Win98 FE Toshiba Tecra8000, safe mode only after generic driver updates

I'll be as thorough as I can, I've tried so many things that I can't possibly list them all.

I'm playing around with this OS for the first time in twenty years- I was very excited to find a functioning Toshiba Tecra 8000 for 29.99 (Canadian!) at Value Village. It boots, I putter around in the system, I ordered a new CMOS battery for it but otherwise it was a functioning Windows 98 FE computer. I even played a spot of original Star Craft, installed from a disc I found at the same time. Good fun.

Of course, it was just the computer loose (with charger cable) and no software or accessories. I do not have an original copy of Windows 98.

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The laptop: Pentium II 64m ram, Windows 98 FE. It has a CD drive (no floppy) and a USB port.

The Problem: My PLAN was to clone the HD and then do a fresh install. In order to do that I wanted access to the USB port for flash drives (mass media storage), so I downloaded the file from here: http://www.synthmind.com/W98_USB_Drivers.htm and yes I was sure to download the FE version- the link in the first section specifically.

I ran the installer, I don't remember exactly which settings I selected (and can't run it anymore to try to remember) then came time to reboot and... it just sat on the windows splash screen. It doesn't make it past the windows 98 splash screen anymore.

What I tried: It can boot in Safe Mode. I had thought "oh, well, I was gonna update to SE anyways sooo-" but safe mode, and DOS, don't inherently support the CD drive. And obviously the USB doesn't work for data transfer, and I don't have a floppy drive (not that I'd have any floppies, or even if I had floppies I have no other way to create a floppy boot disk).

In the bios I have set the computer to prioritize booting from CD-ROM, I can hear the CD drive trying to read on startup, but I have no way if the ISOs I burnt to CD are actually "good", or maybe burning them on a modern computer (windows 11) causes issues.

I've looked up a few instructions for getting DOS or Safe Mode to recognize the CD, edited a few sys files (and then reverted them after it didn't work) but most solutions involve installing drivers that I can't get on to the computer with no CD Drive and no working boot disk/not reading boot disk.

I'm pretty stumped. I spent probably 6 hours last night digging through 20 year old forum posts. I can poke around and edit things in Safe Mode or DOS but I can't ADD anything to the computer, like new drivers or anything. It's like talking to someone through glass but not actually being able to touch haha

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I'm burnt out enough that I'm thinking the only solution might be to order two floppy drives- one proprietary one for the tecra and one usb one for my other computers to burn a create floppy- but that would involve probably 100 dollars on ebay and local computer store (respectively) for something that still might not work. Or maybe luck out at a thrift store and find an original windows 98 CD, which might fare better than the burnt ISOs. Regardless, the thing is just a paper weight right now with a stack of thrifted windows 98 games waiting patiently to be installed.

Go to the below link and download the Windows 98SE OEM Full which is the only version that bootable without the need for a startup floppy. Burn the iso to a CD. The page also lists some keys you can use.

https://winworldpc.com/product/windows-98/98-second-edition

You will have to delete the existing partition on the laptop's HDD

Once install you can update to the generic USB drivers here.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/704794/usb-drivers/?p=4878142

Don't download any software from the first link. Only use the instructions for installing the generic drivers. You can get the driver from the archive.org link.

https://web.archive.org/web/20190920070243/http://www.technical-assistance.co.uk/drivers/nusb33e.exe

Wow, thanks so much for the fast response! I'll do that as soon as I get home in a couple hours.

Edited by Yancakes, 22 October 2023 - 03:19 PM.

Yes, the bootable CD should work if I can remember correctly.  If it doesn't you can use a Hirens 14 iso to do the same thing but I will check my bootable WIN98SE CD.

https://www.hirensbootcd.org/hbcd-v140/

I booted a Win98SE CD. When at the prompt select 2, not 1. This will give you a prompt. At the prompt type D then enter to change the drive letter to D. At the D prompt type fdisk. This will start the utility to delete any existing partition and allow you to format the disk as FAT32. After the disk is partitioned and formatted boot again and then select 1 to start the Windows 98SE setup.

Welp. When CD isn't prioritized it goes from the toshiba splash screen to windows in a few seconds. When it is, but nothing bootable is there, it takes maybe half a minute or more. This time it took several minutes, but ultimately just took me back to the regular windows 98 splash screen, which is where it stops. It's been almost 10 minutes, I'll let it sit a while longer and then I'll try it again, but it's not looking hopeful so far.

EDIT: Unless I misunderstood and should be formatting first?

EDIT2: The second time it stood on the splash screen for a while then dumped into safe mode.

Edited by Yancakes, 22 October 2023 - 06:16 PM.

To clarify, by at the prompt do you still mean to select "boot without cd support"?

Select Boot with CD support. You may have to change the boot priority in your BIOS settings so the CD drive is top priority.

Just to confirm, did you download the OEM Full version. That would be the second from the top in the link I provided. How did you burn the iso file?

I did download the OEM Full version. I burned the iso on to a blank CD using Windows 11's built in burning system. It's the only thing I've used for a few years, should I be using something else?

No, if you burned the iso with Windows 11 you should be good to go. The CD does not boot to the window where you can select "Boot with CD support"?

Nope. It hangs on the toshiba splash screen (which has no information on it, it's just their logo and slogan) for a few moments and then switches to the (toshiba branded) windows 98 splash screen.

I just tried it a third time, still no dice.

It makes me anxious that if I format anything I won't be able to boot from the CD. Is it just, like, a possibility that this laptop can't boot from a CD? Again, it ONLY has a CD drive, no floppy- it actually has a port on the side specifically for plugging in an external floppy drive.

Reading this: https://support.dynabook.com/support/viewContentDetail?contentId=108471 implies in method 2 that you can do it with just a CD, but it's anxiety inducing to potentially reduce this to a state where I can't do ANYTHING with it lol

And I know the CD drive definitely works, as I previously installed Rollercoaster Tycoon on it from CD.

EDIT: Actually, the above link says this:

Copy the Windows 98 CD-ROM ([approximately 200Meg])
installation files to the Tecra C Drive (Method 2 only)

But as it stands, I can't access the CD ROM via dos, so I don't even know how I would do that?

Edited by Yancakes, 22 October 2023 - 09:33 PM.

Even if you format the HDD the CD should still boot. The laptop should boot from a CD. When you look at the contents of the CD you see a number of files, correct?

In the Dynabook link you posted it says there is a Windows 98 BIOS. I'm not sure what that means. I assume you have that as you are booting Windows 98FE.

Edit: I'm going to be off until tomorrow morning.

Edited by JohnC_21, 22 October 2023 - 09:47 PM.

Ahahaha, a big "well there's your problem" moment- no. The iso file is just burned to the CD. Like, the contents of the CD is a single file called "Windows 98 Second Edition.iso". Oops. Good thing I got a stack of blank CDs yesterday.