restarting in ms dos

k since this other pc has 129 mb and i want to make it a pc for w/e im gonna install window 98 on it?good idea? the pc came with windows 200 or me and my freind instlled xp and he kept all the old files so the pc is all messed up .k i pop the windows 98 cd and it says reboot in ms dos mode or somethin like that i restarted the pc  and i didnt see anythin that had to do with ms dos mode,so i am stuck how do i restart in ms dos mode?ty any help is appreciated

Please post the pc specs, Ram, hdd, floppy drive  etc.

I don't believe you can retro install an OS, i.e. while you can upgrade from Win.98 to XP you cannot go backward.  So you'll possibly be into re-partitioning/formatting especially if your current file system is NTFS

Also post the exact on-screen message(s) you get "reboot in Ms-Dos mode or something like that" just isn't specific enough

More info please.

[Moderator]

Have a read here too:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=how+to+install+win98

the computer is a sony vaio with 128 mb memory and 20 gb hardrive and another 15 gb harddrive has intel pentium 3 processor and it came with windows me editon.my friend installed windows xp with all the old files still on there ,is there any way of me puttin windows 98 on there?

Sounds like your file system will be FAT.32 so you might not have to re-format the hdd although that is a good idea.  Are there any files on the hdd which you need to retain:-?  

To install Win.98 (and you must have the full O.S. version cd which may or may not be bootable) I recommend re-formatting the master hdd using a Win.98 bootdisk (Bootdisk.com) then installing from your Win.98 cd.

I'm not familiar with the Vaio so don't know if you have a floppy drive or not, you didn't respond to that.

Here is the MicroSoft article on Fdisk & Format.

Here are instructions on installing Win.98.

Get back if you have any queries, please ensure you post any error mesages which are displayed.

Good luck  

k ty i do not want to keep anythin im puttin windows 98 on here so it can run decent and ya it gots a floppy drive but i got the windows 98 on a cd and then drivers on the other cds.1 problem is that the cds are burnt they are no the actaul cds i am still hopin they will work wish me luck and ty

[Moderator]

I hope you have Win98 drivers for the NIC, video, audio, etc.

You may want to write down what they are before you format the drive.

hey can  you walk me through the process because i looked at the links and i got confused as usual ,ty