Computer ??'s

[PitbullMidwest]

Computer ??\'s

A friend was given a Packard Bell computer with 64meg RAM, Cyrix MII processor, running WIN98 4.1. The hard drive is nearly completely full with someone else's stuff and he wants to reformat and reinstall Windows.

He doesn't have the original Packard Bell setup disk for this computer and we have both been told by different people that unless their (Packard Bell) setup disk is used, the computer will have continuous problems (errors?). We're being told it has something to do with Packard Bell's poor architecture.

Question: Is there any reason why we can't simply re-format the harddrive and install WIN98 from another disk?

 

[MikePA]

Re: Computer ??\'s

I don't have any experience with PB, but I have done what you suggest with an eMachine which is similar. The PC had WindowsME on it. I formatted the HD and installed Windows2000 Professional (after I added memory). The only piece of hardware not automatically recognized was the internal modem. I sent an email to support at eMachines and asked them what kind of modems they used (there was no manufacturer name on the card). After the usual disclaimer (we don't recommend the customer modify, blah, blah, blah), they referred me to a web site. Downloaded the driver, installed it and all's well. The various additional eMachines buttons on the keyboard no longer work, but that was not a problem as the recipient of the PC didn't care.

 

[PitbullMidwest]

Re: Computer ??\'s

My kids inherited an eMachine from some friends and I reformated and installed W98 without any problems, I guess that's why I'm courious about all the doomsday warnings with this PB.

Thanks for the reply Mike.

 

[RoyJackson]

Re: Computer ??\'s

I reformatted a Packard Bell and loaded Win 98.
There are no issues to be concerned about. You will have to figure out the CD-ROM manufacturer for drivers though.

Packard Bell does use proprietary mainboards though. Apparently, these aren't standard AT or ATX form factors.

 

[MikePA]

Re: Computer ??\'s

Roy's mentioning of the CDRom triggered another thought...

Most recent PCs support booting from the CDRom drive which is how the installation of many operating systems start. Put the CD in the drive and boot up. Then there's a prompt, "Hit any key to boot from CD".

I have a PC (actually the BIOS) that's old enough that it doesn't support booting from CD so before I installed Windows2000, I had to make a set of boot diskettes. Since you are going to format the hard drive, you can't boot off it, hence the need to boot from CD or diskette.