Member Avatar for Mr. M

I'm in a lot of trouble now. My neighbor's PC was acting really really slow, couldn't open this and that and AV had conflict, etc. So I volunteered myself to be Mr. Fix-it and took the PC home, wiped the drive, and starting to reinstall everything.

After installing a known good version of Win98 SE (for 800MHz machine with 128MB RAM), it has ? with the onboard Ethernet, video and audio, won't find the proper drivers from the Win98 CD, nor the ATI driver CD in the video's case. Now I have no internet connection, graphics run at 16 colors, and no sound. And I have to face my neighbors. :(

Yes I formated the drive with format c: /s, fdisk-ed it first, no errors.

PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Dani AI

Generated

As noted, discovering what hardware is actually inside the box was the turning point — Everest (or a similar hardware ID tool) gives concrete vendor/device identifiers that make driver hunting practical. For vintage Dell systems (Dimension 8100 in this case) the most common reason a fresh Windows 98 SE install looks crippled is simply missing chipset/motherboard and vendor drivers, not physical failure.

A reliable, low-risk workflow that matches the thread experience:

  1. Inventory hardware with Everest or an equivalent tool so PCI vendor/device IDs are known.
  2. Install the motherboard/chipset drivers first — this lets the OS enumerate integrated devices correctly.
  3. Install video and audio drivers next, then the network driver (or network immediately after chipset if internet access is needed to fetch remaining files).
  4. If the vendor (Dell) site lists many variants, match the PCI IDs from the report to the correct device entry; Service Tag can help but can still list multiple factory options.

If official Win98 drivers are missing, search manufacturer archives for legacy drivers or use the PCI vendor/device ID lookup to locate the exact driver package. Drivers built for Windows 2000 occasionally contain Win98-compatible .inf/.sys files that can be extracted and installed manually, but this is hit-or-miss and should be attempted only after backing up the disk. Because Windows 98 lacks modern restore features, creating a full disk image before experimenting is strongly recommended.

Credit to for pointing to chipset-first troubleshooting and to for confirming Everest’s usefulness and that the strategy resolves graphics/audio/network problems. The practical takeaway: identify precisely, install chipset first, collect driver files offline if necessary, and keep a backup image before making changes.

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Member Avatar for Thong_Ispector

Start with Everest from lavalys to identify what hardware you have.
(Free for non-business user)

Ask your neighbor for any driver discs that came with his PC...
Specifically one for the motherboard...

Start searching the internet for any drivers that you dont have...

You will probably also need to have direct X available...
(Also a free download)

Many, many people have done what you have when trying to help a neighbor...


Good Luck...

Member Avatar for Mr. M

Thanks for your help. I've already searched through their big box of CDs for drivers, since they don't know what they have, and there is no motherboard driver CD. It's a secondhand Dell box, so they don't even have specs or original Dell CDs.

For a second I considered it might be a hardware thing, but it worked, however slowly it might be, just before I formatted it. So I'm sure it's the drivers.

Member Avatar for Catweazle

Then you need to identify precisely what model Dell it is and download device drivers from Dell's website.

Member Avatar for Mr. M

Then you need to identify precisely what model Dell it is and download device drivers from Dell's website.

That's another dumb thing about the Dell site I don't understand. The box comes with a Service Tag number, and theoretically I punch it in on the site and they should know exactly what I have in the box, assuming it's all still factory. But it only gives me a list of categories, and under each category there are tons of choices of video cards, for example.

Shouldn't it KNOW what they shipped?

Member Avatar for Catweazle

Isn't there a model name and number on the computer case?

Member Avatar for Mr. M

Isn't there a model name and number on the computer case?

Yes, it's Dimension 8100.

Member Avatar for Catweazle

Download the chipset driver from here.

Install it on that Dell. Then download and install Everest Home Edition on it and generate a report to identify which of the other device drivers on that download page you need!

Let us know if you have any trouble identifying specific devices from Everest's report.

Member Avatar for Mr. M

That Everest software is amazing!!

My 3 major problems:
1. Network card: 3Com 3C920 Integrated Fast Ethernet COntroller
2. Audio: Creative SB PCI128
3. Video: nVidia RIVA TNT2 M64

On with the hunting of drivers!

Member Avatar for Mr. M

Got the nvidia and SB drivers!

Still having trouble getting the 3Com 3C920 driver. Seems that it's for Win2K not Win98. Hmmmmm......

Member Avatar for Mr. M

All Done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks For Your Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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