Now I'm in reeealllly BIG trouble.

[Zero]

I Have two operating systems on my computer, Windows XP and Windows 98.
I have been trying to play Wiz and Warriors in Windows 98 thinking I would have fewer problems. I have been trying to download the latest GeForce driver 23.11.
Windows 98 system has now crashed completely and I can only load it in safe mode and it does not detect a mouse!!!
I have a Windows 98 rescue floppy and the original Windows 98 second edition CD. I presume I will have to re-install windows 98 but I have no idea how to do it from safe mode and no mouse detected.
Pleeeeeease will someone help me???
It looks like I will never be able to play Wiz and Warriors again.

[Detah]

With your knowledge of computers, it is effectively impossible to have 2 operating systems on your computer at the same time.

If you are a very advanced computer user, you can partition your harddrive and have dual startups. Those are the only ways you can have 2 operating systems on your computer at once. NOTE: this is an extremely complicated thing to accomplish and is foolish. Typically a user would install Linux and Windows 98 in order to extract the most benefit out of each OS. I doubt very much that you have accomplished this.

So lets figure out what OS you do have.

go to Control panel/System
look at the general tab. at the very top it should say System.
What does it say? It can say Windows 98, Windows 98 second edition, Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows XP, etc. But it will not list 2 things.

If it says Windows XP, then your problems are solvable, but you need to be doing different things to correct them. You told me you had Windows 98, and I was giving you advice based on that.

Moreover, if you have Windows XP, then you have the wrong driver(s) for your videocard. This in itself can badly mess up your computer.

Detah

[ 02-28-2002: Message edited by: Detah ]

[Zero]

I do have two systems set up by the guy who built my computer. On startup I have the option of running in Win98 or in WinXP. My hard dive is split or partioned between drive C (10mb) and drive D(90mb).
Drive C uses Win98,Drive D uses WinXP.The reason for this was to play older games such as Wiz+warr in 98 so there would be fewer problems!!
Perhaps I was misguided but that is what I asked the computer builder to do.
The problem now is that while the WinXP setup seems to de running fine I can only get to Win98 insafe mode and this does not recognize my mouse.I think I probably need to re-install Win98 but I do not know how to do it from this situation.
Please can you help me?

[Detah]

Oh Boy!

1) That is a bad idea.

2) You will need two sets of drivers for all your hardware. One set of all Win 98 drivers for your win98 OS and one set of all winXP drivers for your winXP OS.

3) So, start up in Windows 98. Follow every single step I gave you.
Including fetching the windows 98 versions of the nvidia drivers and your monitor drivers.

You would be much better off wiping your harddrive and choosing 1 OS. Then I and others on here could offer you proper advice on your problems. While it is possible to keep them distinct and fully functional; I dont think your computer knowledge is ready for that level of computer management yet.

Detah

[Zero]

You're probably right,Detah,thanks again for your trouble.The problem is I can't start up in Win98,unless I choose safe mode it simply locks up on the blue win98 screen and nothing else happens.
If I do choose safe mode it loads up but does not recognize my mouse so I can't tell it to do anything.
Thus the only place I can get to is the windows screen with statr at bthe bottom and icons at the side but the mouse is disabled so I don't know how to tell it what to do even if I knew what to tell it.
I have a floppy Win98 rescue disc and Win98se cd but I don't know how to use them when I have no mouse.
Please try for me,one more time,to tell me how to re-install win98 because thats's what I think it needs.

[Wyvern]

I described some of Zero's difficulties and computer set up to my husband (who betas for MS) and got the response:

XP and Win98 are KNOWN to have problems working with one another. This is a really bad setup.

I think Detah is quite correct. It would be far better to scrub the machine and just install XP. We can solve the problems W&W has with XP. I don't know if it is possible to solve the problems with the current set up.

Wyv

Reason for Edited comment : (removing red who wasn't supposed to show up)

[ 02-28-2002: Message edited by: Wyvern ]

[Bungleau]

If you are completely stuck without the mouse, you should be able to just use the keyboard.

You should be able to tab from selection to selection to hit return at the reinstall option you want. AT the very least, you should be able to get into the control panel, and then tab to the install new hardware option. You might also tab into the System icon and completely remove the mouse from the hardware device listing. That would cause Win98 to find it again on reboot (hopefully).

And as I think about it, if you have the Win98 startup disk, you should be fine. It contains its own drivers and settings, and doesn't use what's on the hard drive. When you boot that way, you should be able to access all your files on the drive. You can then move them someplace else ("them" being savegames and the like). You can also reinstall Win98 by accessing it on the CD-ROM.