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Building a Fresh New Win98 Machine


Copyright (C) 1998 By Steve Litt: slitt@troubleshooters.com

Steve Litt is the documentor of the Universal Troubleshooting Process and author of Rapid Learning: Secret Weapon of the Successful Technologist.
LEGAL NOTE: I have done my best to make this document complete and accurate. However, any hardware or software installation carries the possibility of problems, including possible data loss and possible irreparable hardware damage. I take no responsibility for any problems you might encounter as a result of your use of this document, including errors and omissions in this document. If you cannot accept this, do not use this document. This document is copyrighted, but I hereby give you permission to print a paper copy for yourself, to refer to while your computer is taken apart. I have made this document one long page rather than a link hierarchy so you can print and use it without a computer.

Some people are lucky enough to have a smooth Win98 upgrade. Others have nightmares where ancient and evil commands from the old registry, config.sys, autoexec and system.ini reach out and eat their programs and data. I myself am a big believer in installing Win98 from scratch (that means no .ini files, and rudimentary registry, config.sys and autoexec.bat). Note also sometimes you don't have a choice, like when you're building a brand new machine. Here's how I do it: Prepare for the Installation Build the Machine Decide whether or not to FAT32 Decide on your partitions Install Rudimentary DOS Install Windows 98 Compress and/or FAT32 Your Drives (if desired) Install Your Parallel Iomega Zip Drive Restore Your Data Install Your Windows Software Install Peripherals One at a Time

Prepare for the Installation


Back up your data (not shrink-wrapped software).
You can always buy a new computer or new software installation diskettes, but your data is absolutely irreplaceable. Treat it that way. Back it up. Make sure it can be restored. NOTE: Configuration files are not data. Copying them to the new machine would expose

you to bugs of machines past. However, things like email messages and received Faxes are data. WARNING: Tape backup programs are NOTORIOUS for not restoring!! I know it's a lot of work, but I'd recommend you back up to Iomega Zip disks. They're tried, true and dependable. If you need to buy the drive, so be it. Your data is worth it. Use old, reliable PKZIP (from PKWARE, Inc). For detailed information of backups and restores, see the 7/1998 Troubleshooting Professional Magazine. I'd recommend you make 2 copies. Use good media. A name brand is not a guarantee of quality, but it helps. I've had great success with Maxell and Iomega zip media. WARNING: The BACKUP.EXE included in Windows 95 backs up beautifully, and restores your files accurately, but it sometimes sets your file dates to the restore date, rather than the date of the backed up files. I consider the backup program that comes with Windows 95 to be UNACCEPTABLE for that reason. WARNING: Backup programs in general back up a lot better than they restore. I'd highly recommend you do at least a partial restore, to an unused location, of one or more directory trees before beginning any work which could destroy data. In addition, I'd recommend you keep your original drive intact, and buy a new one for the new computer. That way, you can always back out. Later, you can use the old disk to hold data and only data, which will make backup and upgrade much easier in the future.

Save Other Necessary Information


As you know, I'm a big believer in clean, fresh installs. But there are some things you might need. Dialup phone numbers, usernames, passwords. Quick: what's your ftp login? How do you get in through telnet? What's your pop3 server? Get all this stuff early. NOTE!!! If you use your computer professionally, I HIGHLY recommend leaving your machine intact until your new machine is working perfectly. I didn't do this once, and you can click here to read about the disaster that followed.

Set your video mode to VGA


This is relevant if you're upgrading rather than re-installing. Imagine the catch-22 you can face when you change video cards or monitors -- you could change your video if only you could see the screen to do it, and you could see the screen if only you could change your video. I've seen cases where booting to Windows 95 Safe Mode DID NOT resolve this catch-22. The time to change your video to (plain vanilla) VGA is BEFORE doing any work. Also change your monitor setting to "Standard VGA 640x480". If you do happen to get into a video catch 22, please see article "Beating the Video Mode Catch 22" at http://www.troubleshooters.com/catch22.htm.

Back up any DOS programs

These can usually be installed simply by copying, so simply back them up rather than reinstalling.. Don't back up Windows programs -- you'll re-install them from your distribution diskettes and CDs. NOTE!!! If you use a lot of DOS programs you're probably going to want to retain FAT 16. It's been reported that DOS programs that write directly to sectors or clusters can crash FAT 32 disks.

Create action plan


Be aware that there are two distinct ways you can install a fresh Win98 system. One is easier, one is foolproof:

Win95 booter (easier) DOS booter (foolproof)

Win95 booter (easier) A Win95 Startup disk with DOS CD-ROM drivers, MSCDEX.EXE and the proper config.sys and autoexec.bat will boot you to a point where you can fdisk, format, install rudimentary DOS (which is really command only Win95). Reboot to the rudimentary DOS, and run setup from the Win98 CD. Easier and quicker. HOWEVER--- be sure you also have the DOS installer disks and the CD installer disks to fall back on if the Win95-only option doesn't work. DOS booter (foolproof) Boot to DOS from your DOS6 (or whatever) diskettes, fdisk and format, install your CD drivers, reboot to your rudimentary DOS on C, then run Win98 setup from your Win98 upgrade CD.

Gather Your Installation Diskettes:


Fast option: Win95 booter

Win95 startup disk with CD driver and mscdex.exe Iomega Zip drive or tape drive driver diskettes Your backup program diskettes Installation diskettes and CDs for any Windows programs you want to install Windows 95 installation CD or Win31 install disk#1 Windows 98 upgrade CD

Sure-fire option: Dos booter


MS-DOS installation diskettes Windows installation diskettes CD-ROM driver diskette

Driver diskettes for Iomega Zip drive or other removable drive or tape drive Your backup program diskettes Installation diskettes and CDs for any Windows programs you want to install Windows 95 installation CD or Win31 install disk#1 Windows 98 upgrade CD

Make a Special "System Builder" Diskette


Win95 booter Startup Disk Option (faster and easier)

From the working Windows 95 system, create a startup disk using start/settings/control_panel/addOrRemove_programs/startup_disk. Copy \windows\command\doskey.com to the root of the startup disk. Put the DOS driver for your CD on the root of the startup disk. This is usually available on the floppy that came with the CD, or from the 'net. Remember, booting to a startup disk loads no Win95 drivers, so you must have a DOS cd driver. Put MSCDEX.EXE on the root of the startup disk. This is sometimes available on the floppy that came with your CD drive, and is also available on your DOS installation disks or in your \DOS directory if you kept it. Put xcopy.exe on the root of the startup disk. You can find this in your c:\windows\command directory. Put xcopy32.exe on the root of the startup disk. You can find this in your c:\windows\command directory. Create directory \DOS on the startup disk. Move all files (except command.com and the hidden files) from the root of the startup disk to its \DOS directory. Create a config.sys with the proper CD driver command on the root of the system disk. If you don't know the syntax, you may be able to re-install the CD dos driver disk (after backing up your computers existing config and autoexec). Make sure config.sys has a LASTDRIVE=X command to enable the CD to be mapped to a drive letter. All driver syntaxes are different, but here's a typical example.
DEVICE=\DOS\AOATAPI.SYS /D:IDECD000 LASTDRIVE=X

Create an autoexec.bat that runs doskey and the proper MSCDEX command to enable the CD driver from config.sys. If you don't know the syntax, you may be able to re-install the CD dos driver disk (after backing up your computers existing config and autoexec). Typically the /D: on the config.sys driver matches the /D: on the autoexec MSCDEX command. Note the /L:X, which guarantees the CD will be mapped to X. This prevents the CD drive letter from falling between hard drive letters. Later the CD drive letter can be changed again in Win98. All MSCDEX command syntaxes vary with the driver, but here's a typical example:
@ECHO OFF PROMPT $p$g PATH \DOS CD \DOS \DOS\DOSKEY \DOS\MSCDEX.EXE /D:IDECD000 /L:X

DOS booter option (reliable, ultimate fallback) NOTE: This special "system builder" diskette is designed to eliminate the need to actually install DOS and Win31 before the Win98 installation. It will save about 1/2 hour in installation time. Since if things don't go well you may be making several installation attempts, this may amount to substantial time. If, for some reason, your "system builder" diskette fails to trick Win98 into thinking DOS and Windows are installed, you must use the actual DOS and Windows distribution diskettes, and actually install those two operating systems. Now make a special "system builder" DOS bootable (Format a: /u /s) diskette with the following files in the following directories: A:\COMMAND.COM (placed there when you format the floppy) A:\CONFIG.SYS (see Footnotes) A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT (See Footnotes) A:\XFER.BAT (see Footnotes) A:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS (necessary for Win98 setup) A:\DOS\FORMAT COM (for formatting drives) A:\DOS\FDISK EXE (for partitioning drives) A:\DOS\MSCDEX EXE (necessary to run your CD drive before Win98 complete) A:\DOS\DOSKEY COM (command line editor makes life much easier) A:\DOS\EDIT COM (your editor) A:\DOS\QBASIC EXE (required for edit.com) A:\DOS\XCOPY EXE (necessary for moving files around) A:\DOS\SETVER EXE A:\DOS\COMMAND COM

Get the Attitude


Understand that this process won't be easy, but in the end it will produce a CLEAN Windows 98 system. Promise yourself you'll remain calm. Allocate enough time for the job. Minimum 1 weekend, be prepared for more. Occasionally things go smoothly and it's a 3 hour process, but that's rare. Make sure you have all the necessary tools, including a good light, any necessary eyeglasses, long nose pliers, Phillips screwdriver. Make sure you've set up an adequate work surface with plenty of room, including static protection (and a good ground to touch). Make sure you have all manuals for your software, peripherals, and new hardware, and that you've reviewed them. Most of all, if you can't afford to be without your computer for however long it takes, make a new one while keeping the old one intact. Most professionals have two desktop computers.

Build the Machine


Choosing the Motherboard
Always start with a high quality, reliable, *name brand* motherboard. Motherboards have too many variables to take chances. Note that an Intel Chipset doesn't make a board high quality, reliable or name brand. High capacitance board layout or bad soldering can spoil an otherwise great chipset. Make sure the motherboard you choose has a complete and readable manual -- you don't want to be dealing with a "black box". Remember that motherboard defects may not reveal themselves until well past Windows 98 installation, at which time they masquerade as software or configuration problems. This can cost you days. Get a name brand motherboard with a good reputation for quality. I hate to support a monopoly, but unless you're thoroughly familiar with the non-Intel microprocessors, I'd suggest a genuine Intel Microprocessor. That way, if there's a problem, a CPU incompatibility is already ruled out. Note that modern microprocessors MUST be attached to a fan. I like to have the store I buy the motherboard at install the chips, including processor, memory and fan, and configure the jumpers. It's their job, they do it every day, and they're good at it. They're less likely to make a mistake than I am.

Make Sure the Machine's Powered Down


Always turn off the computer (with the power switch, not the power cord) before connecting or disconnecting anything, whether inside the computer (such as IDE cables or peripheral boards) or out (such as mice and printer cables). Leave the power cord plugged into a grounding outlet so the computer's case is grounded.

Install the Motherboard


Follow Static Electricity Precautions!(see footnote) Bolt down the Motherboard with the mounting hardware that came with the computer's case (or the hardware that held down the former motherboard). If there are any problems go to the store and get additional mounting hardware. Connect up the wires for the LED's, switches, internal speaker, etc. Use extreme care when hooking up the Power Supply wires to the motherboard. This, more than any other connection, is likely to cause permanent damage if done wrong. Consult the motherboard documentation. Usually, but not always, the black wires from each power supply connector are next to each other. If there are any questions, consult the manual or call the store where you bought the motherboard. Install and bolt down the video card (do not install the video card's software at this time). Plug a monitor into the video card and a keyboard into the motherboard's keyboard slot, and power it up. You should see the computer count up the proper amount of memory on the monitor during self test. If this doesn't happen, check all your connections. If you're

reasonably certain they're correct, call the store where you bought the motherboard. When you can get the self-test to count memory, go on to the next step.
[ If All Else Fails ]

Install all Drives


Before mounting drives, write down their serial numbers. Write down the drive parameters written on the drives. Draw a picture of their connections so you'll know where each pin 1 is. For hard drives, make sure their master/slave jumpers are properly configured for the number and order of drives. Consult your documentation. Lost drive jumpers are available cheap at your local computer store. Install any 3.5 to 5.25 mounting conversion kits. Slide the drives into the case, and connect all IDE and Floppy cables. If your case is a full tower, you may need 24 inch IDE cables instead of the standard 18 inch. The 24 inch are hard to find, so call before you drive. Make sure to match pin 1 on the drive to the red stripe on the ribbon cable. One easy mistake to make is to connect an IDE cable "off center" such that two pins on one side remain unconnected. Good lighting, any necessary eyeglasses, and doublechecking are your best defenses against this. This type of error usually produces "won't boot" or "drive not recognized" type errors, but could theoretically cause permanent damage. Make sure all cables are fully inserted on their connectors. When everything is connected properly, screw the drives into the case. Double and triple check all your connections. When you're confident you've done it right, insert the special "System Builder" diskette you made earlier in this document and power the machine on. When the Power-up sequence tells you to hit a key combination for setup, hit that key combination. If you have IDE drives, use the "auto configure drives" option of the setup program. (may be called something else in your BIOS). For name brand, modern IDE drives, this almost always gives the correct configuration, and you should think twice before changing it. HOWEVER: CDRom drives and proprietary removables (IOMega Zip, etc) usually work better with their drive DISABLED, so after autodetecting everything, disable the CD and Removeable drives. Often if you don't you'll get a "Error on slave drive" etc on boot, or you won't be able to read the drive. Note that with CD's there are special settings you can use expecially for CD-Roms. When you've configured the drives, save the configuration and continue the boot. When the boot is finished you should be at an A:\DOS prompt. Power the machine down and up again just to be on the safe side. If there's any data on any of your hard drives you should be able to see it at this point. However, on built-on-DOS installs you won't see your CDROM drive because you haven't installed the drivers. If your machine boots to an A:\DOS prompt with your "System Builder" diskette continue to the next step. Otherwise seek help from the store selling you the motherboard. [ If All Else Fails ]

Decide whether or not to Fat32


The short answer is that if you don't use DOS or legacy Windows apps, and you don't want to compress the drive, go FAT32. It's more robust, saves lots of space (over noncompressed FAT16) on big partitions, and allows you to partition by functionality, rather than just to save space with reduced cluster size. For some reason, Microsoft doesn't give you the ability to compress a FAT32 drive, so you'll need to choose between FAT32 and compression. Personnally, I'll chose compression on everything except my data drive. If you use DOS or legacy applications, it's possible that these can corrupt your new drive when run. This happens if they access clusters or sectors directly, rather than going through the normal DOS interrupt 21H. Most apps that hit sectors directly are old disk utilities and backup programs which you can now safely upgrade or throw in the garbage -- their obsolete today. Here's a feature comparison:

Fat 16 Allows disk compression Compatible with old diskdirect apps Reputed to be slightly faster Can be easily converted to FAT32 later Wastes disk space on large partitions (but allows compression) 2.1 Gig max single partition Easier to corrupt

Fat 32 Does not allow disk compression Old disk-direct apps can corrupt Fat32 drives. Reputed to be slightly slower Can't be "put back" to FAT16 without reinstallation Conserves disk space on large partitions (compared to NON compressed FAT16). 2 Terabytes max on a single partition More robust. Harder to corrupt (except with old disk utils), easier to recover. Multiple FATs can be moved around. No limit on root directory files. Ability to mirror FAT on a different drive.

Decide on your Partitions

Fill out this worksheet after reading this section. Please remember that drive letters can also be accomplished with Win98's compression software. Phys Fat Purpose / drive Type Functionality # (16/32) Comp ressed? (FAT16 only)

Ltr C: D: E: F: G: H: I: J: K: L: M: N:

Size

Your choice of partitions depends on several things:


Functionalities of Partitions Fat32 or Fat16 The number and size of physical drives Compression (FAT16 only) Your use of the computer Size of your backup media

Functionalities of Partitions
It's unwise to put everything on the C: drive. At the very least, your data should be on a different partition (or even better, a different physical drive. Here are some different functional partitions:

Program partition
Typical C: drive, incorporates the operating system and installed programs. This is the equivalent of an operating system partition and an application partition.

Operating system partition

Small partition for the operating system only. A wise choice on Fat16 systems with lots of drives. Since it's the boot drive, it's always C:

Application partition
Installed applications only. There can be several of these. Especially useful on Fat16 systems with lots of drives.

Data partition
My convention is to always make this D: Data is defined as things I or my employees made, or other things I can't replace by buying a program or re-installing. The advantage of having them on a separate partition is backups and drive transfers. The ideal situation is to have this drive be a separate physical drive so it can physically move between computers (obviously, it must be backed up before the move as a safety precaution.

Virtual memory partition


According to Windows Magazine, the most efficient way to use virtual memory (swap file) is to put it ALONE on a drive, after which the drive should be defragged. According to Windows Magazine, the swap file should be 2.5 times your RAM (I prefer 3 times). Both the minimum and maximum should be set to this figure so your computer doesn't waste time shrinking and growing this file. You can set the size and location of your swap file by StartButton/Settings/ControlPanel/System/PerformanceTab/VirtualMemoryButton.

Temp copy partition


This is SO important, but often forgotten. It should be at least as large as your date partition so you can do test restores of your data backups. It's also great for quick and dirty xcopy backups of quickly changing data, as well as a place to temporarily move programs while temporarily freeing space on other partitions.

Alternate operating system partition


Computers are cheap now. I believe the savings from dual-boot computers are overridden by greatly increased maintenance and troubleshooting. Want Linux? Grab a Pentium 75 from the junkyard and put it on. Want a hot Linux system? Grab 10 such computers and parallel them into a supercomputer. Want Win31? Why? Want Win95? If you doubt Win98 to that extent, don't convert your primary machine just yet. For the preceding reasons, I won't be discussing dual booting or alternate operating system partitions in this document.

Fat32 or Fat16

Fat16 wastes lots of space on large drives, due to its large cluster size on large drives. A single byte file will consume an entire cluster, which can be up to 32K on a 2gig drive. Therefore, on Fat16 drives, it's best to keep drive size under 511meg so each cluster will be only 8k. This requires many partitions. Typically you can compress each to put up to a gig on each partition. Fat32 uses such small clusters that multi-gig partitions result in little waste. However, in what I consider the bonehead move of the decade, Microsoft doesn't allow compression of FAT32 drives, thereby erasing all space gains from the smaller clusters. Therefore, unless you didn't want to use compression in the first place, you'll want to use FAT16. In summary, with Fat16 you partition for less than 511meg per partition (8k/cluster), in order to reduce wastage, then decide on the use of each partition later. With Fat32, you decide partitions according to the functionalites you desire, keeping in mind you'll be sacrificing disk space because you can't compress. Personally, I'll go with compressed FAT16 except on my Data drive (D:), which won't be compressed.

The number and size of physical drives


Obviously if you have a single 512meg drive, use 1 partition. On the other hand, huge drives give the opportunity for functional partitioning. And if you're using Fat16 with a large drive, you'll need plenty of partitions to keep the clusters small.

Compression
I'm a big believer in compression. On fast CPU's compression INCREASES performance by shrinking the disk access bottleneck. It also gives you the maximum disk space, which is important considering application bloat. On the other hand, I keep my data drive uncompressed on the theory that if I need to recover the data it will be easier without compression. Compression makes small partitions more practical, so all other things being equal, I'd use smaller partitions on compressed drives. Note also that you can make drive letters with compression instead of with Fdisk. This has the advantage of being changable with minimum risk to the programs and data on the disk. However, these drivespace-created virtual drives require drivespace to format, and can't be formatted from format.com.

Your use of the computer


If you use your computer as an Internet terminal and once in a while save emails, you might get away with a single partition with a data tree. On the other hand, if it's the soul

of your business (my situation), you'll need most of the partitions listed in the Functionalities of Partitions section.

Size of your backup media


No matter what backup program you use (and I recommend PKZip), disk spanning complicates things. It might be better to have two data partitions and know that your backup media can store each on a single media. Note, however, that to a certain extent this can also be accomplished using different trees on the same data partition. [ If All Else Fails ]

Install Rudimentary DOS (or command line Win95)


Note: These instructions are pretty much true whether you're using the Win95 Booter method or the DOS Booter method. This section assumes that you want to start from scratch, and that you're willing to blow off the contents of your existing hard disks (obviously they must be backed up). This section (and the rest of this document) assumes that you're using the UPGRADE version of Windows 98, rather than the full version. After all, almost everyone has had DOS and Windows 3.1, if not Win95. If you have a separate physical drive for your data (I recommend this), skip all references to Fdisking and Formatting *that* physical drive. Place your "System Builder" diskette in the A drive, and power down and up. From the A:\DOS prompt, run FDISK to partition your physical drives into logical drives. Note that one partition is more convenient, but wastes disk space due to huge clusters. At the minimum, I recommend that all your data (as opposed to programs), be on a separate logical drive. A separate physical drive would be even better. Make sure that the first partition of the first physical drive is active. Make sure the combined capacity of all logical drives on a physical drive approximately equals the capacity of the physical drive. Note that physical drives with greater than 2.1 Gig capacity must have more than one partition in Fat16 mode. If you're not familiar with the FDISK program, consult your DOS manual or ask a more knowledgeable friend. After you've partitioned your drives, you must format them. First system format your C drive with the command: FORMAT C: /U /S where the /U is for "Unconditional, don't confirm, don't provide for unformat", and the /S is for"install operating System". Format each additional logical drive with this command: FORMAT X: /U

(Substitute the actual drive letter for the X). When you're done, remove your diskette and reboot the system. You should boot to a C:\DOS prompt. Make sure you can see all the logical drives (all but C: and any you didn't FDISK and Format will be empty). If you can boot to C: and see all your drives, you're ready for the next step. Otherwise, check your work, troubleshoot, or get help. After all your drives are formatted, run the A:\DOS\XFER batch file you created earlier to copy a rudimentary DOS (or command line Win95) onto the C drive.

Test Your Printer


Power down your computer and your printer. Hook up your printer to the printer port. Power back on, make sure the printer is on-line and has paper, then from the DOS prompt type this command copy c:\autoexec.bat lpt1: The printer's data or formfeed light should go on. If it's a dot-matrix or daisy wheel printer, you should hear it print. Take the printer off-line, then press its formfeed button. You should see a copy of your autoexec.bat printed on the paper. If you don't, try the following: Reboot and go into BIOS setup. Your printer will be configured as either Normal, BiDirectional, EPP, or ECP. In my experience ECP is unreliable for running printers, so if it's ECP change it to EPP. If your motherboard has only one parallel port (typical), and if you haven't installed a card with another parallel port, your port parallel port should be configured as follows in BIOS setup: Address: 378-37F (or just 378) IRQ: IRQ7 If it's not configured that way, change to EPP, 378 and IRQ7, save, reboot, and see if it prints now. If it doesn't, check the cable and printer against another computer (borrow a laptop from someone if necessary). If the problem isn't in the printer or the cable, consult the store that sold you the motherboard. When you can print your autoexec.bat, go on to the next step. [ If All Else Fails ]

Install Your CD-ROM Drivers (if you've made a startup disk with DOS CD drivers, you can skip this section)
Your Windows 98 installation program comes on a CD-ROM, meaning you must have a working CD in DOS before installing Windows 98. Therefore you must install the CDROM drivers. Usually this is as simple as inserting the diskette that came with your CD, and typing INSTALL or SETUP. After the install or setup is complete, take out the floppy and reboot the machine. Place a CD in the CD-ROM drive and try to read it (probably on your highest drive letter). If you can't, try placing LASTDRIVE=X in your CONFIG.SYS, reboot, and try again. If still no luck, check all your cable and power connections to the CD-ROM drive, check the master/slave jumpers of the CD-ROM drive

and any hard drives attached to the same IDE cable, and check your BIOS setup for CDROM parameters. If your BIOS can auto-detect a CD-ROM, auto-detect it. Make sure MSCDEX.EXE exists in your DOS directory, and that it's being run in AUTOEXEC.BAT. If you have a later version of DOS, try stepping through the boot sequence with the F8 key (consult your DOS documentation). If you need to, seek help. Once you can read from your CD-ROM, you're ready for the next step. [ If All Else Fails ]

Install Windows 98
This is a tough step for both you and the computer. Start with a clean slate. Power the machine off, wait 15 seconds to clear all memory, then power it on. Make sure you have two diskettes, which you feel comfortable about formatting, handy. These will become your Windows 98 Startup diskettes. Place the Windows 98 CD in your CD-ROM drive, switch to the root of the CD drive with DOS commands, and type SETUP. Follow the instructions, and make choices as best you can. Windows 98 is pretty forgiving about anything you do. Since this is a fromscratch installation, the worst that can happen is you start over from booting to A: and running FDISK (or more probably just format). Windows 98 will tell you there's no previous windows on your computer, and to tell it the path to the old windows. Put your old Win95 CD in the CD drive, and assuming the CD is drive G:, browse to G:\win95. If your Win95 was installed from a floppy, put the Win95 install floppy #1 in A and browse to A:\. If you don't have a Win95 install media, you can put Win31 install diskette #1 and browse to A:\. If you have no install media --- I can't coach you on how to break copyright law. Note that the old trick of copying win.com and win31.exe to C: doesn't work with Win98. If setup repeatedly errors out it's probably a hardware problem, probably in the form of incompatible BIOS settings. Follow the instructions in the footnote section on "Dumbing Down" Your BIOS. If the setup crashes in the middle, reboot the computer with the Windows 98 CD in the CD drive. The computer will probably start back up in Win98 safe mode, and continue the setup. Win98 setup is very smart, and usually recovers from problems once the underlying hardware issue is resolved. Worst case, reboot to A: and reformat C:, following all the instructions to this point. Assuming the minimal Autoexec.bat and Config.sys described in this document, and assuming no .INI files existed on the system, repeated installation failures usually point to a hardware problem, probably in the motherboard. Bring the computer to the shop that sold you the motherboard. If they can't get Win98 to install, they should give you another motherboard.

Once you have successfully installed Windows 98, reboot the computer several times, and make sure everything works each time, including the CD-ROM, mouse, soundcard, printer and modem. If there are problems, troubleshoot them. Intermittent or reproducible loss of the CD-ROM's drive letter (in the absence of the DOS CD drivers) is often a BIOS setting problem. If the CD-ROM is absent or intermittent, perform the steps in footnote section Dumbing Down Your BIOS. If your mouse doesn't work, make sure your mouse is plugged into serial port 1, and that serial port 1 is configured as COM 1, 03F8-03FF, IRQ 4. I'd highly recommend you use a Microsoft Compatible mouse that doesn't require any special software. If you must use a special mouse, at least test with a generic mouse during installation. If for some reason it won't boot, press F8 during bootup to go into safe mode, or boot to the Windows 98 Startup Diskette you made during installation. Copy back the original autoexec.bat and config.sys, and start troubleshooting. When you can boot the computer and have everything including the CD-ROM work, you're ready for the next step. [ If All Else Fails ]

Compress and/or FAT32 Your Drives (if desired)


This is an optional step, but given the increasing size of computer programs today I'd recommend it. Compressing your disk (at least the drives containing programs) typically doubles your disk space. It's also a great test for your motherboard, CPU and BIOS. It exercises your computer's capabilities and compatibility heavily. Please remember that you can compress a drive, or FAT32 it, but not both. Decisions, decisions.

To Compress
Click Start, then Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, then Drivespace. In the Drivespace program, select the C: drive from the list, then click Drive on the menu bar, the click Compress from the dropdown. Then just follow the instructions to compress the drive. If you get file errors, especially more than 1 or 2, it usually indicates a fundamental problem. Because you've installed only a motherboard and a video card, and because you've installed no software except for operating systems, suspect hardware. If you haven't already, follow the instructions in the footnote section Dumbing Down Your BIOS. If compressing the drive produced file errors, especially if some of them weren't "useless" files like .WAV's or .TXT's, you've probably corrupted your operating system. It may not show up now, but it might show up later, like when you install that new program your

career depends on. Do the right thing now. After "Dumbing down" Your BIOS, go back to the Install Rudimentary DOS section, reformat your drives and re-install all software.

To FAT32
StartButton/Programs/Accessories/SystemTools/DriveConverter(FAT32), then follow the wizard. [ If All Else Fails ] Take heart -- Once you can get Win98 to compress its drives error free, you've probably got a reliable computer with a reliable operating system.

Install Your Parallel Iomega Zip Drive


Note: An IDE IOMega Zip Drive installs approximately the same way. You'll need to configure its master/slave jumper, as well as that of any other device sharing its IDE port, and you'll probably need to disable it (For instance, if it's the slave on IDE 2, in the bios setup disable IDE 2 slave). Obviously, you don't run the parallel port accellerator on an IDE Zip drive. These are instructions for installing an Iomega Parallel Zip Drive. When installed correctly, these drives are robust and reliable. I trust them much more than tape for backup. But, they're hard to install. Note: for installation instructions for Iomega SCSI Iomega Zip Drives, Iomega Jazz drives, and SyQuest brand drives, consult the manufacturer's instructions or the manufacturer's websites. Note: Iomega's instructions for the Zip drive say you should power up the Zip drive after powering up the computer, but before the operating system begins to load. It then goes on to say that, in practice, the best thing to do is to put both the computer and the Zip drive on the same AC switch, and power them both up and down with that switch. I STRONGLY recommend your following those instructions during Zip drive installation activities. Simply rebooting the computer may give erroneous results and lead you on a wild goose chase. After it's installed and has been working for several days, such rigorous procedures are usually not necessary.

Theoretical Installation Instructions


For a good combination of fast Zip drive performance and reliable printing, I'd recommend setting your parallel port as EPP in BIOS setup. For the very fastest ZIP drive performance, but possibly unreliable printing or inability to print, set it to ECP. Power down the computer and the Zip Drive, then screw the Zip drive's cable securely into the computer's and Zip drive's parallel ports. Simultaneously power up the computer

and Zip drive, and after Windows 98 loads, run Setup off the Zip Drive's installation diskette. Setup will first run Guest95.Exe from the Zip Drive's installation diskette. (If you're lucky) Guest95 will assign a drive letter to the Zip drive, after which you can use it like any other drive. You then take the Windows 95 Zip media installation disk and install it to your hard disk. The last step is to use the Parallel Port Accelerator, PPAOPT.EXE, to allow as much throughput as your particular parallel port will take. However, my experience is that usually Guest95 will fail to find the zip drive and assign the letter the first time.

In Practice, You'll Troubleshoot


Make sure your config.sys has a "Lastdrive=X" line for plenty of room for drive letters. The first thing to suspect is the unavailability of a drive letter. You'll want to put the ZIP drive after the CD-ROM, but before the host drives for your compressed drives. You'll definitely want to put it before any network drives. To do this, you need to "pin down" any other drive letters. Go into device manager (Start/Settings/Control Panel/System Icon/Device Manager Tab). You should see an entry in the tree called CD-ROM, below which is (are) the individual CD-ROM drive(s). For each CD-Drive listed, go into its properties, click the settings tab, and set the reserved drive letters. On a single CD drive, set both the start drive letter and end drive letter to the same letter, being one above the last compressed drive (but before any drives hosting compressed drives). If you aren't using compression, simply set the letter to be one above the last logical hard drive. This will "pin down" the drive letter for the CD. Next, "pin down" the drive letters for drives hosting the compressed drives. Go into Drivespace (Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Drivespace). In the Drivespace program, select the one host drive, then click "Advanced" from the menu bar, and "Change Letter" from the dropdown. Set the letter to make room for the Zip drive. Repeat with each host as necessary. It may be necessary to insert a "LASTDRIVE" command in Config.sys, I'm not sure. After you're done, close out all programs, power down both the computer and the Zip, then power them both up at the same time.. Run Guest95 again and see if it assigns a drive. If it does, reboot and test several times to make sure there's no problem. If there are any problems, continue with the troubleshooting. Make sure the Zip Drive cable is securely screwed into both your computer's parallel port and the Zip drive's connector. Make sure NO cable is connected to the Zip drive's passthrough connector (we'll add the printer later). Then power down both, and power them up at the same time. If the problem goes away, test through several power-up sequences. If that cured the problem, power everything down and connect the printer to the Zip drive's pass through connection. Test both Zip drive operation and printing. If the drive works fine but the printer doesn't, and if the parallel port's configured as ECP, go into BIOS setup and reconfigure it as EPP. If there are problems with either the ZIP drive or the printing, continue troubleshooting. If there are still problems at this point, go into BIOS setup and make sure the parallel port drive isn't configured as ECP. If it is, change it to EPP. Then follow the instructions as

outlined in footnote section Dumbing Down Your BIOS. Save the BIOS configuration, then power everything down and up at the same time, and once again run Guest95.Exe. If it still doesn't find a drive letter at this point, you'll need professional help. [ If All Else Fails ] Once again, after a drive letter can be reliably created and maintained, use the Parallel Port Accelerator program (PPAOPT.EXE) to accelerate the port.

Restore Your Data


If you backed up onto floppies, simply restore with the same program. If you backed up to a Zip drive, restore using the same program. I would HIGHLY recommend that you dedicate one logical drive (an entire physical drive would be even better) to contain your data and nothing but your data. This will make future backups much easier, and prevent "old configuration garbage" from sneaking back when you re-install an operating system from scratch. If you've chosen to use tape backup to back up your old data, keep in mind it might not restore on Windows 98. With tape backups, do not format or otherwise molest your old disk until you've successfully restored to your new disk, and then successfully backed up the result onto another tape or other media using a Windows 98 aware backup program. Once your data is restored, I'd recommend immediately backing it up (not onto the same media as your old data). Keep both the last backup of your old system and your first backup of your new system for at least a year in case anything got lost without your noticing.

Install Your Windows Software


First install a virus checker, and run it. I highly recommend Norton Antivirus because they allow you perpetual virus signature updates via the web. This makes you safer because you always have the latest. Then install any Microsoft software. It's been my observation that, after Microsoft installations, other programs such as WordPerfect and Borland products, often develop problems. You can interpret this any way you want to, but I'd recommend installing Microsoft products first, then your products from competing vendors. I haven't seen the other vendors installations trash the Microsoft products.

Install Peripherals One at a Time


Additional CD-ROMS or Removable drives

Install one at a time, following manufacturers instructions. If anything goes wrong, take them out again and see if the symptom goes away. Troubleshoot as necessary.

Modem
I recommend an internal modem because a serial cable is one more thing that can go wrong. However, a lot of people like the fact that you can see the lights and reset an external modem. The choice is yours. Either way, configure the modem as COM 2, 02F802FF, IRQ 3. If you use an internal modem, you'll go into BIOS setup and either disable the motherboard's second built-in serial port, or reconfigure it as COM 3. Keep in mind that you cannot use Com1 and Com3 at the same time, no matter how many com ports you have. Then configure all your communications software and Win98 Dial Up Networking. This can be complicated, so I'd recommend you call your Internet Service Provider for instructions. If there are problems, let them help you. Once you're online you'll feel much better because you can get technical information from the Web.

Sound Card
Traditionally the most challenging peripheral to install. I'd recommend buying a namebrand to minimize uncertainty, then try to have Windows 98 detect it as new hardware. If there are problems, use the Windows 98 Help diagnostics to step you through conflicts.

Network Cards
This is beyond the scope of this document. Refer this task to your Network Administrator. [ If All Else Fails ]

"Smart Up" Your BIOS


If you "dumbed down" your BIOS setup, your performance will suffer. Obviously, some element of the "fast" BIOS settings didn't agree with your setup, but which one. To start, enable primary and secondary cache, but leave everything else uncached and unshadowed. This gives maximum performance gain with minimum risk of problems. Test thoroughly with all software. Then, once a week, enable one more cache or shadow, and see if problems occur during the week. If so, back that change out. After a few weeks, you'll have an optimally configured, but reliable, system.

Footnotes:

These are link destinations in the original HTML, but on paper they're footnotes.

A:\CONFIG.SYS (Win95 booter system builder diskette)


DEVICE=\DOS\AOATAPI.SYS /D:IDECD000 LASTDRIVE=X

NOTE: Your CD driver might not be named AOATAPI.SYS.

A:\CONFIG.SYS (DOS booter system builder diskette)


DEVICE=\DOS\SETVER.EXE DEVICE=\DOS\\HIMEM.SYS DOS=HIGH

A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT (Win95 booter system builder diskettes)


@ECHO OFF PROMPT $p$g PATH \DOS CD \DOS \DOS\MSCDEX.EXE /D:IDECD000 /L:X DOSKEY

A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT (dos booter system builder diskettes)


@ECHO OFF PROMPT $p$g PATH \DOS CD \DOS DOSKEY

A:\XFER.BAT (both dos and Win95 booter system builder diskettes)


Copy a:\autoexec.bat c:\autoexec.bat Copy a:\config.sys c:\config.sys XCopy a:\dos\*.* c:\dos\*.* /s

"Dumbing Down" Your BIOS


Some BIOS settings, especially Caching and Shadowing, can cause problems. Reboot the system, go into BIOS setup, and look for a "safe defaults" setting. If any kind of "safe defaults" setting is available, choose it. After doing that, re-detect all your drives. Shut off ALL caching and shadowing, including: Disable Internal (L1) cache Disable External (L2) cache

Disable Caching of system BIOS Set Caching and shadowing of the video ROM to disabled. Disable all caching and shadowing of memory locations C000-FFFF Don't worry about performance -- later you can turn most of the caching and shadowing on, 1 by 1, to gain back most of your performance while keeping any offending settings disabled.

Static Electricity Precautions


I know -- we've all seen computer technicians casually touch boards without grounding themselves, put boards anywhere, and even walk across carpeting holding boards and place them down on metal. But they have plenty of replacement boards if they "blow" this one. They don't have to drive all the way back to the store and argue whose fault it is. You want to follow precautions. Always place boards on their static-proof bags. Turn off the computer's power switch, but leave the computer plugged into a grounded outlet so its chassis is grounded. Ground yourself on the computer's chassis before touching a board. Don't let your clothing rub against any boards. Try to handle boards by the edges. Don't walk with boards. If you must walk with a board, put it in its static-proof bag. Always turn off the computer (with the power switch, not the power cord) before connecting or disconnecting anything, whether inside the computer (such as IDE cables or peripheral boards) or out (such as mice and printer cables). Remember, if a professional technician blows out a board it costs him 5 minutes to put in a replacement. If you blow a board, it might cost you a day. [ If All Else Fails ]

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