Firing up replaced hard drive

It depends on how you look a it. If the machine is booted DIRECTLY to the SUD from power off there is NO WORRY. The reinstall will overwrite what is there. This is apparent from my previous reply that showed a 5/11/98 date on the floppy but a 4/23/99 on the HD. The install/upgrade apparently overwrote what was there previousy. 5/11/98 is 98FE. 4/23/99 is 98SE.

This is the MAIN idea behind booting from a power off directly to the Floppy. The HD plays NO PART until the restart. And does allow the new setup to overwrite older files.

If you boot to the HD to do the Setup, YES, you can create all kind of problems. Been there and done that and hope never to do it again.

Now do not get worried again but I just looked at the C: drive on my Wifes' 98SE machine and I see dates as far back as 1/08/03. Two of them being on the C:\Windows, C:\Program files. Whether that refers to the last time I re-installed 98SE or the first time I am not sure. All other dates range from there on up to 4/27/05. The DOS files have all kind of duffernt dates on them.

There should be no problem with having a different version on the C:\ drive IF again, the machine os booted to the Floppy to do the re-install.

If a Dual boot system does exist that is a horse of a different color. The Dual Boot install takes care of ( or should ) the root folder to get it set correctly.

OK. So you boot to the FLOPPY DIRECTLY. Format the drive you wish to. Then WHILE STILL ON THE FLOPPY Copy the CDROM:\Win98\*.* to say F:\Options.

Then shut down power off ( again to clear RAM) and reboot to the FLOPPY.

At the A:\ Prompt type F:\OPTIONS\Setup. You are on your way.

But, WHY DO THE FORMAT ? Just use Windows Explorer to create an OPTIONS folder on F: Then use explorer ( you may need to start it twice and do a bit of resizing to see both dirves ) to Drag-n-drop the contents of the CDROM win98 Folder to the F:\Options. Then if you wish to re-install just boot to the floppy again.

I may be in a bit of trouble with instructions for Windows Explorer because I DUMPED IT back in the days of Win95. And use VCOM PowerDesk in its place.

And Also I have not formated a HD since the days of Win95. MY 2nd 98SE machine is a COPY of the 1st machine with 98 FE on it then upgraded to 98SE. ) The HD in this machine is an 80gig HD which is a COPY of the 40gig in the 2nd SE machine. Using the software that came with the new 80gig HD. But I DID NOT allow the machine to boot to the HD the first time. I booted to the Floppy and did an overtop reinstall of 98SE from the Options Folder on D: The ONLY thing I had problems with was the Video because of a different card. And a bit of trouble with Audio. But those were TOTALLY expected so no problem.

Then once I was sure all was OK ( about two days later ) I dumped XP pro on top of the whole mess. I never did bother to upgrade the Video and audio while still on 98SE. And I did not even have an driver problem. ( which was a surprise ) But of coures I did nave to upgrade some things to make them right for XP Pro.

That is true. No matter whether you are doing a clean install or an overtop repair/upgrade install.

BillyBob

 

Hi, HJ. The owner of the PC we are trying to fix is away, I am storing all this info , so when he gets back we will be trying them all.
Thanks to everyone for your input. Yours tormented Des.

 

Guys, there has been some "in-depth" discussion here. I have gotten a lot out of it. There has also been some back-tracking and the reasons why. Can we (and I mean YOU, because I have probably only caused confusion in this discussion ) summarize or give your opinions on which direction Des should take?

Some of this has gone over my head, so I suppose Des may feel somewhat akin (not only that he is a daggy Aussie ).

Matt

 

Hi Tormented Des

sorry for delay, been away from home. OK - a summary:

1) Pre-Flight Check:

WindowsCD : is it the full works, or an upgrade CD... if it's a upgrade CD, do you have a "qualifying product "?

(if not, you will not be able to do a fresh installation of Windows, we'll have to do something else)

==

2) Fitting the HDD & BIOS:

with the new(er) CD jumpered to "master ", power up the computer and enter "setup"

(methods of getting into setup vary, often the delete key does it, sometimes F1, sometimes other keys, depends upon manufacturer. With luck one of the opening screens will say something like "Press Del to enter setup ", use whatever it says)

what happens next depends upon your particular BIOS, but the end result you are after is to have the BIOS showing the HDD size correctly. Usually this is achieved by "autodetecting" the HDD size.

If you are very lucky, the BIOS will already have done this all by itself...

...in any event, what you are after is to get the BIOS reporting the same number of megabytes as is written on the HDD label.

It's very important to get this correct before continuing, otherwise expect all sorts of trouble later.

==

3) checks I would personally do:

- boot from the SUD (=Start Up Disk, aka EBD = Emergency Boot Disk) choosing option 1) : Start Computer with CDROM support

when A:\> arrives
A:\>dir c: (enter)
expect to see COMMAND.COM; if you see other files, or particularly other folders, post back with what you see pls

A:\>scandisk c: (enter)
and say "Yes" when offered the option to perform a surface scan.

Although it may take perhaps an hour or so to scan the whole surface, getting to the end with no bad bits on the disk feels good - it means you know that your new(ish) HDD can be used reliably.

neither of these are necessary to install Windows; it's just what I would do to a HDD new to me - particularly if the HDD is second hand.

==

4) installing Windows:

- boot from the SUD (=Start Up Disk, aka EBD = Emergency Boot Disk) choosing option 1) : Start Computer with CDROM support

- insert CDROM

A:\>E:\Win98\setup (or replace E: with whatever letter gets assigned)(to make sure of the letter: when you boot from the floppy and choose 1) Start With CDROM support, look at the screen you end up with, because it identifies the letter which has been assigned to the CDROM)

best wishes, HJ

 

Hey guys I found the information link for the Seagate Drive.
Here is the Link. This might be helpful, and anyway I would download the info while it is still available.
Seems as if you have some experienced help.

http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/ata/st31276a.html

 

hi, HJ. thanks for your persaverance with this the owner will be back in a week , I have printed of all the data to take and try. Your last post is a lot easier for me to follow, I got a bit lost with a lot in between, But thanks again , I will post our progress Cheers Des.

 

That is the reason that I have the CDROMS set to S: an T: right on the SUD. That way they are the same no matter which machine I use the SUD in.

All it takes is

On the MSCDEX.exe line of the Autoexec.bat. D:MSCD001. /L:S modify what I show as S to any letter of you choice. This will give you all kinds of room to add HDs or new partitions. But the CDROM will not change.

Then once Windows is installed the CDROM settings can be made to match.

Again it is the same on all three machines.

BillyBob

Edit/Add

I have done this since WAY back in the days of good old DOS and Win 3.1

BB

 

Hi, HJ & All, The owner returned with a HGG the same size and we followed you last instructions and away she went . . Thanks to all for your help. Cheers Des.

 

excellent news well done + thanx for posting back with the result

best wishes, HJ.

 

Good result!

HJ, we can see the droplets of sweat in each reply.

Good on you, B-B and the others.

Matt

 

Glad to read that it all worked out.

BillyBob