uninstalling windows 98...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Eddie N
  • Start date Start date
i totally understand what your saying .. the worst is when you have to clean up someone elses mess.. a few years ago , i used to install car stereos , and people would bring their cars to me after they tried to do it themselves , and sucessfully gutted out half the dash , and then tell me " fix it " .. eeep ...

back to the original topic , taking it somewhere isnt an option .. im doing this as a learning expierience , not because i HAVE to .. i want to learn how , so when the time comes to install windows on my new machine that i just spent 1500 bucks building , i wont get stuck in this mess... i am computer literate , so my conclusion is that its the comprick computer... check this out :

souncard = intergrated into mb
video card = intergrated into mb
modem = i have no idea.. when i look at it , it looks almost as if there is a pci adapter card in an isa slot , and the modem was intsalled horizontally into it...wierd..

no open pci slots OR isa , NO open 3.5 inch bays or 5.25 inch... i had to yank the old cd rom to install a cd -r.. i bought this computer a year ago , not knowing really anything about computers besides processor speed , etc.. if i knew then what i knew now.. coulda got me more for my 1500 bucks..

i doubt anyone at compaq thought that anyone would be silly enough to want to install a different version of windows 98 on the computer.. quickrestore works because all of the needed drivers are on the disc..

ps.. i managed to get quickrestore working again.. all of the sudden...odd..

looks like its build an see time.. thanks for all your help.. dont disappear off the bbs , we need you here... hehe

- eddie -
 
Yuck.

I'm trying real hard to picture your modem here. It sounds like they're using a daughterboard for PCI slots? I've seen this in AST machines. Tell me if this is it: If your motherboard was laying flat on the table, then there'd be a board sticking up with PCI slots on it. The modem is set into one of these slots, and is therefore parallel to the motherboard. Correct? This is a horrible design but somewhat common. Form over function all the way.

Anyway, it's nothing to be concerned with.

Are you using the integrated soundcard for recording? You're going to have a heck of a time here I can tell. Now that the machine is back up, look in your device manager and tell me what sound and video drivers are being used.

Since sound and video are integrated, you're going to want to get the drivers from Compaq...and they might not be exactly happy to provide them. "Please use the backup-restore disk that came with your computer to reload all of the garbage that we'd like you to have installed"

And your assumption that "it's the computer" is pretty much correct. You're seriously getting screwed if you're buying a Compaq, HP, AST, or similar machine. If you can buy it at Walmart, don't buy it. The only time that I recommend machines like those is when the person asking is NEVER going to really need to do anything special...and even then I would recommend Micron or Dell over the above.

But remember, the rest of the problem is your fault. The first rule of being a geek is to not blame the computer until there's nothing else to try...well, at least when you're talking to other geeks. :) There's a very good chance that you can do this... you just have to keep trying until you do it right. I've done this with an HP, an AST, a Compaq, a PB, and a Gateway. I must say that each one was a big pain in the ass. On the flipside, I have rarely had a beef with the machines from "lesser" companies like Magitronic, Systemax, etc. Sometimes I wonder if I should just try one of those Macinto...nah.

Good luck. (and let me know about the video/sound/modem thing)

Slackmaster 2000
 
slack , my modem is set up EXACTLY as you desrcibed... parallel to the mb...

im using the soundcard that came on my motherboard because theres no open pci's for another...

im done tryin to load windows 98 on this hunka junk.... ill just wait till i get a new computer , and give it a run..plus im scared i might do permanent damage to this damn thing.. itll be easier because ill have all of the drivers handy... and all name brand parts... and at least then ill have a 1500 dollar initiative to keep trying..

my new system will be as follows :

p III 500
abit be 6 mb
128 megs memory ( for now ,till i save more cash for another 128 meg stick )
maxtor diamondmax plus 20.4 gig 7200 rpm ata/66 hard drive ( with a smaller second 10.1 gig to be added when i get the cash , eventually followed with a scsi drive )
magicwriter 4x4x24x cd-rw (already have it)
regular cd rom and floppy drive
not cheap , not expensive video card
wave 8/24 soundcard
windows 98 ( eeeek :))
vegas pro , acid pro ,effects ( already have them )

hey slack , is there a noticeable differnce between name brand and generic memory besides price ?

thanks for all your help ,

- eddie -
 
Not much time to write.

First, realize that there is already a BE6-2 board. I would definately get the second revision...not that the first is all that bad. They both include the highpoint 66 controller and have great features (especially for overclocking!).

Second, there CAN be a difference in regards to cheap memory and name-brand memory. I have read many negative stories in which labeled PC100 DIMMs were actually only good up to 83Mhz. Of course you can always return them so if you're going to save a big chunk...what the hell. I have one name brand and one off-brand DIMM in my current machines at home...both are PC100 and both work at 100. So who knows. Just realize that the name brand stuff is made of higher quality material (gold contacts, etc) and would be more reliable out of the box. What you might want to do is look for PC133. This will give you more upgrade leverage. Also, you can get the cheaper non-ECC memory (similar to the old non-parity SIMMs of yesterday) since you're not running mission critical applications. However, if you're planning on adding more than two DIMMs to one board you should go with "buffered/registered" memory or you might run into problems (learned that the hard way)...otherwise don't worry about it. I typically go for price over quality. Sorry you have to buy this stuff while it's still so expensive :(

Hey, are you going to be using this machine for recording only? If so there are some better options. First I'd dump Windows 98 for either Win95C or better yet NT4. Second I'd just get some little 4MB video card as I've read that accelerated cards can have a negative impact on recording performance.

If not then you might want to consider dual booting sometime in the future. I've got my machine setup with NT4/Win98 and I really like it so far. It feels good to boot into a nice clean OS for recording.

Also, let me know what kind of prices you're getting. $1500 seems slightly high for what you listed...although the soundcard you choose can really beef up the price.

Anyway, take what I say with a grain of salt. I usually only fill my brain with current info when I'm looking to buy and I haven't built a new machine in 4-5 months or so....things change quickly. I'm already getting the itch though...sick puppy. This TNT video card is a year behind the game and this Celeron would be much faster if it was a PIII....a shit I better knock that off right now. :)

So much for keeping this short...

One more thing you should seriously consider is some means of external storage. Anything with 1GB disks or better would work fine. I recently had to backup my system and it was a frickin nightmare. I filled up all the other drives on my geeky little network and still had to use like 8 or 10 100MB zip disks. What a pain in the ass that was. I still have no idea if I got everything back right.

Slackmaster 2000
 
not much time... girlfriend is behind me all pouty.. shes ready to...well .. cuddle.. so i must talk fast..

ill look into the be 6 rev2

ill get cheap memory for now.. pc 133 .. its only about 10 bucks more..

im not up for learning a new o/s , not too mention the budget is tight..im goin with windows 98 for now , but plan to upgrade to a more suitable envirnment for recording...

ill try to avoid hyped up video cards , i dont want to spend too much money on one anyway...

pentium III 500 = 215
128 meg pc 133 memory = 150
abit be-6 = 120
maxtor 20.4 gig 7200 rpm = 200
40x cd-rom drive = 50
floppy = 15
cheap soundcard = 20
video card = 50
wave 8/24 = 500

total = 1320
keyboard , mouse , shipping , monitor.. prolly rack up over 1500.. not too mention i want a second hard drive , and more memory..


external storage = cd-rw ?


sorry so short

- eddie -
 
Heh, seems like you and me got a lot in common :)

Anyway, the reason I'd avoid 98 if you're just going to be recording is that it's loaded with junk that can interfere with your good time (e.g. IE). I was running 98 and half the time I'd end up booting with the old Win3.1 Program Manager instead of Explorer. (modify system.ini: Shell= "Explorer.exe" to Shell= "Progman.exe") It does seem to free up some resources. That's another story though.

Since you're afraid of NT (and rightly so!)....the final release of Windows 95 (OSR 2.5 or "c") was pretty good and can be installed pretty cleanly. In fact I'm thinking about going back because 98 is damned annoying. Anyway, just suggestions. There's a link at http://www.fasoft.com (in the Links page) to another page that has some really great tips for improving your recording efficiency with 95. Many would probably work with 98 as well.

Anyway, those are good prices and $1300 was right around where I was thinking as I wrote my last post. Actually I was thinking $1100 becaue I overshot the 8/24 card. Man a decent card is expensive...I don't even want to think about it :)

I also didn't realize that you still needed all the accessories too. I tend to strip a lot of that crap from my older machines.

Great price on the PC133. I just looked at Viking the other day and they're stuff is still running around $200 for 64MB and $300 for 128!!!! Sheesh.

In regards to external storage...nevermind. I just realized that you already have a CDRW drive. I had a pretty good scare a couple weeks ago when my hard drive started spinning down. Luckily it was just the power supply but since then I've seriously considered getting something to backup my music onto other than these stupid zip disks (which I'm not really using anyway).

Anyway, if you'd like to continue this conversation then we should probably do it via email. No sense beating this thread to death any longer. Sorry I couldn't help more with the installation and I hope you have good luck with your new system. I'm using a BE-6 so if you have any problems then let me know (there are some bass ackwards drawings in the manual BTW). Oh, and really do look into the second revision. I checked it on pricewatch and it's cheaper than what you quoted for the first revision.

Slackmaster 2000
 
another reason i dont want to have to purchase an operating system is because windows 2000 is right around the corner , and who knows , microsoft might get it right this time... i havent heard too much about it , and the first version will be full of bugs , but , i still have hope...

also , the thought of running yesterdays OS on todays technology doesnt sit well with me.. so , i wouldnt go out and get 95... unless the price was right.. but if i shell out for a new OS , im going for the goods and would get nt4 ... :) no sense goofin off..

and i do need all the accesories for my new computer , but they arent neccessaties.. i could always just plug and unplug the monitor , keyboard , and mouse from my crapaq , but they would get tedious..

ps.. the wave 8/24 is an 8 in / 8 out trs card , hence the 500 buck price tag.. a good card for you slack would be the new 4/24 .. 4 ins , and i believe 4 outs , and priced at $269.. not bad..

pss.. maann... good luck Even

- eddie -
 
Well it has been ten days since Eddie began his format campaign and is at just about the right place on the battlefield. I am enlightened to no end that his frustation rivals my own format expeditions. This is the point where I personally take everything I have learned over the week of battle and format and start again with the new knowledge. By now 20 things have been added including lost files drivers and dll things, and 25 have been taken out. Somehow the computer decides I need some new file that it never needed befor. and yes, by now my wife begs me to get a new computer (even though this IS the new one). I got lost in this post, my gut hurts from laughing at Eddie litterally quoting my own verbal retorts. Seriously, wipe it out. start again. print this page so you can do everything slackster advised along the way. boot up as FAT32... let it load. add drivers next month.
 
Small comment - Gadgetlabs, makers of the Wave 8/24 Eddie's talking about getting (or has got) actually recommend Win 98 over 95. But what do I know?
 
Well, fundamentally the only difference between the first release of Win98 and Win95c is that you can't uninstall internet exploder. :) 95% of the extra crap included in 98 was freely available to 95 users. From a hardware vendor's viewpoint 98 is better because it has a massive driver database and more user-friendly tools (subjective). Not to mention that they're going to want to support the latest operating system. I have never heard anyone on this board recommend 98 over 95, and a few people in a thread a while back recommended that you NOT install web applications on your recording machine.

Slackmaster 2000
 
whoa man , is it me ? or did nt4 and windows 98 take a big drop in price ? i went to pricewatch and saw nt4 going for 60 and 70 bucks.. whats the deal with that ? am i missing the fine print ? whats the catch ? at that price , ill go for nt4 , if its a better recording envirnment , as long as my software is compatible...

- eddie -
 
One acronym: OEM. Yes you can get your favorite OS cheap if you're creative enough :)

Win2000 will be a great OS. If you're disappointed with the NT operating system then you might as well get a Mac because you're not going to do any better with microsoft. (nix Linux, let's not go there since we're dealing with recording)

Windows 95 is not "old" technology. If you're running windows 98 then welcome to the reality that you're running Windows 95 with Internet Exploder 5. (to put it simply) The major benefit of 95 is that you don't have to install a web browser or any of the extra crap included with 98. 98 was not a real OS upgrade, regardless of how much you paid for it.

Anyway, if I had the money and some patience I would wait for Win2000 (e.g. NT5). I have heard nothing but praise from the beta testers that I know.

I just wouldn't spend the money to build a machine just for recording, only to install Windows98. Seems like a waste to me. It seems like the rule of thumb is becoming: the fewer goodies the better the OS....

Slackmaster 2000
 
Makes sense to me, Slack. The less complicated it is, the fewer things there are to go wrong.
 
well... ill just use windows 98 or nt4 in the interim , while im waiting for windows 2000... when is it going to be realeased anyway ?

ps..slack , i sent you an e mail , did you get it ?

HAPPY TURKEY DAY !!!!

- eddie -
 
Eddie -

Yes I got your email and I replied with a very longwinded message. Didn't you get it? Crap, it seemed to send fine and I didn't get anything back from my ISP or your ISP. Hmm, hopefully I have it saved somewhere. Let me know if you still haven't received it and I'll send it again.

Slackmaster 2000
 
I am a 2000 tester myself, and I must say folks, that it's WONDERFUL. It's been running 24 hours a day for the past month or two, and I haven't had ONE problem. Not one single solitary problem ... and I've been pushing it, HARD. It even looks classier, somehow :) (hey, the mouse icon has a shadow) Anyone want screenshots? :)
 
i got it slack , i saw you still posting a few days before i got the reply , so i got nervous... thanks..

- eddie -
 
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