Re-installing Win98

[B R DOWDOWHAPPY]

I have original CD can I reinstall without losing documents and other programs. Thank you so much.

[Gary S. Terhune]

Not gracefully. When you reinstall Windows 9x using the original CD, performing
what's known as "over-install"--running Setup without first reformatting--you
are overwriting many, many dozens (into the hundreds) of system files with older
versions than those which you have now. This results in DLL Hell--mismatched
system files.

There are ways to ameliorate this issue, tools like SFC and VCM, but none that
make it foolproof--unless you also go ahead and reinstall *all* updates, most
applications and their updates, etc.--and even then, it still usually results in
a messier system than when you started, *and* retains many of the problems your
old system had.

When all is said and done, a reformat and "clean install" is *always* more
successful. With solid preparation, making sure all your ducks are in a row, you
will be much happier with a clean install. And if you have substantial disk
space, you can repartition and install fresh to the new partition without wiping
the old one, leaving you time to fix up the new system, copy over personal
files, etc.

Or just buy a new drive to install the new system to. They're cheap these days.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Win9x

"B R DOWDOWHAPPY" <B R > wrote in message
...
> I have original CD can I reinstall without losing documents and other
programs. Thank you so much.
>
>