5.6 Troubleshooting the Installation Process
5.6.6 Uninstalling Windows 98
Sometimes it is necessary to remove the Windows OS installed on a system. The uninstall procedure allows the system to return to a previous version of the Windows OS. In some instances, uninstalling Windows 98 is the best solution when an attempted upgrade fails, especially if no system backup was done before the upgrade attempt. The only other solution in this case is to reformat the hard drive, a process that "wipes" the disk clean of any previously stored data. Uninstalling Windows attempts to avoid this solution.

When CAN Windows 98 be uninstalled?
Windows 98 can be uninstalled under the following circumstances:

  • You upgraded from a previous version of Windows, for example, from Windows 95
  • The "Save uninstall information" option was selected during Windows 98 setup. Note that when this option is selected, Setup creates the Winundo.dat and Winundo.ini files that contain the uninstall information

When can Windows 98 NOT be uninstalled?
Windows 98 cannot be uninstalled under the following conditions:

  • The conditions mentioned above are not met
  • The two files Winundo.dat and Winundo.ini become corrupted or deleted
  • The hard disk was compressed prior to the Windows 98 OS installation
  • The hard disk was compressed, or converted to FAT32 AFTER installing Windows 98

The step-by-step process uninstalling Windows 98

Step 1 Click Start and select Settings. Double-click Control Panel, to open the Control Panel menu window.
Step 2 In the Control Panel window, double-click Add/Remove Programs.
Step 3 From the Add/Remove Programs menu, click Uninstall Windows 98, then click Add/Remove, and click Yes when prompted.
Step 4 At this point, Scandisk will check the hard disk drive for errors. Allow Scandisk do this by clicking Yes when prompted.
Step 5 Finally, when prompted to continue the uninstall, choose Yes and follow the screen instructions to uninstall Windows 98.

Caution: Uninstalling Windows 98 is a drastic course of action, and should not be undertaken lightly. There could be many side effects, such as the malfunctioning of any applications installed after the original installation of Windows 98.

Worksheet  (PDF, 7 KB) 
  Troubleshooting Windows Installation