XP Proffesional to win 98

R

Robin1k

Geek
Hi everyone, I have been given an IBM Thinkpad which was designed to use windows 98, However someone has installed win XP Pro which because of the size of the hard drive etc it really is to big. I have the 98 cd but I am unable to install this as it will not install over xp. So can someone tell me how I go about changing everything. I only use this thinkpad for writing letters I don't need all singing all dancing. If I have to reformat then thats ok if someone can help I'd be really gratefull
Heres hoping
Robin
 
Hi Robin,

Welcome to HWF. You will have to reformat the hard drive as a FAT32 filesystem before you can install Windows 98 on it. It would also be wise to have the drivers for that notebook burned to a CD and ready to go when you reinstall, since it's very unlikely that Windows 98 shipped with all the drivers you'll need. One last thing to note however is that Windows 98 is no longer supported by Microsoft, and has many outstanding and critical security holes. Please don't let it connect to the Internet. :)

Best regards,
-AT
 
Thank you for that. How do I reformat. I know thats sounds dumb also where do I find the drivers for this notepad?
Thanks
 
Robin1k said:
Thank you for that. How do I reformat. I know thats sounds dumb also where do I find the drivers for this notepad?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Windows 98 is very old, so this is a bit more involved than you think. The following is assuming you have a working floppy drive in your laptop. It's also from memory, since I haven't run Windows in ages:
  1. Download and use the following binary to create a boot floppy: http://pesona.mmu.edu.my/~panzheng/bootup/bootme.exe
  2. Boot to your new floppy
  3. Run the command:
    Code: 
    FDISK
  4. Using fdisk, delete any existing partitions, then and create one large FAT32 partition.
  5. Put in the 98 install CD, and type the following:
    Code: 
    CD D:
  6. Next type:
    Code: 
    SETUP
At that point the '98 installer should launch if all went well. As for the drivers, I have no idea what model laptop you have, but IBM's support and downloads are here: IBM Support & downloads - Overview - United Kingdom
 
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