Is there a trick to use a full version 98SE as an upgrade version?

[Beater]

I want to upgrade from Win 95 to Win 98 on my lappy but don't want to do a format and upgrade cause I can't figure out how to load my PCMCIA CD drive ta run the 98 CD from. Obviously I could just use a 98 upgrade disc but I don't have one (I do have a full version) and wondered if there was a way to use a full version as an upgrade.

 

[sohcrates]

Have you tried just popping it in and running it?

I *thought* (though it's been awhile) that the full version just acts like an upgrade cd if you so choose

 

[Beater]

Yep, tried that and it looks like it'll work till it scans the system and then it say you already have a version of Windows so will need the upgrade version🙁!

 

[reicherb]

bump for an answer that would help me also.

 

[obenton]

Try this: create a file called "ntldr" and put it in your root directory. The ntldr file must have no extension. It can be an empty file - no contents needed. Easiest way is to create ntldr.txt in Notepad and then rename, removing the extension. Then run setup from command prompt with /ntldr switch - "setup /ntldr". Probably easier, too, if you copy the win98 cd to the hard drive, and run it from there. You just need to copy the large directory that contains the cabinet files and setup.exe. That will avoid any PCMCIA cdrom problems.

 

[reicherb]

<< Try this: create a file called "ntldr" and put it in your root directory. The ntldr file must have no extension. It can be an empty file - no contents needed. Easiest way is to create ntldr.txt in Notepad and then rename, removing the extension. Then run setup from command prompt with /ntldr switch - "setup /ntldr". Probably easier, too, if you copy the win98 cd to the hard drive, and run it from there. You just need to copy the large directory that contains the cabinet files and setup.exe. That will avoid any PCMCIA cdrom problems. >>



What does that do?

 

[sohcrates]

i think he hit it on the nose...though you don't need the ntldr part


simply make a directory on your hard drive in c:\windows\options\cabs

copy everything from the win98 folder on the windows98 cd to the cabs directory

boot off a floppy, and run setup from the cabs directory...i do that all the time

 

[deran]

Extract the W98 CD content to your hard disk (e.g. F:\W98)with WinISO as a bootable .iso-file

Within this file find: Precopy2.cab

Open it with WinRar

In WinRar, find setupx.dll & extract it to somewhere.

Open extracted setupx.dll using eXescope

In eXescope, expand "String" & find number "96"

Click on "96", on the left you will see this number "1526,111" or "1526, 121" or "1526, 115"... ... The last 2 digits may vary depending on the version you have got. In any case, change "1526,1xx" into "1526,100" and save.

Import the modified setupx.dll with the help of WinISO into the same folder where precopy2.cab (and a bunch of other cab-files) reside. Save and burn this .iso-file with CDRWin.

Now, each time you run Windows 98 setup, you won't have to enter any serial number, nor will there be an upgrade/OEM/full check. You can do either a clean install or an upgrade as you wish, because it became a full version.

 

[Beater]

Man deran if I could pull all that off I wouldn't be here in the first place asking the question LMFAO😀😀!!! Seriously I'm thinking sohcrates idea sounds about the easiest, hell if it doesn't work I can always run the restore discs again and start over eh?🙂!

 

[underpaid]

Copy the contents of the win98 dir from the cd to c:\windows\options\cabs, or any other directory for that matter from within windows.
Boot into dos, and rename winver.exe and win.com to winver.old and win.old. Then run setup.exe from the directory with the cabs
and voila, install into the windows directory and there you have it.