Windows 98 Again

Forums › Microsoft Windows › Windows 98 Again

Spirax

79 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 11

#324601 2-May-2026 19:16

On a nostalgia trip trying to install Windows 98. Have tried 98SE and 98 1st edition but both hang on some unidentified (at least to me) hardware problem. Installing goes smoothly but then hangs at the W98 start screen.
My system is a Dell 3100, CPU is a P4 running at 3Ghz, 512 Mb RAM, 20Gb SATA HDD formatted FAT32. Is this too advanced for W98? The system runs Windows XP perfectly on a separate HDD.

Are there any W98 gurus out there that can help me? I live in Kapiti.

Thanks in advance

1 | 2

altered-ego
2473 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 866

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3486887 2-May-2026 23:55

Spirax: ..., 20Gb SATA HDD formatted FAT32. Is this too advanced for W98? ...

Unassisted? Yes, I would think so. You should have no problems loading Win98 on a hard drive with the 40 pin wide, grey ribbon cable. If you want to use SATA, you most likely will have to copy/extract the drive drivers for Win95/Win98/ Vista (32-bit) / WinXP (32-bit) from somewhere & copy them onto your boot media. Then you'll want to press something like F6 during the initial text portion of the setup to specify additional drivers & point it to the extracted drivers files on your boot media.

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

Spirax

79 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 11

#3486960 3-May-2026 09:28

Thank you. I could be out of my depth here. I have tried installing from the files on the CD using "Setup". I also copied the CD files to D:\Win9x folder and tried installing from there. How do I know what drivers are required? The BIOS info is not explicit.

huckster

899 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 472

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#3486964 3-May-2026 10:04

You may need to go to the Dell site and have a poke around for drivers for that model.

Alternatively can you see if the BIOS has an IDE emulation mode?

There are many attempts to do this on the internet e.g. https://retrosystemsrevival.blogspot.com/2020/04/windows-9598me-sataachi-driver.html

I did this quite a while ago and have nothing left to help you with. I do this stuff within Virtual Machines these days.

itey

483 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 87

#3486966 3-May-2026 10:16

Gosh I am still traumatized by the never ending BSOD with win 98 and the sound of dial up modem. Can't believe you want to re-experience that!!

Rikkitic

Awrrr
19186 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 16525

Lifetime subscriber

#3486967 3-May-2026 10:25

98 was one of the worst OS disasters Microsoft ever inflicted on the world. 98SE was one of the best.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Spirax

79 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 11

#3486968 3-May-2026 10:27

It is a challenge for my 80 year old mind.

Dyson

Shop now for Dyson appliances (affiliate link).

huckster

899 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 472

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#3486981 3-May-2026 11:20

Did have one of the cooler startup sounds though.

Gurezaemon

~HONYAKKER!~
1436 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1612

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#3486984 3-May-2026 11:41

Spirax:

It is a challenge for my 80 year old mind.

Good on you for the inquisitiveness!

If you're just after a feel for how Win98 looked back in the day, there is always the option of it emulated in the browser such as at https://copy.sh/v86/

Get your business seen overseas - Nexus Translations

sqishy

542 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 197

#3486997 3-May-2026 12:57

I recall getting the old W95 CS installed on a newer platform a few years back. Copied all the files and ran the set-up. It went pretty quick but there are no graphics or network drivers so you get almost a look and feel only of some very low res VGA style screen.

rhy7s

682 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 149

#3487156 3-May-2026 19:33

You might want to try QuickInstall https://github.com/oerg866/win98-quickinstall?hl=en-NZ

Goosey

3058 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 895

Subscriber

#3487961 6-May-2026 06:50

Right, now I’ve got the win 95 startup tune in my head after seeing a post above mentioning the 98 startup tune.

i remember replacing ALL of my system sounds with custom .wav audio samples. From South Park quotes, Homer Simpson DOH and classic scooby doo sound bytes.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

xpd

Geek of Coastguard
14219 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4687

Retired Mod

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3487965 6-May-2026 07:55

Rikkitic:

98 was one of the worst OS disasters Microsoft ever inflicted on the world. 98SE was one of the best.

Oh come on, everyone LOVED the disaster between Win 98 and XP (Excluding Windows 2000, which was fantastic) - I dare not say the name for it may incur some sort of demonic wrath upon thy world.

XPD / Gavin

LinkTree

MikeB4

MikeB4
18820 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 12870

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#3487975 6-May-2026 08:35

Rikkitic:

98 was one of the worst OS disasters Microsoft ever inflicted on the world. 98SE was one of the best.

I think I would give that title to Windows ME with the runners up being Windows Vista and Windows 11 tied.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

old3eyes

9171 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1369

Subscriber

#3487978 6-May-2026 08:47

Rikkitic:

98 was one of the worst OS disasters Microsoft ever inflicted on the world. 98SE was one of the best.

Windows 95 OSR2 was also good fixed the bugs in the original release.

Regards,

Old3eyes

Rikkitic

Awrrr
19186 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 16525

Lifetime subscriber

#3487990 6-May-2026 09:27

xpd:

Oh come on, everyone LOVED the disaster between Win 98 and XP (Excluding Windows 2000, which was fantastic) - I dare not say the name for it may incur some sort of demonic wrath upon thy world.

I personally suffered from 98. It traumatised me forever. SE fixed all of it but the trauma lingers. Same with Vista. The original was a mess. The new! improved! version was okay. Customers as beta testers. Some things never change. Thank goodness I skipped ME and 2000!

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

1 | 2