Problems loading windows 98 se os on latitude d800

Question

Hi my name is Nora and I have been trying to load windows 98 se on a dell latitude D800 that was given to me with out an operating system. I wanted to put xp home on it but I was told that xp does not support ms dos and I would have to do an upgradre from 98 to xp, is this true?   Any way I have been getting several error messages 1.  the cd rom is not being installed when I install the os 2. I am getting an error message when it tries to install my plug and play devices. 3. after it installs win 98 se it wont reboot from the hard drive, and once i get it booted it goes in safemode and stays there.   I have been at this for months and still I have not gotten anywhere. Can some one please help this computer dummy. I need step by step instructions on how to load an operating system on a computer that has no operating system. 1. what do I need? 2.where can I get it for free or cheap?   I will tell you what I have been using. 1. fdisk 2.win 98 boot up disk 3. win 98 se os set up disk 4.

tgsmith · Answer

Ncheisser,   Answer to your first question is NO.  If you have a Dell Windows XP reinstallation CD, all you have to do is boot up on that CD and install Windows XP.   If you do not have a Dell Windows XP reinstallation CD, you can purchase a retail copy of Windows XP Upgrade and upgrade your Windows 98SE to XP.  Once again, you simply boot off the Windows XP Upgrade disk, it will tell you when to insert your genuine Windows 98 CD to qualify and install the XP upgrade.   No problem to install Windows 98SE.  Fairly straight forward.  First, boot from the Win98SE floppy disk.  At the A:\> prompt, type fdisk c:  Now, choose the option that displays all partitions.  If only one partition, you're ready to proceed.  If more than one partition, let us know how many and what their sizes are.  Do not delete any partitions at this point.   Assuming you have one partition created with fdisk, reboot on the floppy again.  At the A:\> prompt type format c:/s  This formats the hard drive and makes it bootable.    Now reboot from the floppy again with CD-ROM support.  At the A:\> prompt type C: and press Enter.  You should now be at the C:\> prompt.  Type md Windows.  Press Enter.  Type cd Windows.  Press Enter.  You should now be at the C:\Windows> prompt.  Type md Options.  Press Enter.  Now type cd options.  Press Enter.  You should be at the C:\Windows\Options> prompt.   Now type md Cabs.  Press Enter.  Now type cd cabs.  You should be at C:\Windows\options\cabs> prompt.  If so, you're ready to proceed.   Now type cd\.  Press Enter.  This will put you at the C:\> prompt.   Insert your Windows 98SE CD in the CD-ROM drive.  Type D:  Press Enter.  You should now be at the D:\> prompt.   Type cd\Win98.  Press Enter.  You should be at the D:\Win98> prompt.  Type xcopy *.* c:\windows\options\cabs /s Press Enter.  This will copy all files needed for Windows installation to your C:\windows\options\cabs subdirectory.  There's a reason for doing this.  Down the road you will not need to insert your Windows 98SE CD to install drivers and programs.   Now, remove the floppy and Windows 98SE CD.  Restart your computer.  It should boot to the C:\> prompt.  Type cd\windows\options\cabs.  Press Enter.  You should be at the C:\Windows\Options\Cabs> prompt.  Now type setup to install Windows 98SE on your hard drive.     The final step is the tricky part as you have already discovered.  Before your Latitude will work correctly, you need to download and install Windows 98 drivers for your chipset, video, audio, network card, etc.  Windows 98 drivers for the Latitude D800 are here:    http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/devices.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&SystemID=LAT_PNT_PNT_D800&os=W98&osl=EN   Install the chipset drivers first.  The others in any order.  You may want to download all the drivers to a folder on another computer with a rewritable CD drive.  Then copy that folder to a CD-R (not CD-R/W) disk.  If you cannot see the CD drive in Windows 98, then copy the chipset driver to your hard drive via a floppy disk.  It will fit since its only 1Mb.  Install the chipset driver from Safe Mode if necessary.  Then reboot.  Windows should detect the CD ROM drive.  If not, let us know.   Hope this helps get you up and running.   Tony

ncheisser · Answer

I follwed your step by step instuctions and When I get to the e:\windows98 promt I type in xcopy*.*c:\windows\options\cabs /s and it gives me a bad command error. I have tried typing it in in different ways with spaces but I get the same message. What is the problem? do I need another boot disk? or did I do it incorrectly? when I booted with cd support it said that my cd drive was e not d. Last week i was told to up date my bios and ever since I have been running into a problem with my win 98 disk I keep getting errors where I did not get them b4. I just tried to run set up and it gave an error (scandisk encuontered a data error while reading the fat on drive c, This error prevents scandisk from fixing this drive.) what could be the problem?

jackshack · Answer

Syntax is important in a command; I can't be sure from your message, but it appears you have left no space between the command word and what you want it to do.  The command should be typed 'xcopy_*.*_C:\windows\options\cabs_/s' without the quotes and putting a space where I have put underscores.

tgsmith · Answer

Nora,

If you still get a bad command error after following JackShack's suggestion, do the following:

Insert your Windows 98 CD in the CD-ROM drive. Insert your Windows 98 boot floppy in the floppy drive. Restart the Latitude. Select the Boot with CD-ROM support option. Once you get to the A:\> prompt, type C: and press Enter.

At the C:\> prompt, type cd\windows\options\cabs. Press Enter.

At the C:\Windows\Options\Cabs> prompt, type copy e:\win98\*.*. Press Enter.

Now, at the C:\Windows\Options\Cabs> prompt, type setup. Press Enter.

Follow on-screen prompts.

Tony

Windows General

Problems loading windows 98 se os on latitude d800

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