Clean Install of Windows 98
Following some exploration with drivers, I've found that I need to do a completely fresh install of the OS as the OS still won't boot after I reinstall through the Setup command. Unlike Linux, Windows won't let me do a fresh install straight off the CD and does a modified reinstall where the product activation key and the user/password details are retained as well as the problems that are stopping the OS from booting.
I figured that the best way around this was to format the hard drive through the start-up CD's DOS environment but a bit of googling revealed that the operation isn't as straightforward as "format c:" because there are essential files that need to be copied over for the hard drive to function as a bootable device and if those files aren't present after format the hard drive will be as dead as a doornail.
This is the information I found online:
https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/i ... 756AA0tsVQ
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COMMAND.COM
The basic upshot is that the correct command is "format c:/s" which will format the drive while copying over the essential COMMAND.COM files.
I'm posting about this because I would like someone here to confirm that the information is correct and that formatting the drive in this way is a viable solution to my problem. I also want new users to be aware of this as it would be very easy for new users to assume "format c:" is the way to go (as I almost did) and irreversibly damage their hard drive.
I figured that the best way around this was to format the hard drive through the start-up CD's DOS environment but a bit of googling revealed that the operation isn't as straightforward as "format c:" because there are essential files that need to be copied over for the hard drive to function as a bootable device and if those files aren't present after format the hard drive will be as dead as a doornail.
This is the information I found online:
https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/i ... 756AA0tsVQ
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COMMAND.COM
The basic upshot is that the correct command is "format c:/s" which will format the drive while copying over the essential COMMAND.COM files.
I'm posting about this because I would like someone here to confirm that the information is correct and that formatting the drive in this way is a viable solution to my problem. I also want new users to be aware of this as it would be very easy for new users to assume "format c:" is the way to go (as I almost did) and irreversibly damage their hard drive.
Comments
If you are installing a full version of Windows 9x, it won't even matter which you use as the Windows setup will place/replace the DOS systems files.
There is actually a difference between the two commands. The /s defeated the object because Windows still said there was an OS on the computer (even though it was just a DOS environment) and the mount:c on its own proved to be the right command for the clean install I wanted.