I have a Dell Latitude CPi (366mhz) purchased on eBay that is
currently running Windows 2000 Professional.  I have a copy of Windows
98SE (personal/home edition) and would rather run that on it instead,
but I have no floppy drive on the machine for a start-up disk. Could I
very easily install Windows 98SE on this laptop?  I am somewhat
worried about losing possible drivers needed (if necessary) to keep
the volume up/down fucntions working properly but I'm unsure whether
it is actually a Windows function or whether OS-swapping would change
those settings.

A secondary concern, if this is too much hassle, is whether I could
find a good DOS emulator to run a number of DOS-based games (one of
many reasons for switching back to 98SE).  I also have a number of
programs that ran smoothly on my old Pent.200mhz in 98SE but run very
slow (36% speed) in W2kPro.  Is there a decent DOS emulator that will
run on Windows 2000 Professional for the time being?

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Request for Question Clarification by mathtalk-ga on 19 Jul 2004 20:07 PDT

I had this situation with a nephew's laptop, and created a bootable
CD-ROM from which to install Windows 98SE.

So, per corwin02-ga's question, does your laptop have a CD-ROM drive?

If the laptop is _very_ old, then possibly any CD-ROM drive will not
support the bootstrap feature that has been standard for a number of
years now, but its worth looking into.  You may need to adjust the
BIOS settings to allow booting from the CD-ROM in preference to the
hard drive.

regards, mathtalk-ga

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Clarification of Question by thehomeland-ga on 20 Jul 2004 08:52 PDT

Laptop does have a CDrom drive.  Have purchased a USB keychain drive
to xfer files back and forth.  I am wondering whether, since w98 still
has considerable DOS functionality, CDrom drivers are necessary, as
well as whether the mouse-square thing (not the nub) requires drivers
also, as I do not have the original software for the laptop.

Do you have a cd drive on the machine ?

and why not install a dual boot system  ?

Would prefer no formatting if possible, especially dual-boot (never
done that before, don't even want Win2kPro anyway)

Dual boot does not require formatting , all you need to do is boot
from the CDrom of windows 98 and install the OS , Win2k/XP will take
care ofthe dual boot setup

As far was not wanting another OS , are you sure you want an OS that
is by now 7 years out of date and in a short while will no longer be
supported by MS

I was not aware you could install 98se in that manner... hmmm...

1) Did you get the CDs Along with the laptop ??
If you have a CD called As "Dell Resource CD" (this CD is bootable) we
can boot the system off this Cd and then install Win 98SE also.

2) The Win 98Se Cd that you have is it Retail version (Bought
seperatly from the store) or OEM version (Came along with another
computer)

If it is retail Version most likely it is Bootable too. I would not be
able to comment on the OEM Versions.

IF you are able to get the Bootable CD then there is nothing Stopping
you from reinstalling the laptop exept the avilability of drivers.

For Drivers you can log into Support.dell.com with your Service tag
(Found at the bottom Plastics on a sticker) and Download the correct
drivers If you know your hardware

If you dont you can run a utility which will tell you what is the
Hardware in your System I guess that utility is avilable in the Left
menu after you log in. I would advice yop to Check this up before you
format the Laptop.

if you are not able to Log into the website. The you will have to call
DEll and Change the laptop To your name and then YOu can access the
website.

I hope This infomation helps you


JKSP