if i reinstall win98se what do i lose? data? programs? everything?

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i need to get my old 98se box running again

a failed install of an outboard usb HD seemed to have deleted things that i need to make it work right

what is the program used for autodetect and install of a device?
if i can replace that things might work again

failing that
i may have to reinstall the original OS cds

will i lose any data if i do that
will i lose installed programs
will i lose everything ?

my goal is to get the data at a minimum
which i cant do since the usbHD install failed

i would like to get it all working again
as it has my old photoshop and add ons which i cant move to a newer box

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Windows ME and earlier could have a ‘dirty’ install, just install it over itself, but that may not solve problems and may introduce new issues. You shouldn’t lose your document, music, etc., but the usual caveat applies, DO a backup of what you created or that exists nowhere else and don’t want to lose.

Two benefits of Win98SE over Win98 was ICS/Internet Connection Sharing and support for USB 2.0 drivers and in turn devices.

If you can’t back up/copy to a CD or DVD [or several] you may need an alternative of putting the Internal HDD in a different computer to do the copying.

Booting into DOS can work if one has devices supported by DOS such as floppy disks or a parallel-port tape drive but never did find a suitable DOS-based program for enabling USB support.

Before you wonder "Am I doing things right," ask "Am I doing the right things?"

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If you want the data, try booting with a Linux Live CD such as Knoppix. You can then connect your USB HD and then copy files over from your Win98 system.

And yes, reinstalling Windows will delete your pre-existing data and applications ONLY if you choose to format the HD and perform a clean install. If you want to ensure the safety of your programs then see THIS link for details. From my experience, it is very possible that this method will create more problems for you as opposed to solving your existing problems. Just back up the data and do a clean install.

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Thanks to Berto and KritzX for the pointers.

I can boot but have no CD and NO USB and only internal HD now.
The floppy diskette may be working. But that cant back up most files I want.

Removing the HD is one option that I can do to get to the data.
I do have a case for it that I bought way back when to put another HD into but never got around to it.

I was trying to prepare to back up the data and move to a newer machine when the USB HD install forked everything.

I would like to get it running again as several aps I use are installed and they may not all work on newer versions. Or I would have to pay some big bux to buy newer versions that would work — if they are still available at all.

But if not possible, then I will just recover data and start over on the otehr 98SE box which should be able to run the aps okay after I reinstall them.

I do have a working 98SE box from the same dealer but apparently he used a newer version to install or a slightly different version from a different OEM that he shipped.

I would hope that I could cut and paste the missing drivers or whatever from the good box to fix the bad one. Maybe that is too simplistic a hope.

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I’d also try putting the HDD in a different computer as a Slave to copy data. As far as running a particular program, most Windows-based programs have to be installed so as to create the Start Menu items, copy files to the proper Folders, copy necessary support files to other Folders such as Windows itself and create the Registry entries so Windows knows how to run the program. It’s not as simple as it was in the days of DOS [pre-Win95].

Before you wonder "Am I doing things right," ask "Am I doing the right things?"

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Speedball:

You should be able to reinstall Windows 98/SE onto the same hard drive without disturbing your data. At one point in the install process it will ask you whether you want to format the drive; tell it NO. Choose the least-destructive install method. In fact, you could probably install it to a different folder than the one currently containing Windows 98, which would totally preserve what you now have.

What I would do is, I would first rename the Windows folder to something else, and then I would install using the least-destructive method into a new, normally-named folder. In this way, you will completely preserve everything in the original Windows folder, and also you will have a standard name for your new Windows folder.

I’m sure that you know this, but once you have done the above, your programs will likely no longer work, because they won’t be installed in the current Windows install, but rather in the previous Windows install. It may be possible simply to create shortcuts to the .exe files, but that won’t work for everything. For some programs, you will need to actually reinstall the program in order for it to work in the new Windows install.

If you want to install Windows 98 on a new hard drive, I would simply remove the current internal hard drive and install a new one; I would then install Windows 98. I would then reconnect the old internal hard drive as a 2nd internal hard drive.

Jim

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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That and …about 12 years. :rolleyes:

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actually i save thousands of dollars of aps that would need to be purchased to run on a newer box if they are still available at all

and i save the time of finding buying and reinstalling all of them
and also moving the data to the new box to continue operation of the aps

with all the security stuff ripped out and kept off the internet this 98se runs faster than my xp boxes that need the antivirus protection

That and …about 12 years. :rolleyes:

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