Win98 fresh install

Sleekmac · 11-20-2003, 11:11 AM

Hello out there! I am new to the forum and hoping someone can help me with this issue I am having. Recently I formatted my hard drive and used FDISK to repartition the drive. I want to install Windows 2000, and I have the four floppies as well as the cd. My problem is, I have a notbook computer with only one multibay...so I can't have both the floppy drive and the cd drive plugged in simultaneously.
The pc does boot off the hard drive, straight into the non-GUI version of Win98. It does not recognize the cd rom drive in the multibay (d: drive invalid), however it does recognize the floppy. I know that if I had the D drive plugged in during the win98 startup, it would recognize the device and load the drivers for it, but I can't since the a drive is plugged in at that point. I downloaded the multibay drivers from compaq but the setup.exe file will only open in a gui version of windows.

Anyways, my question is, isn't there a way I can copy the files from the win98 boot floppy onto my c drive, plug in my d drive, reboot and make it start the win98 setup not from the floppy, but from the c drive? Sort of trick the bios into thinking the image of the floppy is the floppy? I know the drivers I need are in there, it's just a matter of getting them to unpack themselves.
If anybody has some experience with this type of problem, your help would be much appreciated!

Oh, and a shout out to the brilliant geniuses at Compaq, who came up with the idea for having c and a drives plug into the same port, and then only including one such port in the finished product. bravo

Chevy · 11-20-2003, 01:49 PM

Power down the laptop, install the CD-ROM drive, power up, go into the BIOS and make sure the CD-ROM is a boot device and is before the hard drive, insert the Win2k CD, reboot.

The WIn2k CD is bootable, and will start the install.

Sleekmac · 11-20-2003, 02:33 PM

I tried that already...When I go to the BIOS, the boot hierarchy is set as foloows:
1. Multibay
2. Local Hard Drive
3. Ethernet

"Multibay" is where I can put the A: drive OR the D: drive. (it's a laptop).

If I try to boot from a floppy, it boots right up. But when I try to boot using the CD drive, it just wont work. If I boot from the hard drive and then insert a cd, it wont let me access the drive. I am thinking the necessary drivers are not installed. But the only way for me to install them is to boot off a floppy, which leads us into paradox country. Can't have them both plugged in at once.

I do have a firewire cd-r drive which I will try to boot off of later. Maybe if I have the PCMCIA firewire adapter plugged in when the floppy boot occurs, it will be able to load some generic drivers that will let me connect that way. Otherwise, I think I have to buy a parallel adapter for the floppy and try it that way.

Volt-Schwibe · 11-20-2003, 03:22 PM

if you have a friend with a burner, you can make a cd that will emulate a floppy, and add the entire windows 98 disk to it.

then, you will have a bootable win98 disk that boots like a floppy, and perhaps your machine can boot this way.

otherwise, you can start it from a floppy, and then format c: /s

then, copy the contents of the floppy to dirve c:

then next time you boot, it should boot from c as if it was the floppy....

but when you install over this, it will leave it behind, and your install will be screwy.

~BoB~

Sleekmac · 11-21-2003, 08:24 AM

Chevy, Bob Thanks. Amazingly, I was able to solve this problem last night by using my ACOM 8x cd writable drive. Who knew the windows 2000 4-floppy boot disks would include drivers for that as well as firewire PCMCIA cards? So I was able to install off the cd after all. Thanks for the help!
Don

11-20-2003, 11:11 AM	#1 (permalink)
Sleekmac Registered User Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 17 OS: Win2K	Win98 fresh install Hello out there! I am new to the forum and hoping someone can help me with this issue I am having. Recently I formatted my hard drive and used FDISK to repartition the drive. I want to install Windows 2000, and I have the four floppies as well as the cd. My problem is, I have a notbook computer with only one multibay...so I can't have both the floppy drive and the cd drive plugged in simultaneously. The pc does boot off the hard drive, straight into the non-GUI version of Win98. It does not recognize the cd rom drive in the multibay (d: drive invalid), however it does recognize the floppy. I know that if I had the D drive plugged in during the win98 startup, it would recognize the device and load the drivers for it, but I can't since the a drive is plugged in at that point. I downloaded the multibay drivers from compaq but the setup.exe file will only open in a gui version of windows. Anyways, my question is, isn't there a way I can copy the files from the win98 boot floppy onto my c drive, plug in my d drive, reboot and make it start the win98 setup not from the floppy, but from the c drive? Sort of trick the bios into thinking the image of the floppy is the floppy? I know the drivers I need are in there, it's just a matter of getting them to unpack themselves. If anybody has some experience with this type of problem, your help would be much appreciated! Oh, and a shout out to the brilliant geniuses at Compaq, who came up with the idea for having c and a drives plug into the same port, and then only including one such port in the finished product. bravo

11-20-2003, 01:49 PM	#2 (permalink)
Chevy Retired Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Notlob Posts: 5,452 OS: Vista Ultimate My System	Easy Power down the laptop, install the CD-ROM drive, power up, go into the BIOS and make sure the CD-ROM is a boot device and is before the hard drive, insert the Win2k CD, reboot. The WIn2k CD is bootable, and will start the install.

11-20-2003, 02:33 PM	#3 (permalink)
Sleekmac Registered User Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 17 OS: Win2K	cd rom drive is not recognized I tried that already...When I go to the BIOS, the boot hierarchy is set as foloows: 1. Multibay 2. Local Hard Drive 3. Ethernet "Multibay" is where I can put the A: drive OR the D: drive. (it's a laptop). If I try to boot from a floppy, it boots right up. But when I try to boot using the CD drive, it just wont work. If I boot from the hard drive and then insert a cd, it wont let me access the drive. I am thinking the necessary drivers are not installed. But the only way for me to install them is to boot off a floppy, which leads us into paradox country. Can't have them both plugged in at once. I do have a firewire cd-r drive which I will try to boot off of later. Maybe if I have the PCMCIA firewire adapter plugged in when the floppy boot occurs, it will be able to load some generic drivers that will let me connect that way. Otherwise, I think I have to buy a parallel adapter for the floppy and try it that way.

11-20-2003, 03:22 PM	#4 (permalink)
Volt-Schwibe Asst. Manager, Automotive Forums; HJT Trainee Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Behind you, watching you as you type. Posts: 7,372 OS: Click "My System" to view details My System	if you have a friend with a burner, you can make a cd that will emulate a floppy, and add the entire windows 98 disk to it. then, you will have a bootable win98 disk that boots like a floppy, and perhaps your machine can boot this way. otherwise, you can start it from a floppy, and then format c: /s then, copy the contents of the floppy to dirve c: then next time you boot, it should boot from c as if it was the floppy.... but when you install over this, it will leave it behind, and your install will be screwy. ~BoB~ __________________ <signature> TSF is funded by our Admin's pocket, care to help? Power Tip: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. New Members: Creating a single new thread in the correct section is the best way to assure your thread will receive a reply. </signature>

11-21-2003, 08:24 AM	#5 (permalink)
Sleekmac Registered User Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 17 OS: Win2K	thanks! Chevy, Bob Thanks. Amazingly, I was able to solve this problem last night by using my ACOM 8x cd writable drive. Who knew the windows 2000 4-floppy boot disks would include drivers for that as well as firewire PCMCIA cards? So I was able to install off the cd after all. Thanks for the help! Don