[OldGrayGary]

Hi striver

If you have access to a Windows 98 2nd Edition installation CD --> then you can try an over-the-top reinstallation of Windows 98se, provided that the hardware is sound enough. [License note: it is OK to borrow an installation disk for repair purposes, so long as that disk is a retail disk, as so long as you continue using your original product key/license].

Here are your next steps
1) Make sure your hardware is OK
2) Try an "over-the-top" (also called an "in-place reinstallation")

Make sure your hardware is OK
1) Try the Dell Diagnostics - (these can run from the Resource CD, if you have one, or from floppy diskettes, or from the Restore/repair partition on your hard drive = if your model came with that)
2) An alternative for testing, should you not have access to the Dell Diagnostics at the moment, is to use MemTest86+ to test the memory --- http://www.memtest.org --- and to use the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostics to test the hard drive --- http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287
3) Check that your Bios Settings are OK. Enter Bios Setup by pressing the key mentioned in either the banner "Press F1 (or F2, F10, or DEL, etc.) to Enter Setup" or on the Dell Splash screen at startup. Make sure that the date/time are staying put (if not, the CMOS battery on the laptop might need replacing). Check that the timings and devices look OK - Bios guides should be available for your model on the Dell site.

Try an "over-the-top"
If the hardware all checks out OK, try the over-the-top. If all goes well, you won't lose any of your documents or other saved data, and you won't have to reinstall programs.
1) Follow the details from this guide I put together a few years ago. Pay close attention to the details! If you do, it should only take about 40-45 minutes, and then you'll be visiting Windows Update after that ---
Over the top ReInstall of Win9x
http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=70846

This should get your system files back in places where they ought to be.

Should you not have any access to a Win98se installation CD, check on the Dell site to see what your Restore/Recovery options are for your model.

Best of luck
. . . Gary


[P.S. --- you might be surprised by my mention of Windows Update for Windows 98se -- It still works, it's just that there aren't any new updates after that time when full support ended -- around mid-summer 2006, I believe = so you can get everything until then: which is still quite useful]

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi again

Before going any farther, see if your computer can boot and run the diagnostics diskettes or CD. No sense in killing yourself trying to figure software solutions if there's hardware failure underneath. And most systems still running Windows 98 are heading into end-of-expected-use territory. The Dell Diagnostics for some of their models can run directly from the Resources CD, if you've got it around. You can also download the Dell Diagnostics and run them from a floppy diskette. (check on their website for those)

You also have the choice of trying MemTest86+ and the diagnostics from your hard drive's manufacturer (follow the links in my last reply).
______________

Software questions:
1) Does version 2.0 of SystemWorks have GoBack included on it? If so, did you install it?
2) Can you boot into Safe Mode at all?
3) Did your Dell come with Restore/Recovery Disks? Did it also come with a Windows 98 CD that you can use seperately from the Dell Recovery procedure?
4) Were the step-by-step Win98 reinstall guide instructions centered around using a Restore/Recovery CD?
5) Did the step-by-step Dell Win98 reinstall start from within Windows, from DOS, or from a Dell Recovery environment?
6) Do you have any data on that system that you absolutely need, and don't have backups of anywhere else?

Good luck & keep at it - there are lots of things to try
. . . Gary

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi again


When you downloaded the diagnostics for your Inspiron 7000, did you use the diskette version made specifically for that model? If not, here is a link to those made just for the 7000 --- http://support.dell.com/support/dow...=1&vercnt=2&formatcnt=1&libid=13&fileid=19970

It's a little interesting to me that they made a special diagnostic just for that model - quite a few are fairly generic and cover many models. Never a dull moment - always something new to discover.
_____________________

If everything checks out OK on the hardware side (if the diagnostics all look good) - you can try reinstalling Windows 98 again. Only this time, we'll do something a little different. This time, place the Dell Windows 98 Cd in the CD-drive, place the Dell bootable diskette in the floppy drive, and reboot from the floppy (make sure in the Bios beforehand that floppies boot first). After booting to the DOS prompt from the Dell floppy diskette, type the following commands that are in bold:
A:> C:
C:> cd \windows
C:\Windows> rename win.com win.old
C:\Windows> D: --- where D is the drive letter of your CD-drive
D:> Setup --- if Setup does not begin immediately, type the directory command (dir/p) this will list the contents of the CD one screen at a time. If there is a Win98 directory, Setup might be in there. If it is, change to that directory =
D:> cd \Win98
D:\Win98> Setup

You may need to have your Dell Windows 98 product key handy (probably on a sticker on the bottom of the laptop).

If the over-the-top fails, and your backups are extensive enough, you can try a "clean" install, restoring your data as necessary.

If the over-the-top succeeds, you can visit Windows Update as quickly as possible to get up-to-date with the many Critical Updates through mid-2006.

Good luck - hope it goes well -
. . . Gary

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi again


Unfortunately, even well-cared for systems sometimes have hardware that fails. And even during regular wear-and-tear, it's normal for a hard drive to eventually fail after six or seven years (they often go longer, but many don't). But there's no way to be certain until some basic set of diagnostics have managed to run their tests.

Next:
1) Try creating the Dell Diagnostics again, with a different floppy diskette. Make sure to use the one made specifically for your model first (the one in the link in my last reply).
2) If that fails, try things with a MemTest86+ diskette [just to see if the system is stable enough to run some memory tests].
3) If no diagnostics run from the floppy drive, it is a possibility that the drive itself isn't in great shape. To rule that out, try CD-based diagnostics (the links in my original reply point to diagnostics that can be created for both floppies or CDs -- at this point, it'd be time to try the CD-based tests. You boot the computer from the CD with the diagnostics on it, and run the tests from there).

. . . if the hard drive is OK, and your Dell Windows 98 CD is still in good enough shape, we can still get Windows 98 back on there --- even if the floppy drive is history (we can start the computer into DOS with a 98se Cd, "start computer with CD-ROM support", rename win.com from there, and start Setup at that point).

I'll stay tuned. . .
. . . Gary

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi again

Floppy Stuff
If we could get the floppy drive to co-operate, this is the standard method for running the diagnostics on your model. [It's too bad that your model is somewhat unique in its diagnostics, for many other models have bootable CD versions of the diagnostics available via download -- Alas, not so for the 7000].

When you created the Dell Diagnostic floppy diskette, did you double-click the I7K-394B.exe file, which began a process that self-extracted the files, and wrote them to your diskette, creating a bootable floppy diskette with the diagnostics? If not: create the diskette in exactly this way (use a fairly new floppy if you have one).

If yes: then you booted with the diskette, and received the "remove disks..." message? I'm thinking that what you are seeing is not a message from the Dell diagnostics - I'm thinking you are seeing a message from the Windows 98 Setup (that you started & aborted a few days ago) .. I think it's possible that your system isn't seeing the floppy at all. That message could be coming from Setup files still present on the C: drive from your interrupted Setup.

So let's try:
1) Enter Bios Setup, and double-check that the floppy is still set to be the first device in the Boot Order. Put the floppy first, the CD-ROM second, and the hard drive third. (Another thing: see if the date & time are OK = if not, let me know). Don't "Save Settings & Exit" yet.
2) Put the Dell Diagnostics diskette (already fully extracted) in the floppy drive
3) Put your Windows 98 CD in the CD-ROM drive.
4) Now select "Save Settings & Exit" to exit Bios Setup
5) Your computer will now boot either into the Dell Diagnostics, or from the CD-rom.

If the computer boots into the Dell Diagnostics:
1) Follow the instructions, and run full tests.

If the computer boots from the Windows 98 CD-ROM:
1) Select "Start computer with CD-Rom support" (Yes, this is real DOS).
2) From the resulting command prompt, type A:
3) If you are then able to see an A:> prompt, type dir/p
4) You should see the files on the Dell diskette list, one page at a time. I'm not sure which executable starts the diagnostics, there might be just a few listed: if you'd like, copy the executables down, post the list here, & I'll suggest which is likely to be the one to start the diagnostics. This is an unorthodox method of starting them= I'm not sure if it will work or not. One tip: don't try to start the diagnostics by typing I7K-394B.exe -- that is only the name of the zipped download, & won't start the tests.

If you can't get to an A:> prompt, the drive, or it's controller, has likely failed.
__________________________________

All this is only if we insist on trying the Dell Diagnostics. Actually, since we know the computer can boot from the CD, we could simply use different diagnostic tools. If you have a friend with broadband (or have broadband yourself, and another computer to use), you can try making an "Ultimate Boot CD" --- http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ --- This is a bootable CD that has many diagnostic tools already on it - including MemTest86+ to test the memory, and most major hard drive manufacturer's diagnostics tools -- if you don't know the brand of your Inspiron's hard drive, the UBCD has the DOS version of ASTRA on it, which can try to detect your hard drive (and other system components as well). All the details about making the UBCD and how to use it are on their website.

That will be the way to go if the floppy drive is just dead.

See if this gets the tests going - I'm definitely interested to see what they tell us about the health of the hard drive.
You're hanging in there pretty well, I'd say!
. . . Gary

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi again

Floppy Stuff - our favorite topic

Try creating the Dell Diagnostic floppy again. You need to execute the I7K-394B.exe file (or "Open" the file, which would run it). It is a self-extracting file. When "executed" or "opened" it will likely prompt you to place a freshly formatted, blank floppy diskette in the floppy drive [by the way = do this from a computer with a known-good floppy drive], and should then "extract" or "unzip" the compressed files and write them onto the diskette in the floppy drive.

If you right-click and choose "Save As", you are just saving the file to the floppy in it's compressed form.

You can "execute" or "open" I7K-394B.exe by either double-left-clicking on it, or by right-clicking and selecting "Open". Either method produces the same result.

Then try booting from that floppy & see if the Dell Diagnostics finally do their testing magic.
_______________________

Re: the repair notes from the Dell you quoted ---
1) The first describes running a Quick Check diagnostic on the hard drive, by starting the Dell Diagnostics from the Dell Diagnostics partition on the hard drive. I'm expecting that the partition is no longer there: but it can't hurt to try [it would be a nice surprise if the partition is still there, and the diagnostics can run from it]. If, as I suspect, the diagnostics cannot run via the F12 method, we still can run them from the floppy (if the floppy drive itself is healthy enough). And we still have the option of using the UBCD.
2) The next two articles concern the boot order once Windows 98 original-edition has been installed ( isn't your version of Windows 98 the "2nd Edition"?). I doubt that you'd see this error in a Win98se install/reinstall... If you did, you'd simply enter Bios Setup, change the boot order to A, C, CD-ROM, and you'd be OK.
______________________

If we do end up needing to use the hard-drive manufacturer's diagnostics, from that same Bios screen that showed your CD drive as a Toshiba, look for the brand/model/size of the hard drive. (If you can see just the brand, that'd do OK).

And -- let us know if your Windows 98 is 98-original or 98-2nd Edition (it might be on the CD's label).

Time for this tired tech to sleep for a bit. Maybe I'll wake up to hear that your Inspiron is working great again.
. . . Gary

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi again

I certainly understand being busy! No problem at all...

Glad to hear that diagnostics were able to run, and gave the memory and hard drive a bill of health. So let's try an "over-the-top", in an effort to keep your current data and programs in place.
___________
Preparation -
Stay disconnected from networks, cameras, PDAs, printers, scanners, USB drives, flash memory readers, etc - until the 'over-the-top' is finished.

Over-the-top reinstallation -
This time, place the Dell Windows 98 Cd in the CD-drive, place a bootable Win98 diskette from bootdisk.com in the floppy drive http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm (try the Win98 "no Ram disk" -> the download is an executable that creates a floppy - put a blank in the floppy drive to write to) , and reboot from the floppy (make sure in the Bios beforehand that floppies boot first). After booting to the DOS prompt from the floppy diskette, type the following commands that are in bold:
A:> C:
C:> cd \windows
C:\Windows> rename win.com win.old
C:\Windows> D: --- where D is the drive letter of your CD-drive
D:> Setup --- if Setup does not begin immediately, type the directory command (dir/p) this will list the contents of the CD one screen at a time. If there is a Win98 directory, Setup might be in there. If it is, change to that directory =
D:> cd \Win98
D:\Win98> Setup

You may need to have your Dell Windows 98 product key handy (probably on a sticker on the bottom of the laptop).

Afterwards - When done, make sure your antivirus, antispyware, and firewall are installated before reconnecting to networks (especially the Internet). Then visit Windows Update to reinstall any Critical Updates that might need to be reinstalled (updates through to summer 2006 are still available).
____________

The Win98 bootdisk from bootdisk.com contains many CD-ROM drivers, and can usually find most CD-ROM drives - which is necessary, since we are reinstalling from your CD.

Hope it goes well!
. . . Gary

[P.S. --- if, during any of your previous tries, you've already renamed the "win.com" file, you'll receive an error giving the rename command. That's OK - just continue to the next few steps]

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi again

About the CD-rom drive letter:

If you use a Win98 bootable diskette other than the "No-RAM Disk" version from bootdisk.com, it will likely change the drive letter of your cd-drive for that period of time when the computer has booted from the floppy. The cd-drive will go back to it's normal letter again when you boot from the hard drive later. Why does this happen? ---> Many bootable diskettes create a "virtual" drive in the system memory (a "RAM disk") - and it gets a drive letter as a result, changing your cd-drive to another letter = if you watch closely while the system boots from such a diskette, it will often show the letter it has assigned the cd-drive in it's startup messages ---(often something like "R" or "G") --- it doesn't hurt anything to just keep trying different drive letters from the command prompt - sort of fishing about to see which one the drive has.

Sounds like you are getting close to enjoying a running system again.
. . . Gary

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi striver

Goodness! While your adventures might be considered sort of fun and interesting by a tech, I'm sure it wasn't much fun at all for you during your latest ordeal!

Before we start things again - do you know how much free space is available on the drive? [This information should have come up at some point when you were running the Dell Diagnostics]. I would expect that you have enough room, but I figure it can't hurt to make sure.

Also, before we try again - enter the Inspiron's Bios Setup screens, and disable the Bios Antivirus protection = this needs to be turned off during a Windows install/reinstall, as Windows 9x installations write to the MBR (which is problematic if the Bios Antivirus is turned on - it has a tendency to see Windows attempt to install as a virus).

Since the computer can boot from the CD - let's try again, only this time, choose "Start computer with CD-rom Support". This should bring you to a command prompt. Now we are going to rename the win.com file, like this:
C:> cd \Windows
C:\Windows> rename win.com win.old
Then we are going to try to run Setup again -
C:\Windows> D:
D:> cd \Win98
D:\Win98> Setup

Setup should no longer find the previous installation, because you have renamed the win.com file, and should proceed to reinstall.

Note that if a serious virus infection is present, it can stall an operation system install.

If the reinstallation continues to fail, you may need to try a strategy that will scan the current data on the drive for malware. An "Ultimate Boot CD" can be helpful for this. Instructions for making the UBCD bootable CD, and using it to scan for malware, are available at their website --- http://www.ultimatebootcd.com . [Or --you could try removing the hard drive, putting it in an external USB 2.0 hard drive enclosure, and scanning the drive when connected to a another computer].

See if things go better with the Bios Antivirus off, and the win.com file renamed.
. . . Gary

[P.S. Fairly strange behavior by the floppy drive - at one point, it's functional enough to boot into the Dell Diagnostics - and then, suddenly, it cant read anything in the drive.]

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi again

Looks like you don't have to worry about any Bios Antivirus - it doesn't look like your Dell motherboard has that option. For whatever reason, Dell doesn't provide voltage/temperature readings in many of the Bios versions, either.

I'll keep my fingers crossed a bit, too
. . . Gary

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi striver

The symptoms you've mentioned keep pointing to something wrong with the hard drive. When you ran the Dell Diagnostics, did it run an advanced test on the hard drive? (it should have taken a little while to run). The way things have been going, it certainly does seem that the hard drive might be failing [hard drives making a rythmic clicking sound while not responding is often sign of drive failure].

Tell you what, let's get a second opinion, by running another diagnostic.

Since we don't know for sure what hard drive is in the system (the Toshiba XM-1802B - is the CD-ROM drive), let's try this: enter the Bios Setup screens, and see if this information is displayed under one of the menus (in some versions it isn't). If not, you can try using a bootable CD like the "Ultimate Boot CD" that I mentioned earlier - it has a detection tool (the old Astra utility should do the trick) that can detect the model of your drive. The "UBCD" also has several manufacturer's hard disk tools contained on it - one of which might be made specifically for yours. If your drive happens to be a Toshiba hard drive, for which there are no specialized manufacturer's diagnostics available for download (to my knowledge, anyway), we can try the IBM/Hitachi Drive Fitness Test, which can run generic tests on non-IBM/non-Hitachi drives (and if we are lucky, and your drive is an IBM, it can run more extensive tests on it). In the version of the UBCD I have here at the house, the IBM/Hitachi test is included on it.

Another option would be to try the Dell Diagnostics again -there may be a screen in the diagnostics that identifies the drive. You could also poke around and try an "extended" hard drive test, if one exists.
________

I'd expect to see an error. Most Inspiron 7000s have likely been retired from daily use by now. Owners like yourself, who have taken above-average care of their computers, and had a little luck on their sides too - can enjoy their laptops a few years longer than most. Sooner or later - the drive will wear out. When it does, I think it'd be best to retire the system (unless you have a free spare part to replace whatever fails). Laptop prices have dropped so much that it doesn't make economic sense to spend money to repair a P-II based laptop. As little as $450 can bring home a laptop several computing generations advanced from the P-II ($500 nowadays can even bring one home with a CD/DVD writer, 80gb+ hard drive, 15" display, memory card reader, wired & wireless ethernet networking, and more -- some dealers even throw in a printer).

But hopefully - that little message is for a future time! Let's see if your 7000 is still ready to go another lap or two around the calendar.

Since you have good backups, here's your new list
1) Run diagnostics - especially on the hard drive.
2) If the hard drive passes the "extended" hard drive tests, try a clean install of Windows with your Windows 98 system CD:
3) Boot the system with the CD.
4) Choose "Start Windows with CD-rom support"
5) From the command prompt, use the fdisk utility to delete the current DOS partitions (leave any "Non-DOS" partitions where they are - some Dells have Non-DOS restore/diagnositic partitions = you should not delete these unless you are sure you no longer need them).
6) Use the fdisk utility to create a Primary DOS partition, and mark it active. Say "Yes" to the "Enable Large Hard Disk Support?" prompt.
7) With the Windows CD still in the cd-drive, reboot from the CD, and let Windows 98 Setup start. It will offer to format the drive for you, let it (it will use it's native FAT32 file-system). Then just follow the prompts.
8) Before you reconnect to any networks, be sure to have an antivirus program installed and running, and have a firewall installed (and/or also be behind a hardware firewall, if possible). You'll need to visit Windows Update to catch up with a lot of Critical Updates - these will be available up to the point in mid-2006, when such patches were no longer created (the old ones are still available, though).
9) Scan your backups for malware before restoring the older data to your fresh installation.
10) Enjoy the computer you've worked so hard to repair.

And, I've mentioned it in other posts, but I'll mention it here also --- I keep an old 1997 Windows 98 2nd Edition laptop in good running condition here at the house (it came with the original Windows 98) - it's powered by a 233mhz Pentium, and only has 64mb (the max) of memory: but my littlest nieces and nephews enjoy it just as if it were a Core Duo, when Pooh Bear tells them a story on it

Hope the drive turns out OK after all (or you round up a free/inexpensive replacement) & you can enjoy it again
. . . Gary

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi again


Yes - it's likely that a bad sector has developed on the disk (about 11% of the way in). If everything else in the system is fine, and the extended diagnostics indicate the drive is failing, you can replace the drive fairly easily for about $50 (shipping included) [something like this drive would do -- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822152501 ] if you do the work yourself. On most models, you just unplug your AC adapter, remove your battery, remove a few screws, take the old drive out, put the new one in, replace the screws, replace the battery, plug the AC adapter back in, and install Windows. Might take less than an hour. You'd only spend money to replace the drive if you're fairly sure that the rest of the laptop isn't showing it's age.

Try the Hitachi/IBM diagnostics - you can run them from either the Ultimate Boot CD or from a bootable CD-image with diagnostics or a bootable floppy diskette with the diagnostics. The bootable CD-image and bootable floppy diskette are available from this link --- http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT

If the first run of diagnostics reports a serious error (which is expected), you can try a "zero write" of the hard drive - in a last-ditch effort to squeeze a few more months, perhaps another year, out of the drive -- if the cause of the error is a uniquely damaged area (and not widespread) - and if this cause was a one-time event (like a drop) -- the bad sectors get marked as unusable, and the next time the drive is formatted, these sectors are not included. This works for only a small percentage of failing drives, but it's worth a shot -- it's free! --- Otherwise, it's time to see whether to buy a new drive or a new notebook.

You'll know soon enough - Best of luck
. . . Gary

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi striver

If you (or someone you know & would help with this) have a Cd-burning program like Nero or Roxio, you can make a bootable CD with the diagnostics on it - by downloading the item "CD Image" from that Hitachi/IBM webpage, and burning that to a CD using the "write a bootable image" feature (the 'howto' would be in that program's help files - it's easy to do). You can then boot the computer with that CD, and run the diagnostics from it. It probably uses a version of FreeDOS or perhaps a smallish Linux to get things going. It actually doesn't matter at all what operating system is already installed on the hard drive, it isn't used - the operating system on the CD is.

The CD Image for the diagnostics is quite small & would be easy to download from the library's computer. You could copy it to a USB key or CD-R (if the library has either Nero or Roxio, you could write the bootable version right there, but I'm not sure a library computer would have such a tool - or if they'd let guests use it). Once you have the file, anyone you know with those recording programs could make the bootable version for you (it should only take about five minutes with such a small file -- all they have to do is start their recording software, put a blank CD in the drive, and make the proper selections to "write a bootable image" - and after a few minutes = it's ready.
___________

Probably the easiest way to copy files over is to use a USB 2.0 external hard drive enclosure. If you have one, or know someone who does, you just put your old hard drive in the enclosure, plug it into the computer you want to copy the files to, and copy things over. Your current computer might not have USB 2.0 available (it's USB ports are likely the earlier USB 1.1), but you might still be able to transfer things over - unfortunately, it would take a great deal longer with a USB 1.1 connection.

You'd be selecting files and folders & copying these over. You wouldn't try to clone a damaged drive, so you'd have already performed a "clean install" onto the new hard drive. You'd be copying over things like documents, pictures, and music.

I'd definitely try to run the diagnostics if you can - and if the drive tests badly, try the zero write & test it again - sometimes it can get an old drive another year or so. Why spend money if you don't have to? Besides, after another year or so, other parts of the aging laptop might be nearing retirement age, too.

It would be nice if they lasted longer, but with all the moving parts, they often don't - especially the portables.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi striver


Sorry for the delay in my reply - I've been away on a family visit.

Glad to hear you found helpful tools & got things going again. Very good to hear that the drive is holding up so well! For a notebook drive, that's excellent performance and durablility.

I think the floppy detecting as a 2.88 could be a setting in the Inspiron's Bios. You could take a look in there - there are sometimes options to select 1.44, 2.88, or other (older) types. Or the floppy might just be acting up. Luckily, so many things we used to need floppies for can now be done with CDs or USB keys.

Some old laptops just refuse to die (unlike the many who pass suddenly into the Silicon graveyard). My little neice still occasionally uses an original-Pentium based Toshiba Tecra, running Windows 98se (originally Windows 3.11/95), to play Kindergarten-age games. Here we are, 12 years later & still going.

The lottery might be just the ticket!
Congratulations on your hard work & successful repair -
. . . Gary

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi again striver

Hope the Bios setting corrects the floppy problem.

I'd recommended the Samsung because it was the least expensive drive I saw at first look, and the reviews looked positive.

Just about any external case that fits should do - you wouldn't need anything fancy. Maybe something like this --- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817173017

Usually, over-the-tops will not affect currently installed programs. However, if during the installation any critical steps are left out (for example, if Windows was installed into the C:\Windows.000 folder instead of the C:\Windows folder, the result is not actually an over-the-top, but a parallel install = happily, this particular trouble can be fixed --- http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?p=1211655#post1211655 ).

Some older programs can run fine directly, by double-clicking the program's executable in C:\Program Files -- the simpler the program, the more likely this is to work. More complex programs likely rely more heavily on shared components, and Registry entries.

Let me know if you have any other questions -
. . . Gary

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi again striver

It's easy enough to check & see if you've installed Windows 98 into a Windows.000 folder = it would show up in Windows Explorer. You'd have two folders, one with your old information and files - named C:\Windows - and one named C:\Windows.000 with your new information in it. Hal's procedure to fix the situation basically returns the computer to a situation similiar to what it was in before you started the first try at the over-the-top ---> at that point, you simply run another over-the-top, this time making sure to install to C:\Windows and not to C:\Windows.000.

Alternatively, you can keep your C:\Windows.000 that you have now & reinstall things (like Office) - look at little farther down in that thread, Hal's reply to LawyerRon describes just that. (There's a fair amount of renaming things in that procedure).
______________

Most Windows 98 computers can recognize a 40gb-60gb drive, which is probably as big as you'll want to go on that system (since you don't want to spend too much money on it -- other parts are due to fail eventually, and a replacement laptop will come with it's own new hard drive. If you are unlucky enough that the system doesn't recognize a bigger hard drive, a Bios update might be available that would fix that. Or you could use the special tools from the hard drive manufacturer's installation CD to install a "drive overlay" program that would also solve the problem.

There's a little awkwardness in Win98/98se's version of fdisk with drives over 64gb = while partititioning, it will misreport the drive's size. If you create just one partition, however, and tell it to use 100% of the drive, it will partition the drive just fine (it just misreports the size). The workaround for this awkwardness is to use a WinMe version of fdisk, which is newer, and doesn't have the problem. WinMe diskettes are available from bootdisk.com

No other barriers to worry about until you reach 127gb-or-137gb = I don't think you'll be buying anything that large for Windows 98 anyway. It's really more trouble that it's worth to use such hard drives with 98, though it can be done. If you want to read up on that, here are a couple of articles on those two barriers ---

The 127gb barrier is related to the FAT32 file system, the one native to Windows 98 ---
"The ScanDisk tool included with Microsoft Windows 95 and Microsoft Windows 98 is a 16-bit program. Such programs have a single memory block maximum allocation size of 16 MB less 64 KB. Therefore, The Windows 95 or Windows 98 ScanDisk tool cannot process volumes using the FAT32 file system that have a FAT larger than 16 MB less 64 KB in size. A FAT entry on a volume using the FAT32 file system uses 4 bytes, so ScanDisk cannot process the FAT on a volume using the FAT32 file system that defines more than 4,177,920 clusters (including the two reserved clusters). Including the FATs themselves, this works out, at the maximum of 32 KB per cluster, to a volume size of 127.53 gigabytes (GB)." Note that Windows 98 & FAT32 can address hard drives theoretically up to 8 terabytes in size, it's just that the hard disk tools in Windows 98 don't work with these.

The 137gb limitation has to do with hard drive controller limitations (and limitations of early Windows versions, too) - 48bit LBA is necessary to overcome this particular hurdle --- http://www.48bitlba.com/win98.htm

And for a complete discussion of every hard drive limitation that you can imagine, see the lengthy - but very informative - article over at DEW Associates' webpage --- http://www.dewassoc.com/kbase/hard_drives/hard_drive_size_barriers.htm
_______

It won't hurt to try a new drive in the Inspiron: you can always use it in an external case a few years from now, when the Inspiron finally comes to the finish line in its race against extinction.

Enjoy your project!
. . . Gary

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi striver

Some vendors publish notes with their Bios updates that tell what capabilities the update adds. Unfortunately, I didn't see any such notes for the Bios updates for your model (there's only one update, in fact, from March 2000). The update v.1.0, A15 from March 2000 seems like it would be recent enough that you'd be OK up to 80gb or 120gb (you'd have to partition the drive with a WinMe version of fdisk, though). You may have that version of the Bios already in your system --- that info would appear either very briefly in a tiny banner at system startup, or you could enter Bios Setup & view the Bios version info in there.

Sometimes you just don't know without a manual that lists the capacities, or with Bios notes that give helpful information, until you plug a drive in and see what happens. Not the most wonderful situation, it's true.

If you went with a 40gb or 60gb notebook drive, you'd have no trouble at all - and the prices for these have been dropping. If you do value the extra room, I imagine with a little shopping (and maybe doing the rebate dance) you could grab a 60gb notebook drive on sale at a local store for about the same price as the 40gb drive I mentioned earlier -- between $50 and $60 (USD).

I wouldn't spend too much on the notebook - you can start saving for it's replacement a few years from now.

Or buy an new one, and have two notebooks to enjoy!
. . . Gary

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi striver

You're probably better off with an inexpensive enclosure made for 2.5" drives (or getting an enclosure that fits all types, and comes with all the adapters/connections necessary). The adapter for 2.5" to 3.5" IDE cabling
is about $7 (+ $5 shipping) if you order it online --- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...egory=353&Description=2.5+3.5+adapter&Ntk=all --- that's just about the same price as the 2.5" external enclosures. If you have a nearby store that sells computer parts, I've seen these little adapters for as little as $3.50 [but I'm not sure that there'd be enough space inside your 3.5" enclosure to use the adapter -- without leaving the enclosure slightly open somehow].

The 2.5 hard drives don't usually have as much problem with heat as the larger drives do. You'll notice that 99% of the external enclosures specifically for 2.5" drives don't have fans. Decent venting is a good idea, but an active fan isn't usually required - especially for a backup device, which will only be in use from time to time.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi striver

I find that I only very rarely need to reinstall Windows XP, and that most home users don't necessarily need any fancy partitioning schemes, such as are popular in the Unix/Linux world. With today's drive-imaging software (such as Norton's "Ghost" or Acronis' "True Image"), recovery of an entire drive is as simple as can be. If something happens to a computer bad enough to cause havoc in the system partition, it's just as likely that there's damage and corruption in the data partitions as well. So, the pros and cons for system partitions aren't as important as before - and I think most home users do just fine with a single large partition. I've seen many a home user with one small partiton nearly entirely full, and another partition nearly entirely empty.

It won't hurt anything to create a system partition, so long as you keep track of where things are. Truthfully, I don't bother with these much anymore myself.

I have between six and seven Windows XP systems here in my office - I built most of them, and none have ever needed to be reinstalled. I have a couple of Windows 98 2nd Editions computers still kicking - neither of those needed reinstalling either. The whole idea that Windows installations somehow "degrade" or "clog-up" is somewhat misleading: well-cared for systems don't have this problem. Sloppy and careless computer use, lack of timely maintenance, and poor network protections can all add up to serious trouble for any operating system - whether Unix, Linux, Mac, or Windows. I had a Windows 3.11 ("Windows for WorkGroups") 486 that I just loved -- it was as stable as any computer I've ever had. I think it had two crashes in it's entire computing life - no reinstallations there, either. Properly maintained, timely updated, and strictly protected, there's no reason an operating system would need reinstallaton. The biggest reason for reinstalling: serious malware infections.

Enjoy your new drive, the new ones are so quiet you can't hear them at all! (. . . and their prices don't make you scream, either - prices have dropped so low, it's just all good now)
. . . Gary