I hope I can keep this question from being confusing.

I have a compaq computer, with system restore discs for Windows98, then I have the 98SE update disc. I ran into problems. Decided to just do a restore from the discs. During the restore it said there was a read error, choose to abort, retry, or ignore. Retry would get you nowhere.....choosing ignore would allow it to progress......sometimes to a freeze up when it went to copying the files, and sometimes it would actually finish but then would only boot to safe mode. fortunately, I have extended warranty on computer, so to the shop it went.

My question. I was 'told' that you could go to the folder in windows, that contains all the 98 files and the setup.exe file.......click the setup file and let it reinstall windows. When I would try this it would tell me that I was trying to install an older system than was on the computer (meaning 98 vs 98SE I am assuming) Could I have restored my system using this method and then put on the SE update? Is it possible to burn these files to CD and have your own restore of a bare 98 installation? I am sick to death of all the compaq "extras" that are residing on my computer. I am planning to install a new larger HD and copy everything to it. If I could get rid of the compaq extras, I could use MS backup and use the old hard drive as an area for the backup.

Is this all possible, or should I just look around for a disc of Windows 98 or 98SE full install? We have a laptop with XP and I much prefer 98.

I am not a computer genius by any means, but have uped the ram in my computer and installed a cd burner. I had ran the restore before and it worked fine, but this time things went to h_ll in a basket.

All information appreciated.

thanks

Katy

It seems like a "scratched" CD, or a "slightly" defective reader.

Before taking any other action, I would try the CD on another computer, running CDcheck on it:

http://www.elpros.si/CDCheck/helplink.php?helpfn=overview

If it does not find errors, you can try to duplicate the CD and have another try at restoring the drive.

jaclaz