Can dell D531 install window98??

can Dell Latitude D531 install window98?? if can, what driver or procedure that need to do??

 

I know it's not exactly the same as the Latitude D531, but, for what it's worth, I tried installing Windows 98 on my Inspiron 1520 (natively, not virtual machine). It got up to 61%, at which point it wanted my to insert a disk (presumably floppy) into drive B:. Not having an external floppy drive, this meant that I was unable to finish the installation.

This was an upgrade edition (from 3.11), so perhaps a full install would be successful. I think mine hung up on making a backup bootable floppy (which one would think would be optional - nevertheless it didn't give me an option during installation, even if it could be turned off some other way). But even presuming a full install didn't get hung up there, you'd run into problems with more than 1 GB of memory and possibly a whole slew of other issues. That's what happened with Windows 95 for me - I was able to complete the installation successfully (also 3.11 upgrade edition), but it failed completely to boot up thereafter. And by completely, I mean completely - no safe mode or anything.

That said, I was able to succesfully install Windows 3.11 and get it working decently well natively. It wasn't perfect - 386 Enhanced Mode didn't work and it didn't seem to acknowledge all the memory (though it used enough to run perfectly quickly) - but it did work. I'm not sure you want to go that far back, though - Internet connection and compatibility becomes a bit of a problem then.

You could install Windows 98 in a virtual machine fairly easily. Virtual PC is free and has Windows 98 support, allowing virtually seamless integration (at least theoretically). It runs on Windows Vista, XP, and 2000 (only professional versions of those officially supported but it runs on Home as well). Speaking of which, Windows 2000 is probably your best bet on a Windows OS if you don't want XP or Vista.

 

Yes, but there are no drivers for it.

 

Can i just ask WHY???

I can understand XP, but win 98??? There would be no sense in getting a new computer for that.

 

it use for the purpose at my company. Some of the software need using the MS-DOS to run the system. and the software only support win98 else it won't work.

 

brkhobowriter, you mean can ?but only don't have the driver?

 

Apollo13,
thank for your advice.
but D531 is not support win98.but some of the system or software I need is only usable in win98 enviroment. i can't install win98 in D531. can anyone else give me a solution?

 

I would go the Virtual PC route like Apollo 13 said. You run it from within windows vista/XP, so you dont' have to replace your operating system, you'll just launch Virtual PC-pick the Virtual Machine you created, let it boot, and get started. I use it for Ubuntu, works great.

 

ok, tell me this is a joke!!!
Win 98 FOR WHAT?????

 

Read the above comments and you'll find out why.

 

I suggest you download and install Vmware server ( free !!) and create a win98 VM. This way you use the VM when you need to run those obsolete apps and gives you the option to turn win 98 off and enjoy xp/vista at other times. Even attempting win98 dual boot is not worth it.

 

how can i install virtual machine to use window98. can anyone tell me ??
thank.

 

Google is your friend!

 

Exactly what I was going to say.

Also, I would NOT want to connect a Win 98 machine to the internet. It's just hopelessly insecure (and insecurable) and it'll have viruses within minutes. However, with virtualization, you can connect a modern OS to the internet, and keep Win98 isolated.

VirtualBox, Virtual PC, and VMWare Server are some free virtualization options.
Paid options include VMWare Workstation and also Parallels... and probably some others I don't even know about.