I'm really sorry if this is not appropriate but I couldn't think of anywhere else to ask this. I've used the Win98 Help/Find features but didn't find the answer and I need a solution asap.

I'm trying to install WinME and have all the setup files on a new partition on my hard drive. When I click setup.exe this is the error I get:

"Setup must be able to create short file names with numeric tails for files with names longer than 8 characters. Enable this option and try running setup again"

Unfortunately it doesn't tell me how to enable the option :(

If anyone knows how I would appreciate it a whole lot.

If there is somewhere more appropriate I should have posted this please point me there.



Installs:http://wiredon.net/gt
FAQ:http://www.perlmad.com

Hi Paul,

This link looks like it might help you:
http://support.microsoft.com/...ticles/Q179/3/70.ASP

Regards,
Charlie

Thanks piper - that worked great.........unfortunately now it tells me that I already have an OS installed and can't install WinME.

I have Win98 in my C drive and would like WinME in my E drive, if you know of a way of doing that also, you'd be a life saver.

The setup exe automatically starts scanning the C drive and keeps detecting Win98 then gives the error. I used Partition Magic to re-partition and all went well and I've heard of others installing 2+ OS's so I wonder how it's done

Installs:http://wiredon.net/gt
FAQ:http://www.perlmad.com

Hi Paul. Do you have a single HDD with multiple partitions or multiple HDD's? If E is a separate drive then you can 1) disable C in your BIOS 2) swap HDD0 and HDD1 (or what ever E is) or 3) remove it from the cable and then try to install ME. If you BIOS supports booting from different physical drives then you can select the correct HDD at boot. I do this to boot Linux. I have win98/2000 on HDD0 and Linux on HDD1. If E is on the same physical drive, your best bet is to get some sort of boot manager software and see if that will let you install ME. I have a feeling that ME won't let you do that though.

Good luck.

Regards,
Charlie

Thanks for all that information. Unfortunately it is the same drive :(

C: 5GB
D: 8GB
E: 5GB

I have Boot Magic also that lets you choose which OS you want to boot into but I can't get WinME installed to even get to that point.

If anyone knows of a way to get around this it would be cool.

Do you think I could de-activate the C drive partition and activate E and then install WinME and reactivate C again?


Installs:http://wiredon.net/gt
FAQ:http://www.perlmad.com

If that Partition Magic program will let you set the bootable partition , you can try it. Then you can switch it back and your Boot Magic program will more than likely register a new OS. Also, have you tried booting from a floppy disk or CD and doing the install?

Regards,
Charlie

This might work: http://support.microsoft.com/...ticles/Q225/2/52.ASP

I am not real sure what ME looks for when it looks for a previous installation but renaming the two files suggested above might do the trick. Are you installing from a "Upgrade" disk or a "Full Version" disk?

Regards,
Charlie

Thanks!

Im going to go and try that now. It is the full version. If renaming those files doesn't work I'll try from cd.

Thanks for your help.

Installs:http://wiredon.net/gt
FAQ:http://www.perlmad.com

Renaming the files didn't work :(

Only one existed to begin with but renaming it and rebooting didn't work.

EDIT: I just renamed every dll in C:\Windows\system to a different name and it still wouldn't work. It must be detecting it from the registry?

Sorry for this being off topic for the forum.

Installs:http://wiredon.net/gt
FAQ:http://www.perlmad.com

Paul, I have windows 2000, linux and win98 all installed on one hard drive. Are you trying to launch setup from win98 or from dos. I would suggest making a startup disk and try running setup from the dos prompt. That's how I do it. I've never had a problem with installing win98 on my D: drive(win2000 is my c:\ drive).

But like piper said, it's probably some annoying winME thing.

Later,
Paul

http://www.fullmoonshining.com for Pearl Jam Fans

Hi,

I've tried re-booting into DOS and running setup from Win98. Neither work.

There has to be a way to fool it. Maybe I could uninstall Win98, then install WinME in the E:\ drive and reinstall Win98 in C:\ ?

Installs:http://wiredon.net/gt
FAQ:http://www.perlmad.com

That would be alot of work...but it does seem like you've tried nearly everything. Geez, that sucks. I would think that that should work, but since I've never installed ME I've never seen if it would give you an option like 98 and 2000 do to pick the installation drive. If your going to go that route, you might as well reformat, and start clean though, then there won't be anything left behind that would cause conflicts.

Later,
Paul

http://www.fullmoonshining.com for Pearl Jam Fans

If I reformat though will I not have the same trouble again?....Maybe if I install WinME first then Win98 will work going in second?

Ugh, you are right, that does $uck!

I'm getting desperate so I think I'm going to try that. I'll probably lose all my website files and Links2 mods but hey....I'm getting nowhere at the moment. (Guess I should put all my files on CD first)

Installs:http://wiredon.net/gt
FAQ:http://www.perlmad.com

Yeah, definitely back up everything first. I was saying reformat so that everything was gone, including hidden files, and start fresh. Yeah, I'd install ME first then 98, because I know for sure that 98 will let you install on another drive. Maybe you should put ME on the c: drive and 98 on the d: drive. I hope everything works out for you. But just think, after a nice clean format your computer will be faster, more stable and all around better than before. I reformat every 6 months or so due to the collection of crap that gets put on my hard drive.

Good luck, if ya have any problems let me know.

Later,
Paul

http://www.fullmoonshining.com for Pearl Jam Fans

I'm wondering why you really want WinMe - from what I've heard (and seen on the couple WinMe computers we have in the office) there are very few differences between 98 and ME, although I have also heard that Windows Me tends to be about 5-10% slower across the board.

Anyway, I assume you have your reasons, so what I would recommend is to use BootMagic (part of PM) to be able to boot either to C or E, and when it boots to E it hides C. I don't remember how to do it, exactly, because it's been quite a while since I last tried, but there is some option in there somewhere....... Anything useful in the BootMagic help documents?

Jason Rhinelander
Gossamer Threads
jason@gossamer-threads.com

Hi,

Thanks for all your responses guys.

Unfortunately neither way works. I had Win98 in C: and tried WinME in E: but no go, so I reformated C: and E: then installed WinME in E: and when I tried installing Win98 in C: it gave the same error so it looks like I can't do it.

I just reinstalled Win98 Second Edition from the backup image on one of my partitions, and everything is back to normal and much less cluttered

Is it worth my while trying with Win2000 or will the same thing happen?
Would I need another hard drive?

Installs:http://wiredon.net/gt
FAQ:http://www.perlmad.com

Hey Paul,

I have Windows 2000 and Windows 98 SE on one HDD and Linux on the other. I use Windows 2000 about 95% of the time. I found that Homesite runs much more stable and uses less resources in 2000. I was able to set up Apache and MySQL as a service which made testing scripts real easy through HomeSite. The only reason I keep 98 around is so I can play EverQuest and a few other games. I have Linux on my second hard drive but I came to the realization that I only know enough about it to be dangerous. I lost count of how many times I have had to reinstall it.

Regards,
Charlie

<EDIT>You should be able to install Windows 2000 and dual boot to 98 without any problems.</EDIT>

Yeah, Paul, like piper said...it should work great installing w2k. w2k should recognize win98 and create a dual boot prompt when your computer starts up. I have linux installed and use the linux bootloader lilo and it allows me to boot to all of them. Although, recently I screwed up windows 98 and haven't ever fixed it because I never use it. I use w2k 80% of the time and linux the other 20%.

Later,
Paul

http://www.fullmoonshining.com for Pearl Jam Fans