[SOLVED] Please help me! Installing OS to an old pc

[MrCrypdough]

Hello!
So I am trying to upgrade an old windows 98 pc to windows xp and I am having a terrible time trying to do so. I have hareware checked and am compatible with the windows xp OS. My problem is that I can not get any data in or out of this pc. It currently runs Windows 98 second edition. I have a cd-rom drive that continues to say that the drive is not accessible. I need a driver to update it. I can not connect to the internet in any way. I have an outdated internet explorer that I can not get the security options configured correctly to allow me to connect to anything. I have successfully updated from a dial-up to an ethernet ISA card. Drivers have downloaded successfully. I have a floppy drive that works just fine. I have usb ports that are only working for the mouse and keyboard. My thought was to install the ethernet card, connect to the internet, and update my usb driver to be able to insert a bootable flash drive with the windows xp OS. The current state of my usb drive does not allow data transfer. I have even gone as far as buying a floppy disk writer to move the drivers from my newer pc to the older pc. This is the only method I have been able to use to get data to the windows 98 pc. However, I can not get the drivers to run or install. I also do not know exactly how to do this. But when I move the driver installation there is no detected program to run it. I have also tried to do a Lan connection to the pc from my newer pc, and although I get it to work, when I tried to download the XP OS files to my newer pc and then to the 98 pc this way, there are some files that I can not see on the windows 98 pc and it ends up corrupting the install. I am stuck and need help. I just want to be able to insert the bootable flash drive and install windows XP, with no internet, no cd-rom, no usb port that will recognize a usb drive. Ideally if there is a way to get a proper driver on a floppy disk and directly install it from the floppy to allow me to insert and recognize the usb stick is the route I keep coming back to. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I have tried and used a few version of nusb36 e and other drivers but it keeps telling me that it is looking for a newer version of windows and cancels. Someone please help me troubleshoot this.

 

[Eximo]

With XP, boot and install from optical is typical. Really the only way to go about it if USB is not an option. A small USB 2.0 drive is the best you can hope for with a USB installation, actually pretty slow.

If you were super patient you could also do a Windows XP floppy install, since you have that method working.

PXE boot over ethernet might also be an option, you will have to setup a system to act as a PXE boot server.

And the dumbest, but possibly workable solution, would be to use your modern hardware to install XP, then just try a drive transplant.

Unless the optical drive is broken, I would just go down that route. I hope you aren't trying to do an upgrade from within 98? That is doomed.

 

[MrCrypdough]

With XP, boot and install from optical is typical. Really the only way to go about it if USB is not an option. A small USB 2.0 drive is the best you can hope for with a USB installation, actually pretty slow.

If you were super patient you could also do a Windows XP floppy install, since you have that method working.

PXE boot over ethernet might also be an option, you will have to setup a system to act as a PXE boot server.

And the dumbest, but possibly workable solution, would be to use your modern hardware to install XP, then just try a drive transplant.

Unless the optical drive is broken, I would just go down that route. I hope you aren't trying to do an upgrade from within 98? That is doomed.

so I believe that I have the capabilities to attache the IDE hardrive to a sata on my new motherboard and install to it and implant the drive back to the win98 hardware. I am just concerned with this. I have never done it. How can I install a second operating on a second hardrive without messing up the host OS?

 

[Eximo]

so I believe that I have the capabilities to attache the IDE hardrive to a sata on my new motherboard and install to it and implant the drive back to the win98 hardware. I am just concerned with this. I have never done it. How can I install a second operating on a second hardrive without messing up the host OS?

Unplug the other drive while doing it, what it can't connect to it won't know about.

Not a recommend solution though, if certain drivers get loaded it may not work on the other system.

 

[TerryLaze]

so I believe that I have the capabilities to attache the IDE hardrive to a sata on my new motherboard and install to it and implant the drive back to the win98 hardware. I am just concerned with this. I have never done it. How can I install a second operating on a second hardrive without messing up the host OS?

1. Remove all the old drives, keep a note on which drive was connected to which sata port otherwise you might have to reconfigure them in bios.
2. Only connect the drive you want XP on.
3. Install XP normally BUT on the second reboot request, after it copied all files and wants to reboot to finalize everything do not reboot instead shut of your pc and transfer the disk to your XP system so it can finalize the installation on the hardware it's going to use.

 

[MrCrypdough]

Unplug the other drive while doing it, what it can't connect to it won't know about.

So, I unplug my NVR mean drive on my newer motherboard, connect the IDE to sata, and boot the windows 98 on my new motherboard, then insert my windows XP optical disk, and that’s it? There won’t be any problems with windows 98 detecting the hardware enough to install the operating system? I don’t want to have to reconfigure my bios or anything when I unplug it and reconnect the NVME hard drive. At what point do I unplug the IDE drive then?

 

[TerryLaze]

If you absolutely need to upgrade win98 you are in for many problems, what both of us are talking about is making a clean install of windows xp deleting anything that is on the drive currently.

 

[MrCrypdough]

If you absolutely need to upgrade win98 you are in for many problems, what both of us are talking about is making a clean install of windows xp deleting anything that is on the drive currently.

I don’t have anything on the win 98 pc that I need. I tried this before on another pc (I have 5 pcs I want to do this with, all with the same problems)., but I think I unplugged to soon and can’t get the other drive to be detected anywhere. I will try this tonight and update. Thanks for the help!!

 

[Eximo]

If you are trying to install XP, just do so. An upgrade from 98 to XP is just going to lay down the OS anyway, not keep your applications working.

 

[TerryLaze]

Good in that case

So, I unplug my NVR mean drive on my newer motherboard, connect the IDE to sata, and boot the windows 98 on my new motherboard, then insert my windows XP optical disk, and that’s it?

No do not start windows 98.
Go into your bios and make it boot directly to your cd rom or usb or whatever you will use to install XP with most mobos also have a F key to press to choose the boot drive the easy way, windows 98 will explode trying to recognize any of your new hardware...

 

[MasterChief86]

Hello!
So I am trying to upgrade an old windows 98 pc to windows xp and I am having a terrible time trying to do so. I have hareware checked and am compatible with the windows xp OS. My problem is that I can not get any data in or out of this pc. It currently runs Windows 98 second edition. I have a cd-rom drive that continues to say that the drive is not accessible. I need a driver to update it. I can not connect to the internet in any way. I have an outdated internet explorer that I can not get the security options configured correctly to allow me to connect to anything. I have successfully updated from a dial-up to an ethernet ISA card. Drivers have downloaded successfully. I have a floppy drive that works just fine. I have usb ports that are only working for the mouse and keyboard. My thought was to install the ethernet card, connect to the internet, and update my usb driver to be able to insert a bootable flash drive with the windows xp OS. The current state of my usb drive does not allow data transfer. I have even gone as far as buying a floppy disk writer to move the drivers from my newer pc to the older pc. This is the only method I have been able to use to get data to the windows 98 pc. However, I can not get the drivers to run or install. I also do not know exactly how to do this. But when I move the driver installation there is no detected program to run it. I have also tried to do a Lan connection to the pc from my newer pc, and although I get it to work, when I tried to download the XP OS files to my newer pc and then to the 98 pc this way, there are some files that I can not see on the windows 98 pc and it ends up corrupting the install. I am stuck and need help. I just want to be able to insert the bootable flash drive and install windows XP, with no internet, no cd-rom, no usb port that will recognize a usb drive. Ideally if there is a way to get a proper driver on a floppy disk and directly install it from the floppy to allow me to insert and recognize the usb stick is the route I keep coming back to. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I have tried and used a few version of nusb36 e and other drivers but it keeps telling me that it is looking for a newer version of windows and cancels. Someone please help me troubleshoot this.

Can I advice you to install a lightweight Linux instead? It will have recent support, no amount of Spyware like Vista onwards Windows, consumes fewer space and does pretty much everything XP does, with support for newer software packages.