win98 setup won't start

[rrnbcas]

windows 98 second edition will not start on setup after format.  after I have format my HDD and proceed to setup as a clean installed.  after scandisk had check the HDD it went straigh to the dos prompt, gave command line N:--- N:\setup. prompt to insert my win98se CD, then it stated to give message: intitializing setup ---- checking registry ---- copying files.  after this message the cursor just keept blinking and nothing happens, it just stayed on the same black screen. I left it for over an hour and a half, and it still is on the same black screen "copying files."  I check my HDD led activity and
it was not blinking telling me there is activity.  I have use a bootup disk called CD Boot 3.
Use FDISK and the partition information is that it only has one partition(primary) and that it is active.  no extended partition. and there is no space to create the extended partition.  the old OS was win98 se before format. please help!!!

[2k_dummy]

Try booting directly from the windows CD.

[pcdoc4christ]

rrnbcas:

It's good that you waited awhile and checked the HDD for activity.  Now that you are sure setup has hanged, press the power switch and hold the system turns off.  Count to 10, then with the Windows 98 CD still in the optical drive, power up the system again.  If you see a message to press any key to boot to the CD, do NOT press that key!  Setup should then resume.  It may go a little further in the process and then hang again.  If it does, wait awhile (several minutes), check for HDD activity, and if there is none, complete the steps above again.  Setup should resume and complete the job or go a little further than it did last time.  You may have to repeat this process a few times.  

If you run into further trouble, let us know.

Regards,
Doc  

[patio]

I could be mistaken but i believe Win98 CD's were not bootable...i would travel  to http://www.bootdisk.com/[url] and grab a WinME bootdisk and make yourself a new one.
The reason i recommend WinME is that it had a newer version of FDisk on it that didn't have the older size limitation issues for today's larger HDD's.
I would then re-run FDisk and set up that drive to your liking.
When you are done reboot the machine with the floppy in and choose option #2 in the opening screen which should be " Start the computer with CD-Rom support "
You will then be at a Dos prompt C:\
Providing you created only 1 partition your CDRom will be D:\
Simply type D: and hit Enter. At the D: prompt then type setup and hit Enter and the Win98 Setup process will start.

Good Luck and let us know,

patio.

[Raptor]

I could be mistaken but i believe Win98 CD's were not bootable

Windows 98SE is bootable.

[2k_dummy]

i believe Win98 CD's were not bootable

Win 98 CD's are, indeed, bootable.

[patio]

Thanx guys.
It's been awhile and i wasn't sure.

patio.

[promsan]

Hello there - similar problem, but some slight differences:

When running through Win98se setup I can't seem to get past the following screen:

"Please wait while setup initialises.
Scanning system registry...
Copying files needed for windows setup..."

There is no CD drive activity, and I don't get to the pretty black and blue setup screen.

I've noticed that when you leave the PC to boot from hard disk that the system halts on startup; displaying the following:

"Microsoft Windows 98 (r) 1981-1999
C:/>"

Are these related?

I've done Fdisk etc... and deleted, created and formatted the HD several times in order to start from scratch, but no joy.

I already installed Win98 on this disk a couple of times a couple of days ago, but reformatted following messing up the installation of the AGP card (I used the wrong CD, and then removed the display device on the device manager, and got digital tartan and auto restarts).

I've also noticed that even though I've set the boot device to CD-Rom only in the BIOS, that when I start it up it displays:

"Boot from CD:
1. FD 1/44mb"

(or something like that)
before taking me to the
"select:
1. boot from hard disk
2. boot from cd"
options.

Could anyone suggest anything? I'll post the results of any actions.

cheers,

Jack

[promsan]

btw - I used Fdisk and Format from Win XP Pro.

[pcdoc4christ]

btw - I used Fdisk and Format from Win XP Pro.

Did you choose the default files system when formatting the drive with the XP CD?  If you chose NTFS rather than FAT32, you will be unable to install Windows 98 SE.  

Use the Windows CD to delete the partition, create a new partition, and format it with FAT32.  Then, install Windows 98 SE.

Regards,
Doc

(BTW, it is against Netiquette to post your question in a discussion topic that someone else has started.  You probably didn't know.  Next time, just start your own topic.)

[promsan]

Did you choose the default files system when formatting the drive with the XP CD?  If you chose NTFS rather than FAT32, you will be unable to install Windows 98 SE.  

I selected large file support on the first screen of FDisk - which is FAT32 isn't it?

Use the Windows CD to delete the partition, create a new partition, and format it with FAT32.  Then, install Windows 98 SE.

Regards,
Doc

(BTW, it is against Netiquette to post your question in a discussion topic that someone else has started.  You probably didn't know.  Next time, just start your own topic.)

As far as I am aware, it is against nettiquette to post on a same subject when it already exists on a forum. Why? because a. this site asks that you search FAQ rather than post on the same subject; and b. because it helps people consolidate info on the same subject area - so if someone else comes along and has a similar problem they can find lots of useful, relevent data and potentially increase their understanding.
Perhaps my (country's) nettiquette is different from your(country's) nettiquette?

Posted by: Mac Posted on: Today at 1:46pm
on Today at 5:20am, promsan wrote:btw - I used Fdisk and Format from Win XP Pro.  



You should use fdisk and format from a Windows '98 bootdisk.

XP has diskpart instead of fdisk.

Did you use A:\>format c:/s  

I did. It sounds like use of XP to do FDisk might be the problem - I'll post results when I get round to it, perhaps on Monday.

Thanks to you both for the help

[promsan]

ps...

what I don't understand is how did I manage to successfully install Win98se only a couple of days ago?

I suspected the current problems to be related to messing up the AGP installation; and even to sticking the motherboard CD in at one point after formatting (those disks always seem to cause trouble - pointless!)

I don't remember 100% whether I used the XP disk to do the Fdisk, but I think I probably didn't, so I'll give it a go.

[merlin_2]

I've also noticed that even though I've set the boot device to CD-Rom only in the BIOS, that when I start it up it displays:

"Boot from CD:
1. FD 1/44mb"

(or something like that)
before taking me to the  
"select:
1. boot from hard disk
2. boot from cd.............................<<take the option m_2

[GX1_Man]

Windows 98SE is bootable.

Not all were. I know because I had one - direct from Microsoft even. I think the OEM's were, but not all of the consumer ones. I've seen this argued back and force, but since I have seen it with my own eyes - it's fact.

[p r o m s a n]

2. boot from cd.............................<<take the option m_2

as mentioned, it will not boot from cd.

- - - -

Upon reaching the blue DOS-style pre-setup screens, it also states that I may have a previous version of windows or a disk compression programme, and even when selecting "install over previous versions" I still have to press F3 to go to the black DOS screen with:
"D:/WIN98>" there to type setup... returning to the problem.

This seems rather odd after deleting all partitions, re-creating a primary partition, and then formatting it - where's it getting data about Windows from? It shouldn't be on the freshly-formatted HDD, should it?

[promsan]

Is that the same as the normal W98 boot floppy - I've got that one... I was going to run FDisk and Format it again with that, rather than the XPPro disc.

[promsan]

why's that message with download been deleted?

[Raptor]

Let me guess: Merlin posted a message and removed it.

Don't worry, you'll get used to it.

[Mac]

Maybe your BIOS doesn't support booting from the CD. Some older BIOS's won't allow for this.

If there isn't an update for your BIOS you can use this BIOS BOOTDISK

See also: RE-INSTALLING WINDOWS 98

[promsan]

Well it must do... as I mentioned, I installed Win98 normally the day before all this happened...

(actually from pressing F3 on those blue setup screens; going to "D:/WIN98>" and typing setup; no problem)

...but this time... nowt.

I'm going to follow previous advice in this thread to do Fdisk and Format with the boot floppy and see how that goes (..just need to wait for the nipper to get tucked in to bed!)

- - -

It's a bit disconcerting to be offered a download, then for that post to suddenly vanish after you've downloaded it... makes you panic!

[Raptor]

It's a bit disconcerting to be offered a download, then for that post to suddenly vanish after you've downloaded it... makes you panic!

You've probably got Merlin to thank for that.

[promsan]

Right,

I've just tried booting up the pc in question after setting "Floppy" as the only boot thing in the BIOS, and this is what I got:

Verifing DMI Pool Data...

Microsoft(R) Windows 98
(C)Copyright Microsoft Corp 1981-1999.

C:/>

(incidentally, there was no floppy disc activity. I opened up the case and checked connections... no obvious problem; in fact I know it's fine, because it worked before this problem, and hasn't changed since.)

I type "A/:"; press enter, and I get this:

General failure reading drive E
Abort, Retry, Fail?

What's Drive E?! I've only got one HDD and one CD drive!

More to the point, I've already repartioned and formatted this HDD - where's it getting this Windows stuff from?!

Is it something to do with the registry?
I mean, there must be some residual data somewhere that was unaffected by the FDisk and Format activity.
I don't get it! (and I'm not new to installing Windows, I got this disc in '98, and I've never experienced anything like this before).

Does anyone?

(p.s. - I've only got one monitor and one mouse, hence the delay in doing things.)

[promsan]

I've just been reading Mac's link:

There are basically two ways to format a primary partition, you can either make it bootable by copying system files and making the drive bootable. (this is only for your active primary, when you set it active FDISK writes the boot program to the Master Boot Record MBR), or you can let the operating system installation take care of that. I generally just let Windows setup handle that, for a super clean install. To do this, type from the A: prompt while booted with your startup disk:

Not bootable: FORMAT C:
Make bootable: FORMAT C: /S

I know how to use FDisk, no problem... what's new is that I don't think I've ever done "Format c: /s" before.
I'm beginning to wonder whether I should reformat without the "/s", and let the Win98 disc do it - if it will.
I know I've done this before, but it's so long ago - at least three years - that it's a hazy memory...

...the "/s" might explain why I'm getting this "Windows" stuff when I boot up (as quoted above).

[promsan]

Right,

I just tried a reformat like this "format c:" (without the "/s"), and I managed to get to the pretty setup screens.
I did a typical setup, and then when it did the restart - booting from hard disk - it shutdown/restarted on the WIN98 splash screen.

I rebooted and was able to select "start in safe mode"; but no joy, instead I got the following error message:

While initializing device VCACHE
Windows protection error. You need to restart your computer.

So I did (following same steps as above, selecting safe mode), and I got this:

Windows protection error.
Press any key.

I reformatted with "/s" and ran it again; stopped dead on the DOS screen just before the pretty setup screen, as before.

Reformatted again without "/s", and the same as above.

Dead end, apparently.

One thing I do notice is that the floppy is doing nothing, even when I insert the Microsoft bootdisk and select boot from floppy (in any combination) in BIOS. It looks to be plugged in alright, but there appears to be no power; or no activity at any rate.

This is weird.

Of course I'll google, but I can't seem to work this one out... it's beginning to look like I'll have to get new HDD.