I need some help. I have an IBM thinkpad 600 with linux (Mandrake) currently installed on it. I need to put Windows 98 on it, at least for now. The problem is I can't boot from the win98 cd I have and the laptop has no floppy. I have tried creating making different boot disks and burning them to cds but none of them work. When I try to boot the laptop with one of these cds I get a black screen with a blinking cursor and that's it. I know the laptop is set up to boot from cd because I have a copy of knoppix and it works just fine. The windows boot disks I have created also work because I have tested them in my desktop. Any ideas why the laptop won't boot from windows boot cds? Any other ideas on how to install win98? Thanks.

There might be a couple of reasons.

First, check the bios, know how? Ever been to the IBM website?

Start with the machine OFF, and press and hold the "F1" key. WHILE STILL HOLDING the "F1" key, turn the machine on and CONTINUE TO HOLD the F1 key

This should get you into the bios/setup so you can check the boot order.

The boot cd's you've made may not work, because the cdrom may just not "like" reading them. I've had trouble (with my old 390xd, and my 600x) myself.

The last thing is, the Whenox98 CD you, have IS IT BOOTABLE? Have you tried it in your desktop?

Not all Whinedos98 CD's boot. Far as I can tell, NONE of the RETAIL "store bought" cd's boot, neither of course do upgrades.

ALL of the "OEM" cd's (says "to be furnished only with a new computer) will boot.

Suggestions? If you can't get a floppy (I would, off ebay) and you might try burning your "bootable" CD on a new (friends?) machine with newer burner, newer software.

Also, you could get a hdd cable adaptor--that would let you plug your laptop hdd into your desktop temporarily, then you could make the drive bootable (format C:/s or sys C:) and then copy the /Win98 folder to your hard drive. Pop the drive into the laptop, boot from the hdd, and run setup right there.

Here is the URL for the driver matrix page index at IBM:

http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=0&uid=psg1TPAD-MATRIX&loc=en_US

Dustin

In addition to Name's reply I would add some additional comments. Your boot order may not be set to boot from a CD prior to the harddrive. If the boot order is set to boot from a CD, the POST screens will state "To boot from a CD hit any key now". You have only a few seconds to do this or the computer will boot normally. Even if you do get the computer to boot from the CD I don't think that you will be able to install over the top of a Linux installation. I believe you will need to delete the partition and recreate a new one and format with FAT32. Fdisk may not be able to work with your Linux partition. I no very little about Linux so I may be wrong about that. Your first order of business is to enter the BIOS on the laptop and check the boot order. In your case it should be CD first, IDE 0 second. If the CD you have is bootable it will contain the additional files required to install win98. If not you may need to copy them to the harddrive and run the setup from there. I don't think having a CD installation disk will work because when you need to swap disks the installation process is interrupted. I know this doesn't address all the possible issues. Try checking the boot order first and watch the boot screens.

Thanks guys for your help so far. I think the hdd cable adapter may be my easiest (cheapest) bet. So here's my plan, let me know if I'm on the right track. I can hook up the laptop hd to my desktop with the adapter. Boot the desktop to winXP. Run Fdisk on the laptop hd to delete the linux partitions and create new windows partitions. Run the format /s on the drive, then copy my win98 cd to it. (Do I just copy and paste all of the files off of the CD straight to the hd?). Put the hd back in the laptop, boot it and run setup from the files I copied over. Does that sound like it will work?

Thanks again for your help.

Well, no.

I don't think you want to boot your desktop to the XP system. You DO need to find something to remove the linux partition, and

you may be able to do that with your X tra P utrid CD, if not, you may have to download some Linux utility or other, or some hard drive utility (look up your hdd--there should be a utility for it at IBM)

Then, fdisk and format WHEN BOOTED FROM either a Whinedox 98SE floppy or CD, and do the "format/s" from there. You will temporarily want to remove your desktop hdd and install the laptop AS THE MASTER, that way you don't risk bunking up your desktop.

When you get the laptop hdd fdisked (FAT32) and formatted "/s" then (what I do) is type

md C:\Win98 (ENTER)

X:\Win98 (ENTER) [where X is your cd}

from the prompt,

X:\Win98 type

copy *.* c:\Win98 (ENTER)

This will copy all the setup files from the \Win98 folder on the CD to the \Win98 folder you just made on the hdd.

The reboot, to C:

type

C:\Win98\setup (ENTER) and you should be off.

You will undoubtedly need at least some of the drivers from the IBM site, possibly display, and assuredly sound and modem.

I would leave any removable PCMCIA cards OUT 'till you get the initial system up.

Another way you could do this, maybe even better, is to make TWO partions on your hdd, make the second a small partition, say, 500mb, and put the \Win98 folder on there. That way, if you need to format and redo the C drive, you can format it and save your setup files. I usually also put setup stuff on this second (D) partion, like, a text note with all my "keys" in there, and the setup files for AVG antivirus and so on.

One last thought, here. It is IMPROBABLE, but possible, that the linux partition you now have is interfering with the boot process. Ya might just try "yanking" out the hdd, and see if your Windox98 CD will boot in there.

Delpart will remove any partition.

G'day Dustin (by redbeardz),

I had the very same problem, would not boot from CD (Win98se in my case), The problem was the way the CD was made.
I did a floppy from my desk-top and then burnt this onto a CD and thought that would work, well it didn't, and the reason was simple,
the file has to be an image, not data.

You need Nero burning ver 6 or other that has the capacity to create image files. Worked for me, I was about to put a hammer thru my laptop when I read an article on the Compaq web site that details the 'correct' format to use. Also found another item that indicated the CD's should be recorded at a high speed, so select 2 or 4x when burning.

I hope this helps, it also means you don't need a floppy drive.

Avagoodweekend........

Err, that should read: should NOT be recorded at a high speed.

Avaniceday