downgrading Windows

[dazedandconfused]

This is a more specific question, actually the same question, as my recent post. I want to uninstall Win 98SE and reinstall an older Windows version. Can it be done? Easy, hard? Left to my own devices I would remove everything related to Windows and then pop in my disc but something tells me that is inadvisable.
This new OS seems unstable. Perhaps it's my new mobo. It's not opening certain pages, freezing up, fragmenting windows, illegal operation messages. I never had those problems with my old OS.
(While we're wishing I want IE5, OE4, and WMP2 back too. My computer worked just great 4 years ago until I was forced to "upgrade" to all this new stuff).

[colecifer]

Windows won't let you downgrade. You will have to reformat and reinstall. I know where you are coming from. My last computer was one we got from my dad's work and it had win 95 on it. Something happened to it, to the point where it wouldn't start up. So we put 98 on it. It got really really slow with 98. We didn't have a 95 disc to downgrade to though.

[dazedandconfused]

Can you tell me what reformatting is in 25 words or less?

[fftaz336]

It completely wipes out your hard drive. It removes everything. Insert your Win98 startup disk. at the a prompt (A:\) Type in "Format C:" Or whatever letter your hard drive is assigned.

[dazedandconfused]

Thank you

[Doobie]

Originally posted by dazedandconfused Can you tell me what reformatting is in 25 words or less?

Short Definition
Format = Delete Everything


Longer Definition
(v.) (1) To prepare a storage medium, usually a disk, for reading and writing. When you format a disk, the operating system erases all bookkeeping information on the disk, tests the disk to make sure all sectors are reliable, marks bad sectors (that is, those that are scratched), and creates internal address tables that it later uses to locate information. You must format a disk before you can use it.

Note that reformatting a disk does not erase the data on the disk, only the address tables. Do not panic, therefore, if you accidentally reformat a disk that has useful data. A computer specialist should be able to recover most, if not all, of the information on the disk. You can also buy programs that enable you to recover a disk yourself.

The previous discussion, however, applies only to high-level formats, the type of formats that most users execute. In addition, hard disks have a low-level format, which sets certain properties of the disk such as the interleave factor. The low-level format also determines what type of disk controller can access the disk (e.g., RLL or MFM).

Almost all hard disks that you purchase have already had a low-level format. It is not necessary, therefore, to perform a low-level format yourself unless you want to change the interleave factor or make the disk accessible by a different type of disk controller. Performing a low-level format erases all data on the disk.

(2) To specify the properties, particularly visible properties, of an object. For example, word processing applications allow you to format text, which involves specifying the font, alignment, margins, and other properties.

(n.) A specific pre-established arrangement or organization of data. Data in a file is stored in a format that is established by whatever application created the file (i.e., organized the data) and typically needs to be read by the same or similar program that can interpret the format and present the data to the user on the computer screen.

Almost everything associated with computers has a format.

[dazedandconfused]

Thank you/

[edfair]

You may be able to reinstall the earlier and go back to the original by reinstalling without having to reformat.

Start ,settings , control panel, add/remove, make a boot floppy, then when it is done, copy deltree to it.

Boot from it, run fdisk, 4, see what file system. If fat16, exit out, deltree c:\windows. When it is done (long time) put the older system CD in place , move to it, and run setup.