How To Install Windows 98 If Windows 2000 Is Already Installed

If you are a casual home user and want to play DOS games that 2000 can't run, Windows 9x is obviously the right choice. However, if you have Windows 2000 installed and would like to use Windows 98, there are problems.

If you obtained the Windows 98 installation CD, you can't install Windows 98 by default if you already have Windows 2000 installed. For some reason, Microsoft implemented a feature where if you choose "Boot From CD-ROM" at the 98 CD Startup Menu, the choice will not function and will boot to hard drive because Microsoft does not want you to go back. Here is how to make that feature work and get rid of Windows 2000. Back up your data before this procedure!

Step 1: Get A DOS Boot Floppy

Get a floppy disk and make an MS-DOS boot floppy. To do this, you must insert the floppy disk and type "sys a:", or if this floppy disk has data on it, back it up if you want to keep the data, and then type "format a: /s". The "/s" switch stands for "sys".

Step 2: Same Step, Different Drive

Boot from the MS-DOS boot floppy disk you just made, then type "format c: /s". This formats your hard drive and then installs a plain DOS on it. Just bare DOS, no Microsoft stuff packaged with it like the MS-DOS Editor.

Step 3: Install Windows 98

Now, install Windows 98! This process takes about an hour.

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