HOW TO INSTALL THE WINDOWS 98 UPGRADE
ON A NEW HARD DISK DRIVE
Last updated: 3/19/02
There are two ways to install Windows 98 on
your hard disk:
Although, I understand Microsoft frowns on
the procedure, I prefer the first method for installing Windows 98 on my
own hard disk drive. I use the second method when installing
Windows on a customer's hard disk. The first method installs faster
and every time Windows needs new software or driver from the Windows 98 CD,
it will first go to the directory on the hard disk from which it was installed
and install the software from there instead asking that you insert the CD. This
saves me from having fish-out the Windows 98 CD every time I install new
software and hardware, which is often. The advantage of the second
procedure is that it saves about 120 MBytes of hard disk space, if in the
first method, you leave the files on the hard disk after installation. Furthermore,
with the first method, you may still need the CD for some drivers not found
in the win98 directory.
Ok, let's install Windows 98:
Method 1
 Make
a c:\windows\options\cabs directory and copy the files from the win98 directory
on the CD-ROM to the cabs directory.
a:\> c:
c:>md windows
c:>cd windows (or simply type cd followed
by the F3 key)
c:\windows>md options
c:\windows>cd options
c:\windows\options>md cabs
c:\windows\options>cd cabs
c:\windows\options\cabs>copy d:\win98\*.*
Where d: is your CD-ROM drive.
The c:/windows/options/cabs directory
was a convention established with the standard installation some of
the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) versions of Windows 95. You
could copy the win98 directory to any desired directory on your hard
disk and install from there, but I continue to use the convention so
I can remember where the cab files are located.
Cab or cabinet files are files containing
one or more compressed files. Most of the Windows 98 files are
in cab files on the CD.
Install
Windows 98.
c:\windows\options\cabs>setup /ie
The /ie flag tells Windows 98 not to
make a new Startup Floppy during the installation.
Method 2
Change
to the win98 directory on the Windows 98 CD and run setup.exe.
a:\> d:
where d: is your CD-ROM drive letter.
d:\> cd win98
d:\win98 > setup /ie
Do not run setup from d:\. There
is a setup.exe there, but it won't work with this procedure.
Just follow the Windows 98 installation prompts. If
setup asks you for a directory in which to install Windows, make sure you
tell it to install it in c:\windows (not d:\windows or c:\windows.001, etc.).
If you have moved Windows 3.x to the new drive
or if you have the old drive attached with Windows 3.x or 95 on it, the upgrade
should install ok. If not, setup will say it can't find an old version
of Windows to verify before installing the upgrade. It will then allow
you to browse to a drive/directory where the old version of Windows is located. If
you have Windows 3.x or 95 on floppy, remove your Startup Floppy, if it is
still in A:, insert floppy 1 of the old version of Windows in the floppy
drive and point setup to the floppy drive. If you have the old version
on CD, remove the Win 98 CD, insert the old Windows CD, and point setup to
d:\, where d: is your CD-ROM drive. I have found that setup won't always
find what it is looking for the first time you point it at the drive containing
the old version of Windows. Point again; you may have to do it several
times, but it should eventually take. When verifying Win 3.x floppies,
setup will check several of them. I counted five the last time I did
it. (The Win 95 upgrade only checks the first one.)
After
installation, you may want to install you CD-ROM software on your hard disk
drive so you can use it from a direct boot-up to the DOS prompt. Boot
to the DOS by holding the Ctrl key as the computer boots or pressing the
F8 key just as Windows 98 starts and install form the manufacture's floppy. You
may have to boot with the Startup Floppy to install the software from a CD-ROM
or install it from Windows. There are many variations. If the
installation program asks for the location of the mscdex.exe file, it is
located in the c:\windows\command directory.
Likewise,
after installation you may have to reinstall the DOS (real mode) software
for your sound card, especially older ISA sound cards.
Larry
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