I want to change my OS from Vista to Windows 98?

I'm really sick of Vista not allowing me run old programs, trying to install an old scanner that would not work with Vista was the last straw. Is there an easy way to do this?



I know back in the old days you could get into DOS, I have not clue how to do this with Vista. Any suggestions?

I do have my Windows 98 CD. Also will there be any problems with an older OS on a newer laptop?



Thanks for your help!I want to change my OS from Vista to Windows 98?
You could install Win98. Just repartition the drive to fat32 and run the install from the Win98 CD. You might need a boot floopy to get the installation going.



You could make the system dual boot. Repartition the drive, shrinking the ntfs partition. Then partition the drive to fat32. Install Win98 to the fat32 partition. A win98 boot floopy would have fdisk, or you could use gparted, (see linux below).



Use EasyBCD 1.7.2 to setup the boot parameters: http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1.1



Some of the hardware might not work properly under win98, it is hard to say. Most likely it will work, as many vendors have backwards compatibility in mind.



Vista has no DOS. it has a prompt, but it is not dos.



A better solution might be to run Win98 virtually, inside of Vista. You can use VMware or VPC. This would allow Win98 to run completely inside Vista, but isolated so that Win98 doesn't know the difference.



http://www.vmware.com/

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual



An even better solution would be to keep Vista, and try a Linux Live CD. Linux has gotten pretty good at working with hardware such as old scanners. Linux has 1000's of free applications, inlcuding scanner interfaces all fro free.



It has WINE, which can run older Windows programs. Though it has problems with some apps, it is worth a try. There are also DOS emulators for Linux, in which you can run your DOS programs.



You could download a Ubuntu Live CD image, burn that image to a CD-R and use it to try out linux on you computer, without a single change being made to your system. If it works for you, you could install it to the harddrive, (which will make it run much faster), creating a dual boot system that boots into Linux or Vista.



It wold be a good idea to get the Ubuntu Live CD if you are going to try one of the other options, as it has gparted, a partitioning tool that can help set your partitions to fat32, ntfs or ext2-3-4.



http://www.ubuntu.comI want to change my OS from Vista to Windows 98?
What is the make and model of your computer. You might have problems with getting windows98 drivers for your hardware.
i would use the microsoft virtual pc 2007 to emulate win98 onto vista



probally wont be any major driver problems besides newer hardware. audio/video should be fine
Did your programs work with Windows xp? If they did I can tell you what I did with one old program I made sure I copied everything to a CD that was needed to run the program. then I simply created a directory in my program file directory for it and copied everything back into that directory on Vista. I was surprised but the program works. With a scanner you would have to check with the manufacturer and see if they have an updated driver you can download. Windows 98 is not going to do it for you. It will not have the features you need for the internet and will probably not let some of your other programs work.,
get XP instead

there are still programs and drivers that work well with it
Do not downgrade to 98 or any version of windows older than XP, they are no longer supported (thus security holes are not fixed) and modern applications will not run on them. Plus with a new laptop it is unlikely there are drivers for such an old OS, so you would loose the functionality of many devices if it ran at all. You can downgrade to XP if you have can get a copy of it. How easy that is depends on your laptop model. However in order to downgrade you must install Windows from scratch, and sometimes go hunting for drivers. XP will be supported until 2012, so you have time before you have to move on. Hopefully Microsoft will have a good OS out by then (ya right :P)



Most older programs run fine in XP, if you have one that won't post it and someone will be able to tell you how to get it to work.



As to DOS, its no longer included in Windows. Why do you want to use DOS? There is really no benefit to using it in today's environment. If you have a DOS program I would bet my salery there is a modern alternative and/or update to it for Windows.
Here is a small bulletin for you.

If you have Peripherals, like printers, scanners, and the like and they won't work. This is done buy design for a reason.$$$$$$$.

They want you to buy new.

If you have a newer computer and old printers and scanners, many times they won't update the divers on purpose, because they want you to buy new.

Good example many older specialized design software for Mac's older operating systems, newer HP All in one Printers absolutely will not work. That is only one of the thousands of examples that happen every time a change is made.

Your only hope is to try and search Google for open source generic drivers for your scanner. Many times they are available.
I would advise you to not revert back to Windows 98. First off I doubt the Windows 98 CD will let you load the complete OS. You will not be able to get a working, up to date anti-virus for your computer which will leave you open to attacks.



As time goes on, technology changes and older peripherals eventually just do not work with what is out today. The lack of drivers is in the hands of the equipment manufacturers, and not Microsoft's.



Jeff

Windows Outreach Team