uninstalling windows 98...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Eddie N
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Eddie N

Eddie N

10 Inch Member
how the heck do i uninstall windows ? ive been trying like heck to get rid of it because i want to reinstall , but i cant figure this out !!! if this helps any , i have a compaq , and windows came installed.. i got my hands on windows 98 second edition , and would like to install that instead...when i insert the disc , i get " windows has detected an os on this computer " yadda yadda... and it wont boot it up...so i figure i need to uninstall first... please help me outtt... geez... figures... my computer only crashes when i dont want it to... thanks...

- eddie -
 
Yep. The *best* way to do this is to reformat the drive that you're installing windows to. Otherwise boot from a floopy disk and delete \Windows. That should do it. If not then delete all the files in the root folder as well.

The deal here is to make it so that the installation program doesn't know that you had Win98 installed.

Slackmaster 2000
 
well..im not exactly sure how to boot from a floppy disk... and i tried deleting windows files , but it wouldnt let me... damn..i cant crash my cumputer if i want to... i think ill go download a virus on purpose... slack , if you have the patience to fill me in a little more about the booting from the floppy disk thing , id really appreciate it...

oh...and i tried reformatting the drive windows is on , but it said i couldnt because windows was using files from that drive...what is that about ?

thanks..
- eddie -
 
Floppy disk - It should come with your win98.

It's for booting in case your computer crashes and won't let you in to fix it.

Ask friends or go to a shop to get one
 
Good news, I am the king of the re-format. No one, and I open this up for legitimate challenge, has had more PC shortcomings than me. So heres what you want.. the aforementioned "floopy" is the 3.5 "startup disk" it should have come with your system. You know the one, the flat little black one that probably has the name of your PC on it or is called drivers or some such thing. If you do not have this, click on control panel and "create a startup disk". Or just type in "startup disk" in your help file to find exactly how to make one on your PC. Now, restart the incorigible brute in DOS. from the DOS prompt type in "format c:" (I cringed just now as I typed that). after 15 minutes of waiting for it to wipe out its entirety, you may want to Fdisk. You do that from dos too. See win98 tends to install with FAT32. All you are doing now is verifying partitions and stuff. Shut down.. turn on, and this time have the "startup" (floppy) in the A drive. there you go.
 
Eddie, I'll light some candles and say some prayers on your behalf.
 
moderator please delete

[This message has been edited by Slackmaster2K (edited 11-15-1999).]
 
Does anyone know how to recreate the startup disk from the WINDOWS 98 CD? I know that with NT you can create a new batch of startup disks by running 'winnt /ox' from I386 on the CD. This is real handy if you lose your disks...which is real common. :)

Even, are you absolutely sure that creating a startup disk the way you described will work for an installation? Are the cdrom drivers loaded?

If you make or find your startup disk then you should copy format.exe (or .com?) to it. It'll come in handy down the road. Format is in \windows\command\.

BTW, if you don't have a way to backup your data and just want to reinstall windows. Then boot from your startup disk and delete the \windows folder and all the FILES (not folders) in the root of your hard drive (make sure there's nothing important there first). Windows 98 setup will ask you if you want to start setup from the CD, start the computer with CD-ROM support, or start the computer without CD-ROM support. Choose the latter then at A:\ type the following:

deltree c:\Windows

and

del c:\*.*

Then restart and choose "Start Setup from the CD" or whatever.

If you've backed up your data and are going to be reformatting the drive, then boot from your startup disk as described above then at the A:\ enter:

fdisk

Fdisk will start. When it asks if you want to enable large disk support (e.g. FAT32) hit the Y key for yes. You will then be presented with (I believe) four options. Assuming that your drive has only one partition, you'll want to select "Delete partition" (or whatever) and delete the PRIMARY partition. Follow the instructions on screen. Once you do this everything on your drive is long gone. If you copied Format to your startup disk you can either format the drive manually once you restart or just let the Win98 setup format the drive for you. I'm used to the Win95 setup disk which was absolutely horrible (they forgot to include himem.sys! for one thing) so I'm more comfortable doing things the hard way....Win98 seems to work pretty well without much brain power.

Be prepared for absolute hell. Sometimes setting up windows is a breeze....but you never know.

It recently took me about 5 hours to get NT and 98 to dual boot on my system. There were so many little quirks that I had forgotten about and a few brand new ones. And I've installed windows HUNDREDS of times (no kidding) on about 50 different machines. Sometimes I actually consider that macintosh thing......nah :)

***Hmm. Looks like Eddie hasn't responded back in a little while. Hope everything is ok. I always get nervous when someone asks how to install windows and then you don't hear from them for a few weeks :) ***

Slackmaster 2000
 
Slack, I know what you mean. I've often considered turning the beast into a high tech boat anchor.
 
slack..im here man... hehe... i did " format c: " , and it worked.. thanks even.. BUT...after 2 tries of booting up windows 98 second edition , i went back to the good ole compaq quick restore... for some reason , windows kept booting up with only 16 colors , and when i went into the control panel , the choices for true color and high color were no where to be found..any one know why ? ill give it another whirl when i have the time .. i didnt have the patience to play with it , or the time...besides , i missed a day or 2 at the site , and i was going through withdrawals...

thanks for the help ,
- eddie -
 
Hey Eddie
I believe tha Compricks put 98 on a chip in your computer. This makes it damb near impossible to install a newer version.
 
Heh, welcome to stage 2 of the windows installation process.

It is VERY common to find that Windows will not automatically detect all of your hardware...while Windows98 comes loaded with boatloads of drivers, they can't account for everything. The reason you couldn't set your video resolution/color depth is because windows was using the default VGA adapter drivers.

Once you get windows "installed", you've only fought half the battle. The rest of the fight is installing all of the proper drivers for your hardware....actually the hard part is FINDING all of your drivers beforehand.

Now that you've got the compaq windows reinstalled, get into Device Manager (right click on My Computer and select properties) and note each piece of hardware. In most cases you'll need to download drivers for: Sound, Video, Modem, and Network Adapters (if any). If you get all of those before hand you'll be able to fix most of the other problems that will arise after the installation.

It's very difficult to find out exactly what hardware is in your Compaq...at least it usually is with those name-brand PC's. But don't worry, it IS possible. I've done this with HP, Compaq, Packard Bell, and AST machines.

Here's a good link to have handy during the "discovery" phase of your reinstallation:
http://www.sbsdirect.com/fccenter.html

Good luck.

Slackmaster 2000
 
alrighty.. < sigh > .. i can sucessfully reformat my hard drive..then.. when i attempt to reboot windows 98 , it copies all the files , then when it restarts itself i get " windows protection error : cannot find file vmm32.vxd : windows must be restarted " i restart the computer.. and blam !! same message.. slack , any clue what that means ?

and about the drivers , i dunno why i didnt think of that as the cause of my 16 bit problem.. but thats easy , all i need to do is dl the drivers from the manufactuers web site right ? piece of cake.. i hope..

its funny , i read all of these computer books , and surfed all these sites , but i guess book smarts only goes so far.. now its time for the real deal hands on expierience.. im glad im getting my feet wet now , because i had intentions of building my own computer for recording soon , and i never considered installing windows as being a big deal.. i hope that this isnt a prelude of whats to come... then again , thats what i have you guys for !!! :D

- eddie -
 
Yeah I've run into 'similar' problems with vmm32.vxd in the past. VMM32.VXD is a "monolithic" driver. That is, it's an archive of many drivers used by Windows (*.vxd files)...all compressed into one file for the sole purpose of making the bootup process faster.

What does that mean to you? Oh, probably not all that much. :) Typically problems with this file can be easily resolved by a reinstallation of windows...but I don't think that's going to be so in your case.

I took a peek over at Microsoft's support site. They maintain a pretty decent knowledgebase.

Go here: http://support.microsoft.com and search for the following articles: Q188867, Q191874, and Q194679.

The first article contains a good procedure for troubleshooting a Windows startup. Have you tried booting in safe mode or doing a step-by-step confirmation of device drivers? Press and hold the F8 key as soon as windows starts to load for the menu.

Oh, you should also try booting to DOS from a floppy and seeing if vmm32.vxd actually exists or not.

About finding the proper drivers for all of your hardware. It's not as easy as it may sound, but you've got the right idea. I've seen some real bizzare shit inside Compaq's and HP's and whatnot. Not at all easy to work on or troubleshoot.

Oh yeah, how does the recovery CD that you got with your computer work? Does it simply reCOPY everything back to the HD or does it reinstall everything? If it recopies then you *might* be able to extract vmm32.vxd from the disk and it *just might* work. Getting into iffy land here...

Bottom line: don't give up. What you're trying to do IS possible. Detail everything that you do, including word-for-word error messages and post them back here if you get stuck. Installing windows is NOT easy. Think of this as gaining experience :)

If none of this makes sense then blame it on 4:00am and too much Jim Beam. Why I'm sitting here writing this I have no idea...

Slackmaster 2000
 
AAHHHHHHHHHHH !!!! !@#$%@#$%@#$% ... piece of crapppp !!! dammit , " missing file wtqrtert.vxd " " missing file ergsrgs.ini" missing this....missing that....... i figured out the vmm32.vxd problem...i was booting from the hard drive too soon...dammit..but everything else is all messed up... im giving it another shot....the drive is formatting right now... oh yeah , and my good ole compaq quick restore crapped out on me at 42% ...so im real screwed... maybe the fact that im trying to install windows 98 in a compaq desktop computer is part of the problem...nothing came with drivers..i thought i installed the monitor driver...but nothing... still 16 bit..im gonna throw this puter out the damn window... maybe its the windows cd rom itself...i dont know..ugh.. help ...me...i.. cant...do this...anymore..

- eddie -
 
UPDATE 11/21 9:50 PM EST. :

i still couldnt get it right , but i managed to get quick restore working.. my eyes are bleeding from watching the screen , my fingers are calloused from typing.. my back hurts from sitting.. my butt is swollen , and theres no beer left in the fridge... after rereading my last post , i realized that it doesnt make sense , and i just rambled.. but... im content for now .. with my comprick computer.. ill try again after another beer run to the quickie mart .. but for now im pooped.. thanks for your help slack ... and any more advice will be greatly appreciated..

- eddie -
 
Eddie, you seem to be where I was in October (I asked my wife <well, pleaded actually>: 'Can I please just throw this ****ing computer out the window?' (Dragon, please consider - it's okay to use the f-word when quoting someone, rather than a gratuitously shocking use of abusive language.) She said it wasn't okay, and so that's why I have a computer to type this to you now.

Anyway, I took my computer down to someone who had way more experience than me, someone who does this for a living, and told him what I wanted, and $40 (Singapore) later, I was on my way back home with a system that worked.

Alternately, of course, you can get a gun and bang a coupla three rounds into the hard drive and then one for luck into the monitor, and I'll understand, if not applaud. But you *know* it makes more sense to get some help with this one. :)
 
By the way, I didn't say to Gill: "Can I please throw this asterisking computer out the window?" I used real English, for real men and women. And computers. Now I'm going to record a track (I can do this because I didn't chuck the bugger out the window), and there won't be an asterisk anywhere, I promise. :)
 
Dobro makes a good point. You should really consider taking the machine in to someone. If I was actually at your home I could have your machine running in a few hours...I'd guarantee it. I'm not bragging, I've just done it quite a few times. When I'm sitting in front of a sick machine there are so many thoughts going through my head....but when I read a post claiming that vmm32.vxd wasn't found, I draw a blank. It's hard to say exactly what you did and exactly what the machine's doing without being there.

When I'm at work and someone has a problem, I don't hardly bother to listen to what they're saying because they'll often try to draw conclusions from improper assumptions. I usually just interrupt and say "show me".

If you take another crack at it I'll continue to help though. Here's what you should keep in mind: DO NOT INSTALL DRIVERS UNTIL WINDOWS IS COMPLETELY INSTALLED. Let it install all of its default drivers...then install the correct drivers one by one. Also note that with a compaq, Windows might detect a board's chipset and install inappropriate drivers. The hardware in name-brand machines is really disgusting. Just gives me a sick feeling when I look inside the case...shit's all twisted around... backplane architecture...integrated peripherals...ick. Never underestimate the power of Safe Mode and use the F8 key during bootup like it's your best friend.

So I guess it boils down to how much you want to learn. I guarantee that you'll learn a lot if you go through this process. But it's going to take you SO much longer. If you just want to get back to makin music then I'd take it in to someone.

Slackmaster 2000
 
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