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Can't install Win98 on Dell Latitude D630


KRH

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Dencorso, I agree that it would be worthwhile trying those other options. Thanks for the suggestion. As for needing to switch BIOS modes at each boot, I won't know until I try. that's the whole point of experimenting. If Win 7 won't function normally in ATA mode even though I installed it in AHCI, I'll have to give up on adding a Win 98 partition. It would not be practical to switch every time and there would always be risk of everything getting screwed up.

rloew, I need to install Win 7 in AHCI because my existing platform, which I've worked long and hard to develop and which I will be cloning over, was originally installed in AHCI. My whole concern is being able to preserve that installation (actually, 2 installations on two separate partitions.) I wouldn't want to have to start over rebuilding my whole platform just to add Win 98. My understanding of the problem is that if an OS was installed in one or the other of the 2 modes and then that mode is changed, the OS might try to adapt in such a way that it can self-destruct. I need to find out if that's actually going to happen. (Really, although I'm very skeptical that it can work, I've become very curious about just what will happen, one way or another).

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@KRH You said "install" Windows 7 which means from scratch. "Cloniing" is not the same as "installing".

Cloning may cause other issues particularly if you move or resize the Windows 7 Partitions or add Windows 98 in front.

It would depend on the cloning tools used.

If possible, you may want to leave the Windows 7 Partitions where they are and add the Windows 98 Partition after them on the Hard Drive.

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@KRH You said "install" Windows 7 which means from scratch. "Cloniing" is not the same as "installing".

Cloning may cause other issues particularly if you move or resize the Windows 7 Partitions or add Windows 98 in front.

It would depend on the cloning tools used.

If possible, you may want to leave the Windows 7 Partitions where they are and add the Windows 98 Partition after them on the Hard Drive.

I guess I didn't explain clearly what I do what I do when I "clone" a multi-boot drive to a second one. The first thing I do is to partition the drive and then install the appropriate OS "from scratch", sequentially, in each partition. I know from experience that the easiest, most effective way to do that is to add them in order, oldest first. That way, as each OS is installed, it sees the older operating systems on any preceding partitions and installs itself accordingly, so as to leave all partitions boot-able. No hassles. As I say, these are fresh installations, right out of the box, with no development. After everything is installed and the boot files are in order, all volumes will be bootable. Then I clone the appropriate, developed platform (with all files and programs) over to each partition from the original drive using XxClone. XxClone copies all files without touching the boot files. (It doesn't "mirror", it just copies files, so that the target volume is free of any fragmentation.) This erases any existing files (except the boot files) and replaces them. When that's done, I have a perfectly working, exact copy of my original drive. XxClone has the ability to make a drive boot-able, but if you use that for any one of multiple partitions, it will screw up the MBR, leaving only that one partition boot-able. That's why I both "install from scratch" and "clone". (Of course, for regular, routine backup after I have both drives in place, I just use XxClone.)

Anyway, I've already discovered that installing Win 98 with ATA enabled doesn't work any better than AHCI, so I'm going to stop beating that horse. I'd never find drivers for it anyway. (I would at least need sound.) There's not going to be a Win 98 partition. Now it's on to trying virtual Win 98 in various virtual environments, as suggested by dencorso. I'll report back on which seems to work the best for anyone interested.

Edited by KRH
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Anyway, I've already discovered that installing Win 98 with ATA enabled doesn't work any better than AHCI, so I'm going to stop beating that horse. I'd never find drivers for it anyway. (I would at least need sound.) There's not going to be a Win 98 partition. Now it's on to trying virtual Win 98 in various virtual environments, as suggested by dencorso. I'll report back on which seems to work the best for anyone interested.

Your ATA Mode may be "Native" Mode rather than "Legacy" Mode. This would require my SATA Patch.

Unfortunately, I do not have a solution for sound.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I got Win 98SE running in Virtual PC 2007 in Win 7 and my old MIDI sequencing program seems to work fine. I haven't been able to get my old legacy games, such as Heretic, Doom, and Escape from Castle Wolfenstein, to work properly--they look like they're going to work but then they crash Windows--but I'll keep working on that and it's not so important, anyway. It's a good thing I have my second "special purpose" Win 7 partition for this purpose because VPC 2007 and Windows Virtual PC with XP Mode, which I use regularly, can't coexist.

Considering the difficulties I could expect using other virtual machines, judging by what I've read, I think I'll just stick with VPC 2007. Thanks to everyone here for your help. I haven't used this forum for awhile but I've always liked it. Win 98 users are the salt of the Earth! I'm glad to see that this forum doesn't require a designated "best answer", as so many others do, when there rarely is a single best answer.

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