[Ham-Computers] Windows 98 re-loading problem

[Karty, Steven]

Dave,

I just ran across your following message:  Have you tried replacing the
"brand-new CD-RW" drive?  Hopefully, you still have the old original CD-R
drive and you can go back to using it.  Most likely the "brand-new CD-RW"
drive is marginal.

I don't think that the CD itself would go bad but if reinstalling the
original CD-R drive doesn't fix things, then I guess that the CD is bad.
You might be able to write a nice note to Microsoft asking them to replace
it:  Since they probably won't have any Win 98 CDs leftover, they might
offer to give you a free copy of Win XP Pro instead.  But your letter or
note to Microsoft would have to be phrased very nicely.         

73, Steven - N5SK

-----Original Message-----
From: Dave W8NF [mailto:w8nflists@yahoo.com]
Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2004 2:23 AM
To: ham-computers@mailman.qth.net
Cc: w8nflists@yahoo.com
Subject: [Ham-Computers] Windows 98 re-loading problem

Honest, we keep this PC 'clean'.  It's a simple
machine - lil' old 200MHz P-Pro maxed out with 192Meg
of RAM and a 60G HD and a brand-new CD-RW.  In terms
of software, just the OS, MS Office, a few contest
logging programs (which actually run in DOS), ELNEC
and W6ELprop.

Six months ago, I made the mistake of downloading the
"latest" HP printer driver for our aging LaserJet.  It
completely corrupted our ability to print.  Dozens of
hours of troubleshooting attempts, and I gave up - the
driver installer is auto-running something that hooks
the printer port, and I can't figure out what it is. 
So, at the suggestion of an HP tech, I decided to
re-install Windows 98.  I waited this long because my
wife and I were both in school and could not afford to
be without the PC for even a day.

Well, darn....I boot the machine from the W98 boot
floppy, let it go through the "testing your machine"
rigamarole, and then let 'er rip installing files.  It
only gets so far, then declares that is is not capable
of reading the CD!  Have tried a half dozen times,
both over-writing the present installation, and also
doing a clean install.  Same error every time.  This
is the original CD that I used to install the OS the
first time.

Is it possible for the CD to have corrupted?  I've
never had that happen before.  The CD surface looks
just fine.  Should I consider getting another
distribution CD?

At a loss here, looking for suggestions...!

Thanks,

Dave W8NF