How Do I Reinstall Windows?
To reinstall Windows 95 or 98, you will need a Startup Diskette and a Windows 95 or 98 Installation CD.
Note: We recommend using the Startup Diskette available on this page. Other Windows Startup Diskettes may not work with the following steps.
To Create A Startup Diskette:
- Download and save the appropriate bootdisk from Bootdisk.com.
- After saving the file, double click on it to run the disk creation program.
- Insert a blank diskette into the drive and follow the prompts to create a startup diskette.
Installation
- Once you have your Startup Diskette, insert it into the floppy drive and restart your computer.
- Select option #1 - Start the computer with CD-ROM support.
- After a minute or so, you will see "A:>_".
- Type "fdisk" and press Enter.
- If asked to enable large disk support, select Y for Yes. (Note: Some versions of Windows 95 may not be compatible with large disk support. Select N here if it does not support the FAT32 file system.)
- Select Option #1 - Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive.
- Select Option #1 - Create Primary DOS Partition.
- The drive integrity will be verified.
- Unless you are planning to make multiple partitions, select Y when asked if you want to use the maximum available size for the partition and to make the partition active.
- The drive integrity will be verified again.
- When completed press the Esc key to exit fdisk.
- Without removing the floppy disk, press the reset button on the computer or press the keys Ctrl then Alt then Delete and release them together. This will restart the computer.
- Again, select the option to Start the computer with CD-ROM support.
- When you see A:>, directly above it is a message about your CD-ROM drive. It will tell you the letter assigned to your CD-ROM drive, take note of it. The screen will look something like this:
MSCDEX Version 2.25
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corp. 1986-1995
Drive E: = Driver MSCD001 unit 0
(In the screen above, the CD-ROM is drive E:) - At the A:>, type "format C:" and press Enter.
- Press the Y key then the enter key when asked if you want to proceed with the format.
- The format will probably take some time, so be patient.
- You will be asked to choose a Volume Label, which is a name for your hard drive. It has no effect on the operation of your computer, you may choose any name you like.
- Place the Windows Install CD into the CD-ROM drive.
- Type "E:" (where E is the letter assigned to the CD-ROM drive, refer to step 14 above) and press the Enter key.
-
Type "dir" and press Enter. You will see something like the following:
Volume in drive E is 020409_1121
Directory of E:WIN98_SE (DIR) 04-09-02 11:21a
0 file(s) 0 bytes
1 dir(s) 0 bytes free - WIN98_SE is a directory, as indicated by the (DIR) after it.
- Type "cd WIN98_SE", replacing WIN98_SE with the result from step 21 above, then press the Enter key.
- Type "dir" and press the Enter key.
- If you see: SETUP (DIR) somewhere in the output, then type "cd SETUP" and press the Enter key. Otherwise, skip this step.
- Type "SETUP" and press the Enter key to begin the Windows 98 setup program.
- Simply follow the prompts to install Windows.
- Remove the Windows Startup Diskette when prompted.