How do I do a clean instal of Windows on a laptop?

[Digerati]

I have an old IBM laptop that I want to network with my XP machines and share roadrunner via my cable router.

The laptop is running Win98 and I want to do a clean install with Win98se (the laptop was given to me hand has alot of strange programs and settings).

The main problem is that it is one of those slim notebooks and the disk drive and CDdrive connect via external connectors, the CD drive connects via a PCMCIA card.

I can use my win98 boot disk to book the computer up with cdrom support, but I can get the PCMCIA cdrom drive to work in dos mode so I can install from the CD.

Anyhow know how i can load the drivers or how to get around this?

Thanks

 

[beatlesdb]

There are a few option you can check out:

Check if you can change the boot sequence in the BIOS - you may be able to boot from the external device - if so just insert the WinXP CD and off you go.

The other option is to create some Windows XP bootdisks (4 of them) and use these to start your install.

If the drive has plenty of room - it might be a good Idea to creat a second partition on the drive and intall XP there - that way you can dual boot to Win98 if there are any problems.

You can also copy the entire contents of the CD to the HDD and intall the system that way.

 

[Lonman]

I'd suggest getting a copy of partition magic that will work with Win98. Make a small partition on your drive and copy your Win98 setup files to it (the entire win98 folder from your CD). Then just use your bootdisk to format and access your drive. Go to the Win98 folder and run "setup" from your dos prompt.

 

[David Chapple]

If you copy basic DOS CDROM drivers into the autoexec.bat file then you will be able to access the CDROm from DOS.

Alternatively why cant you boot us into DOS using the WIN98 emergency bbot disk. This allows you yto choose DOS support for a CDROM?

David

 

[H0TK4RL]

The ideas of creating a second partition for the install files are good but you are missing the most obvious point here guys. If he was able to access the CDROM to copy the data to the hard disk then he could just run the setup from the CD.

As for you not being able to access the CDROM, you just need to find the appropriate boot disk. Try bootdisk.com and see if any of those helps. You can also contact Sony for a boot disk with CD/PCMCIA support.

Finally, you can use my little fail safe technique. Get a converter for your hard drive. (2.5" - 3.5" adapter) This way you can pop the bastard right into your main rig and install, copy source files, back up... hell bake a damn cake for all I care.

The kits go for around 5-8$ and can be found all over the internet.

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=HD-108

Also, if you have a network card you can get a boot disk from bootdisk.com with network support and copy your source files from a network share to the notebook.

good luck
-jay