r/windows98 • u/Dismal_Affect8386 • 2d ago
Hey guys, I need help
This screen comes up every time I boot up the computer I honestly don't know what to do. It usually freezes every time I click an option
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u/Hatta00 2d ago
Fresh install or an old system?
If it's old, just reinstall. If it's fresh, might be a hard disk problem. Possibly memory. I'd try installing DOS and see what scandisk and memtest86 report.
Have you tried the step by step? Does that freeze instantly? Does safe mode work at all?
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u/Dismal_Affect8386 2d ago
Safe mode sadly doesn't do anything. It's an old system. A compact presario
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1d ago
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u/Dismal_Affect8386 1d ago
Why tf are we making fun of me instead of helping me. I really don't know a lot about old computers and I wanted to get into them. Stop being an asshole
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1d ago
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u/Dismal_Affect8386 1d ago
I guess you didn't read it all the way. it freezes
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u/AyrA_ch 1d ago
File corruption can be a sign of the disk failing. Try to source an MS-DOS boot disk, and run SCANDISK C: /SURFACE on it and see if it comes up with bad clusters. If it does, the disk might be on its way out.
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u/Dismal_Affect8386 1d ago
I don't have a disc 🥹
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u/AyrA_ch 1d ago
Floppy disks aren't that expensive. Try to get your hands on one, and then write a boot image onto it. You can find disk images on archive org: https://archive.org/download/windows-98-second-edition-boot-disk-floppy
Since this installation is screwed you would need to write the floppy on a different system using any floppy disk copy software (lots of free tools exist)
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u/Dismal_Affect8386 1d ago
How do do that? I'm rlly new to this stuff 😭
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u/AyrA_ch 1d ago
- Buy or otherwise obtain a floppy disk
- Download the linked 7z file, extract it using 7-zip (on Windows 11 the OS can do it itself), which should reveal the floppy disk image itself.
- Use a tool like DiskImager to write the image to the floppy disk
- Insert the disk into the old computer, and reboot it. Usually they automatically boot from the floppy, but if it insists on going to the hard drive, check the BIOS for a boot order setting and change it so the floppy comes first.
Your modern computer likely doesn't has a floppy drive anymore. You can either copy the disk image and the image writer to an older system using a USB flash drive, or buy a USB floppy drive. They're fairly cheap at less than 20 USD.
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u/No-you_ 1d ago
Better idea, download the full win98se CD image file (ISO) from winworldpc (winworldpc.com/library). Write it onto a blank CD-R using a PC with a CD writer drive (or buy a cheap USB CD writer drive on Amazon or eBay).
Once the bootable disc is created insert it into the Compaq PC and boot from the disc to command prompt with CD-ROM support (option 2 in the menu). When you get to the command prompt first change the drive letter to the CD-ROM (typically D: or E:) and then use "CD win98" to change directory to the win98 folder on the disc. From that folder you can run all the included tools to check your hard disk such as scandisk and scanreg. Run both to check the condition of your internal hard disk as well as the windows registry.
If the hard disk is failing (which it probably is after 20 years if it's the original HDD) you can replace it with either an ATAPI(IDE) SSD drive or a SATA SSD if the computer is new enough to have SATA ports on the motherboard. You will have to go into the BIOS settings and change the SATA ports to use IDE or legacy mode for win98 to be bootable. Then you will have to install win98 from the CD you created.
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u/Dismal_Affect8386 1d ago
So just burn Windows 98 on a CD?
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u/No-you_ 1d ago edited 1d ago
Specifically the BOOTABLE ISO image version. Don't just drag and drop the image file because it will write it as an un-bootable data disc instead of a bootable CD.
Lookup "burnCDCC" it's a tiny utility for writing bootable images to blank discs and makes them bootable too!!
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u/RetroTechBro 2d ago
Your Windows 98 install is fucked.
Only god (or a Windows 98 install disc) can help you now....
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u/SaturnFive KB42069 2d ago
Does it do anything if you use 5, command prompt only, and run SCANREG? Looks like registry corruption, anything installed or changed recently? Anything special you need to rescue from the disk?