Ok gang, I have an old PII 350mhz computer running Windows 98 SE sitting on a table in the study and I thought I'd try to reformat the thing. It has been hacked three ways to Sunday by kids, in laws, well-meaning third parties and ill meaning internet terrorists. I'm sure it has a virus or two in there along with a bunch of nonfunctional programs. It is very hard to get it to start. When it does start, it spends a long time looking for files it cannot find.

There is nothing on there I need to save so I don't have to back up anything. Can anyone refer me to some instructions on how to delete everything and reformat the drive and then reload Windows 98? My hope is to make this thing an internet appliance for guests who want to check e-mail or go on line. I want to keep people off my "new" computer so it doesn't go down the drain like this old one I just described.

Thanks for any help, and keep in mind, when it comes to electronics, I can't even get the VCR to work.

 

If you have the original installation CD the easiest thing would be to boot from the startup diskette and re-install WIN98 from the CD.

 

Gosh. I did it years ago with my old computer. In DOS you reformat "C". It worked beautifully. Ran like new after re-installing Windows. But, alas, it was long ago, before I was dumbed down by XP. I don't recall how I did it. Keep searching though as it is the right way to go. Let me know when you find out as that old computer is still here gathering dust. I could give it to my folks to have some fun with once de-bugged again.

 

Yah, Bill, do you have the retail version of Windows 98 CD, or a CD that came with the computer (I'm guessing it came with Windows 95 installed though)...

If you don't have the materials, PM me.

If you do, just boot the Windows CD (if your machine supports CD booting) and do the install from scratch. It's pretty easy, although it takes a while.

 

If it gives you the option of reformatting the drive before the install, say YES! If the system is as hosed as you say it is, you definitely want to start as clean as possible. If you're not careful, the install may just try to get Windows 98 running, while leaving all the hosed up stuff intact. Make this install as clean as possible.

JonasM

 

Here is my suggested order of operations for setting up the computer. I'm assuming that you have access to another computer to download free software. Also assuming that you want to stick with Windows.

1) Create a Win98 boot/setup floppy disk.

2) OPTIONAL. I always like to scrub the hard disk to make sure the Windows installer doesn't get confused. If I remember correctly you can do this by booting with the boot disk, getting a command prompt and doing a "format c:". Another option is to create a hard disk erase disk with the following program. FYI, this is a good program for making sure all your data is securly deleted before selling or disposing of old hard disks.
http://dban.sourceforge.net/

3) Boot with the Win98 boot/startup disk. Install Win98 from original install disk. I'm assuming that all the old drivers will be workable with the associated old hardware at this point.

4) Install a firewall. There are some other steps to keep the computer hacker/virus/worm free. Unfortuantely, when a computer with a unsecure, unpatched operating system can get infected as soon as it is connected to the internet. If you are on broadband (cable or DSL) the easiest way to get some protection is to buy a router to hook between the modem and computer. It will provide a simple hardware firewall and you can also share the internet connection with other computers, go wireless as an option. If you are still on dial up there are some hardware products but, they are rare and probably relatively expensive. Another option is to download a software firewall.
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/cata...sku_list_za.jsp

5) Install other useful security software. Here are some good free utilities that all computers should have.

Free Antivirus w/ free updates.
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/1/

Free spyware detectors. Detects marketing and internet surfing tracking software.
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/

6) Setup your internet connection. Do whatever you have to do according to your internet service providers instructions.

7) Go to Microsoft Windows Update and download and install all the patches. I think they still officially support Win98.

8) OPTIONAL. Go to all the web sites of the periphrials on the computer. Like video cards, sound cards, etc. Download the latest drivers.

Computer is ready to have application s/w installed.

 

We just had a computer guru friend renovate our PIII from the ground up. Item 4) was her suggestion for firewall and its other access points (kids home from college, etc). FWIW, she used a D-Link router. Re: item 5), she also installed the Ad-Aware spyware software....widely recommended.

Bill, you might want to pay some $$ to have this done professionally, and implement the same devices/ protections for your new machine. She also increased our cache/RAM to 640...a great improvement. We also installed XP in place of the much-maligned ME. It's probably not only the guests/kids that bring on the virus/spam problems, but also the things that most of us laymen do with the computer

 

Gee, and I only thought that Bill wanted an easy answer that he could do himself.