I am about to upgrade the mobo,ram and processor on this old box of silicon(Gateway/Intel 440lx/PII). I'll be installing a Soyo MB with an Intel 815-B stepping chipset, 512 Mb Pc133 RAM and a Tualatin Celeron. A friend of mine told me that I will have to reformat my HD(wipe the drive and start clean) and reinstall my O/S W98SE before it will function again. Is this true? He told me that I'll have to reformat the drive, install the full OEM version of Win95 that came with the computer and then install Win98se because I have the upgrade version of Win98se and not the full version. Another guy told me that all I have to do if I want a "clean install" is to create a floppy boot disc, reformat the drive and then do the W98se install from the boot disc.
I'd like to start with a "fresh" O/S install after the upgrade as I have been told that a major hardware upgrade causes major headaches with the O/S, apps, drivers, etc.
Need Help!! Any good advice and/or links to tutorial web sites would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

Yes. When windows is installed, it installs a lot of mobo/chipset specific drivers that most likely will not function correctly with your new mobo.
Im not sure how the W98se upgrade works, but it would surprise me if it is possible to install it without an existing windows installation. I think you will need to install W95 first.

<i><b>Engineering is the fine art of making what you want from things you can get</b></i>
<A HREF="http://www.btvillarin.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=655" target="_new">My systems</A>

When you install it will ask for proof that you have windows like insert win 95 disk etc. That only proves you can use the upgrade for a clean install. All you need is the 98se flopy after you format the hard drive. The full ver. is on the upgrade disk.

If you see a turtle on top of a fence post,
It's a good bet somebody, put him up there.

Thanks for the replies. Now how can I tell if the w98se disc is an upgrade or a regular disk? It is a copy ( GASP ) that a co-worker made for me a couple years ago. on the disk it shows two files one is w98 the other is w98se. there is a setup file inside each of these. thanx

The Microsoft web site has all the information for upgrading and installing full versions O/S's - 95 to XP.

Genuine Microsoft O/S CD's have there special reflective logo on it.

Make sure that the O/S CD's are not computer brand specific eg. Dell only, etc.

I'am not sure what lable differences are between the upgrade or full version. {it might have simply upgrade or full OEM version written on the lable}.

DCB_AU

[-peep-] d00d, I hope you haven't listened to these jerks. NO YOU DON'T have to format your drive! Simply copy the Win98 directory and the chipset drivers to your hard drive, removed all the devices from Device Manager, install the board, and let Windows detect the new hardware. When it ask for the Windows 98 CD, direct it to the directory you coppied it to on your drive. when it ask for a driver, send it to the driver file you coppied onto your drive.

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

WRONG! I run a BUSINESS of doing this stuff and NEVER have to start with a clean drive!

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

You're correct in saying that you don't HAVE to start with a clean drive. It's not absolutely necessary, I'll agree with that. However, to achieve the best possible results, it's always advisable to install a 'clean' Windows.

You don't have to format the hard drive to do this. Simply rename your 'Windows' folder to 'Win.old' and your 'Program Files' folder to 'Programs.old'. During setup, it will prompt you to install Windows to 'Win.old'. Simply change this back to 'Windows' and voila! You have a clean install of Windows without formatting the hard drive. (Of course you have to have the room available on the drive before you proceed).

Another option I recommend is creating a folder on the drive to store your .CAB files (most OEMs use C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS, but you can name it anything and place it anywhere you like) and run setup from there. When Windows is setup, it will use this as the default install location and you won't get prompted to insert your Windows 98 CD (very annoying). You can also do this AFTER Windows is installed by using Poledit, but this option is easier.

<font color=red> If you design software that is fool-proof, only a fool will want to use it. </font color=red>

Whenever I do a platform update I always put the Win98 directory on the hard drive, and rerun settup just to clean any corrupted files. I mean, the system is on the bench, I might as well punch a few keys to be on the safe side.

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

If you're going to rerun setup anyway, why not install Windows clean? Why go through all the trouble you do prior to running setup only to run setup all over again? If you do the clean install, you don't have to worry about deleting everything from the device manager and you'll have no corrupt files to worry about.

<font color=red> If you design software that is fool-proof, only a fool will want to use it. </font color=red>

Grr, I see you've never had to work with CUSTOMERS before. OK, a guy brings you in a Compaq, with HX chipset. He asks what you can do with it. You tell him you can upgrade it with a new motherboard, CPU, and RAM, Case, Power supply. Or you can sell him another system.

Now he likes the fact that if you UPGRADE his system he can get the whole deal for $350. You like the fact that the parts only cost you $200. But there's a hitch, his CD won't load an non-Compaq system.

Case #2. Someone ask you to upgrade his system. Probablem is, he doesn't know where his CD's are. He has a lot of stuff, autocad, office, etc. You can't do a clean install without the CD's

Case #3, a person has a large amount of files and no way to transfer them, no CDR, too large for floppies, etc. You COULD spend HOURS backing their stuff up for them: NO.

Case#4, you know the person is just going to say "Why can't I play SuperFlipper98? Why did you delete this? I'm telling all my friends what a crackpot you are...

Case #5, a person has installed a bunch of stuff using his 56k modem. Hundreds of hours of install time over the past 3 years, no backup installation files.

You end up needing to KEEP the stuff that's already ON the drive.

OK, now say it's your own system. You don't want to loose files from any location you might have forgotten to check on. Your OS has already crashed badly, so you can only do backups from a DOS prompt.

Or say you just don't WANT to spend the next 8 hours of your life reinstalling every bit of software, hunting for CD's (add 2 hours as needed), hunting for keys (where DID I place that Office 2000 key?), etc. Best hope if you have everything in hand is you STILL spend the next 8 hours installing everything and downloading updates.

A reinstall on top of the old OS is 98% effective and NO WORK at ALL, just get the installation started, come back in an hour, and LOOK, it's DONE, you didn't even have to set their and wait for it to ask for input!

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

LOL, Why not "Just reinstall everything" in 8 hours when an overinstall would take you the whole hour to do...

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

Good points. For most enthusiasts it doesn't apply, but those are great points for everything and everyone else.

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I wouldn't be the champion overclocker I am were this not possible. I mean, if I can push a CPU past it's max, and the worse thing that will happen is a corrupted file will cause an hour down time, so be it. But if I have to reload the entire thing, it's not worth it!

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

I have worked with customers before... I do on a daily basis. I always advise my customers that the best option is a clean install of the OS. If for some reason this isn't possible, then and ONLY then will I consider the other options.

Yes, reinstalling apps is a pain in the ass... but I've been bitten in the ass one too many times by doing exactly what you've done only to have the customer come back whining that this or that isn't working. Might as well save the aggrevation and get it done right the first time.

I always tell my customer that they will have to reinstall all of their applications. I will have all of their data backed up, all they have to worry about is getting the app back on. And no, you don't have to spend hours backing up someone's data... you simply plug in another hard drive and ghost everything over. That way if something really goes wrong, you can always recover the data for them.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with your method... I've done it a few times myself. My experience tells me though that if I don't do a clean install right off the bat, I will have more headaches than simply reinstalling apps... especially when dealing with Windows 98/ME.

<font color=red> If you design software that is fool-proof, only a fool will want to use it. </font color=red>