Problems installing Windows 98

[Striker]

Trying to install Windows 98 of my father's computer his old hard drive crashed. I had a spare 20 gig Maxtor known good hard drive lying around so I told him he could have it.

So I partitioned(fdisk) and formatted it everything was going smoothly until it was time to install Windows.

I get to this point:

Please wait while setup initializes
Scanning system registry
Copying files needed for windows setup

then everything comes to a halt...cd-rom slows down then eventually stops...flashing cursor...then nothing!!! One time i let it sit there for like 15 minutes thinking I wasn't waiting long enough but that wasn't the problem.

Processor: AMD K6-2 350 Mhz
Motherboard: Asus P5A-B
64 MB or RAM

At this point I'm totally lost I've never encountered anything like this.

Dave

[mjkovis]

Are you sure that it was the HDD? Could have been another problem like the motherboard crashing. I cant really tell you what it would be. Others will look at your post and give you more feedback.

[Striker]

I'm positive it was the hard drive it was making noise...

[mjkovis]

Ok, are you positive the Maxtor still works. It could have some bad sectors on it that you never knew about...

[Striker]

yeah i know it's a good hard drive and scandisk reports no problems

[mjkovis]

What about the copy of Win 98? Is it free of major and a lot of minor scratches?

[Striker]

Used it on my own computer last week I was one of the lucky ones who got the blaster worm! Yes it does have a couple of very minor scratches on it but I doubt it if that's the problem.

[mjkovis]

This is very strange that is wont intall then. I wonder if the rest of that system is ok then.

And sorry to hear you got the blaster worm. I lucked out fortunately!

[Striker]

yeah i'm shaking my head on this one! i know the cd-rom's good. it was a perfectly good computer up until the hard drive went south. i've checked all connections, etc etc i don't know what's going on...

[Cricket]

I don't really have a remedy for your situation, but the AMD K6-2 350MHz did have problems with Win95...but I think the problem was resolved with Win98. There also may have been something about using the K6-2 with the ALi Alladin chipset, but I can't remember what.

But since you can't even get the system to POST, try this: go into BIOS and disable the L2 cache and see if things go better.

Maybe glc will see this thread and offer some insight.

:) Cricket

[David_Jones]

Hi,

i am guessing you might have an IBM Aptiva with that chip?

Follow Cricket's advixce and diasble L2 Cache in the BIOS, it worked on my Aptiva with AMD K6-2 350MHz chip.

It will make it run like a total dog, but you can at least install Win98, then re-enable it.

You may also then get error messages about a VXD (BIOSXLAT.VXD wihtin the VMM32.VXD I think). If so, check your Int13h settings in the BIOS and if necessary try different options.

HTH,

David.

[reboot]

Disable the BIOS anti-virus checker too.

[Striker]

thanks guys i'll try your suggestions and report back...

[andyms18a]

During the installation of Windows 98, you may experience problems with the CD-ROM drive or you may want to speed up the installation process. By copying the setup files to your hard drive you can bypass the CD-ROM drive and speed up installation. NOTE: You can also perform this procedure with the Windows 95 installation. Just replace the 98's in this article with 95's. Here's how:

1. Free up more disk space. You'll need ~200 MB extra to store the setup and CAB files. 2. If you're NOT having problems with the CD-ROM drive, you can bypass the step. Create a bootable floppy with CD-ROM drivers. Insert the floppy disk and boot your PC.

2. From DOS, create a directory to store the setup files.
Type: C: {ENTER} where C is your hard drive letter. Then MD SETUP98 {ENTER} then CD SETUP98 {ENTER}.

Change to your CD-ROM drive by typing: D: {ENTER} where D is the CD-ROM drive letter.
Type: CD WIN98{ENTER} then COPY *.* C:\SETUP98 {ENTER} This will copy all of the necessary setup files to your hard drive.

3. Type CD SETUP98 {ENTER} and then SETUP {ENTER}. You're now on your way.

NOTE: Copying the setup files to the hard drive is a better way to perform the installation for several reasons:

1) When adding new hardware or Windows software, you may be prompted to provide the Windows setup files. This way you don't have to dig out the CD-ROM, just point to your SETUP98 directory.

[Striker]

i will try your suggestions as soon as i get a chance thanks!!!!

[Striker]

well i'm about ready to chuck this thing out the window i've tried all your suggestions and no luck so far! get's to, "copying files need for setup" then nothing! anything else i'm missing guys???

[reboot]

Try a different CD-ROM.
Clean the CD.
Set BIOS to failsafe defaults.
Try only 1 RAM stick at a time (get a tester from www.simmtester.com )
Refdisk the drive.
Try a different cable.

[Striker]

I've cleaned the cd and re-fdisked like 2 or 3 times but i haven't tried your other suggestions i'll do that now while i have the chance. By the way, I hope your nowhere near those forest fires i hear it's real bad...

[andyms18a]

have you changed the ide cables ? all so can you test the power output from the power supply to the hdd and cd drive

[David_Jones]

Hi Striker,

To clarify:

1) You have successfully FDISKed and created a primary partition with enough space (say, 5Gb minimum) using "Large Disk Support" to get FAT32 (if not, you won't be able to get past 2Gb anyway I think).

2) You have formatted that primary partition.

3) You have copied over the install files from the Win98 CD to the HDD.

4) You have disabled L2 cache in the BIOS.

5) It still crashes out at exactly the same point as you outlined above:

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


Is that correct? Sorry, but I was getting a bit lost!

David.

[jeresimo]

Is that a Win 98 FE or SE? Go to BIOS and try lowering your CPU speed from 350 to 300 mhz, then instal the OS again. HTH.

[Striker]

first edition and i'll try that too...

[rip]

also, if you can jumper it to 100 mhz, this will help, i had to that along with crickets point of disableing l2 cache, this slows it down, but it lets it go in. then once you have it in reset jumpers.

[rip]

i also have found out that my mother board k7n2 is not 98 comaptable, for some of the drivers to load. like the sound, which means i have to get upgrade to 98 or just go xp. which sucks but that is what i will do.

[Striker]

Absolutely!!
Positively!!
100%
Clueless!!!!!!!!!!
Tried a new IDE cable.....same thing
Tried a known good stick of ram(took the old one out)...same thing
Swapped CD-ROM'S...same thing
Tried those 3 different things one at a time then all together...same thing
As far as disabling L2 cache I think(?) i did that. My bios has 2 entries: CPU Internal Cache and External Cache. Is one of those two L2 Cache?? Tried one then the other then both at the same time....same routine
Never could figure out how to change the clock speed with my luck that's probably what's wrong!!

Anyways....NEXT!!!!!!!!!

[andyms18a]

just checking are you runing setup from the hard drive or the wndows cd if its from the cd you need to copy the win98 folder from the cd and run set up from the hard drive all so do you have another win98 cd as this one may be scratched or it may need to be cleaned if nothing works try puting the hard drive in another computer and run setup on that then when it gets to the first restart as the computer shuts down pull the plug remove the hard drive and put it back in the old computer and incert the win98 cd and reboot it will then continue setup and start detecting your hardware

[GaryRouth]

Fascinating reading, this thread . . .

I've been reading and re-reading, but I'm still not sure if this is a home-built PC or a major brand. I'll guess that since it's an Asus board, it's mostly home-built by now, even if it didn't start life that way.

1) You sound like you have a few machines at your disposal - have you tried a different power supply yet?

2) You've been in and out of the Bios a lot - what about clearing it via the motherboard jumper yet? On your board, it's not exactly a jumper, but two "short solder points" (that you short with a screwdriver, while the power is off) - these are labeled "CLRTC", and are not far from the CMOS CR2032 battery = between PCI slots 2 and 3, near the middle of the board.

3) Reboot had you load Default values. Can you do this again, making sure to choose "Load Bios Defaults" (6th from the top on the left on your first Bios Setup screen) [and Not the "Load Setup Defaults"= which you can try later, if Windows loads OK]. . . This won't effect the settings in your 1st menu screen, which you need to double-check also. Reboot had you Disable the Boot sector AntiVirus (it's the 1st item on the 1st menu), on that menu you also need to make sure all the IDE devices are set to AUTO - all AUTO (no LBA, no Normal, no CHS) [and is the Maxtor showing the right values in POST?] After you make your changes in Bios Setup, don't forget to choose "Save & Exit Setup"

4) Double check your jumpers? Amd K6-2 350:
VID0=1,2 VID1=2,3 VID2=1,2 VID3=1,2
VIO0=no jumper VIO1=1,2
FS0=1,2 FS1=1,2 FS2=1,2 FS3=2,3
BF0=1,2 BF1=1,2 BF2=no jumper
[this is just in case they've been different but working, and now won't overclock anymore]

5) Even though ScanDisk thinks your Maxtor is OK, Powermax might report otherwise. Why not double-check that, too? (as you know, it's available at the Maxtor site) This happens more often than you might imagine (Powermax finding something ScanDisk didn't)

6) That motherboard is fairly picky about memory: it's from the earliest days of PC100 Sdram. I wouldn't use anything else but PC100, and test it to death. [since your system is having trouble when copying large files - we're following the data stream for possibilities] See how far the modules you've got get in DocMemory, and see if they're detected as true PC100 modules (or not). (one last note about memory - your manual mentions that modules with more than 18 chips won't work with it - I doubt you need to worry about that, but you can double-check that too)

7) Are you down to the bare essential cards in the system when installing? [no modems, sound cards, printers, network, broadband, cameras, scanners, no USB peripherals (try just ps/2 keyboard/mouse), etc]

8) When you fdisked the Maxtor, did you use a version from the same edition of Wndows 98 that you'll be installing? If not, try that too.

9) Andy's idea of slaving the hard drive in another computer would give you a good look at it. At least if it's not working there either, that it's time to try another drive. I saw a Maxtor 40gb 7200rpm at Fry's this weekend for $32. Might be worth the $32.

Since you're obviously an advanced computer user, please forgive me if a lot of this is tedious and probably obvious to you: I figured I like to be extra-thorough with the stubborn systems. . .

Hope the next chapter we read hear here is your success
. . . Gary

[Needtoknow]

Hello,
You haven't, by chance, flashed the bios on this board in all of this?
I did that once before I fdisked and installed win 98 se and the whole system got to a point on the install where it said it would take like 80 hours or something. I tried everything I and many folks here, could think of. Then I remembered that I had flashed the bios. I reflashed to the old bios and the problem went away.
Just a thought.

[Striker]

The computer was put together by a local outfit. So let's consider it home-built.
That's one thing I haven't tried is a different power supply and I just happen to have another one lying around so I'll give it a try here in a bit. I see where it says, "CLRTC" but i'm not sure what to short out. I will double check to make sure all devices are set to AUTO, which I believe they are.
Yes on the boot disk it's from the same version of Windows.
I might get brave and try the Maxtor in this computer and see what happens. All the RAM that I have is PC100 good name brand stuff.

Needtoknow no the bios hasn't been flashed

Well I'm gonna shut this baby down and try all your idea's out and I'll keep you guys posted...

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

To short the CLRTC & clear the Bios Settings back to Defaults, you'd use something like a flathead screwdriver to touch both "points" at the same time. . . (at least, that's what the manual says - I usually see boards with regular pins and jumpers, but then I don't get to see many Asus boards)

Hope it's running well soon
. . . Gary

[viking9]

I havent read everything but if the computer was working fine before the 98 install then i dont believe it is a hardware issue.. did you use the same version of dos to partition as the win 98 uses.. this may be way off .. but i know that 95b and 95a used different versions of dos and a start up disk with the correct version needed to be used to prepare the harddrive.

[Striker]

well now i'm sitting here trying to remember. i'm really not sure if the same version of DOS was used because i had nothing to do with setting this computer up. I've been using a W/98 FE boot disk.

[andyms18a]

try running fdisk again and check the partition is it set to active

[Striker]

well i'll double check but i'm fairly sure it was set to active

[Striker]

tried a different windows 98 cd with matching boot disk and a different power supply. re-fdisked and partitioned and still no luck

[fudtone]

I had this same issue with maxtor before DL there disk software and use that exclusively for disk prep.

Link to Maxtor:

http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm

[plumerjr]

Originally posted by fudtone
I had this same issue with maxtor before DL there disk software and use that exclusively for disk prep.

Link to Maxtor:

http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm

I had a similiar problem installing a Windows OS(Win 2000) and used this utility and it got it through doing a low-level format and it finally went through. It was a Maxtor drive also.

[andyms18a]

can you try putting the hard drive as master on the second IDE controller and the CD as master on the first

[Striker]

will give all those things a try and report back...