i want to restore my pc which i upgraded to xp from windows 98:problem-i have upgrade cd but not original98cd?

Question

bought computer off somebody,when they bought it it had windows 98 installed on it so dont have windows 98 cd but have the product key,i have a recovery cd ,will that work for installing windows 98?

Answer 1

you need to look in add/remove programs(control panel>add/remove)and see if there is a roll back or restore feature there to take you back to windows 98
this feature was included in windows millenuim but i am not sure if it was in xp
if not then a copy of windows 98 will be needed,and also a 98 start up disk(you can get this from http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm)
if you can get a windows 98se disk,you should ask in your local computer shop,they should give you a copy as microsoft no longer support this version)
then you need to place a formatted floppy disk into your flop[py drive and run the bootdisk download,this will automatically make your windows 98 start up disk
then when you want to install 98se place your start up disk in the floppy drive and restart the computer,when prompted press"with cd rom support" and let the disk load
you will then see a:\ you then should type a:\fdisk.......this will take you to the fdisk utility were you need to delete non-dos partition,then after that you eed to create non-dos partition......then fianlly make partition active...you then need to manually restart your computer and then a full format is required....type a:\format c: were c is the letter of your hard drive
once the format is complete you can then insert your windows 98se disk in your dvd/cd rom drive and then type a:\windows98se/setup.exe and press enter
your cd rom will start and windows 98 will start loading,you will need to have your product key to hand and also you will need tset time ect
installation takes from 25 to 40 minutes,once complete you can then install drivers ect
just for reference the commands for other versions of windows installation are
windows 95 a:\win95/setup.exe
windows me a:\setup.exe
windows 2000 a:\setup.exe
note: windows updates are no longer avalible from microsoft,but you should get all the avalible updates up to the period when they finished
also try http://www.windowsreinstall.com/indexwin98.htm,for added info
i hope this has helped you
good luck