Check your current configuration
By: Arie Slob
Disk Space Requirements
The amount of disk space required to install Windows 98 (obviously) varies with your type of hardware and the components you choose to install. Some rough approximations:
| Installation method |
Disk space required |
Typical disk space used |
| Windows 95 upgrade | 120 - 295MB | 195MB |
| Windows/WfW 3.1x upgrade | 120 - 295MB | 195MB |
| New installation (FAT16 file system) | 165 - 355MB | 225MB |
| New installation (FAT32 file system) | 140 - 255MB | 175MB |
|
Network installation
On the server On the client |
165 - 355MB
170MB 175 - 225MB |
225MB
170MB 200MB |
Read more information on the FAT32 file system.
Hardware Requirements
Windows 98 is designed for computers that use Intel x86-based processors and compatibles. It cannot be installed on any other processor.
Windows 98 does not have symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) support and, therefore, cannot take advantage of multiple processors. This means that if you install Windows 98 on a system with multiple processors, only 1 processor will be used. Multiple processors are supported by Windows NT.
| Component | Minimum requirement |
| Disk space | See above |
| Processor | 486DX/66MHz 1) |
| Memory | 16MB 2) |
| Monitor | VGA (16 color) |
1) We don't recommend running Windows 98 on anything less then a Pentium Processor.
2) We don't recommend running Windows 98 with less then 32MB of memory.
More Information on specific hardware can be found on the Microsoft Hardware Compatibility List
Software Requirements
You can install Windows 98 on systems running the following software:
- MS-DOS v 5.0 (or later)
- Windows/Windows for Wourkgroups 3.1x
- Dual boot OS/2 (with MS-DOS)
- Dual boot Windows NT (with MS-DOS)
More Information on specific software can be found on the Microsoft Software Compatibility List
If you want to set up Windows 98 to dual boot with another (Microsoft) operating system, your C drive must be FAT16
You cannot install Windows 98 on a computer which uses the HPFS (High Performance File System) or Windows NT's NTFS file systems. Even if you install Windows 98 in a FAT partition (on the C drive), Windows 98 cannot access partitions formatted with these file systems. Windows NT cannot access partitions formatted with FAT32 (note: FAT32 will apparently be supported in Windows NT 5.0).
If you believe Microsoft, you can't dual boot Windows 98 with Windows 95. However you can read dual boot Windows 98 & Windows 95 to see how it can be done.
Make sure that your network software is running correctly before you start Windows 98 Setup. Windows 98 Setup uses the settings from the existing network configuration to set up the new configuration. Check the Windows 98 Readme file for additional networking software information.
If you are running Setup from a Windows/Windows for Workgroups 3.1x-based computer that has Novell Client for Windows 95/98 or real-mode Artisoft LANtastic, Setup will fail. You must remove these components before running Setup.
If your computer has Windows 95 installed, make sure you have the Windows 95 boot disk available during Setup, in case of a Windows 98 Setup failure.