Tuesday 8 May 2018

Install Win98 from E2B

PhilsComputerLab has just produced a nice YouTube video showing how to install Win98 onto an old Legacy computer (with IDE drive and <1GB RAM) using a Win98 ISO and an E2B drive.


Several people have commented that they do not want to remove files from the ISO to reduce it's size.

Here is a way of adding a full Win98 Install payload to E2B by using a .imgPTN file.

Add the full Win98 Install to E2B

You must first install the E2B MPI Tool Kit, then...

1. Open a bootable Win98.ISO file using 7Zip (note it must be 7Zip or some other utility that shows the [BOOT] image).
2. Extract all files and folders to a new empty folder (e.g. Win98) on your Windows hard drive
3. Find the [BOOT] folder and the Boot-1.44M.img file (name may vary)
4. Extract all the DOS boot files from the .img file into the top level of the Win98 folder. You can now delete the [BOOT] folder from the Win98 folder.

The Win98 folder should now contain IO.SYS plus lots of other .SYS files, etc. and a \WIN98 folder + other folders.

5. Drag-and-drop the Win98 folder onto the MPI_FAT32 Desktop icon and make a new .imgPTN file. Increase the suggested size by about 10MB to allow for DOS temporary work space when booting to DOS.

6. Copy the new .imgPTN file to your E2B USB drive and make all files contiguous.

7. If not using MPI Tool Pack v0.082 then you will now need to switch to the new partition (using SWITCH_E2B.exe or by booting to the E2B drive and selecting the .imgPTN file) and add the following menu entry to \menu.lst:

iftitle [if exist /io.sys || if exist /kernel.sys] Boot to DOS as a Floppy disk (A:)\n Boot to DOS with this drive as A:\n Only HDD1 will be accessible.
map (hd0,0)+1 (fd0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
map --hook
rootnoverify (fd0)
map --floppies=1
map --harddrives=1
chainloader (fd0)/kernel.sys || chainloader (fd0)/io.sys
boot

MPI v0.082 already has this menu option included (it will be available soon!).

8. Boot from the E2B drive and select the Boot to DOS as a Floppy Disk (A:) option.
Choose the 'Start computer without CD-ROM support' option when it boots to DOS.

The first internal hard disk will be the only hard disk available (C: if partitioned and formatted) and the USB drive will be drive A:.

Check the PATH, TEMP and TMP variables by typing 'SET' at the DOS prompt if you have any problems. They may need to be set to A:\ if C: is not a valid drive.

Use the F7 menu option if you want to boot from the internal hard disk but the system has booted from the E2B drive.

You can edit the \CONFIG.SYS and change line 6 to
menudefault=NOCD,0
so that you do not have to select the DOS menu option each time you boot to DOS.



Tip: If using E2B v1.99e or later, you can rename the .imgPTN file to .imafdhdd0 and E2B will directly boot it to the A: prompt.


Good Luck!

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