Uninstalled Windows XP in order to revert back to Win98

mronederful1911 · 09-04-2009, 11:36 PM

I unistalled windows XP in order to restore my computer to its natural operating system windows 98. I expected a smooth rollback, but it didn't happen. After the uninstall and restart, Windows 98 will not load. I get a message about something missing (file/application data). Also says something about something(s) may not work press a key to continue. Well I pressed a key and nothing happens. When I turn it off manually and restore it takes me to safe mode, but I can't back up my important data. What do I do? I took the hard drive with the data out in case I need to do a product recovery.

**OldGrayGary** · 09-05-2009, 03:01 PM

Hi mronederful1911

If you have a Windows 98 installation CD, copy the files you wish to save from the old installation off onto another disk (hard disk, CD, DVD -- doesn't matter). If you don't have another computer to use to do this, see if a friend can help you. You can access the hard drive by attaching it in an external hard drive enclosure, or with a USB/IDE adapter, or by attaching it inside another computer using an IDE cable (be careful not to boot from it when it is slaved internally). Then erase the old hard drive & clean install Windows 98.

If you have a Recovery/Restore disk for your PC, backup your files (same as above), and run the recovery following the instructions from the manufacturer. A full Recovery/Restore completely erases the current installation, and copies the factory original hard drive image (so the PC should appear just as it did when it first arrived home from the store).
__________

Best of luck
. . . Gary

09-04-2009, 11:36 PM	#1 (permalink)
mronederful1911 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 47 OS: Windows XP	Uninstalled Windows XP in order to revert back to Win98 I unistalled windows XP in order to restore my computer to its natural operating system windows 98. I expected a smooth rollback, but it didn't happen. After the uninstall and restart, Windows 98 will not load. I get a message about something missing (file/application data). Also says something about something(s) may not work press a key to continue. Well I pressed a key and nothing happens. When I turn it off manually and restore it takes me to safe mode, but I can't back up my important data. What do I do? I took the hard drive with the data out in case I need to do a product recovery. Last edited by mronederful1911; 09-04-2009 at 11:37 PM.

09-05-2009, 03:01 PM	#2 (permalink)
OldGrayGary Mentor, Microsoft Support Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Woodland Hills, CA Posts: 2,240 OS: Windows 98se/2000/XP/Vista	Re: Uninstalled Windows XP in order to revert back to Win98 Hi mronederful1911 If you have a Windows 98 installation CD, copy the files you wish to save from the old installation off onto another disk (hard disk, CD, DVD -- doesn't matter). If you don't have another computer to use to do this, see if a friend can help you. You can access the hard drive by attaching it in an external hard drive enclosure, or with a USB/IDE adapter, or by attaching it inside another computer using an IDE cable (be careful not to boot from it when it is slaved internally). Then erase the old hard drive & clean install Windows 98. If you have a Recovery/Restore disk for your PC, backup your files (same as above), and run the recovery following the instructions from the manufacturer. A full Recovery/Restore completely erases the current installation, and copies the factory original hard drive image (so the PC should appear just as it did when it first arrived home from the store). __________ Best of luck . . . Gary __________________