Not wanting to boot to Windows98

Insert startup disk at command prompt type cd,this should give you a A:\
Using a Windows 98 startup disk
Insert in floppy drive,boot computer,select option to boot wothout cd rom support,this will add the system files,eject and reboot

I don't understand soulrider's post. To change to the A drive, you need to type in "A:" then hit enter.

The command "CD" means Change Directory and must be followed by where to go. "CD\" for instance will take you to the root of the current drive. "CD Windows" would take you to directory of windows.

Starting the computer with a bootable floppy disk will not install the system files on the C drive. It will install a temp RAM drive that contains some of the DOS commands. You would have touse the "SYS C:" command to do what has been mentioned here.

You may have a corrupt registry. Start the computer to the command prompt, type in "SCANREG /BACKUP" to make a backup of the current registry. Then type "SCANREG /FIX" this will check and repair the registry. After that reboot if it still doesn't complete. You can also use "SCANREG /RESTORE" to see if there's a good backup to use. There's up to 4 dated copies. Select on of the older ones.

There is also a copy of the registry that was created when Windows was first installed. It is located on the root of C and is named SYSTEM.1ST. You can replace the current registry with this one. But all the software will need to be reinstalled but the data files will still be on the system.

For instructions on doing this for win95/98

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q131431