WinXP to Win98

[Karthik1019]

I have this plan to rehabilitate one of my computers. Its an old Dell with a 500 mhz processor and a 13 gigabyte hdd. It came with win98 but for some reason, my dad decided to upgrade it to xp. (bad decision) Anyways, the time has come to revert back to 98. I've already backed up all the files and things onto cd's. So I searched the internet yesterday for a way to delete xp and install 98. I found this: http://www.cyberwalker.net/columns/f...mat-FAT32.html
It basically says you go through windows explorer and delete all the system files and boot files. I have two concerns. One, is this safe? Two, would there still be stuff left on the hard drive afterwards? Does anyone reccommend a different solution to my problem?

[Force Flow]

Once an O/S has been upgraded, you can't go back. You will have to reformat.

[TheMajor]

there's something not right about the article
pagefile.sys and the windows folder(and probably the other items, too) can't be deleted without diabling the windows file protection system

disabling it is not mentioned in that article, so thatsolution wouldn't work.

Yes. there wil still be files left on your HD..so if've got a better solution

make or download a windows98 bootfloppy (http://www.bootdisk.com) and boot your computer with that floppydisk

than type"format c:" (assuming that c: is the drive where WinXP is installed)
then insert the Win98 CD and type "setup"

this way you lose all data on your Harddrive

BTW. Why would you go back to 98??

[Force Flow]

Originally Posted by TheMajor BTW. Why would you go back to 98??

A machine with a 500Mhz CPU is obviously an older machine and is most likely not up to the minimum requirements needed to run XP.

[TheMajor]

i don't agree with that...WinXP will run ver well with 500MHZ...my CPU has only 200 and it also runs well (almost)

[Karthik1019]

Yeah, but the thing has been freaking out of late. I've tried everything in my realm of knowledge to fix it. It's going WAY too slowly. Besides, no one really uses it anymore and I just wanted to mess around with it a little I guess. We have four other computers and there are only four of us in the house. Oh, and btw, the computer in question came with a Win98 boot disk and a Win98 CD. (I've been talking about Win98 SE if it makes a difference.) Can I just use that boot disk. Or is it different than the ones you can make yourself using the OS. It says this on the disk. 1) turn off comp 2) put in disk 3) turn on comp 4) follow the Setup instructions on the screen Would those setup instructions include the reformatting part?

[TheMajor]

don't know..maybe
maybe it stands at the instructions, or else..just type 'format c:'

[Force Flow]

Karthik1019, no, formatting is not included in the 98 setup. You will have to boot with a win98SE boot floppy in order to enter the "format c:" at the DOS prompt.

TheMajor, I'm assuming you have you're machine running all tweaked out so almost nothing is running and are skimping on the GUI eye candy. XP is not really meant to run like that. 98SE is a far better choice in Karthik1019's case.

Realistically speaking, I don't really see how XP even runs satisfactorily on your specs. 98SE would even be a little on the slow side if you get it doing too much.

[Karthik1019]

Well, Major's computer does have plenty of RAM. Anyways, I'll get right on to making that book disk then. I was supposed to take the OEM version of 98 se from bootdisk.com right?

[Mesaeus]

I don't know about 200 Megahtz, but I've installed Xp on a wide variety of 300-500 Megahtz pc's and XP runs well enough on those. This is all provided you have at least 256 Mb memory installed, but even then I didn't have to disable any stuff to get it to run good enough, even on the 300 Mhtz pc. The one pc that was a bit sluggish (a pentium 3 450), it turned out to be the hard disk, which was a budget model with 512 kb disk cache, slow as molasses. Once I replaced it with a 80 Gig Maxtor that cost me 60 euros, it was running just as well as the others. Trust me, if the rest of the components are decent enough, you can get very low with the cpu speed and still have a usable Internet/Office pc.

PS This was just to say that yes it's possible to use XP on such slow machines. Personally I use 98 on any machine with less than 256 Mb memory, memory is the key for me to decide which OS to run.

[Karthik1019]

What are these DOS based image files that I can download at the bottom of the bootdisk.com page? And are those ALT 1 and ALT 2 files the same thing from different sources or are they different files that have to go on the boot disk. Wow, how did I make something so simple so complicated....

[Force Flow]

Actually 256MB is the bare minimum, and XP runs like a dog on it. 512MB is recommend.

Karthik1019, here: http://www.biazzi.org/docs/boot98se.exe

[TheMajor]

Originally Posted by Force Flow TheMajor, I'm assuming you have you're machine running all tweaked out so almost nothing is running and are skimping on the GUI eye candy. XP is not really meant to run like that. 98SE is a far better choice in Karthik1019's case.

no themes for me, that's right
Í do not run many services and I did some tweaks in my registry with http://www.xteq.com X-Setup Pro

A year ago my XP even ran with 64MB RAM

[Karthik1019]

Force, I already downloaded that. The thing is that at the bottom of the downloads page at bootdisk.com, it says that the OEM downloads are the ones that came with the operating system. So wouldn't that be the one that I already have that I described to you? And if that's the case, shouldn't I be getting the dos image so I can type in format C:?

[Mesaeus]

Originally Posted by Force Flow Actually 256MB is the bare minimum, and XP runs like a dog on it. 512MB is recommend.

Hey, you don't have to convince me Whenever I repair some pc with Windows XP, I almost always have to advise the owner to install some more memory. Right now I have a pc here, from a big local super market chain. It's a Celeron 2 Gig, integrated video, a 40 Gig hard drive and a combo dvdrom/cd writer. It also came with a fully legal oem windows xp home version preinstalled. Any guesses on how much memory it had ? 128 Mb. Minus the 32 Mb that got used as "shared memory" by the integrated video leaves us with exactly 96 Mb for Windows XP. Needless to say it was a bit slow. In my experience, "ordinary" people will have enough with 256 Mb, but 128 Mb will be incredibly slow. I still can't understand why they sell pc's with XP with only 128 Mb or even less, you get a very, very slow pc.

[Force Flow]

Originally Posted by Karthik1019 Force, I already downloaded that. The thing is that at the bottom of the downloads page at bootdisk.com, it says that the OEM downloads are the ones that came with the operating system. So wouldn't that be the one that I already have that I described to you? And if that's the case, shouldn't I be getting the dos image so I can type in format C:?

All that exe I linked to you should do is copy a boot disk image to a floppy so you can boot up and reformat. It doesn't matter what O/S you have or are going to install.

[palloco]

Windows XP may not work correctly in some systems.
For example in mine, it works perfectly with win98se but XP says that my graphic card does not have resources.(K6-III 400, 256 MB RAM, vodoo 3 3000, ax59pro)

[yellohut]

Originally Posted by Force Flow Realistically speaking, I don't really see how XP even runs satisfactorily on your specs. 98SE would even be a little on the slow side if you get it doing too much.

when 98se came out 500mhz was a fast processor.. you can run 98se on a Pentium 133 just fine.. and 500mhz is more than enough.

The minimum for XP is a 233mhz CPU and 64MB RAM.

The recommended is a 300mhz CPU and 128MB RAM

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/h...n/sysreqs.mspx

We're running XP pro on PIII 450 machines with 128MB RAM at work and they run fine (you can't game on them, but you can run several applications concurrently and browse High Speed Internet)

I do agree that Win98se is a better fit.. I would go so far as to say it is a perfect fit for that particular setup.
I also agree that doing a format and fresh install is the best route.. Force Flow has you going in the right direction there.

[Karthik1019]

Here's the update. Turns out I did have an old home made 98 se boot floppy lying around and all that downloading business was for nothing. I haven't actually gotten rid of xp yet and put 98 on though. I still need to get some quicken files backed up. But I was looking through the boot disk and I saw that there was no file called A:\ format, why isn't there one if I have to run that command? And oh yeah, the thing has 384 mb RAM, coupled with the 500 mhz P3, it should be enough for xp based on thos reqs, but I think I'm still going to go for win98. Besides, I think we're giving it away soon and the people who we're giving it to told me they will reformat the drive when they get it.

[Force Flow]

Originally Posted by yellohut when 98se came out 500mhz was a fast processor.. you can run 98se on a Pentium 133 just fine.. and 500mhz is more than enough.

Ya, I have one 133 machine still running 98SE here. It's certainly showing its age, though. heh, I tend to stress my machines out, so they sometimes run like dogs if I have them doing too much at once.

But yes, for basic desktop use, 500MHz is plenty for 98SE.

And oh yeah, the thing has 384 mb RAM, coupled with the 500 mhz P3, it should be enough for xp based on thos reqs, but I think I'm still going to go for win98.

Hmm...you could probably stick 2000 on there with no problems. 98SE is fine, nevertheless.

[palloco]

Im running fine win98SE on a 486 dx4 75 mhz, 16 mb ram, even when it is under minimum requirements. That shows w98 knows how to administrate resources.

[Karthik1019]

So, about this whole thing. Am I supposed to run fdisk after reformatting or will reformatting not destroy my current FAT32 partition?

[TheMajor]

reformatting does not change any sizes of any partitions. It only deletes all data on the partition you select to format (like c

With fdisk you can change the sizes of partitions or make new partitions or delete a partition.

[Karthik1019]

So then, if I only have a C: drive, then it's my only partition and I don't have to run Fdisk. That's good. I've heard lots of complaints about it. Thanks.

[TheMajor]

yeah..although there could be hidden partitions or unallocated space
you can only find out by using fdisk or another partitioning software like PartitionMagic or somewhere in windows XP

[Karthik1019]

Well, it's thirteen point something gigs, I don't think I wanna risk fdisk because that's more than enough for 98.

[TheMajor]

yeah..plenty of space for 98

[GaryRouth]

. . . something you may wish to consider -

A Win98/Win98se bootdisk is NOT going to be able to even see an NTFS XP partition on the hard drive, if one was created when XP was installed. If the XP was running on a FAT32 partition the whole time, then you're OK.

If you plan to give the box away soon, might want to run a quick set of diagnostics on the hard drive & memory. Nicer to give away things in good condition.

If they plan to reformat the drive anyway, you can even zero-write it for them: which will guarantee that they won't inherit any unwanted data or as-yet-undetected exploits.

Just my two cents: I refurbish & give away oldies like that a lot. [Win98se takes up less space & has the best software compatibility to match those specs. Apps written for XP tend to expect more]

Have fun with your project.
. . . Gary