Good ol windows 98

[Lexluethar]

I am trying to assist a friend over the phone with installing a new network card on a windows 98 computer (not sure if it is second edition or not). As most people know it can be a pain to try and troubleshoot something over the phone.

A few questions for you,
1)in windows 98 do we need to install the driver prior to actually installing the hardware (since the OS won't recognize the hadware)?
2)having an issue with the driver, it isn't able to find the proper driver, even though we are using the actual CD that came w/ the hardware, isn't there a general location on the hard drive where a generic network card driver could be installed, CABS?
3)will we require the original OS CD? Sometimes 98 likes to ask for the original CD when installing new hardware, wasn't sure if we will run into this one or not.
4) is this the right order in 98? uninstall old hardware and driver, turn off computer, take out old hardware, put new hardware in, turn on computer, install new hardware and driver.

Any input would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[Saxon]

The card might not even have driver support for windows 98 no new hardware dose from what i see on a regular basis. If your friend has a comp running 98 tell him / her that it is time for a serious upgrade to a new system, you can get a cheep pc for £300 now maybe even cheaper if you shop around.

What card is it anyway? an what is the rest of there system specs?

[Mak213]

Hello,

Get us a make and model of the card. We will find out if it is compatible with Windows 98. If the card was bought anytime in the last year. It will not work. Windows 98 was officially not support by Microsoft for over a year now and the hardware manufacturer followed step. They do not make drivers for it anymore. Would have to update the system totally.

Cheers,
Mak

[Lexluethar]

Good questions, and i honestly didn't even think about it not being supported by the OS. The box says it is 98 compatable. I'll get more details this evening, i don't know the specs. It is his cousin in laws computer, and she wants to use broadband internet. I already suggested upgrading, and that although her internet will be a bit faster, for heavy-load websites it will still be slow w/ 98 and that hardware. Trust me i've already gone down that route :P But she apparently wants this ethernet card since she got it onlin for pretty cheap (most are).

I'll tell you the card specs and computer specs this evening. Assuming it IS supported by 98, am i going down the right track of installing the driver first for 98 since the OS won't recognize it first?

[Mak213]

Hello,

Yes if the card is supported you are going down the right path to getting it working. The 98CD will not be mandatory cause you can skip that step. But the Card's Disc will be needed.

Cheers,
Mak

[superdave1984]

Just be glad you don't have to deal with IRQ's and interrupts like the old 3.1 days. Thank GOD for plug-n-play.

[Lexluethar]

well that was my other worry, that there was an IRQ conflict. But i haven't gotten that far yet