How to replace windowsxp with windows98

[ITlover]

Hello everybody

This is a new thread which I have started inorder to discuss regarding how to replace windowsxp with windows98.

Well Iam using windowsxp 2004 version.

Have a Nice Day

Bye

[Cricket]

Do you want to just wipe the hard drive clean and then install Win98? Or do you need to keep data files and stuff?

Why do you want to go back to Win98 anyway? WinXP is much more stable and up to date.

Cricket

[ITlover]

I want to keep my data safe , I dont want to format my entire drive , I just want to install windows98 over WindowsXP.

Well my dear friend no doubt their are some great features in windowsxp but if windowsxp was the best, then people in this forum would not have been complaining to much about this OS.
Sometimes their is a problem in the service packs, another problem is that you cannot go back to the older version of windows and their is no dos system in windowsxp.

I hope Iam clear

Best Wishes

[RJ]

I just want to install windows98 over WindowsXP.

That is not possible. If you want Windows 98, you gotta reformat.

You need to re-format at least your system partition. If your data partition is NTFS, you can use a 3rd party tool like Partition magic to convert it to FAT32, as Win98 can not handle NTFS.

I hope Iam clear

Sorry, but you're not. Windows 98 is dead. Nobody uses it anymore. But back at Windows 98's prime time, there were alot of problems and complainings, too. Windows XP is way better. But nothing in this world is perfect so that nobody has any complains about something. That's just not our reality.

RJ

[Panama Red]

Thanx for posting a separate thread, ITlover. Not sure why you'd want to do this tho. First off, assuming XP was installed in NTFS format, 98 won't install without reformatting to FAT32. Reformatting will remove all your personal data. Whatever you want to keep should be saved to a burned cd or dvd before the reformat. All of your programs will need to be reinstalled as there is no way to do an over-the-top going from XP back to 98.

Not sure who the people are on this forum that you're referring to that prefer 98 to XP. glc prefers 2000 to XP but 2000 is way better than 98. Maybe you should consider a dual boot configuration with 98 on one partition and XP on another. Then you'd have DOS available when/if you need it and the much more stable XP for daily tasks. Just my opinion.

[glc]

I do not believe you can safely and reliably convert NTFS back to FAT32 without removing the partition and making a new one.

http://faq.arstechnica.com/link.php?i=1820

Partition Magic allows you to convert an NTFS partition back to FAT32, but there is a reason that Partition Magic is not so lovingly referred to as "Partition Tragic". Often conversions simply fail, or worse, destroy data.

[andyms18a]

Originally Posted by ITlover . Well my dear friend no doubt their are some great features in windows xp but if windows xp was the best, then people in this forum would not have been complaining to much about this OS. Best Wishes

see this forum for all the complaints and problems with windows 98 http://forum.pcmech.com/forumdisplay.php?f=8
i agree xp is not perfect but in my opinion its a lot better than 98 and a lot easer to fix when things do go wrong

[Cricket]

Currently I have 4 working computers at home...2 with Win98SE and 2 with WinXP Home and I gotta say the WinXP Home computers give me less problems. I really don't have major problems with the Win98SE boxes, it's just that they will have more problems like programs freezing up or crashing where the WinXP Home computer rarely ever have anything like that going on. The 2 Win98SE boxes will eventually be upgraded to WinXP Home.

Cricket

[palloco]

Well, I use win98SE but any computer with more than 1 ghz should use winXP rather than 98, simply because of compatibility issues.

[ITlover]

Hello Mr. RJ, your reply is in blue and my comments are in black.

Originally Posted by RJ Your reply: That is not possible. If you want Windows 98, you gotta reformat. You need to re-format at least your system partition. If your data partition is NTFS, you can use a 3rd party tool like Partition magic to convert it to FAT32, as Win98 can not handle NTFS. My Comment: yes you are right, this is the main reason why I installed windowsxp on FAT32 partition, instead of NTFS ,although the performance of windowsxp is not that good on FAT32 but still it will not give me much problem during conversion. Your reply: Sorry, but you're not. Windows 98 is dead. Nobody uses it anymore. But back at Windows 98's prime time, there were alot of problems and complainings, too. Windows XP is way better. But nothing in this world is perfect so that nobody has any complains about something. That's just not our reality. My Comments: You are right windowsxp is much better than windows98 in terms of performance and reliabilty and as far as the usage of windows98 is concerned, in 3rd world countries ,windows98 is still being used and some firms and Companies are using windows98 because they find it much easier to use then windowsxp. In 1st world countries, no doubt, WindowsXP is used and preffered over windows98 and they have their own opinion regarding this issue. RJ

[ITlover]

Hello Mr. Panama Red, your reply is in blue and my comments are in black.

Originally Posted by Panama Red Your Reply: Thanx for posting a separate thread, ITlover. Not sure why you'd want to do this tho. First off, assuming XP was installed in NTFS format, 98 won't install without reformatting to FAT32. Reformatting will remove all your personal data. Whatever you want to keep should be saved to a burned cd or dvd before the reformat. All of your programs will need to be reinstalled as there is no way to do an over-the-top going from XP back to 98. My Comments: Your welcome Panama Red, Iam aware of the fact that windows98 can only be installed on FAT32 and this is the reason why I installed windowsxp over FAT32 partition so that it would not give me much problem during conversion back to Windows98. Dear friend, I want to ask you something, you have mentioned that If I had windowsxp over NTFS partition and inorder to convert it back to windows98, I have to reformat NTFS to FAT32 since win98 can only be installed on FAT32 and this can delete my personal data. Now I want to know that will this reformatting from NTFS to FAT32 delete my personal data on D: and other drives as well or it will only delete data on C:? I think this reformatting will only delete that data which is present on C:. Please clearify this point. Your Reply: Not sure who the people are on this forum that you're referring to that prefer 98 to XP. glc prefers 2000 to XP but 2000 is way better than 98. Maybe you should consider a dual boot configuration with 98 on one partition and XP on another. Then you'd have DOS available when/if you need it and the much more stable XP for daily tasks. Just my opinion. My Comments: Please re-check my previous post, I didnot say that people were preferring windows98 over windowsxp, what I was stating is that I have seen people in this forum complaining about windowsxp more than windows98 especially about the service pack 2. Iam enjoying this discussion.... Regards,

[RJ]

as far as the usage of windows98 is concerned, in 3rd world countries ,windows98 is still being used and some firms and Companies are using windows98 because they find it much easier to use then windowsxp.

Sorry, I wasn't really clear about it. I was referring to a statement like this

I have seen people in this forum complaining about windowsxp more than windows98 especially about the service pack 2

You registered here this year. Windows XP is already a couple years old. Nobody who builds a new computer uses Windows 98, hence there can't be much complaints about it.
Back in Windows 98's prime time, there are just as many problems with it. But that was around 1999, 2000, and you weren't here at PC Mech, so therefore you didn't see these posts.
You can't compare a dead OS to an OS in its prime time and say more people are having problems with XP.

Anyway, about your intention: Since you have FAT32 partitions, you don't need to recreate the partitions. Just format the system partition and install Windows 98 on it. Your data partition can remain as is.

RJ

[glc]

Originally Posted by palloco Well, I use win98SE but any computer with more than 1 ghz should use winXP rather than 98, simply because of compatibility issues.

There is no compatibility issue till you hit 2.1 GHz. I'm going to (re)state an opinion - the main reason to use XP instead of 98SE is stability, other reasons are application compatibility (example - M$ Office 2K3 won't install on 98) and hardware compatibility (example - NForce-based motherboards really don't like 98 much at all). I'm a firm believer in if your OS supports your hardware and software and doesn't constantly crash, there is no reason to upgrade.

[jeffr]

Why is Windows XP more stable than Windows 98?

[glc]

Because it's a true 32 bit operating system (based on the NT kernel instead of the Win9x kernel on top of DOS) where all applications run in their own protected memory space. If an application crashes, it doesn't crash the whole OS, you won't have to reboot to get everything back.

[andyms18a]

Originally Posted by jeffr Why is Windows XP more stable than Windows 98?

ruffly speaking win98 was built on a dos core programs accessed the hardware by making a direct call to the drivers with xp that changed as its built on a NT core and any program that needs a peace of hardware to do something has to go via the hardware abstract layer so only xp can talk to the hardware all program must ask xp for the info they need that way xp can control whats going on on the computer and keep resources free

[jeffr]

where all applications run in their own protected memory space

Can't the protected memory still be violated creating a crash?

[Pounder]

To me going from XP to win 98 is like trading in my 2004 Chev truck for a 1960 Rambler

[glc]

Originally Posted by jeffr Can't the protected memory still be violated creating a crash?

Sure - nothing's perfect, but it's a lot less likely to happen than one of the many ways to crash 98.