Hi, I'm a noobie to the forums and I'm not an expert with computers so forgive me if my question is stupid.

I bought a new 160GB Maxtor hard drive and Windows 98 to install on my computer. I unscrewed my old hard drive, and then screwed in the new one. I then followed the instructions in the Windows 98 book, which were to insert the Windows 98 STARTUP Disk into the floppy drive, followed by the CD. I then typed 1, pressed ENTER and it begins the set up process for a moment but then a blue screen appears that says:


Setup cannot install Windows 98 on your computer.

Your computer does not have a hard disk, your hard disk is not functioning correctly, or your hard disk requires a SPECIAL device driver. Contact your computer vendor for assistance.


Then my only option is to press F3 and exit the setup. So then I'm back to the blank black screen that now says:


E:\WIN98>


If I type in setup it again prepares to setup but then says:


Cannot create a temporary directory.
If you have HPFS or NTFS installed on your hard drive, you will need to create an MS-DOS boot partition to set up Windows.


Now I am completely clueless as what to do from here. I just want to get Windows 98 up and running along with the new hard drive. This is part of a project I am doing for school, so any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

-ScottEnsure that the master/slave jumper settings are correct and that hard drive detection in your BIOS is set to "Auto".
But....... Even if the BIOS sees the hard drive, I suspect that Win98 will have great difficulty in using it. If it's useable (Probably OK with OVERLAY software), it will more than likely need to be partitioned.
Are you using Win98 or Win98SE?I'm using Win98SE

How do I ensure that the hard drive detection in my BIOS is set to "Auto"? What is my BIOS?nside:

There should be a message that appears on the monitor when you first start the computer that says something like, "Press F1 to enter setup". Press the key indicated on your keyboard.

Are you sure you both set the jumper and connected the ribbon cable to the MOTHERBOARD correctly?

http://images.google.com/images?q=maxtor+jumper&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images

Let us know,
DocMost of these are now obsolete but here's a small collection of BIOS entry key combos:

ACER - CTL ALT ESC

AMI BIOS - DEL, F1 or F2

AST, Advantage, Award, Tandon - CTL ALT ESC

Award BIOS - DEL or CTL ALT ESC

Compaq - F10

DELL - F1 or DEL or CTL ALT ENTER

DTK BIOS - Esc

Gateway 2000 - F1

Hewlett Packard - F1

IBM
Older Models - In order to get into the configuration of the IBM setup screen CMOS screen you need to hold down both mouse buttons during bootup.
Aptiva - F1
PS/2 - CTL ALT INS after CTL ALT DEL
PS/2 with reference partition - INS

NEC - F2

Olivetti PC Pro - SHIFT CTL ALT Numpad DEL

Packard Bell - F1 or F2

Phoenix BIOS F1 or F2, or CTL ALT ESC or CTL ALT S or CTL S or CTL ALT INS

Sharp Laptop 9020 - F2

Sony - F3 at switchon, then F2 or F1

Tandon - CTL SHIFT ESC

Toshiba - ESC at switchon

Zenith - CTL ALT INS

Miscellaneous - CTL ESC or CTL ALT +Backdated:

Comprehensive list. You should consider posting it i the Q&A forum, or asking one of the Q&A Admins to post it for you.

DocIf anyone wants to repack it and move it, they are free to do so.

As I said though, much of it is now probably obsolete.