How Can I Strip Win98 Down To < 200 Meg ?

[abrogard]

I've got win98 on a 340Meg hard drive. The drive isn't big enough. It is my little boy's computer. He's only got 5meg of space right now - and that's with only 5 little tiny games loaded up.

How can I make win98 smaller? Surely it doesn't really need all that 300meg?

There is a thing called 98lite which I've heard is only about 10meg !!! I don't imagine that would serve to run a computer, put it on the home network, access the internet (via the network) and play games for him... would it?

I imagine it is something like a win98 boot disk. But I may be wrong.

The question is: how can I cut down the size of my win98 installation on this 340meg disk, without breaking it?

regards,

ab

[Kelsenellenelvian]

Spend like 10 bucks on a 2-4 gig drive.........

[marxo]

That would be the most reasonable thing to do. So u are actually typing from that computer ???

Well 98lite could be an option to. It can serve well...

[Kelsenellenelvian]

Hmmm I get @250 megs with IE6, winrar, ccleaner and vmware tools installed. You need to clean that install up m8.

[oscardog]

I've got win98 on a 340Meg hard drive. The drive isn't big enough. It is my little boy's computer. He's only got 5meg of space right now - and that's with only 5 little tiny games loaded up.

How can I make win98 smaller? Surely it doesn't really need all that 300meg?

There is a thing called 98lite which I've heard is only about 10meg !!! I don't imagine that would serve to run a computer, put it on the home network, access the internet (via the network) and play games for him... would it?

I imagine it is something like a win98 boot disk. But I may be wrong.

The question is: how can I cut down the size of my win98 installation on this 340meg disk, without breaking it?

regards,

ab

98lite will enable you to strip out unneeded accessories/system utils etc, burning to cd then removing your inf folder if all your hardware is installed, www.ccleaner.com will remove unneeded files or http://www.kturby.com/pcdelete1.htm for a guide

[submix8c]

???

Agreed all around... but probably no CD burner on PC if HDD that small. Somebody else musta loaded that puppy; no OEM would put W98 on it, only W95.

!Query: Are the setup files on the HDD? If so, ensure you have them on CD also (from the original install) and delete. Saves @122mb. Also/or, since it's networked, "copy" the HDD (all of it?) to the "server" PC (excluding the WIN386.SWP in the WINDOWS folder) into a new folder then "zip" (7-Zip?) the "copy" (to save space) in case you boo-boo. Same goes for using 98Lite; just "copy" the removed same way as backup (no-burner scenario).

?Cleared the Internet Cache lately? Wastes a lot of space...

[PassingBy]

Hmmm .....

There's a guide on bootix on how to make diskless win98 which can also be used to build a minimal win98 system ... take a look here :

http://www.bootix.com/support/sample_confi...iskless_en.html

In appendix C, the setup config file will allow you to trim down to roughly between 140mb ~ 160mb ...

HTH

Rgds

[MDGx]

Two solutions here:

1. If you do have another drive with some free space:

move C:\Program Files and %windir%\Start Menu folders + all their subfolders + files to that other drive.

Open Windows Explorer -> right-click on C:\Program Files -> select Cut -> right-click on the other drive letter -> select Paste.

Do the same with %windir%\Start Menu .

You can also move, resize or even delete:

- the swap file

- Internet Explorer (IE) Temporary Internet Files (TIF), Cookies, History etc temp folders.

- %TEMP% + %TMP% variables [usually customized by SET commands in config.sys/autoexec.bat], respectively the C:\WINDOWS\TEMP folder [default].

Must also point to the new locations into your registry by using TweakUI -> My Computer tab -> Special Folders list -> pick the ones you want and move them to any other valid location(s):

http://download.microsoft.com/download/win...-US/Tweakui.exe

To move TIF: right-click on your IE icon -> select Properties -> Settings button -> Move folder button -> move it to any other valid location.

To move all IE temp folders, you can use Cache-Cloak [free, made by the 98lite folks]:

http://www.mdgx.com/files/CACHCLOK.ZIP

2. If you don't have any other drives to move stuff around:

use 98lite + Cache-Cloak to remove completely the swap file, IE temp + %TEMP% folders [or do it by hand by editing system.ini + the registry (saved by Regedit as text file with REG extension)], and then use a RAM drive DOS tool [add it to your config.sys/autoexec.bat as TSR] to move them to a RAM drive ["fake" hard disk].

RAM drive tool [free]:

http://www.mdgx.com/files/RAMDRIVE.EXE

RAM drive guide:

http://www.mdgx.com/newtip12.htm#CACHRAM

Also, you can delete the entire %windir%\HELP directory, some unneeded fonts [but not the system fonts, like Arial, Times, Courier, Wingding, Marlett, Serif, VGA, Fixedsys, System] from %windir%\FONTS , more than half of the INF files from %windir%\INF , some of the SYS drivers from %windir%\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS [especially if you don't use Firewire, USB devices], all BMP + AVI files from %windir% , etc...

You could also uninstall Internet Explorer:

- MSKB: How to Uninstall Internet Explorer 5.5:

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=263470

- MSKB: How to Uninstall Internet Explorer 6:

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=293907

- LitePC: IEradicator:

http://www.litepc.com/ieradicator.html

Delete unnecessary files guide:

http://www.mdgx.com/newtip5.htm#TEMPFILES

Remove unneeded/bloat/useless Windows components from Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs -> Windows Setup tab -> uncheck different boxes you wish -> may need to reboot, depending on which ones you remove.

These are only a few pointers, to show you that you don't need a pre-packaged mini-98/whatever (floppy) setup, but you should know that you can remove selectively a lot of Win98 components.

HTH

[abrogard]

Thanks everyone for your input but especially MDGx who provided exactly what I was looking for. The definitive answer I think at this stage.

I've actually got another drive (8gigs for $10) for those who suggested that, but it's not really the point. Getting to grips with 98 was the point.

I've also got 95 and I could have installed it (but getting to grips with 98 was the point) - and what difference would that make - i.e. what drawbacks, how much difference between 95 and 98? Quite a lot I'd imagine.

No, I don't have another drive on that machine. It is a Compaq EVO D510 and only has space/wiring for one drive.

But it is networked and presumably networking files take up room too - but that's a feature I want to retain as it is a one-drive machine, I just get so ticked off sneakernetting files from computer to computer.

I've got a question I should have asked in the beginning. The swap file. We're advised to make it at least as big as your RAM. Well, I've got 128Meg of RAM on this little machine, with a 340Meg HDD. I don't know how big the swap file is - it is set to Windows Automatic. But could I force it down to something like 40Meg, i.e. well below the size of the RAM, without adverse effects? That is: what's the point of this 'at least the size of your RAM'? Is the system poised to swap out the whole RAM or something? I kinda thought it just swapped out pages as needed and therefore, when the machine is simply playing tiny kids games it would essentially be swapping out nothing....

regards,

ab

[submix8c]

Uh-uh! BAAAAD Advice! Don't think about it, leave it alone, it's ok.

(tips available on MSFN/Google'ing for SwapFile Settings as well)

FWIW, I still suggest "copying" the Small HDD to the Big HDD. Look around (here and Google) for info on How-To using a spare 2-connector (MOBO to Master+Slave) HDD cable and a lot of care (cover off). It would free you of the hassle of "Son Wants More Games, No Space"...

[amocanu]

why aren't you installing Windows 95?