Help with installing Windows 98 on laptop

[emil9216]

I tried to install Windows 98 on an old laptop but i have  problem. I tried a  two different copies of Windowx98 but during the installation the process stops in one particular moment of the installation. In the last step  after coping the files end starts checking  the hardware there is  appear blue screen with some massage like that:    A fatal exception 06 occurred at 0000:00000017. The current application will be terminated "  I tried a few times but the same thing  happens .Can you tell me what mean that ?

[Anodoin]

Try going into the laptop's BIOS and disabling every piece of onboard hardware that you can, anything NOT needed to install WIndows on.  It's perhaps a hardware conflict.

[emil9216]

The other problem is when i try to format the hard disk formating reach to 58% and stop and after while there is appear some massage :Trying to recover allocation unit
928,268 .

And after that other massage :
Not ready.
Format terminated.

What can i do ?

[Anodoin]

Sounds like there might be a problem with your harddrive.  Do you have another you can put in there to test that?

[dahlarbear]

1.  Please list as much about your computer as possible. This includes operating system (what version of Windows you are using), service packs, computer make/model, RAM, hard drive, sound and video cards, do you have a "real" Windows CD, etc.

I'm particularly interested in:
    o  Make and Model Number of Laptop
    o  Approximate date of BIOS (or when was laptop manufactured)
    o  How much RAM does laptop have (in MegaBytes or GigaBytes)?
    o  Size of hard drive (in GigaBytes)?  Age of hard drive?  Make/Model Number?

2.  What version of Windows 98 are you installing (First or Second Edition)?  What operating system originally came with the laptop, if any?

3.  You say there is an error when you "format" the disk.  How do you know the partition was successfully formatted (or there are no bad sectors within your partition)?  You shouldn't try to install operating system into a partition which wasn't properly formatted?

What are you using to format the hard disk?  The Windows Setup CD or "fdisk" utility from Windows 98 Startup floppy?  Do you think format is FAT32 (or FAT16)?

Most hard disk drive manufacturers provide diagnostics to check the integrity of the disk surface and disk controller.  Their downloads contain the files necessary to create a suitable "boot" floppy or CD.

The other problem is when i try to format the hard disk formating reach to 58% and stop and after while there is appear some massage :Trying to recover allocation unit
928,268 .

And after that other massage :
Not ready.
Format terminated.

What can i do ?

If an allocation unit is "4096" bytes, and format is "choking" at allocation unit 928,268; then there's 3.54 GigaBytes before problem allocation unit. 

On the other hand if an allocation unit is "512" bytes, and format is "choking" at allocation unit 928,268; then there's 453.25 megaBytes before problem allocation unit.

What's my point?  You could try making a smaller "system/boot" partition for your Windows 98 operating system to see if that gets you past the error.  Then you could create another partition for your application programs and/or data.  Or you could use disk manufacturer diagnostics to look for and mark bad sectors before reformatting and re-installing your operating system.

[emil9216]

My laptop is Panasonic CF - 22
Parameters:Pentium 2 300Mhz,RAM 64Mb,HDD 6Gb
BIOS Version is V2.0L19B, HDD Model is Toshiba MK1016GAP
I am trying  to install Windows 98 SE and i have only one partition on HDD - "C".
The error massage is appear when i  am trying to format "C" using  fdisk.

If the problem is some hardware conflict which things in BIOS exactly i should disable because i am afraid of doing some mistake.

I think the problem is HDD (bad sectors perhaps) and i think to use  Hiren's Boot CD for diagnostic

[patio]

You shouldn't have to disable anything in the BIOS to install Windows.
I also agree with dahlarbear there are probably issues with the drive...the drive manuf. diagnostics as suggested would be the best tool to use right now.
Are these CD's copies of Win98SE by any chance ? ?
Sometimes this can be the issue as well...

[emil9216]

After many attempts i finally succeed to install it but still i think there is a problem with HDD.But now i have other problem.When i put CD in CD Rom and try to open it i receive massage: D:\is not accessible.The device is not ready
How can i fix that ?

[dahlarbear]

1.  At some point you should test the integrity of hard drive and its disk surfaces.  Not sure which diagnostic to use for your drive.  Several tech sites claim Toshiba doesn't provide diagnostic utilities, but suggest you may use IBM/Hitachi Drive Fitness Test (not sure which version) to test readability of drive.  Not sure the destructive write functions are compatible with your Toshiba drive (e.g. write zeros).

2.  As a quick and dirty test of your ability to install Windows 98 SE on that laptop, you could create a smaller partition which doesn't reach the suspected problem area on your disk surfaces.  If it installs and runs OK, then take a harder look at the rest of the disk surfaces and/or replace the hard drive.

So when you use "fdisk", you're selecting "large drive support", yes?

I think your previous format encountered problem approximately 3.54 GB into the drive.  Create a "C:" partition of 2 to 3.5 GB, just to see if Windows 98 SE will install.  If it formats and installs, use "scandisk" to ensure it's solid, then decide how to test the rest of the drive or replace the drive.  Or use scandisk immediately after the format so you don't waste time installing to a bad partition.

[patio]

And for Win98 you need to install drivers for a CDRom unit...do a search for "Oak" CDRom drivers for Win98.

[dahlarbear]

1.  Verify your operating system partition (C:) is solid first.  Run a "thorough" scandisk on it.  This will check the disk surface.  Wouldn't hurt to "defrag c:" after a successful scandisk.

2.  After you place CD in CD-ROM drive, it usually takes several seconds before the drive spins up to speed and is "ready" to be accessed.  One cause for this error is trying to access CD before it is "ready".

If error persists, I guess you should go to "Device Manager" and check the status of the CD device.

    o  Right click on MY Computer icon.  Context meu appears.
    o  Left click on Properties.  System Properties window appears.
    o  Left click on Device Manager tab.  Device Manager display appears.
    o  Left click on "View devices by type" radio button.
    o  Is there a "CDROM" subcategory under Computer?  If so, double click on it to expand it.  Should have your CD-ROM drive listed.  Right click on it and left click properties on context menu that appears.  The properties of that device should appear.  Select General tab.  What does it say under the "Device status" subsection?  Does it say "This device is working properly"?  Become familiar with settings on the other tabs "Settings", "Driver".
   

[emil9216]

My CD ROM is Matshita DVD ROM SR - 8173.My video is :for Windows video - Standard PCI Graphics Adaptor (VGA) and for PCI/AGP Video - NeoMagic NM2200 Magic Media256.
What exactly drivers i should install because  i have downloaded some from driverguide.com but no one works(i have 16bit colors and 640х480 resolution and i want to change it).I don't know may be i had made some mistake during the installation? Is there some special  way to install drivers ?


The notice at CD ROM properties is :"This device is working properly" but actually it  doesn't.May be if i succeed to install driver for it it will start work properly.

[street1 (RIP)]

If you can download and install Everest it will help
identify your components so you can find the correct
driver downloads.

GoHere----->Everest

[patio]

The "Oak" Rom driver will work with 98% of CD/DVD units...
You will pull your hair out trying to locate a specific Matsushita driver when it's not neccessary to do so.

[emil9216]

My big problem now is a video drivers.Before installing Windows 98 i  had installed Windows XP on my laptop and i have 32 bit  colors and higher resolution but now i have 16 bit colors and  640х480 resolution.Everest give me this information about the video:
for Windows video - Standard PCI Graphics Adaptor (VGA) and for PCI/AGP Video - NeoMagic NM2200 Magic Media256. I had downloaded this driver http://www.video-drivers.com/drivers/88/88088.htm
It was a an .rar file. I just  uncompressed  it but there was no .exe or setup file.I just copy the  folder to my hard  disk and restart the computer but nothing happened.
How can i fix the problem with the 16 bit colors an this low resolution ?