3

I'm trying to install Windows 98 SE on an old Toshiba desktop PC and it's not going well. Toshiba stopped producing desktops around the year 2000. This model is from around 1999/2000, and it's called Equium 3300M. It's probably one of their last desktop models. This one was the top model at the time. There was also a 3300D which was a desktop variant, while the M model was a tower.

While trying to install Windows 98 I run into the following problem.

Searching for Boot Record from Floppy..OK
Starting Windows 98...


TOSHIBA Enhanced-IDE CD/DVD-ROM Device Driver (ATAPI) Version 2.24
  (C)Copyright Toshiba Corp. 1995-1999. All rights reserved.
        Device Name     : TOSCD001
        Number of units : 1

MSCDEX Version 2.25
Copyright (C) MIcrosoft Corp. 1986-1995. All rights reserved.
       Drive Z: = Driver TOSCD001 unit 0
TOSHIBA MACHINE
Invalid drive specification
Path not found - C:\TOOLS\CDROMDRV.SYS
Invalid drive specification
Invalid drive specification

After that last line, it leaves me at a bitmap image displaying instructions to reboot with Ctrl+Alt+Del. It doesn't say why I have to reboot, and it doesn't state any error type, it just want's me to reboot for no apparent reason. After reboot, it just boots up from Floppy again and it cycles through the same thing all over again.

enter image description here

The computer has been restored to original specification. Original system recovery "CD-ROM" discs are available and they are not scratched or anything, they are in very good condition. It's a set of 3 CDs, and the first disc labeled "1/3" should be the one holding the OEM version of Windows 98 SE. There is also a boot disk for Windows 98. I'm not sure what the other two discs are for. This computer came with three language support, so those could be holding different language versions or additional OEM discs. But I'm quite sure that the first disc holds the main operating system.

BIOS has been set to optimized defaults. Boot priority is as follows; Floppy, IDE-0, CD-ROM.

Under Standard CMOS settings, BIOS scans and autoconfigures both the hard drive and the CD/DVD drive. On POST it finds them both, and it finds the DOS bootdisk and starts preparing for installation, as you can see above. So what's this "invalid drive specification" about? Why isn't the installation starting?

Updates


Update 1

Booting from CD disc 2

In desperation I tried booting from the second CD. Boot order was; Floppy, CD-ROM, IDE-0. It boots normally from floppy disk, just like above, but then returns following.

File not found - Z:\3LNGINST\TOOLS\PARTINFO.TXT

I accidentally pressed some key on the keyboard, and before I knew it, the following screen showed up.

      Create Primary DOS Partition



Current fixed disk drive: 1


Verifying drive integrity,  16% complete.

After completion another screen showed up.

      Create Primary DOS Partition

Current fixed disk drive: 1

Do you wish to use the maximum available size for a Primary DOS Partition
and make the partition active (Y/N)?....................? [Y]

Verifying drive integrity,  7% complete.

I didn't choose Yes, it was set automatically. After completion the computer was automatically rebooted. Then I got a new screen. This is in Norwegian/Swedish/Finnish. Here's the message in Swedish.

Hårddisken är inte klar för återställning av programvara.
Installationsprogrammet måste skapa nya partitioner (C:, D:, ...).

VARNING! ALLT INNEHÅLL PÅ HÅRDDISKEN KOMMER ATT RADERAS!

Tryck på en tangent om du vill fortsätta (eller CTRL-C för att avbryta).

Let me translate that.

Hard drive is not ready for restoring the software.
Setup program has to create new partitions (C:, D:, ...).

WARNING! ALL CONTENTS ON THE HARD DRIVE WILL BE ERASED!

Press any key to continue (or CTRL-C to cancel).

I pressed Enter and it started formatting the hard drive.

WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK
DRIVE c: WILL BE LOST!
Proceed with Format (Y/N)?y


Formatting 14,67.53M
  1 percent completed.

It automatically sets the "y" option and starts formatting.

Rebooting with CD disc 1

After completing this operation it rebooted automatically. I inserted CD disc 1 and there was no issue with "invalid drive specification" anymore. Instead, a bitmap menu was displayed where it asked me to choose a language. And I thought I had it there for a while but it didn't work out.

enter image description here

After choosing the language, another menu was displayed asking me to choose a type of recovery (restore pre-installed software OR restore hard drive partitions and pre-installed software).

enter image description here

I opted for the second option.

enter image description here

Then a data destruction warning showed up where I just pressed 1 to Continue. It did something and then just rebooted and the same formatting screen shows up as before. So something is not right. Am I doing it wrong?

I seem to have come past the CD-ROM driver issue at least. But now I'm stuck with this problem... it seems to have something to do with the hard drive. Like... why is is it always trying to format it? Isn't it enough to format it once?

By the way, it needs to be formatted as FAT32, right? Windows 98 doesn't support NTFS? I think FDISK should have taken care of this already. I know this is an old hard drive, but I connected to my main computer and it was able to read and write to it without a problem. It does have bad sectors though, but it's expected on an old hard drive like this.

Any ideas?..

Update 2

I seem to be repeatedly getting stuck at the format screen where it asks to press any key to continue. So tried to cancel it this time with Ctrl+C. This leaves me at:

A:\TOOLS>

I can do DIR and CD and I tried to change to Z: drive. I tried running "setup" but there is no such thing.

Z:\>setup
Bad command or file name

Update 3

Floppy structure

Here's the file/folder structure of the floppy disk.

A:\>dir /s
 Volume in drive A has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is 1700-1069

 Directory of A:\

1999-10-11  10:44    <DIR>          BMP
1998-05-11  22:01            93 880 COMMAND.COM
1999-10-11  10:44    <DIR>          factory
1999-10-11  10:44    <DIR>          lang
1999-10-11  10:44    <DIR>          TOOLS
2000-05-19  15:32               339 CONFIG.SYS
1999-10-26  13:38                 0 BOOTLOG.TXT
2000-06-08  08:32             3 691 AUTOEXEC.BAT
               4 File(s)         97 910 bytes

 Directory of A:\BMP

1999-10-11  10:44    <DIR>          .
1999-10-11  10:44    <DIR>          ..
               0 File(s)              0 bytes

 Directory of A:\factory

1999-10-11  10:44    <DIR>          .
1999-10-11  10:44    <DIR>          ..
2000-06-08  13:09             2 662 3LNGINSF.BAT
               1 File(s)          2 662 bytes

 Directory of A:\lang

1999-10-11  10:44    <DIR>          .
1999-10-11  10:44    <DIR>          ..
1998-11-24  08:02            49 575 FORMAT.COM
1998-11-24  08:02            63 900 FDISK.EXE
               2 File(s)        113 475 bytes

 Directory of A:\TOOLS

1999-10-11  10:44    <DIR>          .
1999-10-11  10:44    <DIR>          ..
1998-05-06  22:01            49 575 FORMAT.COM
1995-10-27  20:29            28 164 BMPVIEW.EXE
1999-01-26  15:54                15 MAKEPA32.TXT
1998-05-06  22:01             3 878 XCOPY.EXE
1998-05-06  22:01            41 472 XCOPY32.MOD
1998-05-06  22:01            33 191 HIMEM.SYS
1998-05-06  22:01           125 495 EMM386.EXE
1998-05-06  22:01            18 967 SYS.COM
1996-01-31  21:55                18 CLK.COM
1994-04-02  08:20                22 HARDBOOT.COM
1999-02-03  15:46                15 MAKEPA16.TXT
1999-04-14  16:36             7 840 PARTFO32.EXE
2000-05-19  15:01             1 169 PARTFORM.BAT
1996-10-02  01:47             1 642 MBRCLR.COM
1999-07-01  11:58             8 175 BIOSCHKN.EXE
1998-06-23  08:55             5 904 PAR-TYPE.EXE
1998-11-24  08:02            29 271 MODE.COM
1998-11-24  08:02            15 252 ATTRIB.EXE
1998-11-24  08:02            19 083 DELTREE.EXE
1999-04-21  15:01            23 304 NTBB.EXE
1997-05-07  14:19                 1 SYS.TXT
1999-07-01  12:23            61 566 F3DCHK.EXE
1998-05-11  20:01            34 566 KEYBOARD.SYS
1998-05-11  20:01            19 927 KEYB.COM
1999-10-26  14:31               910 partinfo.txt
1998-06-16  15:58             5 936 CHKDRVAC.EXE
1998-05-06  22:01            63 900 FDISK.EXE
1998-05-06  22:01            45 379 SMARTDRV.EXE
1992-12-03  19:48            10 695 SCISET.EXE
1997-06-25  15:49                 6 YENT
1998-05-06  22:01            25 473 MSCDEX.EXE
1998-05-06  22:01             5 239 CHOICE.COM
1997-07-18  17:41             6 876 MBR.COM
1997-07-01  15:01             6 545 CHK2GB.COM
1998-06-10  20:04             8 128 PARTFORM.EXE
1990-01-04  02:09                19 MAKEPAR2.TXT
1990-01-04  01:00                27 MAKEPAR3.TXT
1990-01-04  01:00                27 MAKEPAR4.TXT
1998-02-13  13:47                15 MAKEPART.TXT
1999-04-14  13:47             5 200 DISKSIZE.EXE
1999-05-06  14:56             7 856 PARTFO16.EXE
1999-01-13  11:13            13 720 CDROMDRV.SYS
              42 File(s)        734 463 bytes

     Total Files Listed:
              49 File(s)        948 510 bytes
              12 Dir(s)         268 800 bytes free

A:\>

CONFIG.SYS contents

Here's the content of CONFIG.SYS.

DEVICE=A:\TOOLS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF
REM I=B000-B7ff for Desktop BIOSes
rem DEVICE=A:\TOOLS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS I=B000-B7ff x=C000-D000
DEVICE=A:\TOOLS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS x=C000-D000
DEVICE=A:\TOOLS\CDROMDRV.SYS /D:TOSCD001

BUFFERS=10
FILES=69
DOS=HIGH,UMB
STACKS=9,256
LASTDRIVE=Z
SWITCHES=/F
SHELL=A:\COMMAND.COM /P /E:2048

AUTOEXEC.BAT contents

:BEGIN
    @ECHO OFF
    PATH=A:\;A:\TOOLS;
    MSCDEX /D:TOSCD001 /L:Z /M:10
    smartdrv 1024 128
    SET TOOLS=A:\TOOLS
    SET COMSPEC=A:\COMMAND.COM
    SET EXITDRIVE=C:    
    SET EXITPATH=\

    CALL Z:\SETENV.BAT > NUL

:TOSHCHK
    BIOSChkN
    IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 goto C_ACCESS
    BMPVIEW Z:\3LNGINST\BMP\NO_TOSP3.bmp /X=120 /Y=80
    PAUSE > NUL
    SET EXITDRIVE=A: 
    GOTO END

:C_ACCESS
    CALL PARTFORM.BAT

:C_EMPTY
    IF EXIST C:\*.* GOTO C_NOTEMPTY
    call z:\setenv.bat>nul
    goto PREPDU 

:C_NOTEMPTY

REM ------------------MENU------------------------

:STARTMENU

    CLS
    BMPVIEW Z:\3LNGINST\BMP\LANGSELC.BMP /X=120 /Y=120
    CLK
    CHOICE /C:123 /N >NUL

    REM L is the language that is selected
    IF ERRORLEVEL 1 SET L=%LNG1%
    IF ERRORLEVEL 2 SET L=%LNG2%
    IF ERRORLEVEL 3 SET L=%LNG3%

    SET BMP=BMP%L%

    BMPVIEW Z:\3LNGINST\%bmp%\HDDMENU.BMP /X=72 /Y=82
    CLK
    CHOICE /C:129F /N > NUL
    IF ERRORLEVEL 4 GOTO FACTORY_MENU
    IF ERRORLEVEL 3 GOTO EXIT_MENU
    IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO PARTFORM_MENU
    IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO FORMAT_MENU
    GOTO END

:FACTORY_MENU
    BMPVIEW Z:\3LNGINST\%bmp%\qformat.bmp /X=120 /Y=140
    CLK
    choice /c:12 /N >nul
    IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO STARTMENU
    IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO FORMATF
GOTO END

:EXIT_MENU
    BMPVIEW Z:\3LNGINST\%bmp%\9.bmp /XC /X=96 /Y=267
    choice /C:1pause /T:1,01 >nul
    SET EXITDRIVE=A:
    SET EXITPATH=\lang
    cls
    mode mono
    rem keyb xx>nul
    cls
    GOTO END

:PARTFORM_MENU
    BMPVIEW Z:\3LNGINST\%bmp%\2.bmp /XC /X=96 /Y=216
    choice /C:1pause /T:1,01 >nul
    BMPVIEW Z:\3LNGINST\%bmp%\partform.bmp /X=120 /Y=140
    CLK
    choice /c:12 /N >nul
    IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO STARTMENU
    IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO PART_FORM
    SET EXITDRIVE=A: 
    GOTO END

:FORMAT_MENU
    BMPVIEW Z:\3LNGINST\%bmp%\1.bmp /XC /X=96 /Y=165
    choice /C:1pause /T:1,01 >nul
    BMPVIEW Z:\3LNGINST\%bmp%\qformat.bmp /X=120 /Y=140
    CLK
    choice /c:12 /N >nul
    IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO STARTMENU
    IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO FORMAT
    SET EXITDRIVE=A: 
    GOTO END

REM ------------------ MENU END ------------------------

:FORMAT
    bmpview Z:\3LNGINST\%bmp%\1.bmp /XC /X=145 /Y=235
    choice /C:1pause /T:1,01 >nul
    CLS
    IF (%QFORMAT%)==(NO) GOTO FULLFO 
    FORMAT C: /Q /V:"" <A:\TOOLS\YENT >NUL
    call z:\setenv.bat>nul
    goto PREPDU 

    :FULLFO
    FORMAT C: /V:"" <A:\TOOLS\YENT 
    call z:\setenv.bat>nul
    goto PREPDU 

:FORMATF
    CLS
    IF (%QFORMAT%)==(NO) GOTO FULLFO_F 
    FORMAT C: /Q /V:"" <A:\TOOLS\YENT >NUL
    call z:\setenv.bat>nul
    goto PREPDU_F

:FULLFO_F
    FORMAT C: /V:"" <A:\TOOLS\YENT 
    call z:\setenv.bat>nul
    goto PREPDU_F

:PART_FORM
    bmpview Z:\3LNGINST\bmp\1.bmp /XC /X=145 /Y=235
    choice /C:1pause /T:1,01 >nul
    MBR /!
    HARDBOOT

REM ====================== Triple Select ====================== 

:PREPDU
    XCOPY z:\3LNGINST\*.* C:\*.* /E /S /V >NUL
    ATTRIB -H -R -S C:\TOOLS\CDROMDRV.SYS
    COPY A:\TOOLS\CDROMDRV.SYS C:\TOOLS /Y
    SYS C: >NUL
    goto REBOOT

:PREPDU_F
    copy A:\TOOLS\SMARTDRV.EXE C:\ /Y
    ATTRIB -H -R -S C:\SMARTDRV.EXE 
    copy A:\FACTORY\3LNGINSF.bat c:\
    c:\3LNGINSF.bat
    cls

REM ====================== Dual Select END ====================== 

REM --------------- END ------------------

:REBOOT
    SMARTDRV.EXE /C
    bmpview Z:\3LNGINST\BMP\reboot3.bmp /X=120 /Y=140
:FOREVER
    pause >nul
    goto FOREVER

:END
    SMARTDRV.EXE /C
    %EXITDRIVE%
    cd %EXITPATH%
    echo on

CD structure

S:\>dir /s
 Volume in drive S is T3ELK4SC
 Volume Serial Number is 2042-5BC9

 Directory of S:\

2000-08-22  14:14    <DIR>          3LNGINSF
2000-08-22  14:14    <DIR>          3LNGINST
2000-06-15  15:57    <DIR>          CRC
2000-06-15  12:04       387 667 767 T310C1NO.W98
2000-09-07  15:36               273 setenv.BAT
               2 File(s)    387 668 040 bytes

 Directory of S:\3LNGINSF

1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          .
1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          ..
1999-10-27  10:51             1 806 AUTOEXEC.BAT
2000-08-22  14:14    <DIR>          BMP
2000-05-19  15:29               265 CONFIG.SYS
2000-08-22  14:14    <DIR>          POSTINST
2000-08-22  14:14    <DIR>          TOOLS
2000-08-22  14:14    <DIR>          WIN98SYS
               2 File(s)          2 071 bytes

 Directory of S:\3LNGINSF\BMP

1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          .
1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          ..
1997-04-22  09:43               718 1.BMP
1997-04-22  09:44               718 2.BMP
1999-01-04  02:38               718 3.BMP
2000-07-05  11:22            60 118 Cdchg2.bmp
2000-07-05  11:22            60 118 Cdchg3.bmp
2000-07-05  13:37            60 118 Fin.bmp
2000-07-06  14:18           120 118 Menu.bmp
2000-07-05  13:34            60 118 Nor.bmp
2000-07-05  11:53            35 318 Progress.bmp
2000-07-05  13:40            60 118 Swe.bmp
2000-07-05  12:09            84 118 Wrongcd2.bmp
2000-07-05  12:09            84 118 Wrongcd3.bmp
              12 File(s)        626 416 bytes

 Directory of S:\3LNGINSF\POSTINST

1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          .
1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          ..
2000-05-19  09:15                33 POSTINST.BAT
               1 File(s)             33 bytes

 Directory of S:\3LNGINSF\TOOLS

1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          .
1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          ..
2000-07-06  14:49             3 593 3LNGINST.BAT
1998-11-24  08:02            15 252 ATTRIB.EXE
1995-10-27  18:29            28 164 BMPVIEW.EXE
1999-01-13  11:13            13 720 CDROMDRV.SYS
1998-05-06  20:01             5 239 CHOICE.COM
1996-01-31  19:55                18 CLK.COM
1998-11-24  08:02            19 083 DELTREE.EXE
1998-05-06  20:01           125 495 EMM386.EXE
1999-07-01  12:23            61 566 F3DCHK.EXE
1998-05-06  20:01            49 575 FORMAT.COM
1994-04-02  06:20                22 HARDBOOT.COM
1998-05-06  20:01            33 191 HIMEM.SYS
1998-05-06  20:01            25 473 MSCDEX.EXE
1998-05-06  20:01            12 663 RAMDRIVE.SYS
1998-05-06  20:01            45 379 SMARTDRV.EXE
1997-05-07  14:19                 1 SYS.TXT
1995-09-27  14:25             6 813 VOLCHECK.EXE
1998-05-06  20:01             3 878 XCOPY.EXE
1998-05-06  20:01            41 472 XCOPY32.MOD
1997-06-25  13:49                 6 YENT
              20 File(s)        490 603 bytes

 Directory of S:\3LNGINSF\WIN98SYS

1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          .
1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          ..
1998-12-04  20:00           222 390 IO.SYS
1998-05-06  20:01            18 967 SYS.COM
1998-05-06  20:01            93 880 command.com
               3 File(s)        335 237 bytes

 Directory of S:\3LNGINST

1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          .
1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          ..
1999-05-31  09:51             1 576 AUTOEXEC.BAT
2000-08-22  14:14    <DIR>          BMP
2000-08-22  14:14    <DIR>          Bmpfin
2000-08-22  14:14    <DIR>          Bmpnor
2000-08-22  14:14    <DIR>          Bmpswe
2000-05-19  15:30               265 CONFIG.SYS
2000-08-22  14:14    <DIR>          POSTINST
2000-08-22  14:14    <DIR>          TOOLS
2000-08-22  14:14    <DIR>          WIN98SYS
               2 File(s)          1 841 bytes

 Directory of S:\3LNGINST\BMP

1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          .
1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          ..
1997-04-22  09:43               718 1.BMP
1997-04-22  09:44               718 2.BMP
1999-01-04  02:38               718 3.BMP
2000-07-05  11:22            60 118 Cdchg2.bmp
2000-07-05  11:22            60 118 Cdchg3.bmp
2000-07-05  13:37            60 118 Fin.bmp
2000-07-06  14:18           120 118 Menu.bmp
2000-07-05  13:34            60 118 Nor.bmp
2000-07-05  11:53            35 318 Progress.bmp
2000-07-06  14:08            40 518 Reboot3.bmp
2000-07-05  13:40            60 118 Swe.bmp
2000-07-05  12:09            84 118 Wrongcd2.bmp
2000-07-05  12:09            84 118 Wrongcd3.bmp
2000-07-05  13:52            48 118 langselc.bmp
2000-07-05  11:47            57 318 no_tosp3.bmp
              15 File(s)        772 370 bytes

 Directory of S:\3LNGINST\Bmpfin

1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          .
1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          ..
1997-04-22  09:43               718 1.BMP
1997-04-22  09:44               718 2.BMP
1998-06-13  00:07               718 9.bmp
2000-03-08  15:02            78 486 Hddmenu.bmp
2000-03-08  15:31            25 318 No_tospc.bmp
2000-03-08  15:37            36 518 PARTFORM.BMP
2000-03-08  15:42            36 518 Qformat.bmp
               7 File(s)        178 994 bytes

 Directory of S:\3LNGINST\Bmpnor

1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          .
1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          ..
1997-04-22  09:43               718 1.BMP
1997-04-22  09:44               718 2.BMP
1998-06-13  00:07               718 9.bmp
1999-05-05  13:26            78 486 Hddmenu.bmp
1998-07-13  11:36            25 318 No_tospc.bmp
1998-07-13  11:41            36 518 PARTFORM.BMP
1998-07-13  11:45            36 518 Qformat.bmp
               7 File(s)        178 994 bytes

 Directory of S:\3LNGINST\Bmpswe

1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          .
1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          ..
1997-04-22  09:43               718 1.BMP
1997-04-22  09:44               718 2.BMP
1998-06-13  00:07               718 9.bmp
1999-05-06  08:14            78 486 Hddmenu.bmp
1998-07-10  16:25            25 318 No_tospc.bmp
1998-07-10  16:29            36 518 PARTFORM.BMP
1998-07-10  17:08            36 518 Qformat.bmp
               7 File(s)        178 994 bytes

 Directory of S:\3LNGINST\POSTINST

1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          .
1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          ..
2000-05-19  09:15                33 POSTINST.BAT
               1 File(s)             33 bytes

 Directory of S:\3LNGINST\TOOLS

1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          .
1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          ..
2000-05-19  14:52             3 898 3LNGINST.BAT
1995-10-27  18:29            28 164 BMPVIEW.EXE
1999-01-13  11:13            13 720 CDROMDRV.SYS
1998-05-06  20:01             5 239 CHOICE.COM
1996-01-31  19:55                18 CLK.COM
1998-05-06  20:01           125 495 EMM386.EXE
1999-07-01  12:23            61 566 F3DCHK.EXE
1998-05-06  20:01            49 575 FORMAT.COM
1994-04-02  06:20                22 HARDBOOT.COM
1998-05-06  20:01            33 191 HIMEM.SYS
1998-05-06  20:01            25 473 MSCDEX.EXE
2000-07-06  14:41               910 PARTINFO.TXT
1998-05-06  20:01            12 663 RAMDRIVE.SYS
1998-05-06  20:01            45 379 SMARTDRV.EXE
1997-05-07  14:19                 1 SYS.TXT
1995-09-27  14:25             6 813 VOLCHECK.EXE
1998-05-06  20:01             3 878 XCOPY.EXE
1998-05-06  20:01            41 472 XCOPY32.MOD
1997-06-25  13:49                 6 YENT
              19 File(s)        457 483 bytes

 Directory of S:\3LNGINST\WIN98SYS

1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          .
1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          ..
1998-12-04  20:00           222 390 IO.SYS
1998-05-06  20:01            18 967 SYS.COM
1998-05-06  20:01            93 880 command.com
               3 File(s)        335 237 bytes

 Directory of S:\CRC

1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          .
1601-01-01  02:00    <DIR>          ..
2000-06-15  12:07           181 422 T310C1NO.ALL
2000-06-15  12:09           215 427 T310C1NO.CRC
2000-06-15  12:07             2 157 T310C1NO.HID
               3 File(s)        399 006 bytes

     Total Files Listed:
             104 File(s)    391 625 352 bytes
              42 Dir(s)               0 bytes free

S:\>

Now which line or lines need to be changed? Do I really have to change drive letter Z: to C:?

Proposed solutions


Solution #1

Ramhound proposed to change the boot order to following; CD-ROM, IDE-0, Floppy

This didn't help. In fact, here is the result of it.

Searching for Boot Record from CDROM..Not Found
Searching for Boot Record from IDE-0.. OK
Missing operating system

Any other ideas?...

Solution #2

Rik proposed to run Z:\setup. Now that I have found a way to drop to DOS prompt with Ctrl+C as described above (Update 2), I did try running setup but there is no such command or file in there. So that didn't work.

15
  • 1
    Your boot order should be cd-rom, IDE-0, then floppy if your tryng to INSTALL Windows. I hope this computer will never be connected to the internet.
    – Ramhound
    Oct 23, 2013 at 16:50
  • I'd guess its because you can't load your CDRom drivers. man, that takes me back. the path to your CDROMDRV.sys file should be specified in your config.sys file. if you can get it to boot (perhaps boot off floppy and disconnect your cdrom) check to see if you have a c:\Tools folder, or have a CDROMDRV.sys stored elsewhere, and update your config.sys to point to it. computerhope.com/forum/index.php?topic=5211.0 Oct 23, 2013 at 16:51
  • 1
    Are you starting from floppy or harddisk? I would change the boot order to Floppy, CD-ROM, IDE-0. That way it can boot from CD-Rom (if those are bootable?). I take it your HD is already formatted because it can't find C:\TOOLS\CDROMDRV.SYS. Although this should not be a problem because you already got the Z:. So you need to start the install from Z: itself or boot from CD.
    – Rik
    Oct 23, 2013 at 16:56
  • @Sammy - As Frank points out you need a driver disk that explain how to read the contents on the CD_ROM
    – Ramhound
    Oct 23, 2013 at 16:58
  • @Ramhound He has a CD-ROM driver because it already says TOSHIBA Enhanced-IDE CD/DVD-ROM Device Driver. But i think he starts from HD (or floppy) and doesn't know how to start the install from Z:.
    – Rik
    Oct 23, 2013 at 16:59

3 Answers 3

1

Instead of assigning the CD-ROM to Z:, assign it to E: at

MSCDEX Version 2.25 Copyright (C) MIcrosoft Corp. 1986-1995. All rights reserved. Drive Z: = Driver TOSCD001 unit 0

Older systems may have an issue with drive letters above E: when assigned to physical hardware. So using the floppy to boot, you may have to edit AUTOEXEC.BAT to change that line. i.e.

 c:\dos\mscdex /d:mscd000 /l:g

will load the CD driver as drive G:.

There is a reference for the MSCDEX command at http://users.cybercity.dk/~bse26236/batutil/help/MSCDEX_E.HTM and many other places.

Also make sure that you have a hard drive that '98 can read (or that is unallocated) for the first drive and partition; while you can subsequently install later versions of Windows on C: or other drives, '98 won't understand later partition types and is needs to copy files to C: so that it can restart and complete installation.

8
  • How do I change it from Z: to E:?
    – Samir
    Oct 23, 2013 at 19:44
  • I think part of the problem is in that this is an OEM version of Windows 98. They have a different structure from RTM Windows and different ways of deploying it on new system builds. I will shortly post the file/folder structure of both floppy disk and CD disc. Let me know if you see anything out of the ordinary here.
    – Samir
    Oct 23, 2013 at 19:48
  • Look for the line that loads MSCDEX -- it provides the drive letter., i.e. c:\dos\mscdex /d:mscd000 /l:g (loads it as drive G:).
    – Debra
    Oct 23, 2013 at 19:48
  • Probably 90%+ of the Win98 installs I've done are from OEM versions. However, there are several different OEM versions, some with floppies & some that boot from the Win98 install CD.
    – Debra
    Oct 23, 2013 at 19:52
  • So the line I need to change is "MSCDEX /D:TOSCD001 /L:Z /M:10"? What's that "M:10" part? Do I need that? So I can change this to "MSCDEX /D:TOSCD001 /L:E"?
    – Samir
    Oct 23, 2013 at 20:00
1

Now i slowly starting to understand.

You don't have the standard Windows 98 setup disks. These are special recovery disks (from the OEM) with a floppy disk to boot. If you want to keep it working you need not change the config.sys and autoexec.bat and keep the drive-letter at Z:. Or else the whole batch-file doesn't work anymore.

You didn't specify make and model of your PC but i'm guessing a Toshiba. Toshiba has a FAQ for restoring Windows. You need to lookup the model on this page and look in the last column what instructions to follow. For example if it is number 5 you would:

5 - Insert the Toshiba Product Recovery CD and turn on the system while holding down the C key. This will allow the system to boot from the CD. Select either a Complete Recovery (this recreates all the partitions and formats each one, this may reboot the system several times depending on the size of the HDD and the number of partitions) or Standard Recovery (this just formats drive C:). This will then restore Windows 98 as shipped from the factory. A Toshiba Tools & Utilities CD is supplied for re-installation of drivers and utilities without re-installing the complete operating system.

I can't read Swedish so i'm not sure what those screens are saying exactly but i think it's just choosing the right order for the discs. (I don't think you need the floppy-disc according to the FAQ)

I think you need to start with disc #1 and follow all the instructions. It can require several reboots and only use disc #2 when asked for.

If this does not work then what is the content of disk #1 with the Windows 98 files on it? It may be possible to just start the installation of Windows without following the recovery procedure.

1
  • This is a Toshiba desktop PC. It's not a laptop. Toshiba stopped producing desktops ages ago. It's that old. So those FAQ instructions don't apply. The Windows 98 SE discs supplied are not bootable. Like with Windows 95, you have to use a boot disk.
    – Samir
    Oct 26, 2013 at 11:53
0

I think part of the "invalid drive specification" problem was a failing hard drive. I actually managed to install it, but I was only able to reboot it once or twice at most, and then on next boot it would fail at loading Windows. When this happened the first time I noticed that the hard drive name was not listed correctly on POST screen, and when I went into BIOS and tried to re-detect the drive it jumped from being around 15000 MB to some 151 GB.

If I shut it down, waited a few minutes, and then powered it back on again it would be detected correctly again, and Windows would load and run a CHKDSK and then log in. But as soon as I rebooted again and the hard drive was not detected correctly Windows would fail to load again. I tried typing in the number of heads, cylinders, etc. manually but it was no help.

So I changed the hard drive to a more recent one and with higher capacity. I was then able to install on that one and it has been booting properly ever since. The original hard drive was a 15.3 GB WD. The new one is 40 GB Maxtor. I had no capacity issues with it.

So here are the steps I took to install this version of Windows 98 SE on the new hard drive.

1: I took the 40 GB drive and hooked it to my main system and started Acronis Disk Director 11. I used the "Clean up disk" option to wipe the disk and reverse the "initialize" process. So after doing this it looked like a brand new hard drive (e.g. no partitions, and you have to initialize it to start using it).

2: I connected the 40 GB drive to the Toshiba PC, I inserted the original Toshiba boot disk in floppy drive, CD 1/3 in the optical drive and powered on.

3: Booting from boot disk.

Searching for Boot Record from Floppy..OK
Starting Windows 98...


TOSHIBA Enhanced-IDE CD/DVD-ROM Device Driver (ATAPI) Version 2.24
  (C)Copyright Toshiba Corp. 1995-1999. All rights reserved.
        Device Name     : TOSCD001
        Number of units : 1

MSCDEX Version 2.25
Copyright (C) MIcrosoft Corp. 1986-1995. All rights reserved.
       Drive Z: = Driver TOSCD001 unit 0
TOSHIBA MACHINE

Since this hard drive is not partitioned, nor initialized, the setup program recognizes this and prompts me to prepare it for installation.

Hårddisken är inte klar för återställning av programvara.
Installationsprogrammet måste skapa nya partitioner (C:, D:, ...).

VARNING! ALLT INNEHÅLL PÅ HÅRDDISKEN KOMMER ATT RADERAS!

Tryck på en tangent om du vill fortsätta (eller CTRL-C för att avbryta).

But instead of letting the setup program do the partitioning and formatting, I decided to do it myself.

4: I pressed Ctrl+C to drop to command line prompt.

Terminate batch job (Y/N)?

Press Y for Yes.

A:\TOOLS>

5: Start FDISK tool by typing fdisk and press Enter. You will be greeted with following message.

Your computer has a disk larger than 512 MB. This version of Windows
includes improved support for large disks, resulting in more efficient
use of disk space on large drives, and allowing disks over 2 GB to be
formatted as a single drive.

IMPORTANT: If you enable large disk support and create any new drives on this
disk, you will not be able to access the new drive(s) using other operating
systems, including some versions of Windows 95 and Windows NT, as well as
earlier versions of Windows and MS-DOS. In addition, disk utilities that
were not designated explicitly for the FAT32 file system will not be able
to work with this disk. If you need to access this disk with other operating
systems or older disk utilities, do not enable large drive support.

Do you wish to enable large disk support (Y/N)...........? [Y]

6: Press Y for Yes and press Enter. (Yes for FAT32, or No for FAT16.) You will get to the FDISK Options menu.

Current fixed disk drive: 1

Choose one of the following:

1. Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive
2. Set active partition
3. Delete partition or Logical DOS Drive
4. Display parition information

7: Press 4 and then Enter to make sure there are no partitions. You should see following.

No partitions defined

Press Esc to go back to main menu.

8: Press 1 and then Enter to create a new partition.

9: Press 1 and then Enter to create a new primary partition. You should see following.

Verifying drive integrity. 11% complete.

When completed you will see the following.

Do you wish to use the maximum available size for a Primary DOS Partition
and make the partition active (Y/N).....................? [Y]

Press Y and then Enter.

Verifying drive integrity. 9% complete.

When completed you will see the following message.

You MUST restart your system for your changes to take effect.
Any drives you have created or changed must be formatted
AFTER you restart.

Shut down Windows before restarting.

10: Do as it says, reboot by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del.

You will see the Starting Windows 98 once again and the prompt to prepare the drive for installation.

11: Drop to command line prompt by pressing Ctrl+C.

Terminate batch job (Y/N)?

Press Y.

A:\TOOLS>

12: Type format c: and then Enter.

WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK
DRIVE C: WILL BE LOST!
Proceed with Format (Y/N)?

Press Y and then Enter.

Formatting 39,19.62M
0 percent completed.

You will then see following.

Formatting 39,19.62M
Format complete.
Writing out file allocation table
Complete.
Calculating free space (this may take several minutes)...
Complete.

Volume label (11 characters, ENTER for none)?

Just press Enter. There's no need for a label.

Now you will see the command line prompt.

13: Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to reboot.

As before, you will see the Starting Windows 98 but this time you will NOT be prompted to prepare the hard drive for installation. Instead, you will see following lines at the end of the batch.

TOSHIBA MACHINE
1 file(s) copied

And then this bitmap menu prompt.

enter image description here

14: Do as it says, a) remove the floppy disk, and b) reboot by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del.

So now that the floppy disk is removed, it won't be able to boot off of that. So it will skip the floppy drive. And since the CD-ROM is not bootable, it will skip that too. Lastly it will search for bootable media on IDE-0 (the hard drive), find the newly copied file or files and boot off of that.

I used following boot order priority: Floppy, CD-ROM, IDE-0. This was the defacto standard boot order on old Windows PCs. And it is for a reason, as you can see by this Windows 98 installation.

The Windows 98 loading picture appears.

enter image description here

Then the Toshiba installation menu appears.

enter image description here

I used option 2 for Swedish locale, and then 1 to start the installation.

enter image description here

Because the Swedish version of Windows 98 was located on CD 2/3 it prompted me to insert that one. I put that in and then pressed 1 once again to start the installation.

enter image description here

The installation progress bar appears.

enter image description here

It then reboots and a customized Windows 98 background picture appears with a Toshiba logo.

enter image description here

It then goes on to prepare the keyboard and locale for this version of Windows.

C:\>REM [Header]

MODE PREPARE teckentabell utförd

MODE SELECT teckentabell utförd

The Toshiba background appears.

enter image description here

It identifies new hardware, such as monitor model and asks for drivers. (Typical Windows 9x asking for monitor drivers.) I opted for the default C:\WINDOWS\INF\MONITOR.INF and it didn't bother me about that anymore.

enter image description here

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Another window shows up asking to set keyboard layout and location. It asks for the name of the owner to be registered with that copy of Windows and then asks to accept the EULA.

enter image description here

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A silly waving Windows flag shows up at the end and the installation is complete.

enter image description here

It then asks for date, time, time zone, country setting for modem, it updates the system configuration and then logs in.

enter image description here

Before I know it I'm in Windows 98. Weeee!! I had traveled some 15 years back in time.

enter image description here

From POST screen to desktop, it takes only 40 seconds! And to shut down or reboot, it takes only 2 seconds! Can you beat that with your Windows 7 PC? I doubt it. It's so much faster than most Windows versions today on much more powerful hardware. Surely the new versions of Windows are much heavier on resources. I wish they were as lightweight as some of these old versions of Windows.

You can see from this POST screen that this is on a Pentium III at 733 MHz, and 100 MHz SDRAM (128 MB). It's E-IDE and PC133 compatible, but I've set the memory to 100 MHz for better stability. It can't do 133 MHz with all three DIMM modules in use. I had put in an upgrade kit of 3 times 256 MB RAM and it didn't coupe with it.

enter image description here

So the key to this was using a healthy hard drive, and then preparing it with FDISK and FORMAT. I forgot all about this. Refer to Microsoft KB article 255867 on details about using FDISK, and 179756 on reinstalling Windows 98. I had some help from those. But it was fairly easy once I got past the "invalid drive specification" errors.

I won't be using this PC to connect to the Internet. I just wanted to do a Windows 98 install on it for the fun of it. If I do connect it to any network I will install some Linux distro on it, maybe make a server out of it or a router. There's so much fun you can do with old hardware.

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