This tutorial is aimed at people who are having major problems with their Windows 98 machines and want to reformat them. Basically, reformatting includes wiping the entire contents of your hard drive, and starting over by reinstalling windows from scratch. This also includes installing all of your programs again. I make no guarantees of anything on this page, and, you are doing all this at your own risk (Basically, don't sue me if you lose nuclear secrets or just love letters due to this. I am offering this advice free of charge, and make no guarantees whatsoever).

To format your computer, you will need:

• Drivers for ALL your hardware. This includes motherboard, soundcard, videocard, network card, modem, etc
• CDROM DOS based drivers
• Windows 98 CD
• Blank Floppies
• CD's of any other programs you may wish to install
• Backups of all your Critical files including: Documents, Email, Favorites, etc

The first thing you need to do is back up all your data - Usually this includes your 'My Documents' folder, your 'Favorites' (or bookmarks for you netscape users), your ICQ/AOL instant Messenger Lists, any setup programs you may have lying around, configuration files, etc. Once you have these backed up on something such as a CD-R or a bunch of floppies, put them somewhere safe. You'll need/want them later.

The next thing to do is to put your blank floppy disk in the floppy drive. You will be creating a system boot disk. Go to the Start Menu and Choose "Run". Type in "format a: /s" (without the " of course). A DOS window will pop up... Just follow the instructions. When it asks Format Another? Choose N for No. Now we need to add a few programs to this floppy to make it worthwhile. First, we need to download delpart.exe (Right Click and choose SAVE TARGET AS) to the floppy, as this will be used to delete the partitions on your hard drive. (Don't worry if you don't know what a partition is).

The next step will be to copy fdisk.exe, format.com and mscdex.exe from the C:\Windows\Command\ folder to the floppy. To do so, go to the Start Menu --> Run --> Type in "explorer.exe" and hit enter. You will want to go to the C:\Windows\Command directory and left click on command.com, then hold down ctrl, and click fdisk.exe and mscdex.exe. While still holding down the ctrl button, right click on one of the files and choose "Copy". Now go to the A: Drive and right click and choose "Paste". You now have your boot disk ready.

Leaving the boot disk in your disk drive, reboot the computer. It should boot to the floppy drive. When it finishes loading, you should be given a command prompt. Type in delpart.exe and hit enter. You will be presented with a warning - just hit ok. Once you are in there, delete all partitions and exit, saving your changes. It will ask you to restart, so do so, and boot to the floppy again. This time you need to type in fdisk. It will ask you if you want to use Large Block Mode, you will want to say yes. Once you are in fdisk, you will want to choose 1 (Create new Primary dos partition). It will ask you if you want to use the entire space for the partition and make it active - choose yes. It will verify the disk, and then will say that you need to reboot. Do so, and boot yet again to the floppy. Once you get to the command prompt, type in format c: /s. It will ask you if you are sure, just choose Y. It should take a little while for your hard drive to format, depending on how large your hard disk is. Once it is done it asks you for a drive label... Just leave it blank in most cases (unless you wanna name your drive something). Once you are back at the command prompt, type in copy mscdex.exe c: and hit enter. Once the file copies, restart your machine, taking the floppy out. It should boot to your hard disk this time.

Once you have a command prompt, you will need to put in your CDROM driver disk. The setup of these should be self explanatory.. Usually its just a matter of running a:\install.exe or a:\setup.exe. Consult your CDROM manufacturer if you need help.

Once you have your CDROM drivers installed, reboot your computer. Your computer should now detect the CDROM when it boots up. Put in the windows 98 CD and type in mkdir win98 at the command prompt (while you are still on the C: Drive). Then we'll assume your CDROM drive is drive D: - go to D:\win98 (d: then cd win98) and type in copy *.* c:\win98. Allow the files to copy over and then type in C: and then cd win98. Pull out your Windows 98 CD and type in setup /is. Windows setup should initilize. The setup at this point is pretty much self-explanatory. Just install windows, then setup all the hardware from driver disks. Then, install all your programs and restore your files from backup and you should be all set. Good Luck.

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