[Windows 95]

I currently have and HP Brio BA200 and it runs horrible on Win2k. There was no 2000 disk included. I got it for free. It was oringally designed for Windows 98/NT. I have a copy of windows 98 in my desk and was wondering what I have to do to downgrade from 2000 to 98. Here are the specs of the HP:

OS: Win2k
Ram: 94 mb
Processer: Intel Celeron running at 233mhz
Hard Drive: 4.2gb

What are the steps I need to take before downgrading, and what do I need to do? I have never done this before.

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Does the floppy drive work on this computer? If so download a win 98 boot floppy from here and put it on a floppy drive.

http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

Go to the bottom of the above page for instructions. You need to download the right boot disk so look on the windows CD to see if it says SE on it. If it does not then it is the first version of 98. 98SE is Second Edition.

After you have made the floppy disk, just stick it in and reboot the computer.

Now you will need to wipe the hard drive and format it to get rid of Windows 2000. Heres a tutorial.

http://home.pacbell....diskformat.html

Heres a good tutorial for installing Win 98.

http://www.5starsupp...l/98install.htm

After your done you can see if you like Win 98. Theres still lots of programs for Win98. and you can Still buy quite a lot off Ebay pretty cheap.

SRX660

[SRX660]

Does the floppy drive work on this computer? If so download a win 98 boot floppy from here and put it on a floppy drive.

http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

Go to the bottom of the above page for instructions. You need to download the right boot disk so look on the windows CD to see if it says SE on it. If it does not then it is the first version of 98. 98SE is Second Edition.

After you have made the floppy disk, just stick it in and reboot the computer.

Now you will need to wipe the hard drive and format it to get rid of Windows 2000. Heres a tutorial.

http://home.pacbell....diskformat.html

Heres a good tutorial for installing Win 98.

http://www.5starsupp...l/98install.htm

After your done you can see if you like Win 98. Theres still lots of programs for Win98. and you can Still buy quite a lot off Ebay pretty cheap.

SRX660

[Windows 95]

Whats the difference between a Windows 98 OEM and Custom? Cause those are the 2 choices.

Cause on my CD, it says "for distribution with a new PC only. For Product support, please contact the manufacturer on your PC." Well, I believe this CD came with a Toshiba Satellite 2545CDS. So am I stuck? IS the product key 25 numbers?

So I need to create a boot disk for 98 and 2k? Or just 98?

Edited by Windows 95, 23 July 2008 - 12:11 PM.

[SRX660]

You are at the moot point where you will probably not be able to use the CD to install 98 on any other computer than a toshiba laptop. You can try but i don't think it will work. If it does work its good, BUT probably not going to work.

A OEM windows is a "Original Equipment manufacturer" windows CD made for that makers comp0uters. A custom CD is just that , customized for specific computers. Windows has custom configurators that let you leave out part of the system. This is for businesses that like to leave out the games like solitary so workers can't play them during working hours. Theres also themes that can be added to the OS during a install by using custom instead of OEM. Finding a Win 98 OEM or retail CD is tough to find cheaply.

Yes the product keys are usually 5 sets of 5 numbers for Win 98.

If you want to install Win 98 you need the 98 boot disk.

SRX660

[Windows 95]

I looked around on ebay and found that most of them were OEM cds. So that means that cd will only work on the computer brand it was designed for? And your right, they aren't cheap. $70 was the average price. and most the of the retail ones were upgrades.

I also have a computer with Windows XP MCE 2002. So if I wanted to, I could wipe the hard drive and install and OEM of Windows XP Pro SP1 on it? Its a dell Deminsion 8400 and I have a dell Reinstallation CD that did not come with the computer, I could use that?

Edited by Windows 95, 23 July 2008 - 03:44 PM.

[Tyger]

Your most serious limitation with this machine is that it only shipped with 32 or 64mb or RAM. You can right click on My Computer and choose Properties to find out how much physical memory, RAM, you actually have. It looks like it has a Trigem Cognac motherboard which will take at least 256mb in two sticks, which would allow you to run Windows 2000 without difficulty.

[Windows 95]

I went to Crucial.com and ran their memory scan and the Max ram the Ba200 can handle is 94mb.

[SRX660]

Well, the H-P manual says the BA200 can handle 2 256 sticks of memory for a total of 512. Unfortunately this is a socket 370 computer which is so old it is not even worth putting a single dime into. I say this because i just sold a Pentium 4 2.4 computer with a 80 gig HD, 512 MB of DDRram, DVD-RW, Creative SB live sound card and a FX5200 video card, A 17" CRT monitor and Labtec speakers for $150 just to get the computer out of my shop.

If you can find more memory very cheaply i would go for it( flea markets are good) but otherwise the computer is only a boat anchor and not a good one even at that. There are no downloadable programs that will run on it very well, few games that will work, so you are left with not much to work with.

I guess it is a good toy to learn how to do things with. That is how i got started many years ago. I bought a dozen old HP vectra computer and started swapping things around just to see what works and doesn't work. I learned how to install Windows, and how to fix the problems on those old desktops.

My oldest computer now is a intel 3.0 P4 i build 3 years ago that my wife uses and refuses to abandon. Otherwise all my computers are less than a year old.

If you want to learn about fixing computers i would still pick much newer computers than that one. The technology is so old no one even uses any of it anymore.

SRX660

[Windows 95]

I see what your saying. So bascially, its just a waste of space. The only strong point on it is that it has no fan. So it quiet to an extent. But I will try tweaking it a bit to see if I can get a bit more go out of it. Ill see if I can get like 20-30 dollars for it.

Edited by Windows 95, 23 July 2008 - 06:47 PM.