First:
Beginners should NOT attempt this unless they completely understand what
they are doing. We cannot be held responsible for what you do. We have installed
Windows95/98 using this technique, without any flaws, so it should work fine for you.
But, be sure you completely read and understand what you are doing before
attempting this. Be sure to have the ability to use the DOS editor and basic
DOS commands. Do not type the quotes around the commands, they are simply
used as separators, so you understand what to type. It is possible to leave
A:\ and C:\ out before the lines in the autoexec.bat and config.sys
files you will create, but we feel this causes a bit of confusion to some
people on where the drivers are actually loaded from. So follow the directions
exactly unless you know what we are talking about.
If you have the
Win95 Upgrade CD, go
If you have the
Win95 "Companion" CD, go
If you have the
Win98 Upgrade CD, go
General:
The first, and
most important thing to do is make sure you have the correct driver for your
IDE cd-rom drive. If your computer already loads your cd-rom on startup then
you are in good shape. If not, you must find a driver that will work with
your cd-rom. These can usually be found on the web site of the manufacturer
of your cd-rom. Next you will need to make a boot disk for your cd-rom. To do
this insert a blank, virus free, disk into your floppy drive. If Windows is up and
running, go to Start/Settings/Control Panel/Add/Remove Programs/Startup Disk
and follow directions. (This gives you a bootable floppy plus some handy
utilities.) If not, go to a DOS prompt and type "format a: /s". This will
make the floppy a system boot disk. Copy the driver for your cd-rom and the
file "mscdex.exe" (found in the c:\windows\command directory) to the disk. Go
to notepad or type "edit" in DOS to open a text editor.
Type "DEVICE=A:\WHATEVER /D:NAME1" replacing WHATEVER with the name of your
cd-rom driver and NAME1 with the name of your cd-rom(usually something like
MSCD001). It doesn't matter what you call the cd-rom as long as it's the same in both config and autoexec.
Save this file to your boot disk as "config.sys". Next click on
new in the file menu. In the blank window type "A:\mscdex.exe /d:NAME1 /L:d"
replacing NAME1 with the same name you used in the config.sys file. If for
some reason you cannot have your cd-rom designated as the D: drive then change
the part /L:X and replace the X with whatever drive you want your cd-rom to be.
Save this file to your boot disk as "autoexec.bat". If your current autoexec.bat
and config.sys files already have lines similar to these in them, then just put
those same lines into the config.sys and autoexec.bat on your boot disk, but edit them so
the drivers are loaded off of the A: drive.
Also you can see what driver your cd-rom uses and copy it directly to the boot disk.
Now that this is done, you must test it.
***Be sure your disk is virus free***
If none of this works download
before continuing.
before continuing.
before continuing.
for the original W95 or
for W95b(OSR2) or 98 and unzip
it onto your boot disk. This file contains a generic driver that should work on
most cd-roms and a simple autoexec.bat and config.sys file. W95b also contains
himem.sys to run scandisk off the floppy. You can check
for setup switches to skip scandisk if necessary. If you don't have access to a bootable floppy
(or I've lost you somewhere) here, by popular demand, are 2 complete bootable floppies,
for the original 95,
for W95b (OSR2) or 98.
Just stick a blank floppy in your A drive (If your floppy drive's not A: you'll have to change
the destination) and double click the downloaded file. Reboot your computer with the floppy
in the drive and your CDROM should be accessible.
More boot disk info here.
Hit the back button to return.
If you still cannot get this working
It may also
be due to an incorrect cd-rom driver, then you may have to get a driver from the
manufacturer of your cd-rom or from
BTW, the 98 full or upgrade CD from Microsoft is bootable. In other words, you can skip all this boot
floppy stuff and boot straight from the CD if your system supports it. Most do. You may have to change the
boot order in the BIOS to do that. Check with your manufacturer for details on how to change the boot
order for your particular motherboard BIOS.
DO NOT PERFORM THE
FOLLOWING WITHOUT FIRST READING THE PREVIOUS SECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Step
1
. If you are in windows
exit to DOS and type "format c:" This will completely remove everything on your
hard drive, EVERYTHING.
Step 2
. When done insert your
boot disk and restart your computer. This will start your computer off of your
boot disk and load your cd-rom.
Step 3
. After your computer
is done starting and your cd-rom has loaded correctly, insert your windows95
cd-rom, and type "D:\win95\"
Step 4
. While in this directory
type "setup.exe". This will start the setup process.
Step 5
. During the setup
make your own choices and install whatever you like. You can add or remove things later.
Step 6
. Now your computer
will start with Windows and load all of your hardware correctly. It may ask
you for the original disks that came with some of your hardware so have them ready.
Final Words:
What happens after
this point can be troubling. Sometimes plug and play hardware can conflict,
mouse drivers will not work correctly, or everything may work fine. It all
depends on what kind of hardware you use and how many pieces of hardware you
are using. Good Luck and any questions
just ask
us with the autoexec.bat
and config.sys and we will look at it and see if it is correct. If you are SURE everything is working fine for you then
continue, if not, or you are not completely sure, then DO NOT continue. If there is
anything you want to keep or backup, do so at this point.
