Win98 reinstall won't finish

I was trying to reinstall windows98 over itself on older computer (not mine) and everything goes seemingly well until the step where windows restarts itself and supposedly should begin the last step of installing the software or drivers (can't remember exactly what it installs because the computer is not at my house).

Anyway, after the restart, it goes to a screen which states that windows did not finish loading and it gives me several choices of startup (normal, safemode, step-by-step, etc). No matter what option I choose, I cannot get it back to the final step.

And since I don't know how to make it restart where it left off, I have 'reinstalled' it about three different times and the same thing happens each time. Any ideas on how to get it to finish the installation?


ps: I reinstalled it about this same time last year with all your help and could sure use it again!

 

What happened that it needed to be re-installed so soon ?

For starters.

When you get ready to re-install do you boot the machine from a power off state directly to the Windows Startup Disk and not the HD first ?

Are you changing to the Win98 folder on the CD to run setup ?

For example. D:\WIN98\SETUP Not just D:\SETUP ?

BillyBob

 

Hi, I find that it is always better to do this in DOS.
Windows setup.exe from your CD or hard drive runs perfectly OK and
as no windows programs are running, will not have any interfering
elements that may prevent a completely successful setup.
BillyBob, nice to see you here again. I think the need to re-install Windows
is something we have to get used to. Many things can cause glitches
power outs, errors writing to disks and so on. Example - himem gets
corrupted - what else is there to do ? Oddly enough, I have just done a re-install today as my video drivers were nixxed - big problems booting
and random re-boots, freezes. Things seem a bit quieter now - but who knows ....
regards

 

Hi, I find that it is always better to do this in DOS.
Windows setup.exe from your CD or hard drive runs perfectly OK and
as no windows programs are running, will not have any interfering
elements that may prevent a completely successful setup

I agree to all except just running SETUP directly from the CD without changing to the Win98 folder first. And for the same reason. There is A LOT OF un-needed stuff in the folders previous to the Win98 Folder. All of the files that are actually needed by Windows are under the WIn98 Folder.

PLus by doing the install from the Win98 folder, if Windows needs any files it will have a direct path to them.

What is far better yet is to copy the contents of the Win98 Folder to a folder on the HD, Boot to the Floppy and run setup from the folder on the HD.

I have to say that I 100% disagree with that. I have one HD that had SE installed ( over top of FE ) on it as soon as SE came out. The same HD is now on its 3rd machine and has not had SE re-installed. Not a Wipe out format re-install anyway. An overtop yes. The only thing I did before removing from a machine was to set the VIDEO back to Standard VGA.

In fact A COPY of that HD formed the base for the install of XP Pro on this machine.

BillyBob

 

BillyBob - you seem to have been very lucky/shrewd over the last 6 years.
I have a dollar says you do not now use 98SE more than 1 hour / month ??
regards

 

Thanks for the replies.

I'm not sure what happened, but the cordless phone (plugged into the same surge protector) blew its battery - so I'm guessing maybe lightning? I really don't know, since I don't live there.

Yes, I did boot the machine from a power off state directly to the Windows Startup Disk.

I had originally tried to copy to a folder on the hard disk and run from there, but it wouldn't start installation because not enough MB to run, so I ran directly from the CD. But I don't really remember if I changed to the Win98 folder on CD. -- But would this keep the installation from completing?

Assuming I run it from the WIn98 folder and it stops again - how can I restart the installation process from where it left off?

I can't try it right now because the computer is not at my house. I just need some suggestions before I can get back over there - since I can't get to the internet to ask you questions from there! Thanks again, Deb

 

No. I would not say I have been Lucky. I would say that I have learned to run Windows. Not let Windows run me. And set things up so that the COMBINATION of hard and software that I have all work together.

For one MAJOR item I learned to use drivers that work with MY SYSTEM. Just because someone comes out with new/updated drivers does not mean they will work in my system. Right now I am running Video drivers for the Video card on my Wifes' machine that are at least two generations old. They are THE ONLY ONES that work properly with everything that is on the machine.

There is A LOT more involved in having a good running machine other than just the OS. A LOT MORE

LOL You owe me a dollar.

I have TWO machines running Win98SE and one of them is on at least 10-12 hours per day. Unless my Wife or the kids are not around. And they both ( although slower ) are running many the same programs as this XP machine.

And all three machines are Networked via a Linksys Router and games etc. work just fine.

If this XP machine went down in a heap other than speed ( and having my own ) I would not realy miss it.

And now the good part. MY Wife has informed me ( more than once ) that if I mess with her machine I had best be prepared to eat at the nearest Diner for a few days.

BillyBob

 

Hello, again. I am still wondering how I can "restart" the windows98 overlay when it stops in the last step (see original question).

I am planning to go over there Sunday to try this again, but I would appreciate all the suggestions I can get before I go.

I do plan to try running setup from the win98 folder on the CD (as suggested by BillyBob), but if it stops again, what else should I try?

As always, thanks for the help!

 

I believe you are having problems running windows setup because you have a hardware problem. Maybe this was the reason it was done in the first place?
I would remove all addon cards except the video card to eliminate a sound or modem card being a problem. Unplug all USB connections, unless they are required for use of keyboard and/or mouse.
You will need to run setup from the beginning. If you get the Safe Recovery window, choose Yes.
Here is a link that you may find to be informative and in depth about windows setup.
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/98/all/reskit/en-us/part1/wrkc05.mspx

 

Thanks for leading me to that great link. There is really a lot of information and it will take me a while just to read through it!

I noticed a section on stalling during hardware detection, along with some suggestions. I don't recall ever getting the option of Safe Recovery, though.

I will also try your suggestions on unplugging devices, etc. I will let you know how it goes, if I can still get over there on Sunday. Thanks for the help!

 

Oops, my mistake - I was thinking of the options with Safe Mode, step-by-step, etc.

I have been offered Safe Recovery and I did choose it.

 

How's it going along?

 

Hi Markp62 - Sorry I haven't had a chance to post back yet - but thank you, because your suggestion worked great!

All I did was disconnect the printer, rerun setup from beginning, and it actually finished. But I haven't reconnected the printer yet, because I was pressed for time and didn't know if it would require the disk to reinstall it (and I didn't have it with me).

However, I am having problems now with the modem. After the Win98 reinstall, I dialed the internet and all seemed to work fine. Then it disconnected me and would not work anymore - something about the modem (can't remember what.) I 'removed' the modem and tried to have it refind it, but it kept saying no modem detected. So I tried manually installing a standard modem because I do not have any idea what brand or anything it has, but the internet dialup continued to give me error messages regarding modem.

So if you have any ideas about that, I would certainly appreciate them! Thanks