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Can I downgrade from windows 2000 to windows 98 SE?

I know this may sound crazy but I really want to reinstall windows 98 SE on a my IBM Think Pad. Can this be done?
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I just installed windows 2000 only because I didn't have an operating system on it and it was the only one I could get to work.
I really want windows 98.
Can it be done?
Regards,
Tplayer
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Glen A.
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Well, technically, I should say you can use programs like Partition Magic, etc., to convert it to Fat32, but you'd still have to do an operating system reinstall, and likely all your software as well...  data should remain intact though, if you don't have it backed up.
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ASKER

I did not convert to NTFS I left it to Fat32. So are you saying that all I need is a copy of windows 98 to intsall.
I do have it buy when I launch the set up icon I get this message
Setup cannot run from within Windows NT. Shut down Windows NT. If you have Windows 95, start windows and the run set up. Otherwise, start MS-DOS, and then run set up from MS DOS command prompt.
Can you tell me in laymens terms how to do this?

This may help:

Windows 2000 Uninstall Guide
http://www.budja.com/w2k/uninstall_w2k.html

Zee
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you should boot from the win98 cd, set the boot priority in the bios first, then partition and format it as you wish.
Yes,
1) Store any importand documents safely.
2) Set the Boot priority to CD, HDD, ... (CD should be first if you are using Bootable CD)
3) Boot from the Win98 SE CD.
4) Partition your hard disk if required, and format the required drives. For ex: C:
5) Install Wiindows 98.

Bye
--
Harish
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ASKER

When it says, please go into control panel and install and configure system componants,
what does that mean.
This is the message I get when I try to usted doss mode to launch setup.exe

This version of windows 98 is not bootable from disk so I may have to buy one that is.
What do you saw?

The simple way to remove an installation is to boot from a Windows 9X Floppy Boot Disk, and do a quick format on the partition where the Operating System is installed e.g. FORMAT C: /Q.

This will obviously delete all files on the partition however, so make sure that you have backed up any necessary files beforehand.

The Windows 9x Boot Disk only recognises FAT and FAT32 partitions however, so if you have installed Windows 2000 on a NTFS partition, you will need to use fdisk to delete the partition.

Under fdisk NTFS will show as an unknown partition, but it can still be deleted.

If you do not wish to format the partition you can remove an installation on a FAT/FAT32 partition, by booting from a Windows 9X Floppy Boot Disk, and manually deleting the boot files, on the C:\ partition.

The files that Windows 2000 uses are boot.ini, bootsect.dos, ntldr, ntdetect.com and ntbootdd.sys (Note: Not all these files may be present).

These are hidden files however, so you may need to use the ATTRIB programme on the boot disk to make them visible e.g. "ATTRIB -H -R -S C:\*.*".

You can then use the DELTREE function to delete the WINNT directory and the PROGRAM FILES directory.

Before you use your Boot Disk make sure that the FORMAT, FDISK, ATTRIB, SYS and DELTREE programmes are on the floppy disk. Two other system files that you may wish to remove are the paging file, pagefile.sys, and the hibernation file, hiberfil.sys.

Source:

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/cook/uninstall.htm

Zee
then download the bootdisk from www.bootdisk.com, boot from it and run the setup
I was under the impression Tplayer didn't want to format, and if he's not using NTFS, he doesn't have to.

Just boot to a win98 bootdisk with cdrom support, (download at www.bootdisk.com for free, as nobus mentioned) and delete the c:\winnt directory (or wherever windows 2000 was installed -  if deltree is on the bootdisk this is easily accomplished by typing DELTREE C:\WINNT) and then run the Win98 setup from the cd.

If Deltree isn't on the bootdisk, just install the OS to C:\Windows when asked, and make sure to delete C:\winnt when the OS is loaded.

I personally run setup.exe with the following switches "setup.exe /is /id /im /iq " as that speeds up the process a bit.

Anyway, doing it this way EVERYTHING is still there, any data, documents, etc., and you just need to install the Win98 OS and any software.

No need to partition or format if you don't want to.
If you do not have the win98 cd rom then go to e-bay they are about 35 dollars.

gonzal13(joe)
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ASKER

Thanks I guess I paid a little too much. Got one for $50.00
may also want to consider using partition magic to create two partitions, one for 2000, one for 98SE, then multi boot just in case.

may I ask why the downgrade?
AlbertaBeef has suggested some additional switches to use with the setup.exe command:  setup /is /id /im /iq

This does the following:

Ignores the Disk Space check
Ignores the routine System check
Skips the test for cross-linked files

Here's some others that you might like to consider:

/ie      Skip the Startup Disk screen
      (NOTE: this WON'T create c:\windows\command\ebd folder
       which is required for creating boot floppies from Windows)
/im      Skip the check for low conventional memory
/is      Do not run ScanDisk
/iv      Do not display billboards
/nr      Skips registry check
/im       Skips memory check
/IW       Doesn't force you to read the License.
      (Needs to be upper case and doesn't always work)
/d       Ignore existing Windows configuration
      (eg. current Win.ini and System.ini files)
/n       Allows setup to run without a mouse

/P       Detection Switch Option String (Interesting one!!)

Using a /P allows you to use an additional switch for viewing and setting some detection parameters. You can separate them with a semicolon (;). For example

/P g=3;i;p

/P g=0 to 3

Controls how verbose the built-in progress bar is.
At maximum level (3), it shows all the resources of the detected devices along with the progress bar. This switch can help to identify which detection module causes a certain problem. The default is 0.
 
/P b

Enables Prompt Before mode. It prompts you before a detection module is called so that you can step through each detection module manually and decide if you want to skip it. The default is disabled.
 
/P i

Tells Setup not to report the existence of a Plug and Play BIOS. It is useful on systems that have a Plug and Play BIOS that is not reported in Machine.inf.
 
/P p

Enables performance logging. It writes performance timing information to the DETLOG.TXT file.The default is disabled.
 
/P f

Enables Clean Registry mode. It forces Detection to clean the root branch of the registry before starting. This switch is ignored when Setup is run in the Windows 9x graphical user interface (GUI). The default is disabled.

I suggest using the   /d /P f   options to exclude the possibility of residual settings from Win2K interfering with things.
>>I suggest using the   /d /P f   options to exclude the possibility of residual settings from Win2K interfering with things.

Just fyi, with Win98, as long as you do your reinstall to a different directory than the current OS installation, there will be no interference from existing OS installation.  
Hey TPlayer, why the 'C' grade?  Was there further info you required?  Or something more you were looking for?