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Cannot reload Win98SE

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My client’s child wrecked her Windows OS.
I tried to reload from the original Win98SE CD but got error mesage SU0168 ” Your computer already has an operating system installed….”
I reformatted Drive C (all data is in other partitions) hoping to clean out the corrupted files, but upon reinstalling get the same message.
What can I do?
I cannot use RegEdit to clean out registry because I cannot start Windows!

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Sounds to me like Windows 2000, or XP was previously installed on this system. You have a couple of choices here: You can take a Windows 2000 CD and start the setup until you get to the Partition and Format part of the installation. Be sure to choose FAT32 if you are going to place 98 back on the box. and end the setup right after the format is complete. OR you could get a partitioning and format program to wipe the drive clean (to it’s entirety) and format to FAT32. There are many free utilities out there to accomplish this task. You may want to try something like the ultimate boot disk. http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/

James Bauernfeind
System Administrator
FleetOne

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Fdisk and remove all partitions and then?
A:\>fdisk /mbr

That will install a new master boot record.

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If you have a W9x boot disk around it has Fdisk utility on it, if not, you can get it here: http://www.23cc.com/free-fdisk/

When you boot up to the DOS boot disk with the Fdisk utility at the A prompt type fdisk to start the fdisk utility. What you want to do is delete partitions using the fdisk utility. Once you delete the partitions and reboot back to DOS disk, create a primary DOS partition and make it active using Fdisk. Once that is done and you reboot back to DOS disk use the format C: command at the A prompt to format the partition. once that is done, remove the floppy, insert the W9X CD and reboot to the CD. Windows should install. If you cant get rid of partitions with Fdisk theres another utility Partition zapper you can use to get rid of partitions that fdisk can’t heres a link to that: http://www.meixler-tech.com/pzapper/

The Fdisk utility is free which is why I mention it over a utility like partition commander other programs that basically do the same thing. Fdisk takes a bit longer but again its free.

Reply To: Cannot reload Win98SE

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I assume you are running the automated install. Instead, try installing manually.

Boot from CD

Select Start PC with CD ROM Support

Change to CD ROM Drive (D: where D = drive letter of CD drive).

Then change to Win98 directory (CD Win98)

Run Setup from there.

This same procedure can also be used to do a repair install of Win98, Win98SE, and WinMe and possibly Win95.

I would try this approach prior to dealing with partitions.

Dalton

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http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q225252/

Good Luck!

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Error Message: Your Computer Already Has an Operating System Installed, Which Cannot Be Upgraded by This Version of Setup
View products that this article applies to.
Article ID : 225252
Last Review : December 20, 2004
Revision : 1.1
This article was previously published under Q225252
On this page
SYMPTOMS
CAUSE
RESOLUTION
Damaged Installation Media
APPLIES TO

SYMPTOMS
When you try to upgrade your Microsoft Windows 95-based computer to Windows 98, you may receive the following error message:
Warning SU0168
Your computer already has an operating system installed, which cannot be upgraded by this version of Setup. Please obtain the Windows 98 Upgrade.
This issue can also occur if you try to upgrade with a full version. Before troubleshooting, ensure CD-ROM installation is Upgrade version.
Back to the top

CAUSE
This issue can occur for either of the following reasons: ? An incorrect version of the Setupx.dll file is currently loaded into memory.
? Your installation media (CD-ROM or floppy disk) may be damaged.

Back to the top

RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue: 1. Click Start, click Shutdown, click Restart the computer in MS-DOS mode, and then click OK.
2. At the command prompt, type the following commands, pressing ENTER after each command:
cd windows\system
ren setupx.dll setupx.ol1
ren setupx.w95 setupx.ol2
NOTE: If the Setupx.w95 file is missing, extract a new copy of the Setupx.dll file from the current operating system’s installation media to the Windows\System folder. For additional information about how to extract files, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
129605 How to Extract Original Compressed Windows Files

Reply To: Cannot reload Win98SE

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Looking over the previously submitted answers, I would suggest removing the C partition and recreating it, but you cannot do this with fdisk, only with a program like Partition Magic. Fdisk will insist on removing the other partitions before removing C.

If you cannot install the 98SE after that, try changing the memory. Sometimes bad memory causes messages such as this during installation.

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Do check to see if the PC has a small restore partition, and a restore disk.
You say that all data is in other partions, so why dont you back up the data to say a zip drive or to another pc with a data cable and zap the disk completely and start again. In the long run this would be the easiest option because I think you are doing something wrong, because if you have fdisked it and reset the master boot record then it should be empty with no files at all.

Cliff

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Do you have W98 startup Disk? If you do, use this to boot the PC to DOS (make sure you use the boot option for CD support) and then check the C drive and make sure that the format has cleared the hard drive. If not, format the C drive from DOS and try to load again.
Special note, if the PC will not boot from the floppy, you will have to change the boot sequence in the BIOS. Make sure that if there is a quick boot option, it is turned off.

[Author]

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