Hey all!

I am working through an attempt to revive a vintage box. Too small/slow for winxp, i am attempting to install win 98. However, when i boot it up, the install CD goes through the first few DOS-based manuevers, and then politely informs me that

"Driver D: = Driver OEMCD001 unit 0


Program too big to fit in memory
D:/WIN98>"

Faced with this, i am at a loss... any suggestions?

"Driver D: = Driver OEMCD001 unit 0.."
This looks like either the cdrom driver didn't load, or the mscdex extender file didn't load as a result of memory allocations.

How are you booting the system? ie; floppy boot disk, hard disk, etc.

Not all 98SE CD's are bootable. Is yours?

If you're booting with a floppy, try this one. This bootdisk image file is a self extracting file and needs to be executed (run) from Windows in order to create the actual startup diskette. This is the same as the bootdisk which 98SE creates. This file will format the floppy, write the files to the floppy, then verify the file write, so it'll take a minute to create the bootdisk.

This bootdisk creates a RAMDRIVE in memory to contain DOS system tools, thus it will move your "normal" CDROM device/drive letter "up" one level. Watch for the assigned CDROM device letter near the end of the boot process. (If your CDROM is normally E:, it will be F: when booting with this bootdisk.)

How much RAM is in this system?

Is it all recognized by the system?

Is this a brand name system? (Dell, Compaq, Hewlett Packard, Gateway, IBM/Lenovo, etc)

Thanks for the reply.

I figured there was something akimbo with the bootability of the installation disk, so that is why i have already tried a bootable floppy that i had kicking around. That resulted in the same problem.

But to answer all your questions:

1 - the CD i am using claims to be bootable

2 - 128 mb of ram

3 - the BIOS seems to see all necessary components nicely

4 - It is a frankensteined system that is a crafty combination of components from 3 systems.

If all the hardware sings beautifully together in the POST state (Power On Self Test), then it should be OK for an O/S install.

Try installing with the floppy boot disk I offered in the previous post. (Ensure the floppy is first in the machine boot sequence.)

What state is the hard disk in? ie; formatted, freshly partitioned/formatted, data on it from previous use, etc.

I will try the boot from floppy, it will take some fenagaling, as my operational tower doesn't have a floppy drive, but it seems to be the only working option.

The HD is freshly formated, formated by win XP, is that a possible problem?

Hummm, newer tower without floppy. If the motherboard has a floppy controller built in, you should be OK. (There will be a 34 pin data connector on the motherboard for floppies.) Just cable up a floppy (you can just lay it on the table) and make sure the bios boot sequence has the floppy as the first boot device. If there is no option for this (and no 34 pin connector) you will have to burn a bootable CD using the created floppy as the boot file source. Otherwise you'd need an add on controller card.

OR, "The HD is freshly formated, formated by win XP, is that a possible problem?"

Yes, if it was formatted as NTFS, that explains a lot.

If the 98SE CD ~is~ bootable, and the hard disk was formatted by XP as NTFS, start with the XP cd, navigate to and format the drive as FAT32, then once completed, back out of the XP install and boot with the 98CD for the install.

With the floppy, the problem is that the one i have is cooked, havn't bother to replace it, not a lack of technical understanding, more a lack of initiative.

Okay, so i reformated that HD with FAT32 formating, and still the same problem.

I will have to do some hardware swapping with the floppy in the old machine to install your win98se.exe.

I will let you know how that goes, and thanks again for your input

*raising a pint in your honour*

Okay, so since these are PC's i am dealing with, there is a problem every step of the way.

I have taken the functional floppy out of the old PC that i am trying to rececitate, and ahve installed it in my year old win XP tower. This is so that i can make a win98se bootable floppy.

Now the trouble is that the BIOS seems to see the floppy drive just fine, but win XP tells me that it does not see a disk in that drive when there is.

I think this may have already gotten to the "solution by fire" phase of the trouble shooting. Dan, any advice?

First make sure the drive is connected properly (data cable). The end of the cable with the "twist" in the conductors goes to the floppy drive, and the "straight" end of the cable goes to the motherboard. Most cables are "keyed" so that they can only be inserted into the connectors in the proper orientation. Pin 1 to Pin 1. Colored edge/side of the cable (red or blue stripe) is Pin 1. If the drive light stays on, the cable is inserted incorrectly.

Next ensure the drive is set properly in the bios. (ie; 3.5", 1.44 MB) Some bios's have Floppy Read Access and Floppy Write Access switches. If yours does, ensure ENABLE is engaged (for both if seperate). Also check that the floppy disk controller is engaged in the bios.

Does the drive work in DOS? (Cold boot to A drive.)

I've seen/heard of this error before, so I'll do some searching. In the meantime, confirm the above.

1 - the floppy WAS connected wrong
2 - your bootdisk worked magically
3 - my win98se install CD refused to work

I am starting to see a patern here... something akin to 2 steps forward, and 1 self inflicted bullet wound... i hate computers...

Dan, thank you very much... i have officially given up on this one.