TBT: Installing Windows 98, 16 Years later

Microsoft released Windows 98 on June 25, 1998 and Windows 98 SE on May 5, 1999.  I was requested by a client for a machine running Windows 98!  And I’m like sure, no problem.  Apparently this client needs to access an older CAD program that only ran in MS-DOS, so Windows 98 would be a very reasonable choice.

I have done many, and I mean many Windows installations!  Early in my IT career I was fortunate to do a few Windows 98 installs as well, so this is by no means new to me, but it was, as apparently I forgot lots!  I forgot things like having to restart to format the hard drive and having to download drivers, amazingly yes I could still find them on the Dell’s website!

While this would have been much easier to do on a virtual machine, it’s really not the same, so I decided to take some pictures with my phone (slightly better than the 320×240 limit in 1998).  This install was a later night install, so some of the pics are a bit blurry, but for all those who did Windows 98 installs regularly, they may either make you smile or frown, depending on your experiences at the time.

More images below:

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