Rebuilding
your PC (Windows 98se)
1. Backup
Backup everything you want to keep. Do not include programs, only things you have created. Usually this will include things like your “My Documents” folder, your Netscape “bookmarks” file (or Internet Explorer Favorites), and possibly your email (address book, signatures, attachments, etc).
Use Start<Find<Files or Folders to locate things like your bookmarks. Use the Advanced tab in the Find window to search specifically for things like Word and Excel files by pulling down the Of type: pull down menu.
2. Device drivers
Find any driver disks you may have received with your computer.
If you have the original invoice it can be very helpful in telling you what parts you have in your machine.
Try to determine the name of your Video Card, Audio Card, Monitor, Printer, modem/Ethernet, External devices (Zip, SuperDisk, etc). You should not need any information about fixed drives (Hard drive, CDROM, Floppy).
Many distributors ship their machines with a CD containing all the drivers you need. However, most drivers are available online through either your computer’s distributor (first choice) or through the devices’ manufacturers if you need. Retrieve as many drivers as you possibly can before you get started. If you can’t find everything don’t panic, many drivers will be found and installed right off of the Windows 98se disc without any intervention.
Right clicking on the My Computer icon and selecting Properties and then the Device Manager tab will bring up a list of parts that can be helpful in determining your components. Plus signs next to items mean that they can be opened to show multiple items or further information. Opening the display adaptors will give you video card information; Sound, video, and game controllers will get you your audio card info; Network adaptors, networking; etc.
If you need, use a third party utility (I use CoolInfo 99 available from tucows.com) to determine the components in your computer.
3. Software
Gather together the software you will need to bring your system back up. Office, Itools, and Virus Protection can be obtained through the University. You will need to have your own copies of anything else you need (Windows 98se is the big one here Microsoft Campuswide Agreement does not include Operating Systems). The Windows 98se version has considerably more drivers on it than the original Windows 98 and will make the process much easier. The Windows disk you received with your computer may not be usable without assistance from the distributor (or may not be Windows 98se). You should have a disk that says Windows 98se and a booklet with a key (usually on the back) to use it. You must have this key to reload Windows. If your Windows disk is a recovery, or system backup disk you will probably need help from the distributor to use it (you can test it to see).
4. Startup disk
You will also need a Windows 98se startup disk to boot to. If you are currently running Windows 98se you can make one at any time by going to Start<Settings<Control Panel<Add/Remove programs and clicking on the Startup Disk tab. If you are not currently running Windows 98se (or if you suspect you have nasty viruses (some may reside on this disk)) borrow a startup disk from someone to get you started.
5. Restart
Restart your machine with the startup disk in the Floppy drive and the Windows 98se disk in your CDROM. The CD will automatically start and may ask you if you want to upgrade your OS. Click No, then restart. The computer will then use the Floppy to start the computer.
6. FDISK (Repartitioning your hard drive)
Hit enter (selecting option 1) or let the timer run out (selecting 1). You should eventually get an A:/>. Type fdisk then hit your Enter key.
Do you wish to enable large disk support Y/N (default is Y)? Hit enter (you do).
First you want to 4. Display partition information (then hit Enter) to determine how you are currently partitioned.
Make a note of your partitions if you have more than one then hit ESC (your Escape key) to return to the previous screen.
Next you want to 3. Delete partition or Logical DOS drive (then hit Enter).
If you only had one item when you displayed partition information then you will select 1. Delete Primary DOS Partition (then hit Enter). If you have more than one you will need to go through this process to eliminate all current partitions.
You will get a warning “Data in the deleted Primary DOS Partition will be lost” Hit Enter to move forward.
You will then see Enter volume label hit Enter (don’t name anything at this point).
You will then see Are you sure ? (N is the default) type Y (for yes) and hit enter.
Now hit ESC to return to the FDISK options screen.
Next type 1. then hit your Enter key to Create DOS partition or Logical DOS drive to repartition your drive.
This will give you three options you want 1. Create Primary DOS Partition (then hit Enter).
It will then ask you “Do you wish to use the maximum available size for a ….” Yes is the default (what we want) so you can just hit Enter here.
You are now done with FDISK and have created a single partition on your hard drive the size of than hard drive.
Hit your restart button on your computer or CTRL-ALT-DEL on your keyboard to restart.
7. Formatting your hard drive
Hit enter (selecting option 1) or let the timer run out (selecting 1). You should eventually get an A:/>. Type format c: then hit your Enter key.
You will then see a warning telling you all data will be lost (FDISK already wiped everything out) type Y and then hit your Enter key. This step can take some time depending on your hard drive size.
You will then see Enter volume label hit Enter (don’t name anything at this point).
You have now formatted your hard drive.
Hit your restart button on your computer or CTRL-ALT-DEL on your keyboard to restart.
8. Loading Windows 98se
Hit enter (selecting option 1) or let the timer run out (selecting 1). You should eventually get an A:/>. Type setup then hit your Enter key.
It will then ask you “To continue, press Enter…” hit your Enter key. This will perform a ScanDisk test for drive integrity. When this is finished you will hit X to exit ScanDisk.
This will launch the Windows 98se Setup program.
Hit Enter or use your mouse to click Continue to continue.
If at any point it freezes up (BE VERY PATIENT wait at least 5 minutes) you can hit your restart button on your computer or CTRL-ALT-DEL on your keyboard to restart. Then hit enter (selecting option 1) or let the timer run out (selecting 1). You should eventually get an A:/>. Type setup then hit your Enter key.
Next it will ask you to select directory the default is C:\WINDOWS this is what you want. Hit Next>.
Setup Options will come up next if you are unsure use the Typical settings, if you select Custom you will get a Select Components screen with the Typical settings already selected.
I typically remove: Accessibility options, Internet Tools, Online Services, System Tools, and Outlook Express. All of these items can be removed or replaced at a later date using Start<Settings<Control Panel<Add/Remove Programs and then selecting the Windows setup tab.
Next you will come to an Identification screen. The name of your computer is how it will show up on the network so name it something that makes sense within the context of its use (jrjohns-ADSL, fell276_PC, etc) avoid using unusual characters (*@&#%$?|), long names and spaces. Use hyphens and underscores for spacing. Your Workgroup is communication. You do not need to provide a description.
Next you need to set the keyboard settings. The default is US and English so just click next.
Then location
Next you will create a new startup disk. Have a blank floppy ready for this step. It is a good idea to make a startup disk here because you know that there should be no viruses in your system now. Name the floppy Windows 98se Startup Disk and date it. The setup program will prompt you (Insert Disk) when it needs this floppy. Click next to continue.
Click OK if you put a blank floppy into your floppy drive, otherwise click cancel to skip this step. If you make a startup disk wait until it is fully written to move on.
You must now remove whatever floppies you have in your floppy drive.
The Start Copying Files screen is next. Just click next. This step takes a while, because it is loading all of Windows 98se when it is done you will need your Windows 98se key, and whatever drivers you located. When this stage is finished it will restart your machine.
Setup will then ask you for a name and company. Use the name you used previously, and ISU for the company.
Next you will have to accept the license agreement. Select I accept the Agreement then hit next.
Now you will need to type in your product key (on the Windows 98se booklet). Use your CAPS lock key to keep the case correct.
Next the Start Wizard (a driver location utility) will open. Click Finish to launch this.
Windows will then search for hardware in your computer. It will use its own database to locate any drivers it has and will prompt you for drivers it needs at this point (it is entirely possible it won’t ask for anything). It may restart (possibly several times) in this process.
Once this is finished you will need to set the Date/Time properties. Usually the time is right but the time zone is not. Click OK to accept your Time/Date properties.
Windows will then load the final pieces it needs to function and then restart for the final time.
You have now loaded Windows 98se. Everything you do from this point will be within Windows.
9. Finishing Up
You will be prompted for a network password next, just hit cancel here.
Windows will now attempt to bring in drivers for devices that were not set up completely within windows. It will use a Wizard that will help you to locate these drivers. If you have a driver CD (it would have come with your PC if you have one) or drivers on a floppy you will want to gather them and have them ready to use.
You will get a message like “Phillips 107/S monitor found” and this will launch the Add New Hardware Wizard.
Allow the Wizard to “Search for the best driver for your device”. Then click next.
If you have inserted a CD or floppy tell it to search there.
Once it has found drivers it will tell you it has located them. If it says you already have the best drivers available you will need to locate the proper drivers still. This just means the generic drivers are the best option it sees.
You will need to restart after each driver has been applied. You may need to repeat this process for many items (printer, scanner, special mouse/keyboard, etc)
After each restart Windows will find new devices until you have gotten proper drivers for all of them.
Often Windows will load with generic video drivers (or audio drivers) that will need to be updated before you will be able to see more than 16 colors (or 16 sounds).
To remedy this right click on any empty area on your desktop and select properties from the menu. Click the Settings tab and then the Advanced button to bring up the Graphics Adaptor (Video Card) Properties window. Select the Adaptor tab and then click on the change button.
This will bring up the Update Device Drive Wizard. As before place any driver CD or floppies that are appropriate in their respective drives and click next. Windows has already attempted load its best guess at your video drivers so if you haven’t got a CD or floppy you will need to get online to retrieve your video drivers or locate them some other way.
If you know the proper drivers are on a disk and Windows is not finding them, try to launch the setup program (if one is available(usually called setup)) on the CD or Floppy. Sometimes drivers come on disks designed to load themselves (not through Wizards).
Also Browsing when the Wizard asks you to give it a location can help direct the Wizard. Look for folders called Win98, Drivers, or named after the part (audio) that you are trying to find drivers for.
Once you have loaded all the drivers you need (ideally) or all the drivers you can, the next step is to get online so that you have access to media players, drivers, and support.
First go to Start<Settings<Control Panel<Network then select client for Microsoft Networks and click Properties.
Under Login Validation check the Log on to Windows NT domain box and in the Windows NT Domain window type in “isunet” (w/o quotes). This will allow you to access ISU’s network resources and other machines on isunet (like your office machine).
Click OK and then OK again and then you will be prompted to restart.
Once Windows comes back you should load itools to complete your internet access.
When itools has been loaded go online and update your various plug-ins and media players.
I usually load the following free items. RealPlayer (www.real.com), QuickTime (www.apple.com) , Shockwave/Flash (www.macromedia.com) , and Acrobat (www.adobe.com) . Make sure to watch the installing programs carefully as there are lots of options. If you do not want to give out information you can use fillers (a@a.com) to avoid giving out information.
Next load your Office 2000. Again a custom install can be beneficial, but the default should do most of what you want.
Load any other software you need/want. Zip drives (www.iomega.com) will usually need to be installed as well.
Finally load your virus checker (McAffee is free and on the itools disc) and then immediately update your virus checker (this can be done through www.ilstu.edu) .