Preparing to Run Setup

To make the installation process as smooth as possible, follow these preparatory steps, as described in this section:

Check that your computer meets the minimum system requirements.
Based on your current installation and the needs of your users, make the appropriate installation configuration decisions: decide whether or not to dual boot Windows 98 and whether to set up a Typical, Portable, Compact, or Custom installation.
Disable any software that could cause problems during Setup.
Back up your existing configuration and data files.

Checking Requirements

This section lists the requirements for installing and running Windows 98.

Disk Space Requirements

Table 2.2 lists the amount of disk space required for installing Windows 98. This amount varies, depending on the types of hardware on the computer, the required drivers, and the optional components you choose.

Table 2.2 Approximate disk space requirements for running Windows 98 Setup

Installation method	Required disk space	Typical disk space

Windows 95 upgrade	120 – 295 MB	195 MB
Windows 3.1x or Windows for Workgroups 3.1x upgrade	120 – 295 MB	195 MB
New installation (FAT32 file system)	140 – 255 MB	175 MB
New installation (FAT16 file system)	165 – 355 MB	225 MB
Installation over the network: On the server On the client	165 – 355 MB 170 MB 175 – 225 MB	225 MB 170 MB 175 – 225 MB

Note

If you are installing Windows 98 to a drive other than C, Setup can require up to 25 MB of free disk space on drive C for the system and log files created during Setup.

System Requirements

This section lists the hardware, software, and partition requirements for Microsoft Windows 98.

Hardware Requirements

Table 2.3 describes the basic hardware requirements for running Windows 98 from the hard disk of a local computer. Windows 98 is designed for computers that use Intel x86–based processors and compatibles. It cannot be installed on any other processor. Windows 98 does not have symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) support and, therefore, cannot take advantage of multiple processors (as Windows NT does).

Table 2.3 Hardware requirements

Component	Minimum requirement	Recommended

Disk space¹	120 MB of free hard-disk space. A new installation can require up to 355 MB. For more information, see Table 2.2. You also need a certain amount of free disk space for a swap file, depending on how much RAM the computer has.
Processor	486DX/66 MHz processor	Pentium or higher
Memory	16 MB	More improves performance
Monitor	VGA (16-color)	Super VGA (16- or 24-bit color)
Drive		One 3.5-inch high-density disk drive
¹ The amount of disk space you need depends on the type of installation you choose (Typical, Portable, Compact, or Custom). If you choose to set up a Custom installation, you can determine how much disk space you need by using Tables 2.7 through 2.16 in "Choosing Typical, Portable, Compact, or Custom Installation" later in this chapter.

Table 2.4 describes optional hardware components for Windows 98.

Table 2.4 Requirements for optional hardware components

Optional component	Minimum requirement	Recommended¹

Mouse	Windows 98–compatible pointing device	Microsoft Mouse or Microsoft pointing device
Modem	14.4 baud modem for Microsoft Network (MSN™), Messaging, and Internet access	28.8 baud modem or higher
CD-ROM drive (if installing from compact disc)	1x speed or faster. You need to have the correct driver for your CD-ROM. Refer to the documentation for your CD-ROM drive.	8x speed or faster
Network adapter (if installing from the network)	NDIS 2.0 or MAC driver support	NDIS 4.0 or 5.0 with OnNow power management support
Audio card and speakers	Sound Blaster–compatible	Full-duplex sound card or external digital audio using universal serial bus (USB) or IEEE1394
DVD-ROM and decoder card (if you want to view full-size motion pictures)	Supports industry standards	Supports DVD-video and MPEG-2 playback
Scanner or digital camera (if you want to scan/import digital images or pictures)	Plug and Play–compatible	Use IEEE 1394 port connections
Second monitor and video card (if you want to use the multimonitor feature)	Optional	PCI, AGP or other non-1SA bus
IEEE 1394 bus (Firewire) (if you want high-speed digital sound and video transfer)	Optional	Device and controller support IEEE 1394 standards, Plug and Play, and OnNow power management
USB bus and HID hardware	Optional	Hardware complies with Universal Bus specifications and supports OnNow power management
ATI All-in-Wonder-Card	Optional	Required for watching television using WebTV for Windows
¹ Microsoft strongly recommends that you choose hardware components that carry the "Designed for Microsoft Windows" logo because these products have been stringently tested to ensure that the hardware and its driver provide the optimal user experience when used with Microsoft Windows operating systems.

Tips for Required Disk Space with Compressed Disks

If you have disk compression software installed, the required amount of uncompressed disk space on the host drive before installing Windows 98 depends on several factors:

The type of compression used such as Microsoft DriveSpace® or DoubleSpace®.

The available free space on other drives.

The existence of a permanent swap file (if any), and its location.

The amount of available free space on other drives.

If the computer does not have a swap file already, you might have to resize the host drive to accommodate the swap file requirements. For more information, consult your compression software documentation; see also Chapter 10, "Disks and File Systems."

Software Requirements

You can install Windows 98 in a dualboot configuration with other operating systems. In these configurations, the minimum operating system software required to install Windows 98 will vary. You can install Windows 98 on a computer that is running any of the following operating systems:

MS-DOS version 5.0 or later
Windows 3.1x
Windows for Workgroups 3.1x
Dual boot OS/2 (with MS-DOS)
Dual boot Windows NT (with MS-DOS)

For more information on installing Windows 98 with other operating systems, see Chapter 5, "Setup Technical Discussion."

MS-DOS Versions and Windows 98 Setup

To install Windows 98, your computer must have MS-DOS version 5.0 or later. To check the MS-DOS version, type ver at the command prompt.

Partition Requirements

Windows 98 can be installed on any drive that has enough free space and is a FAT partition. However, if you want to set up Windows 98 to dual boot with another Microsoft operating system, drive C must be FAT16.

Windows 98 cannot be installed on a computer that has only high-performance file system (HPFS) or Windows NT file system (NTFS) partitions. Also, you cannot set up a computer to dual boot Windows 98 and Windows 95.

Table 2.5 describes how Windows 98 Setup handles different types of disk partitions. For more information, consult the documentation for the related operating system.

Table 2. 5 Disk partition comparison

Partition type		How Windows 98 Setup handles such partitions

MS-DOS 5.0 or later (Fdisk and other vendors’ partitioning software)		To install Windows 98, your computer’s startup drive must be an MS-DOS startup partition. If your startup drive is formatted as HPFS or NTFS, you must create an MS-DOS startup partition before running Windows 98 Setup. For more information about creating an MS-DOS startup partition, see your computer documentation. Windows 98 Setup recognizes and begins installation on existing MS-DOS FAT partitions, if the partition is large enough to accommodate Windows 98 files (including swap files). Windows 98 supports MS-DOS Fdisk partitions on removable media drives such as the Iomega Bernoulli Box drives. Windows 98 recognizes and translates disk partitioning schemes created by other vendors’ partitioning software, including Disk Manager Dmdrvr.bin and Storage Dimensions SpeedStor Sstor.sys.
Windows NT 4.x or earlier		Windows 98 cannot recognize information on an NTFS partition on the local computer. Windows 98 can be installed on Windows NT multiple-boot systems if enough disk space is available and the drive is a FAT16 partition. On a Windows NT multiple-boot system, Windows 98 Setup can either install Windows 98 on an existing FAT16 partition with MS-DOS and, optionally, Windows 3.1x, or you must partition and format free space on the hard disk in a FAT16 partition, then perform a new installation onto this new FAT16 partition. Windows NT cannot access local FAT32 partitions. For more information on installing Windows 98 on a computer running Windows NT, see "Installing Windows 98 on a Computer with Windows NT" later in this chapter.
OS/2		You must run Windows 98 Setup from MS-DOS. If it is not already present on the computer, you must first install MS-DOS and configure the computer for dual booting with OS/2. Then you need to boot to MS-DOS and run Setup from the MS-DOS prompt. For more information on installing Windows 98 on a computer running OS/2, see "Installing Windows 98 on a Computer with OS/2" later in this chapter.

Windows 98 works with disk compression drivers, such as Microsoft DriveSpace and DoubleSpace.

If you use other disk compression software, see the Readme.htm file, or contact your product support representative to determine compatibility. For more information, see Chapter 10, "Disks and File Systems."

Making Installation Configuration Decisions

You can choose from several installation configuration options:

Install Windows 98 with another operating system (dual booting).
Setting up a Typical, Portable, Compact, or Custom installation.
Customizing or automating Windows 98 installations.

These installation configurations are described in the following sections.

Deciding Whether to Dual Boot Windows 98

You can configure your computer to dual boot with Windows 98 if it is running any of the following operating systems:

MS-DOS 5.x or later
Windows 3.1x
Windows NT

You cannot dual boot Windows 98 and Windows 95.

Note

Dual booting Windows 98 with or installing Windows 98 over third-party operating systems such as DR DOS has not been tested by Microsoft. Contact your operating system vendor for more information.

This section covers the considerations you must make when deciding whether or not to dual boot an existing operating system with Windows 98.

Tips for Dual-Boot Configurations

Windows 98 can be installed on any drive that has enough free space and is a FAT16 partition.

If Windows NT is already running on your computer, you must set up any programs you want to run on Windows NT again.

For more information on installing Windows 98 with other operating systems, see Chapter 5, "Setup Technical Discussion."

Can You Dual Boot Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.x or earlier?

You cannot install Windows 98 on a computer running any version of Windows NT. However, you can configure your computer to dual boot Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.x or earlier provided you follow these guidelines:

Windows 98 must be set up in a different hard disk or partition from Windows NT.
Drive C must be a FAT16 partition and must meet the minimum disk space requirements for a Windows 98 installation (195 MB of free hard-disk space for a typical installation).
Run Windows 98 Setup by selecting Windows 95 from the Boot Loader Operating System Selection menu that appears at system startup. If Windows 95 does not appear on this menu, select MS-DOS instead.

If Windows NT is already installed, Windows 98 Setup adds itself as an entry to the Windows NT boot menu to allow the user to select between Windows 98 or Windows NT when starting the computer.

For more information on how to install Windows 98 on a computer running Windows NT, see "Installing Windows 98 on a Computer with Windows NT" later in this chapter. See also "Installing Windows 98 on a System Running Windows NT" and "Setting Up a Dual-Boot Configuration with Windows NT" in \Win98\Setup.txt on your Windows 98 compact disc.

Data Access Restrictions for Windows 98/Windows NT Dual-Boot Configurations

Dual boot Windows 98/Windows NT configurations are not recommended because Windows 98 and Windows NT do not use the same registry settings or hardware device drivers. Therefore, you must set up your programs twice, once under each operating system. However, you can set up your programs to the same directory under each operating system.

Windows 98 cannot access Windows NT file system (NTFS) partitions.

Windows NT cannot access FAT32 drives. FAT32 is a file system that was first implemented in Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 (OSR-2). For more information on FAT32, see Chapter 10, "Disks and File Systems."

Can You Dual Boot Windows 98 and Windows 3.1x or MS-DOS 5.x?

You can configure your computer to dual boot with Windows 3.1x, as well as other versions of Windows as long as they have MS-DOS 5.0 or later, by using the F4 boot-to-previous-operating-system feature. To dual boot Windows 98 with these operating systems, your computer’s drive C must be FAT16.

For information about how Windows 98 Setup treats disk partitions created under other operating systems, see "Partition Requirements" earlier in this chapter. For information about how Windows 98 Setup deals with the boot sector and installs files for dual boot operation with other operating systems, see Chapter 5, "Setup Technical Discussion."

Can You Dual Boot Windows 98 and Windows 95?

You cannot set up a computer to dual boot Windows 98 and Windows 95 because Windows 98 is intended as an upgrade to Windows 95, and a such both versions would try to use the same boot file. This configuration is therefore not supported.

Choosing Typical, Portable, Compact, or Custom Setup Options

You can choose from four different types of Windows 98 installations. The choice you make dictates the size of the Windows 98 installation on the computer, the number of features installed, and the amount of control the user has in customizing the installation.

Choosing the Windows 98 Setup Options

If you run Windows 98 Setup from Windows 95, Setup identifies and uses the current configuration settings and installed component information to upgrade your existing configuration to Windows 98. If you want to add or remove the components or configuration you have now, you must use the Windows Setup tab in Add/Remove Programs. The Setup Options dialog box, where you can use the four Setup options (Typical, Portable, Compact, or Custom), only appears when you run Windows 98 Setup on a new installation.

Table 2.6 describes each of the Setup options and the components included with each option. The amount of disk space you need depends on the Setup option you choose (Typical, Portable, Compact, or Custom). This table uses the following conventions:

Symbol	Meaning
	The entire component set is installed by default.
	Only part of the component set is installed by default.
	This component set is not installed by default.

Table 2.6 Components installed and not installed by default for Typical, Portable, Compact, or Custom Setup options

Setup option	Component sets	Description

Typical	Accessibility	The default option, recommended for most users. Performs most installation steps automatically for a standard Windows 98 installation with minimal user action. You need to confirm only the directory where Windows 98 files are to be installed, provide user and computer identification information, and specify whether to create a Startup Disk. The total space needed by Setup for this option is 202.3 MB.
	Accessories
	Communications
	Desktop Themes
	Internet Tools
	Multilanguage Support
	Microsoft Outlook™ Express
	Multimedia
	Online Services
	System Tools
	WebTV for Windows
Portable	Accessibility	The recommended option for mobile users with portable computers. Installs the appropriate set of files for a portable computer. This includes installing Briefcase for file synchronization and the supporting software for direct cable connections to exchange files. The total space needed by Setup for this option is 176.3 MB.
	Accessories
	Communications
	Desktop Themes
	Internet Tools
	Multilanguage Support
	Microsoft Outlook Express
	Multimedia
	Online Services
	System Tools
	WebTV for Windows

Compact	Accessibility	The option for users who have extremely limited disk space. Installs the minimum files required to run Windows 98. None of the optional components are installed. The total space needed by Setup for this option is 163.7 MB.
	Accessories
	Communications
	Desktop Themes
	Internet Tools
	Multilanguage Support
	Microsoft Outlook Express
	Multimedia
	Online Services
	System Tools
	WebTV for Windows
Custom	Accessibility	The option for advanced users who want to customize all available Setup options. Installs the appropriate files based on the components selected. The total space needed by Setup for this option depends on the components you choose. The default Custom Setup option requires 204.3 MB
	Accessories
	Communications
	Desktop Themes
	Internet Tools
	Multilanguage Support
	Microsoft Outlook Express
	Multimedia
	Online Services
	System Tools
	WebTV for Windows

If you choose to set up a Custom installation, you can determine how much disk space you need by adding up the space each of the components you want to install uses.

Tables 2.7 through 2.16 show which components are installed or not installed by default for each Setup option. They also list the size for each component. When you select either the Typical, Portable, or Compact option, Windows 98 Setup selects the appropriate components (and sub-components). Setup also lets you either accept the default selection or change it.

Note

These tables only list the component sets that have sub-components, therefore, Microsoft Outlook Express is not listed because it is only one component and its size is 3.8 MB.

Desktop Themes, Multilanguage Support, and WebTV for Windows are not included in any of the Setup options by default.

These tables use the following conventions:

Symbol	Meaning
	The entire component is installed by default for the Setup option selected.
	Only part of the component is installed by default for the Setup option selected.
	This component is not installed by default for the Setup option selected.

Table 2.7 Accessibility

Component	Size [MB]	Typical	Portable	Compact	Custom

Accessibility Options	0.5
Accessibility Tools	2.3

Table 2.8 Accessories

Component	Size [MB]	Typical	Portable	Compact	Custom

Briefcase	0.0
Calculator	0.2
Desktop Wallpaper	0.6
Document Templates	0.2
Games	0.6
Imaging	4.0
Mouse Pointers	0.0
Paint	1.0
Quick View	4.2
Screen Savers ¹	1.2
Additional Screen Savers	0.2
Flying Windows	0.1
OpenGL Screen Savers	1.1
Windows Scripting Host	0.9
WordPad	1.9

¹ Size with only the default components selected.

Table 2.9 Communications

Component	Size [MB]	Typical	Portable	Compact	Custom

Dial-Up Networking	0.8
Dial-Up Server	0.1
Direct Cable Connection	0.4
HyperTerminal	0.6
Microsoft Chat 2.1	4.5
Microsoft NetMeeting™	4.2
Phone Dialer	0.1
Virtual Private Networking	0.1

Table 2.10 Desktop Themes

Component	Size [MB]	Typical	Portable	Compact	Custom

Baseball	2.1
Dangerous Creatures	1.1
Desktop Themes Support	2.6
Inside Your Computer	1.1
Jungle	1.6
Leonardo da Vinci	1.8
More Windows	0.5
Mystery	1.4
Nature	1.2
Science	0.9
Space	1.7
Sports	1.1
The 60’s USA	1.0
The Golden Era	1.1
Travel	1.0
Underwater	2.3
Windows 98	1.1

Table 2.11 Internet Tools

Component	Size [MB]	Typical	Portable	Compact	Custom

Microsoft FrontPage® Express	4.1
Microsoft VRML 2.0 Viewer	3.2
Microsoft Wallet	0.9
Personal Web Server	0.1
Real Audio Player 4.0	2.3
Web Publishing Wizard	1.0
Web-Based Enterprise Mgmt	3.2

Table 2.12 Multilanguage Support

Component	Size [MB]	Typical	Portable	Compact	Custom

Baltic	3.0
Central European	3.1
Cyrillic	3.0
Greek	3.0
Turkish	2.9

Table 2.13 Multimedia

Component	Size [MB]	Typical	Portable	Compact	Custom

Audio Compression	0.2
CD Player	0.2
Macromedia Shockwave Director	0.5
Macromedia Shockwave Flash	0.2
Media Player	0.2
Microsoft NetShow™ Player 2.0	3.9
Multimedia Sound Schemes	5.8
Sample Sounds	0.5
Sound Recorder	0.2
Video Compression	0.5
Volume Control	0.2

Table 2.14 Online Services

Component	Size [MB]	Typical	Portable	Compact	Custom

America Online	0.1
AT&T WorldNet Service	0.2
CompuServe	0.1
Prodigy Internet	0.4
The Microsoft Network	0.1

Table 2.15 System Tools

Component	Size [MB]	Typical	Portable	Compact	Custom

Backup	4.2
Character Map	0.1
Clipboard Viewer	0.1
Disk Compression Tools	2.0
Drive Converter (FAT32)	0.4
Group Policies	0.1
Net Watcher	0.2
System Monitor	0.2
System Resource Meter	0.1

Table 2.16 WebTV for Windows

Component	Size [MB]	Typical	Portable	Compact	Custom

WaveTop Data Broadcasting	10.3
WebTV for Windows	23.8

Deciding to Set up a Customized and/or Automated Installation

You can choose any combination of methods for configuring custom versions of Windows 98:

Create custom setup scripts based on the Msbatch.inf format. Custom setup scripts contain predefined settings for all Setup options, and they can contain instructions for installing additional software.
Define Wrkgrp.ini files to control users’ choices for workgroups to join on the network.
Enable user profiles and create system policies to specify and maintain the system configuration.

You can use setup scripts to create an automated mandatory installation scheme for installing Windows 98 on multiple computers from Windows 98 source files on servers. A setup script is a text file that contains predefined settings for all the options specified during Setup, and can contain instructions for installing other software. The setup script file requires an .inf extension, for example, Myscript.inf.

A setup script allows you to create an automated mandatory installation scheme for installing Windows 98 on multiple computers from Windows 98 source files on a network server. Once a setup script has been created or edited, Windows 98 can be installed automatically by running Setup at each client computer, using the name of the setup script as a command-line parameter. The following methods are possible:

Use a logon script to run Setup from a custom setup script, automatically installing Windows 98 when each user logs on.
Use Microsoft Systems Management Server to run Windows 98 Setup with a custom setup script as a mandatory action.
Use network management software from another vendor to install Windows 98 automatically, based on custom setup scripts.
Use a batch file that contains appropriate Setup command-line information and distribute it on disk or by electronic mail.

When to Use Setup Scripts

As a rule of thumb, it is recommended that you use setup scripts if you need to conduct a standardized installation on more than five computers.

Even though it is possible to use setup scripts to install Windows 98 in new computers or computers with newly formatted hard disks, the scripts required to perform this type for installation can be complicated. If you need to use a setup script to install Windows 98 on newly formatted disks, install Windows 98 on one computer first (as a model computer) and then run Microsoft Batch 98 on the model computer (using the Gather now button) to create a setup script with the model computer’s settings.

For more information on custom installations, Chapter 3, "Custom Installations" and Appendix D, "Msbatch.inf Parameters for Setup Scripts."

Disabling Problematic Software

Before you install Windows 98, you should disable any software that can cause problems during setup. Problematic software includes anti-virus software, third-party utilities and drivers, and MS-DOS-based programs.

Disabling Anti-Virus Software

Windows 98 Setup makes changes to the boot sector of all hard disks in the computer. Because virus protection software is designed to prevent changes to the boot sector, it can often cause Setup to fail. Therefore, ensure that anti-virus software and BIOS level anti-virus protection are disabled.

Disabling Third-Party Display Utilities

Windows 98 Setup fails if it detects incompatible video drivers or display utilities. To ensure a successful Setup, disable all third-party video drivers and display utilities.

For more information, see "General Setup Issues" in \Win98\Setup.txt on your Windows 98 compact disc.

Note

If Setup detects problematic software, it tries to provide instructions to correct the problem. If Setup is unable to diagnose the cause of the failure, it may present a message that states that Setup has failed. If this occurs, you must restart the computer and then restart Setup.

Disabling MS-DOS-based Programs

You cannot run Setup while other MS-DOS-based programs are running on your computer. Use ALT+TAB to find out which programs are running. Quit all programs except Setup, and then click OK to continue. If you do not do this, you will get error message SU0358. For information on this error message and other Setup error messages, see "Setup Error Messages" in \Win98\Setup.txt on your Windows 98 compact disc.

Backing Up Your Existing Configuration

One of the most important preparatory steps before installing Windows 98 is backing up your current system configuration (if you have an existing operating system installed on your computer) and any critical business and personal data. The following sections provide some guidelines for backing up an existing Windows 95 configuration and business and personal data.

Backing Up Windows 95

If for any reason you need to uninstall Windows 98, you can return to your previous Windows 95 installation as long as you backed up the Windows 95 system files during Windows 98 Setup.

To uninstall Windows 98 and return to your previous configuration, the following conditions must be met:

Have clicked Yes (recommended) on the Save System Files? dialog box that appeared when you installed Windows 98 for the first time. If you clicked Yes, two files containing the saved Windows 95 system files, Winundo.dat and Winundo.ini, were created in the root directory of the partition that you designated during Setup.
Have not compressed your system or boot partition after installing Windows 98, or any partition in the same physical drive where Winundo.dat is located.
Have not converted any file systems to FAT32, unless your Windows 95 version is OSR-2.

For more information on how to uninstall Windows 98, see "Uninstalling Windows 98" in Chapter 5, "Setup Technical Discussion."

Checklist for Preparing to Run Setup

This section provides a checklist to help you verify that you completed all the necessary preparatory steps described in "Preparing to Run Setup" earlier in this chapter.

	Have you decided which installation configuration suits your needs best? Decide whether you want to upgrade your existing Windows 95 configuration (keeping existing settings), set up Windows 98 to a newly formatted hard disk, or use a setup script to install Windows 98 on multiple computers. Decide if you want to dual boot Windows 98 with another operating system. Decide if you want to install components for a Typical, Portable, Compact, or Custom installation. Decide if you want to run Setup locally or from the network.
	Is the hardware supported? Read the Windows 98 Readme file and Setup.txt on the installation disks for any notes related to your computer hardware. If any specific computer component is not supported, Windows 98 selects a generic driver or uses the existing driver installed on the computer. If you install support manually for a hardware component that does not appear in the installation dialog boxes, select the model that your hardware can emulate or that is of the closest type. (All supported hardware components are listed when you run the Add New Hardware Wizard, as described in Chapter 30, "Hardware Management.") For late-breaking information on hardware compatibility, see the Windows 98 Hardware Compatibility List from the Microsoft Web site, http://www.microsoft.com.
	Do the computer components meet the minimum requirements? Verify that your computer meets the minimum requirements as described in "Checking Requirements" earlier in this chapter. You can also find the minimum system requirements on the side of your Windows 98 product box.
	Are all unnecessary TSR programs and time-out features disabled? Disable all terminate-and-stay resident (TSR) programs and device drivers loaded in Config.sys or Autoexec.bat (or in any batch files called from Autoexec.bat), except those required for partition or hard disk control, network drivers, or any driver required for operation of a device such as video, CD-ROM, and so on. Some portable computers (such as the IBM ThinkPad) automatically suspend operation after a specified time-out interval, or when the cover is closed. You should disable this feature while Windows 98 Setup is running. For more information on using TSR programs and drivers with Windows 98, see "Using Terminate-and-Stay-Resident (TSR) Programs and Drivers" in \Win98\Setup.txt on your Windows 98 compact disc.
	Is the installation drive checked and defragmented? Windows 98 Setup runs ScanDisk to check the integrity of the drive where Windows 98 will be installed only when you start it from MS-DOS. If you start Setup.exe from Windows 95 and you also want to check the integrity of the drive where Windows 98 will be installed, you should either start Setup from MS-DOS or run ScanDisk manually. If, in addition to the integrity check performed by ScanDisk, you also want to check and defragment the entire hard disk drive thoroughly (not just the drive where Windows 98 will be installed), you can use a third-party defragmentation software. Be sure to defragment all compressed drives, because a highly fragmented compressed drive reports more available hard-disk space than is actually available. If you use disk compression software other than DriveSpace or DoubleSpace, be sure to run the disk-checking utility provided with your compression software. For information, see the documentation provided with the compression software.
	Are all key system files backed up? Make sure you backed up the following: All critical business and personal data. All initialization (INI) files in the Windows directory. All registry data (DAT) files in the Windows directory. All password (PWL) files in the Windows directory. All Program Manager group (GRP) files in the Windows directory. All critical real-mode drivers specified in Config.sys and Autoexec.bat. Config.sys and Autoexec.bat in the root directory. Proprietary network configuration files and logon scripts.
	Does the networking software work correctly? Make sure that the network software is running correctly before you start Windows 98 Setup. If you run Windows 98 Setup from MS-DOS, it uses the settings from the existing network configuration to set up the new configuration. Check the Windows 98 Readme file for additional notes related to your networking software. If you are running Setup from a Windows 3.1x or Windows for Workgroups 3.1x–based computer that has Novell Client for Windows 95/98 or real-mode Artisoft LANtastic, Setup will fail. You must remove these components before running Setup.
	Have you disabled any anti-virus protection software? Any bootable, anti-virus software can cause problems with Windows 98 Setup. Before you run Setup, remove them from memory and reboot your computer.
	Have you disabled third-party display utilities? Windows 98 Setup fails if it detects incompatible video drivers or display utilities. For more information, see "General Setup Issues" in \Win98\Setup.txt on your Windows 98 compact disc.
	Have you disabled any MS-DOS-based programs? Disable any MS-DOS-based programs running on your computer. Use ALT+TAB to find out which programs are running. Quit all programs except Setup, and then click OK to continue.
	If your computer has Windows 95 installed, do you have the Windows 95 boot disk available? To recover in case of a Windows 98 Setup failure, make sure you have the Windows 95 boot disk available during Setup.
	Did you check the MS-DOS SYS file? To recover in case of a Windows 98 Setup failure, check the MS-DOS SYS file to ensure you can boot your computer from MS-DOS.