Clean Install Tips

[Vidgal]

My dualhead problem is solved, but I still feel I need (another) clean install due to various stability problems. Any tips on this process would be appreciated. My system specs are as follows:

Motherboard: Asus A7V133
CPU: Anthlon 1 gig
OS: Win 98SE
Video Card/Capture: Matrox G400-TV
Soundcard: Santa Cruz
Firewire Card: Pyro Pro (hasn't yet been installed)
Essential Software: MS Pro 6; Nero (currently version 5.0); Photoshop 4, MS Word

I am running BIOS that came with the motherboard in March and was using VIA 4 in 1 v. 4.29. I plan to leave the BIOS alone, but try not installing the VIA drivers. If I need AGP, I will install that only. Despite what it says on the viahard.com site, these drivers do not have an uninstall feature -- at least not one I can find.

Any particular order I should use? Anything I am running/installing that presents problems?

If this doesn't work, I guess I have to eat it on this VIA board and go back to Intel chipsets.

[KRSESQ]

FWIW I also have a VIA chipset board (although not in the league you're playing ) and things work a lot better with just the Win98 installed drivers. My performance and stability have always taken hits from the VIA 4 in 1 drivers. If there is a seperate AGP driver for your mobo use that rather than the 4 in 1 AGP driver. For my system the stand-alone driver was a more recent revision and subsequently more robust than any of the 4 in 1's I tried.

My install sequence:

1. Clean reformat with either bootable cdrom or boot disk with cdrom drivers.
2. Win98 install, Custom setup with all multimedia options.

After Win98 setup is complete I like to reboot the system a few times and play a couple games of Solitaire to make sure it's behaving.

3. DirectX (ver. 7.0a), reboot then DirectX media 6.0. Reboot.

Some may argue over the necessity of the constant rebooting. It just seems to work best this way on my system.

4. VIA AGP driver. Reboot.

5. VIA IRQ routing driver (stand-alone - not the 4 in 1 version). Reboot.

6. Matrox Powerdesk (ver 5.41). You guessed it--Reboot. Adjust display properties.

7. Matrox Video Tools (ver 1.52).

When you install Windows it will detect all of the PnP devices, prompt you for disks, etc. It will install a standard PCI VGA driver for the video. Your sound card will probably be the first thing working. Otherwise, if you follow this basic outline you should do okay.

One thing I will never do (and I advise you to avoid it at all costs as well) is install the VIA supplied Bus Master driver. Whether the 4 in 1 or the stand-alone flavor, it has ALWAYS seriously degraded my hard drive - capture performance. VIA tech support (ha ha) has never offered any explaination why this should be or how to fix it. It may be an idiosyncracy of my system or it may be the source of all the PCI bus problems legions of other VIA chipset board users have reported.

I also flashed my BIOS after my last install but that was an effort to solve a problem that turned out to be my power supply.

My BIOS settings probably won't be much use for you (Award v.4.51). There are LOTS of postings for optimizing BIOS settings for peak performance all over the forum.

Good luck and have fun and keep a friend's web connection handy in case you have to search for more info midstream!

Kevin

[cjyo~]

here's my favorite guide - scroll down to Pertti's install info:

http://forums.murc.ws/ubb/Forum2/HTML/005214.html

[Brian Ellis]

I keep a little notebook for each computer in which I've jotted down all the installation details of each app, driver and utility on that computer (one page for each). If I modify a config for an app (e.g., even down to detailed set-ups), I note how I do it (it is often so different for each one that one wastes time seeking where to do this or that).

This means I can back up all my data onto CD-RWs, re-full-format all the partitions, re-install Win, re-install all the necessary, restore the data and bob's your uncle, it's done with minimum hassle and time wasted. It's reduced the time for a clean re-install by >50% to everything I need working correctly, as I want it (and usually reduces the registry by anything from 20 to 40%). I recommend it typically about once every 3 months for intensive use or even sooner if things seem to go visibly haywire.

------------------
Brian (the terrible)

[elfredo]

I really recommend 98lite

http://www.98lite.net/98lite.html

The free preview can be used for an unlimited time. Choose sleek install.
I suggest to disable any install-options (even multimedia) and install a raw win 98 (without GodDa**Mo**aFu**in*InternetExpl****)
and install only the software, drivers and codecs you really need.

Friedrich

[This_Idiot]

Although it won't help you this time round, another trick that the beta boys use all the time is to set up minimum system configurations and then use Ghost to take drive images. These can then be stored on CD's and used to restore the system whenever you need them. You can take this one step further and do the Ghost after you've installed your main apps software (or even before installing something that you don't trust).

[Vidgal]

Thanks for all the help! Should be a fun weekend. It wasn't too bad last time around, as I have all necessary drivers and such stored in one place.