PC Peripherals Cant Windows 98 be installed in Todays Computers?
- Thread starter Vij
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d@rK nEmEsIs
Forerunner
Need a Win98 PC to connect to couple of CNC machines at the factory. The chinese rep who arived says his software supports XP but he intends to gv the 98 version as there are some ip sharing reservations(strange). Its hard to reason with him as he speaks a not so funny "Chinglish" language.
You buy 2 machines worth a crore and hunt for an ancient Win98 PC. As silly as it gets.
Ideally would like to buy a Win98PC. Can anyone help?
You buy 2 machines worth a crore and hunt for an ancient Win98 PC. As silly as it gets.
Ideally would like to buy a Win98PC. Can anyone help?
deathvirus_me
Explorer
SidhuScorpion
Herald
Shripad
Innovator
vij said:
I would suggest you reason with him now than having headache for years to come.
Even if you manage to source some Win98 ready hardware, it will only get harder to do so in the future. And you really dont want to rely on this for years to come as if something goes wrong in the future, you will be in very tricky place with delays and downtime for a small reason like blown motherboard or cpu. And I dont have to remind you of windows 98 reliability
d@rK nEmEsIs
Forerunner
6pack said:
Dude its not some small software or game he is talkin abt that u can run in complablity mode.:no:
Ask NASA what it feels like to look for old and rare computer parts.Shripad said:I would suggest you reason with him now than having headache for years to come.
Even if you manage to source some Win98 ready hardware, it will only get harder to do so in the future. And you really dont want to rely on this for years to come as if something goes wrong in the future, you will be in very tricky place with delays and downtime for a small reason like blown motherboard or cpu. And I dont have to remind you of windows 98 reliability
In an article on some of the best and most popular intel procs, i read that since one of NASA's project is still based on really really old proc, they have to buy it via ebay from old owners!!
I agree with Shripad as Win98 is EOL anyway, and not very reliable.
That said, The last time I bought a board with Win98 support was seven months ago, the MSI K8M800 AM2 board (K9MM-V) with an AGP slot. That board is still available, and single-core Sempron will be the best you can power the rig with (98=one core only).
Sidhu is right in that PCI-E mobos will not work with Win98 due to the design of the serial bus, which 98 does not understand.
There are hundreds of new 865 chipset boards doing the rounds, all of which are 98 compatible as well. These usually find their way into cheap single-core S478 systems.
Of course the best method is to not get a solution that locks you out of an upgrade path, and push for something that has something with a slightly longer EOL (if you need it). You can expect to run fine for two years or so, and if you're not looking at enough growth to replace the machines, you'll be in trouble. If your growth plan sees these machines not around after that period, then you can scrounge around and put together something that keeps you afloat till then.
That said, The last time I bought a board with Win98 support was seven months ago, the MSI K8M800 AM2 board (K9MM-V) with an AGP slot. That board is still available, and single-core Sempron will be the best you can power the rig with (98=one core only).
Sidhu is right in that PCI-E mobos will not work with Win98 due to the design of the serial bus, which 98 does not understand.
There are hundreds of new 865 chipset boards doing the rounds, all of which are 98 compatible as well. These usually find their way into cheap single-core S478 systems.
Of course the best method is to not get a solution that locks you out of an upgrade path, and push for something that has something with a slightly longer EOL (if you need it). You can expect to run fine for two years or so, and if you're not looking at enough growth to replace the machines, you'll be in trouble. If your growth plan sees these machines not around after that period, then you can scrounge around and put together something that keeps you afloat till then.
When I decided to upgrade my PC two years ago, this was one of my requirements. (I was using Win98 on an old 200Mhz P1 MMX until 2006 and I did not want to migrate to XP 
ppo: .).
There was a nice link I had detailing all problems one faces when trying to build a compatible system.
Sadly, you do require Win98 compatible drivers for all your motherboard hardware. I think LAN and on board audio drivers are important.
I don't think a PCI-E board would work and Intel is the wrong way to. You need to start with an AGP based AMD chipset. Also, please use Win98SE to make it easier on yourself.
Single or dual core processor should not matter. The first hurdle is processor clock speed. I think 98SE does not have issues but orig Win98 has a problem with speeds above 2.1 Ghz.
The next hurdle is memory. Win98 cannot see more than 768MB memory. If you attempt to use say 1GB of memory, you have to enter a hex value in an init file otherwise, your system won't boot.
The next hurdle SATA drives and today's capacities. Save youself some trouble by getting a PATA HDD and DVD writer as these are still available. Also, do not get a drive above 120GB as Win98 does not support 48 bit LBA.
I think you also need to turn off plug and play to avoid issues with USB.
Then comes the installation part. I believe that the Win98 installation needs 200MB or so of space to decompress the installation and it needs a FAT16 partition to decompress it to.(I'm not very sure but I think you cannot directly install it to a FAT32 partition.). You cannot use NTFS with Win98 though this is not a major issue.
These are some things I can remember. As far as I can recall, Asus S939 AGP boards were the last Win98 compatible boards. nForce4 based boards are not Win98 compatible.
Let me see if I can find that link on how to install Win98 on a newer system and post it here.
ppo: .).There was a nice link I had detailing all problems one faces when trying to build a compatible system.
Sadly, you do require Win98 compatible drivers for all your motherboard hardware. I think LAN and on board audio drivers are important.
I don't think a PCI-E board would work and Intel is the wrong way to. You need to start with an AGP based AMD chipset. Also, please use Win98SE to make it easier on yourself.
Single or dual core processor should not matter. The first hurdle is processor clock speed. I think 98SE does not have issues but orig Win98 has a problem with speeds above 2.1 Ghz.
The next hurdle is memory. Win98 cannot see more than 768MB memory. If you attempt to use say 1GB of memory, you have to enter a hex value in an init file otherwise, your system won't boot.
The next hurdle SATA drives and today's capacities. Save youself some trouble by getting a PATA HDD and DVD writer as these are still available. Also, do not get a drive above 120GB as Win98 does not support 48 bit LBA.
I think you also need to turn off plug and play to avoid issues with USB.
Then comes the installation part. I believe that the Win98 installation needs 200MB or so of space to decompress the installation and it needs a FAT16 partition to decompress it to.(I'm not very sure but I think you cannot directly install it to a FAT32 partition.). You cannot use NTFS with Win98 though this is not a major issue.
These are some things I can remember. As far as I can recall, Asus S939 AGP boards were the last Win98 compatible boards. nForce4 based boards are not Win98 compatible.
Let me see if I can find that link on how to install Win98 on a newer system and post it here.
(1) Stay away from Windows 98. Shripad is right - if you are spending so much, try to get the XP version
(2) Can it run on Virtual PC? I have used virtual PC but not for Windows 98. What kind of h/w interface does the CNC machine require? USB, Serial, Parallel port?
For example, Virtual PC will not support USB. You will need to verify that the virtual s/w supports your h/w.
(3) There are other options like virtualbox from sun, virtual server from ms, vmware which may support your h/w interface. Check them out.
(4) last option get a Windows 98 capable motherboard. Easily available for Rs 2K used for mobo+proccy+ram but an operational risk to run. There are internet forums where you can find people who have installed this on newer mobos but this is also a risk long term.
(2) Can it run on Virtual PC? I have used virtual PC but not for Windows 98. What kind of h/w interface does the CNC machine require? USB, Serial, Parallel port?
For example, Virtual PC will not support USB. You will need to verify that the virtual s/w supports your h/w.
(3) There are other options like virtualbox from sun, virtual server from ms, vmware which may support your h/w interface. Check them out.
(4) last option get a Windows 98 capable motherboard. Easily available for Rs 2K used for mobo+proccy+ram but an operational risk to run. There are internet forums where you can find people who have installed this on newer mobos but this is also a risk long term.
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