder all of the programs will still be on the Hard Drive usually compete with their settings. For example if you use ICQ then your database of contacts will remain and you won't have to enter them again. If you have special setting in PaintShop Pro then you won't need to set these again either. The same should hold true for your games. However if any settings were written into the registry they will be gone.

Go For It

1) Boot with the Startup disk and at the A:> type 
DELTREE C:\PROGRA~1\INTERN~1
DELTREE C:\PROGRA~1\OUTLOO~1
DELTREE C:\WINDOWS 
That  will erase any upgrades of Internet Explore and Outlook Express you may have made and will erase your Windows directory and all subfolders and their contents. The process takes a lot longer than Formatting so give it time.

2) When finished you can then change drives to the location of your CD-Rom and type SETUP.EXE . The setup will begin by doing a scandisk and then will ask for your Product Key. It will also require an authenticity check if you are using an Upgrade disk. Windows9x/Me Setup will search for the necessary files and then prompt you to put the CD back into the drive and setup will finish. 

3) When prompted for the location to install Windows make sure you enter C:\WINDOWS as the location. Along the way you will need to enter info about yourself and your system and the system should reboot a couple of times during the install process.

4) When  you are prompted for a Username and Password  you can enter your name as the Username but do not enter anything for the password.

5) You will finally be greeted by the Windows 98/Me Desktop and will notice that you will  have to reset your screen display if you were not using the defaults before.

Configuring Windows 

1) 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.

2) 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.   

3) Run the Internet Connection Wizard to re-establish your  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!

4) 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

5) Install WinZip and Tweakui first off.

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

7) 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
1) Run Go to Start->Run type DEFRAG  and hit Enter key and defrag your disk

2) Go to Start->Run type scanregw and backup your registry. This step is unnecessary if you use Windows Me


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 Windows 98 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. Use My Own Backup v2.1 rather than the MS backup utility.

- 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

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