Win 98se and XP both crash while installing.

[coastymad]

Hello my father is having problems trying to install an os on his ancient machine it's a 300mhz slot 1 intel celeron processor, 256mb ram, 1gb hdd (very small) a 6* cd-rom drive but no floppy drive, the problem is that when he tries to install win98se it says "please insert a boot floppy" which he obviously can't, and with win xp pro it gets up to the screen saying "setup is starting windows....." where it stays, the cd-rom still flashes but nothing else happens, i've left it running for over 2-3 hours on that screen but nothing happens, can anybody think what's wrong or should i be thinking about another os (linux etc). Thanks, Coastymad. :bounce:

 

[DelJo63]

advice ...

300mhz is way too S L O W--- time for an major reinvestment.
go shopping on the Internet and you can find bargin prices under $900 for a reasonable system (harware) configuration.

As 98/se is out of maintenance, stick with XP/home and you'll do fine

 

[ChineseTechie]

The minimum requirement for XP is P2 450. If you really want to keep the computer and run 98, you can get a floppy drive, but I believe you can run everything off the CD. When does it ask you to insert the boot disk??

cT

 

[synthetik]

Some old CD-ROM drives are not bootable, which is why perhaps it's asking for a boot floppy.

Either you install a flopy drive or CD drive.

Are you using an original copy of 98? If it's not original, make sure it's bootable before wasting time trying to boot from it.

forget about using XP on that machine. XP is resource-hungry.

good luck

 

[Tedster]

a 1 gig hard drive? you're joking?

come on.... that's why it's called rare sense. If everyone had it, it would be called common sense.

You CAN'T put both of those OS on a 1 gig hard drive. Futhermore forget putting XP on a computer with less than 512mb of ram. It's not worth it. XP eats more than 128mB of memory not leaving much for anything else. Your computer will run EXTREMELY slow with 256MB, XP, and with 300mhz processor.

I'm surprised you can install 98SE on a 1 gig HD with any room left over for anything else. :knock:

NO serious computer user should run a computer without a floppy drive.
Floppies are still required for legacy purposes and DEEP internal tinkering which runs on 8086 architecture. ALL intel based computers (AMD also) run on core 8086 architecture. To change BIOS, and other DOS functions REQUIRES a floppy drive.

 

[ChineseTechie]

I suggest get a used computer that doesn't cost much if it's just for basic use, like word processing and browsing the internet. There's not much that you can do with the computer that you described.

cT

 

[DelJo63]

NO ... user should run a computer without a floppy drive.
Floppies are still required for legacy purposes and DEEP internal tinkering which runs on 8086 architecture. ALL intel based computers (AMD also) run on core 8086 architecture. To change BIOS, and other DOS functions REQUIRES a floppy drive.

I guess the laptop user is {by definition} not serious. Come on now --- let's not go balistic on trivia. A great many users don't what anything to do with DOS nor deep internal tinkering; they just want a machine which will allow them to run the applications necessary to perform there jobs. BTW, XP is not DOS based either :bounce:

 

[Tedster]

Eventually at some point, a user is going to perform a function which requires a floppy drive. I've seen it at all levels.

it's just plain good sense to have one.
I wouldn't buy a computer without one.

Even windows backup requires a floppy for an emergency boot disk. But we're kind of getting off the path here.

There is no upgrade on a 300mhz system that will make it worth keeping. Money would be far better spent on a low end new system.

 

[urbandragon]

1. you do not have to have a floppy drive ever... if the following 2 conditions are met.

A. you have a bootable cdrom drive....
B. you are either on a network or have a cdrw for backing up/file transfers.


2. My abit NF7 motherboard bios updates do not require a floppy disk to run them.. most newer motherboards the bios updates can be ran from any media that can be booted to.

To address your issue........
1. you do not meet the minimum system requirements for windows xp.
areas you lack in....Processor, and the duh.. hdd to install windows xp you must have a minimum of 1.5 gig free space and minimum of 2gig hdd if i am not mistaking...

2. to reinstall windows 98 since it is a legacy o/s yes you will need either a bootable cdrom drive which it sounds like you do because you can boot to your xp setup...

3 to install windows 98 you must have a working copy of windows 98 install disk. and it doesn't seem like you have a working install cd.....

solution for you.... try the windows 98 cd on a modern computer to see if it will boot to the initial setup.
if it will not get yourself a new cd.

 

[Tedster]

the point is, you need a floppy. Whether it be a real floppy or a simulated floppy, you need one.

Sometimes when board architecture fails, the only thing they'll recognize is a real floppy.
Interesting to note, they still include a floppy port on the boards. In any case, I think this topic is for another thread.

 

[DelJo63]

3 to install windows 98 you must have a working copy of windows 98 install disk. and it doesn't seem like you have a working install cd.....

solution for you.... try the windows 98 cd on a modern computer to see if it will boot to the initial setup.
if it will not get yourself a new cd.

the 98/se full install box (not the upgrade version) comes [I have the package]
with a floppy to load the CD drivers. From there it loads the CD :dead:

strongly suggest it's time to reinvest in a equipment.