Trying to get files from Win98...

[MainFramed]

I am trying to take some files from an old computer with Windows 98, and I tried to plug in my external hard drive and then a USB flash drive, neither are showing up in my computer, or they want to be installed, and i tried with the software they come with. Anyone know of a quick way to take files off the computer?

 

[Blain]

Have you loaded drivers for 98 from the USB stick manufacturer?

 

[0roo0roo]

rip the drive out of the old pc

 

[oynaz]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
rip the drive out of the old pc

Yup. The foolproof way, and will probably take much less time than trying obscure USB drivers.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: oynaz

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
rip the drive out of the old pc

Yup. The foolproof way, and will probably take much less time than trying obscure USB drivers.

Maybe if he's using a dial-up connection.

 

[jackschmittusa]

Did you try installing the drivers without the devices plugged in? Reboot after installing?

Have any gear to network the rigs?

 

[corkyg]

Or, . . . remove the drive from the old computer and put it in an external case - then connect to the new machine and copy away. Win98 becomes irrelevant. Alternatively, mount the old drive as a slave in the new computer.

 

[Jiggz]

Originally posted by: corkyg
Or, . . . remove the drive from the old computer and put it in an external case - then connect to the new machine and copy away. Win98 becomes irrelevant. Alternatively, mount the old drive as a slave in the new computer.

Or slave a hdd to the win98 machine just make sure it has FAT32 format on it.

 

[Blain]

Eveyone is so sold on a HD transfer of some kind or another.
Has downloading a driver become so hard? :shocked:

 

[corkyg]

Why screw around with an old OS?

 

[Jiggz]

Originally posted by: Blain
Eveyone is so sold on a HD transfer of some kind or another.
Has downloading a driver become so hard? :shocked:

If it was only a 2K or XP driver we are talking about I'll pursue that solution but because it's a Win98 and that fact that the external hdd maybe still in NTFS format, he might as well just go with the hdd transfer. Now if he persists in going with a driver, he might as well just use his thumbdrive since these are usually in FAT16 or FAT32, which is native to Win98. Either way will work, but from experience I will go with the hdd.

 

[Blain]

Must I do everything? :roll:

MainFramed, post the USB drive you're trying to use. Ol' dad will help you out.

 

[MainFramed]

My Book Western Digital 750GB, it has the the firewire ports, come on DA DA

 

[Blain]

"USB flash drive" & MB models?

 

[mulletgut]

The old machine's HDD could have been out and in, files transfered and back in old machine by now. 20 minute job.
But I guess if you time to burn...... persevere

 

[0roo0roo]

is the problem that he has no other pc?
i think macs can read fat32

 

[robmurphy]

I think the problem is simpler than that. Win 98 did not support USB. 98SE did but the orig 98 did not. Neither 98 or 98SE will read/write NTFS drives.

If you have a CD burner you could try burning a knoppix disk and booting the old machine from that. If you want to get files off the drive then use the flash drives as knoppix should be able to write to these. Knoppix will read both NTFS and FAT16/32, but will only write to FAT16/32.

Rob