More geeky help needed for Catt's computer

[fluffymark]

Windows 98 is being silly. It refuses to install on the basis that it can find an already installed version of itself - although the already installed version is corrupted and fails to work at all. It doesn't give me the option to continue on with the install, it just quits when it finds itself already there. I don't want to delete things, as catt will lose vital files she needs to keep. I've tried renaming the windows folder and COMMAND.COM to other names in the hope it cannot find them, but it still does.

So, how do I fool Windows into thinking it doesn't exist, without actually deleting it?

(or should I just give up and persuade Catt that Linux is the way forward...)

Comments

[emomisy.livejournal.com]

Doesn't the Windows install format the drive anyway? So all the files would be lost...
I'd proceed by using a floppy or CDROM based linux distribution (OWL is good) to copy important files either over a network to your computer using scp (quickest and easiest) or onto floppies (make sure the write is okay though) and then reformat the drive (using ext2 if necessary).
This is a good case study of why backups are important :-) (and also a good argument for partitioning of hard drives).
The easiest would be to just get a new HDD, they aren't that expensive, and there's probably a friendly geek who has a spare one lying around if necessary.

[fluffymark]

No, it only formats the drive if it is unformatted. It should be possible to install a copy of windows over another copy (much like upgrading a Linux kernal), but it appears to not be as easy as i thought it would.

Space is not the problem by the way, catt already has two HDD, and one of them has two partitions, so there are three partitions in total, with many gigabytes of free space.

Last time i had to do this, I just copied everything from the old system partion onto an empty one, and reformatted the system partition, and reinstalled windows, as you suggest. But somehow important files got lost, or refused to be recognised by the new version of windows. It also took me about a week after reinstalling windows to reinstall all the drivers and programs she needed. I'd rather not go through all that hassle again.

Interesting - have just looked at the hidden file MSDOS.SYS which appears to have a configuration setting telling the computer which version of windows is currently installed. Wonder what happens if i rename this file? Unfortunately, catt is asleep now so i can't try this idea until the morning.