Guide to Installing Windows98\ME

This is a step-by-step guide to installing Windows98, any version,
on a blank hard drive. To proceed from this point your hard drive will
need to be partitioned and formatted.

Boot Disk and Install
CD
The CD-ROM drive should already be installed in the
computer and working. Place the Windows98 Boot disk in the floppy
drive and the Install CD in the CD Rom drive. Now, start the computer and
it should boot from the floppy drive. When prompted, choose the item
Boot with CD-Rom Support.

Now, at the DOS A: prompt enter the drive letter of your CD Rom
drive, typically if you have one hard drive, this letter will be E:, (the
Windows98 boot disk builds a Virtual Ram drive in memory for some of it's
tools). So, Type E: and [press enter]. Now, type
“Setup” at the command prompt to start the process.

SCANDISK
It will warn you
that setup is going to do a routine check on your system. This is normal and
required for Windows98 to proceed. [Press
Enter]

SETUP
SCREEN
When its done, you’ll be presented with the
Windows 98 setup screen, with the Welcome box. Here it says this could
take from 30-60 minutes. Click [Continue]

License
Agreement
The first of many install wizards will appear
and present the license agreement. It is best to read
through it.
Then, click on [I accept this
Agreement.] Then click on [NEXT]

Product
Key
The install Wizard will then ask for the product
key. You can find this on the CD-slip that came with the Windows CD when you
bought it. Type it into the blank boxes. The key is letters and numbers, so you
need to be careful that you are hitting the right keys. Go slow here
and carefully enter all the information.

UpGrade
Installation
If you are using an Upgrade CD, then
you will be shown the Upgrade Compliance Check window. Find your disks or CD
that contains a previous copy of Microsoft Windows. It could be that you
have Windows3.x or 95 on your hard drive already. In that case, choose the drive
that contains the current version of Windows. Follow the prompts. It will ask
for several disks, if you are using floppies. Once it is determines that you
qualify for the upgrade, it will move on.

Choose Install
Directory
You will be prompted to select the directory
to which you want to install Windows98. For most people,
the default of
C:\WINDOWS will do just fine. Click [Next] Setup will
“prepare the directory”. Just wait.

Setup
Options
You will be offered four options for a setup
routine:

• Typical
  
• Portable
  
• Compact
  
• Custom

Pick the option you prefer. If this is the first time
installing Windows95, I recommend choosing Typical. If you are fairly
knowledgeable and wish to control the options installed, then choose
Custom. Portable and compact
are best not used on a desktop machine.

User
Identity
Type in your name and company name in the
provided spaces.

If you chose custom above, you will be given a window to select
those components you want installed. I recommend choosing at least the
following:

• Accessories
  
• Communications
  
• Multimedia
  
• Disk Tools

NETWORK
ID
You will be asked for your network
identification. These boxes each have special meanings and must have
something typed into each one, as follows:

Computer Name: This
box is used to Identify your computer and should be your ISP "User Name."
It is also used as the identify on your network.

Workgroup: This is the
name of your network, if your computer is not connected to other computers by
a network card and only has a modem, anything here will do.

Computer Description:
It really does not matter what is typed in this box. To date I have found
no reason for this box to exist. Typically I just leave what ever exists
in this box.

Computer
Settings
Generally, these are right. If not, hit Change
and change them to the suitable settings.

LOCATION
Choose your location
from the Scroll Box and click [Next]

StartUp
Disk
This window informs you that setup will make a
startup disk for you. If this is your first install and you do not already have
a Win98 system disk, I recommend you do this. Just follow the prompts. If you
don’t want to make
one, Microsoft doesn’t really give you an easy out. Just
click [Next] It will
start compiling the data. When it pops up with a window saying to put a floppy
in drive A:, just hit [cancel]
and you will get away with not making a startup disk.

Copying
Files
The next window just says that Windows is ready
to start copying files. Click [Next]

Now the install process begins. Depending on your computer
speed, this can take from 12 to 60 minutes. Now would be a good time to
mow the lawn or have a cold one. If you are like many computer
geeks, you will probably sit there and watch the time tick down on the install
page. Okay, so I have done this a few times.

RESTART
When it finishes
this phase, the system needs to re-start and Windows will do it
automatically for you. If you cannot wait the fifteen seconds of the
delay, Click on the [Restart Now]
button. The computer will reboot and begin the final phases of setup.

Detecting
Hardware
When the blue screen comes back, you will see
a window saying "Setting up Hardware." This is where setup is
detecting your plug-n-play hardware and other components and installing the
drivers for it. Just be patient. When its done, it will re-start again.
Same as before, if you cannot wait the fifteen seconds of the delay, Click on
the [Restart Now]
button. The computer will reboot and begin the final phases of
setup.

Time
Zone
After it has finalized the settings, it will first
give you a window to set your time zone and date. Go ahead and do this.

Final
Restart
Windows98 will continue a few setup routines
for a few minutes. Then it will restart "one more time."

Check
Settings
Upon reboot, you should see basic Windows98.
It will play music and run a little video. At this point, you can
check a few things to just to make sure setup did its job and that there are no
problems. Right-click on "My Computer" and choose
"Properties". Then, just double-check everything. Is the
correct CPU detected? Right amount of memory? Now, you can click on the
"Device Manager" tab. Do you see any balloons with questions
marks? If so you will need to check for IRQ conflicts and insure that the proper
driver is installed. Is all of your hardware devices listed? So modems
need the drivers installed before Windows95 will detect them. At this point, if
you have specific problems with devices, you can ask how to solve them on PCBUILD mailing list.

Install Additional Device
Drivers
If you're like most, you have additional
hardware that is not yet set up. This probably includes your video card, sound
card, modem, etc. Install these drivers now. Follow the procedures outlined in
their documentation. You may have to reboot a few times.

Finishing the
Setup
At this point, reboot your computer and make sure
everything works. Then, change your desktop, screensaver, and any other display
properties as you wish.

You have now successfully
installed Windows98.