Going crazy installing win98 for an old woman.

[capman21]

Well I found a HP recovery disk for ME, but when I try to use it it says "This is not the correct recovery disc that was purchased with this model of pc" or something similar. I cant belive that you would need the exact one that came with the pc. Is this true, that you need the exact recovery disc that came with the pc?

[JohnnyMalaria]

Yes because each PC has its own particular set of hardware etc - similar PCs may be OK but if they are completely different then the disc won't have all the drivers needed. Plus the recovery disc will have all the various applications that come bundled with the PC. The vendor wouldn't want everyone "borrowing" the disc to get the apps for free (bloatware or otherwise!)

[MJA]

convence the old lady to dump the 1901 pc and buy a new one

Dell Inspiron 531s Desktop $299

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?cs=19&dgvcode=ss&c=us&l=en&vw=list&...cid=7420&lid=0

[capman21]

Thanks, now I can finally pretty much give up on trying to install a OS. I couldnt find the drivers so, lesson learned....old people and computers dont mix.

[JohnnyMalaria]

lesson learned....old people and computers dont mix.

Also, old computers and people don't mix

[capman21]

convence the old lady to dump the 1901 pc and buy a new one

Dell Inspiron 531s Desktop $299

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?cs=19&dgvcode=ss&c=us&l=en&vw=list&...cid=7420&lid=0

Wow, thats a pretty decent computer for the price.

[AlanHK]

98 and Me are no longer supported by MS,so updates are pointless.
BTWharing(stealing) Wi-Fi is wrong on so many levels.

Not all software is made by MS.
Anti-virus, for instance, will be regularly updated.
However, it's true many applications are not updating Win9x compatible versions.

And I did say to ASK the neighbours if they would share wifi access.
"Stealing" is not an appropriate word in any case, unless you're cracking passwords.

[bevills1]

The bad thing about that system is Vista only choices for OS, and I still see far too many driver and other problems to suit me. One day Vista will likely be the only choice for all PCs, but I'd rather have an XP system while they are still available.

[MJA]

The bad thing about that system is Vista only choices for OS, and I still see far too many driver and other problems to suit me. One day Vista will likely be the only choice for all PCs, but I'd rather have an XP system while they are still available.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=04&kc=6W300&l=en&oc=brda2ah&s=bsd

you get the choice here to select xp or vista

[handyguy]

It's cheaper to get an external modem like a USR, should be easy to get drivers for it.

[ahhaa]

btw- that Lucent modem is one of the few that should work problem free with (dare I say it) linux. Download a small distro like Puppy (under a 100 megs) and it will have drivers & whatall plus not overload the older machine RAM. Run it on a LiveCD first & you won't even involve the HD.
http://www.puppylinux.org/user/viewpage.php?page_id=1