Inspiron 1000 - Cannot install older OS

Question

I need to set up dual boot, but I cannot sucessfully install Windows 98 or ME on a new Inspiron 1000! For some reason either OS freezes at either 13 (Win98) or 16 (WinME) minutes remaining. I have fdisked and reformatted the HDD with each of several attempts for Each OS. Steps I took: 1- I removed the Hard Disk Drive and installed it in a desktop to remove the partition and set up a 10gb DOS partition plus a 30gb unformatted partition. 2- I reinstalled the HDD in the Inspiron and used the Win98 CD to install Win98. It freezes at 13 minutes left. 3- I fdisked the HDD and attempted to install WinME, but it freezes at 16 minutes left. Win XP Home / SP2 was to follow to set up the dual boot. Any experience with the Inspiron 1000 and an older Operating System? Thanks, Jack

ejn63 · Answer

Check with SiS (www.sis.com.tw) to see if there are chipset drivers or install tips for this chipset and older DOS-based OSes.

jackscott · Answer

@ejn63 wrote:
Check with SiS (www.sis.com.tw) to see if there are chipset drivers or install tips for this chipset and older DOS-based OSes.

Thank you ejn63:

I'll try downloading SIS's WIN9X drivers for the chipset, put them on a bootable CD (I have no FDD) and see what happens when I try again to install the older OS.

Thank you, again

bacillus · Answer

In order to install Windows 98/ME on your hard disk it is best to first install Windows 98/ME followed by XP.
Your C: partition must be fat32 as regardless of which partition you install Windows 98/ME on a few files are written to C:
if your C: partition is formatted as NTFS then it will be unreadable by Windows 98/ME and hence your install of Windows 98/ME will not be bootable.

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