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Downgrading from XP Pro to Win 98SE


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Guest Jim H.
Posted

It's way past time for me to get a faster computer than my P2 running 98SE.

So, I got this ASUS P4 machine from a friend but it has a bogus copy of XP on

it and I'm unwilling to do that. For my purposes, 98SE is just fine so I'd

like to retire my P2 machine and put legal copy of 98SE on the P4 and then

reload my Office 97. Can I do that? How would it go?

 

What I have is a full copy of Win 95 and an upgrade CD to Win 98. Do I have

to reformat the hard drive and start all over or can I upgrade directly from

XP Pro to Win 98 and then download the SE upgrade from microsoft?

 

Now I know someone out there is going to suggest I'm not too bright doing

this downgrade but right now, I just don't have the bread to purchase both a

new OS and Office too. So, hold your nose and give me some good advice.

 

 

--

Jim H.

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Guest Bob I
Posted

Re: Downgrading from XP Pro to Win 98SE

 

Sorry, but you have a "flush and fill" situation there.

 

Jim H. wrote:

> It's way past time for me to get a faster computer than my P2 running 98SE.

> So, I got this ASUS P4 machine from a friend but it has a bogus copy of XP on

> it and I'm unwilling to do that. For my purposes, 98SE is just fine so I'd

> like to retire my P2 machine and put legal copy of 98SE on the P4 and then

> reload my Office 97. Can I do that? How would it go?

>

> What I have is a full copy of Win 95 and an upgrade CD to Win 98. Do I have

> to reformat the hard drive and start all over or can I upgrade directly from

> XP Pro to Win 98 and then download the SE upgrade from microsoft?

>

> Now I know someone out there is going to suggest I'm not too bright doing

> this downgrade but right now, I just don't have the bread to purchase both a

> new OS and Office too. So, hold your nose and give me some good advice.

>

>

Guest Gordon
Posted

Re: Downgrading from XP Pro to Win 98SE

 

"Jim H." <JimH@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:82A6CB82-91B9-42A4-95EB-ED80B700AFB0@microsoft.com...

> Now I know someone out there is going to suggest I'm not too bright doing

> this downgrade but right now, I just don't have the bread to purchase both

> a

> new OS and Office too.

 

Try Open Office - it will do everything that Office 2002 will do (except

Outlook) and is free.

http://www.openoffice.org

Guest Anonymous
Posted

Re: Downgrading from XP Pro to Win 98SE

 

 

"Jim H." <JimH@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:82A6CB82-91B9-42A4-95EB-ED80B700AFB0@microsoft.com...

> It's way past time for me to get a faster computer than my P2 running

> 98SE.

> So, I got this ASUS P4 machine from a friend but it has a bogus copy of XP

> on

> it and I'm unwilling to do that. For my purposes, 98SE is just fine so I'd

> like to retire my P2 machine and put legal copy of 98SE on the P4 and then

> reload my Office 97. Can I do that? How would it go?

>

> What I have is a full copy of Win 95 and an upgrade CD to Win 98. Do I

> have

> to reformat the hard drive and start all over or can I upgrade directly

> from

> XP Pro to Win 98 and then download the SE upgrade from microsoft?

>

> Now I know someone out there is going to suggest I'm not too bright doing

> this downgrade but right now, I just don't have the bread to purchase both

> a

> new OS and Office too. So, hold your nose and give me some good advice.

>

>

> --

> Jim H.

 

 

 

"Now I know someone out there is going to suggest I'm not too bright doing

this downgrade but right now"....

 

Ya' think? <g>

 

 

OK, why not try this.... Fix all the system's/OS's, and

substitute http://www.openoffice.org/ for office 97.

 

How will that work for 'ya? Not only do you get/keep

your OS up to speed, you get a current level office suite.

 

It's a win/win.

Guest Gary S. Terhune
Posted

Re: Downgrading from XP Pro to Win 98SE

 

Yes, you need to delete the partition XP is on, recreate it, format it as

FAT32 and clean install 98 (you start the 98 install and when asked for

verification of your Upgrade eligibility, show it the Win95 installation

disk, either floppy disk 1 or the CD if that's what 95 came on.)

 

For more info, you should post to Windows 98 General Discussion group.

http://news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion

 

--

 

Gary S. Terhune

MS-MVP Shell/User

 

"Jim H." <JimH@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:82A6CB82-91B9-42A4-95EB-ED80B700AFB0@microsoft.com...

> It's way past time for me to get a faster computer than my P2 running

> 98SE.

> So, I got this ASUS P4 machine from a friend but it has a bogus copy of XP

> on

> it and I'm unwilling to do that. For my purposes, 98SE is just fine so I'd

> like to retire my P2 machine and put legal copy of 98SE on the P4 and then

> reload my Office 97. Can I do that? How would it go?

>

> What I have is a full copy of Win 95 and an upgrade CD to Win 98. Do I

> have

> to reformat the hard drive and start all over or can I upgrade directly

> from

> XP Pro to Win 98 and then download the SE upgrade from microsoft?

>

> Now I know someone out there is going to suggest I'm not too bright doing

> this downgrade but right now, I just don't have the bread to purchase both

> a

> new OS and Office too. So, hold your nose and give me some good advice.

>

>

> --

> Jim H.

Guest db ´¯`·.. >
Posted

Re: Downgrading from XP Pro to Win 98SE

 

you might consider

taking your harddrive from

the old pc and install it as the

master in the new one and making

a slave out of the winxp disk.

 

wouldn't hurt to try..

--

 

db ·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·..><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>¸.

><)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

 

 

..

 

 

"Jim H." <JimH@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:82A6CB82-91B9-42A4-95EB-ED80B700AFB0@microsoft.com...

> It's way past time for me to get a faster computer than my P2 running

> 98SE.

> So, I got this ASUS P4 machine from a friend but it has a bogus copy

> of XP on

> it and I'm unwilling to do that. For my purposes, 98SE is just fine so

> I'd

> like to retire my P2 machine and put legal copy of 98SE on the P4 and

> then

> reload my Office 97. Can I do that? How would it go?

>

> What I have is a full copy of Win 95 and an upgrade CD to Win 98. Do I

> have

> to reformat the hard drive and start all over or can I upgrade

> directly from

> XP Pro to Win 98 and then download the SE upgrade from microsoft?

>

> Now I know someone out there is going to suggest I'm not too bright

> doing

> this downgrade but right now, I just don't have the bread to purchase

> both a

> new OS and Office too. So, hold your nose and give me some good

> advice.

>

>

> --

> Jim H.

Guest Patrick Keenan
Posted

Re: Downgrading from XP Pro to Win 98SE

 

"Jim H." <JimH@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:82A6CB82-91B9-42A4-95EB-ED80B700AFB0@microsoft.com...

> It's way past time for me to get a faster computer than my P2 running

> 98SE.

> So, I got this ASUS P4 machine from a friend but it has a bogus copy of XP

> on

> it and I'm unwilling to do that. For my purposes, 98SE is just fine so I'd

> like to retire my P2 machine and put legal copy of 98SE on the P4 and then

> reload my Office 97. Can I do that? How would it go?

>

> What I have is a full copy of Win 95 and an upgrade CD to Win 98. Do I

> have

> to reformat the hard drive and start all over or can I upgrade directly

> from

> XP Pro to Win 98 and then download the SE upgrade from microsoft?

>

> Now I know someone out there is going to suggest I'm not too bright doing

> this downgrade but right now, I just don't have the bread to purchase both

> a

> new OS and Office too. So, hold your nose and give me some good advice.

>

>

> --

> Jim H.

 

Yes, you need to wipe the drive first. There is no other way to do this.

Get a boot diskette with fdisk and format.com on it, delete and recreate the

partition. Then install Win98, insterting the W95 CD when asked.

 

You might consider, however, that you can also get a legitimate "upgrade"

copy of XP Home for around US$100. Boot from that CD and wipe the drive,

then when you are asked for the qualifying CD use your 98SE CD. Do *not*

install Win98 first.

 

And as suggested, you can use OpenOffice, which works very well and is free.

Office 97 also works quite well on XP.

 

Finally, if you just need Office type apps and internet - consider Linux.

The Ubuntu 7.04 install is very easy to set up, the learning curve is much

shallower than many Linux distributions; it's stable, reliable, runs

quickly, and is free. And the install takes probably less time than XP

or 98. You do need to create a DVD to install, though the image that you

will download will create a bootable DVD.

 

http://www.ubuntu.com/

 

HTH

-pk

Guest Bob Knowlden
Posted

Re: Downgrading from XP Pro to Win 98SE

 

I'm pretty sure that you can't "upgrade" XP to 98. Also, in most XP

installations, the HD would be formatted in NTFS, so you'd have to reformat

(to FAT32) to install 98.

 

Can you download a 98 gold to SE upgrade from Microsoft? The last I knew, it

was not a free upgrade. (The lowest price that I see for the 98-98SE upgrade

on Pricegrabber is about $40.) I guess that you'd want SE, as it's likelier

than 98Gold to have drivers for newer hardware.

 

Office 97 is supposed to run just fine on XP. (I've read that many times,

but I haven't used anything older than Office 2000 on XP myself.)

 

My own preference would be to get the cheapest legal form of XP and use

that. (Computer shows are good places for that, but watch out for pirated

copies.) You'll probably have to do a clean installation, if the illegal

copy is XP Pro. (It can't be downgraded to Home.)

 

The last XP license I bought was for a retail Home Upgrade version, for

$60US. (I prefer that to the OEM version, as Microsoft permits the retail

version to be moved to a new machine.) I don't know whether Vista has led to

higher or lower XP prices.

 

It would be sad if you ended up spending more on a Win98 installation than

you would have on XP.

 

Return address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.

 

"Jim H." <JimH@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:82A6CB82-91B9-42A4-95EB-ED80B700AFB0@microsoft.com...

> It's way past time for me to get a faster computer than my P2 running

> 98SE.

> So, I got this ASUS P4 machine from a friend but it has a bogus copy of XP

> on

> it and I'm unwilling to do that. For my purposes, 98SE is just fine so I'd

> like to retire my P2 machine and put legal copy of 98SE on the P4 and then

> reload my Office 97. Can I do that? How would it go?

>

> What I have is a full copy of Win 95 and an upgrade CD to Win 98. Do I

> have

> to reformat the hard drive and start all over or can I upgrade directly

> from

> XP Pro to Win 98 and then download the SE upgrade from microsoft?

>

> Now I know someone out there is going to suggest I'm not too bright doing

> this downgrade but right now, I just don't have the bread to purchase both

> a

> new OS and Office too. So, hold your nose and give me some good advice.

>

>

> --

> Jim H.

Guest Jim H.
Posted

Re: Downgrading from XP Pro to Win 98SE

 

What is meant by "wipe the drive"?

--

Jim H.

 

 

"Patrick Keenan" wrote:

> "Jim H." <JimH@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> news:82A6CB82-91B9-42A4-95EB-ED80B700AFB0@microsoft.com...

> > It's way past time for me to get a faster computer than my P2 running

> > 98SE.

> > So, I got this ASUS P4 machine from a friend but it has a bogus copy of XP

> > on

> > it and I'm unwilling to do that. For my purposes, 98SE is just fine so I'd

> > like to retire my P2 machine and put legal copy of 98SE on the P4 and then

> > reload my Office 97. Can I do that? How would it go?

> >

> > What I have is a full copy of Win 95 and an upgrade CD to Win 98. Do I

> > have

> > to reformat the hard drive and start all over or can I upgrade directly

> > from

> > XP Pro to Win 98 and then download the SE upgrade from microsoft?

> >

> > Now I know someone out there is going to suggest I'm not too bright doing

> > this downgrade but right now, I just don't have the bread to purchase both

> > a

> > new OS and Office too. So, hold your nose and give me some good advice.

> >

> >

> > --

> > Jim H.

>

> Yes, you need to wipe the drive first. There is no other way to do this.

> Get a boot diskette with fdisk and format.com on it, delete and recreate the

> partition. Then install Win98, insterting the W95 CD when asked.

>

> You might consider, however, that you can also get a legitimate "upgrade"

> copy of XP Home for around US$100. Boot from that CD and wipe the drive,

> then when you are asked for the qualifying CD use your 98SE CD. Do *not*

> install Win98 first.

>

> And as suggested, you can use OpenOffice, which works very well and is free.

> Office 97 also works quite well on XP.

>

> Finally, if you just need Office type apps and internet - consider Linux.

> The Ubuntu 7.04 install is very easy to set up, the learning curve is much

> shallower than many Linux distributions; it's stable, reliable, runs

> quickly, and is free. And the install takes probably less time than XP

> or 98. You do need to create a DVD to install, though the image that you

> will download will create a bootable DVD.

>

> http://www.ubuntu.com/

>

> HTH

> -pk

>

>

>

Guest Gary S. Terhune
Posted

Re: Downgrading from XP Pro to Win 98SE

 

As I suggested... To "wipe the drive" is to delete the partition, create a

new one and format it FAT32.

 

Again, you really need to repost to a Windows 98 group for specific

assistance.

 

--

 

Gary S. Terhune

MS-MVP Shell/User

http://www.grystmill.com

 

"Jim H." <JimH@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:934D7B1C-CD09-4718-A16D-38ECEAD2BE1A@microsoft.com...

> What is meant by "wipe the drive"?

> --

> Jim H.

>

>

> "Patrick Keenan" wrote:

>

>> "Jim H." <JimH@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

>> news:82A6CB82-91B9-42A4-95EB-ED80B700AFB0@microsoft.com...

>> > It's way past time for me to get a faster computer than my P2 running

>> > 98SE.

>> > So, I got this ASUS P4 machine from a friend but it has a bogus copy of

>> > XP

>> > on

>> > it and I'm unwilling to do that. For my purposes, 98SE is just fine so

>> > I'd

>> > like to retire my P2 machine and put legal copy of 98SE on the P4 and

>> > then

>> > reload my Office 97. Can I do that? How would it go?

>> >

>> > What I have is a full copy of Win 95 and an upgrade CD to Win 98. Do I

>> > have

>> > to reformat the hard drive and start all over or can I upgrade directly

>> > from

>> > XP Pro to Win 98 and then download the SE upgrade from microsoft?

>> >

>> > Now I know someone out there is going to suggest I'm not too bright

>> > doing

>> > this downgrade but right now, I just don't have the bread to purchase

>> > both

>> > a

>> > new OS and Office too. So, hold your nose and give me some good advice.

>> >

>> >

>> > --

>> > Jim H.

>>

>> Yes, you need to wipe the drive first. There is no other way to do

>> this.

>> Get a boot diskette with fdisk and format.com on it, delete and recreate

>> the

>> partition. Then install Win98, insterting the W95 CD when asked.

>>

>> You might consider, however, that you can also get a legitimate "upgrade"

>> copy of XP Home for around US$100. Boot from that CD and wipe the drive,

>> then when you are asked for the qualifying CD use your 98SE CD. Do

>> *not*

>> install Win98 first.

>>

>> And as suggested, you can use OpenOffice, which works very well and is

>> free.

>> Office 97 also works quite well on XP.

>>

>> Finally, if you just need Office type apps and internet - consider

>> Linux.

>> The Ubuntu 7.04 install is very easy to set up, the learning curve is

>> much

>> shallower than many Linux distributions; it's stable, reliable, runs

>> quickly, and is free. And the install takes probably less time than

>> XP

>> or 98. You do need to create a DVD to install, though the image that

>> you

>> will download will create a bootable DVD.

>>

>> http://www.ubuntu.com/

>>

>> HTH

>> -pk

>>

>>

>>

Guest Phisherman
Posted

Re: Downgrading from XP Pro to Win 98SE

 

On Fri, 3 Aug 2007 10:10:03 -0700, Jim H.

<JimH@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>It's way past time for me to get a faster computer than my P2 running 98SE.

>So, I got this ASUS P4 machine from a friend but it has a bogus copy of XP on

>it and I'm unwilling to do that. For my purposes, 98SE is just fine so I'd

>like to retire my P2 machine and put legal copy of 98SE on the P4 and then

>reload my Office 97. Can I do that? How would it go?

>

>What I have is a full copy of Win 95 and an upgrade CD to Win 98. Do I have

>to reformat the hard drive and start all over or can I upgrade directly from

>XP Pro to Win 98 and then download the SE upgrade from microsoft?

>

>Now I know someone out there is going to suggest I'm not too bright doing

>this downgrade but right now, I just don't have the bread to purchase both a

>new OS and Office too. So, hold your nose and give me some good advice.

 

 

Downgrade to Windows 2000 Pro, more stable than Win98SE.

Guest Ken Blake, MVP
Posted

Re: Downgrading from XP Pro to Win 98SE

 

On Fri, 3 Aug 2007 22:33:43 -0400, "Bob Knowlden" <nkbob@comcast.net>

wrote:

> I'm pretty sure that you can't "upgrade" XP to 98.

 

 

That's correct. It's a downgrade, and no downgrades are supported.

 

> Also, in most XP

> installations, the HD would be formatted in NTFS, so you'd have to reformat

> (to FAT32) to install 98.

>

> Can you download a 98 gold to SE upgrade from Microsoft?

 

 

No.

 

> The last I knew, it

> was not a free upgrade.

 

 

 

Correct again.

 

> (The lowest price that I see for the 98-98SE upgrade

> on Pricegrabber is about $40.) I guess that you'd want SE, as it's likelier

> than 98Gold to have drivers for newer hardware.

>

> Office 97 is supposed to run just fine on XP. (I've read that many times,

> but I haven't used anything older than Office 2000 on XP myself.)

 

 

 

Yes, not only does Office 97 work, but Office 95 does too.

 

--

Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User

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