How write Disk Image from CD to USB Key? I have PLOP on 1.44mb Floppy

Brian_Pamo

Hi all

A lot of you have been helping me with a problem I have dealing with an old Laptop (COMPAQ EVO N110), which I simply MUST keep because of the old software on it (that in turn operates a piece of hardware that has a hardware dongle).  I know a lot of you will suggest buying a new laptop etc but it just isn't viable because of the machine that is controlled by this old laptop. Also, I am learning so much from you lot about disc images etc.
So, where I am up to now...
The laptop in question is so old (at least 20 years old) that it is not possible to boot from a USB key.  Therefore, I opened a thread on here and some kind folk gave me some excellent advice on making a boot disk on a 1.44 floppy (using PLOP).  Indeed, I did as instructed and made a boot disc of PLOP on a 1.44 Floppy and then sucesfully booted the old laptop into PLOP.  So, I then put the rescue discs (see below) in the CD Rom of the old machine and it is clear something is wrong with the CD Rom or its controller because it just won't read the disc and it also would not read the disc when I booted the laptop into the German, corrupted version of Win 98 (another story). 
So, what I want to do is transfer the rescue software and/or windows 8 from the rescue discs mentioned below to the USB key so I can install these rescue discs from there.  I sort of half half an idea what might be required and I guess there will have to be some image files written somewhere along the line?

So, I have 3 brand new discs that will hopefully allow me to restore the system.  These disks are labelled as follows:

DISK 1 of 2 is titled Compaq QuickRestore 110 Series
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disk 2 of 2 is titled as above
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disk 3 is titled Compaq QuickRestore W98 SE - CONTAINS SYSTEM AND APPLICATION RECOVERY
(Which I'm sure is Windows 8) which is exactly want I want.  The registration key is still on the machine so all is ok from there.  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, keeping in mind that it looks like the CD Drive is faulty (remember the age of this machine) I guess I somehow need some way of getting the software off these 3 discs into some sort of executable file. 
I'd be grateful for your advice guys.
I know some might say that this is a lot of messing around for such an old, decrepit laptop but aside from the fact that it is vital that I keep this laptop I really am enjoying learning from you lot.  So, with thanks in advance I await my next lesson.
Cheers all

Peter999_2

Hi Brian,

You don't have windows 8 you have windows 98 (as in 1998).   On the disc you should have the setup files which are a shed load of .CAB files and setup.exe.     In the old days when I was creating a base image for new laptops/desktops at work, I'd boot into windows using the floppy disk (and have the USB drivers on the floppy disk - you've not mentioned if there are USB drivers on the floppy you've created?).     You then use FDISK to format the hard drive and create a partition (let us know if you need help with this).   You then create a folder called C:\WINDOWS and another folder in there called CAB (therefore c:\windows\cab).  In the CAB folder, copy all of the Windows 98 CAB files.  In effect, copy the whole of the WIN98 folder (including subfolders) on the CD ROM to the CAB folder (copying the files from the CDROM to the USB key and then copying from USB key to the CAB folder)

Once this is done, you need to copy the SYS files from the floppy disk to the C: drive (this always sounds complicated but it's not).   When you have booted from the floppy drive, type in A: and press enter.   Then type SYS C: and press enter.   You can then remove the floppy drive and the PC will boot without needing the floppy.   Navigate to the c:\windows\cab folder and type in SETUP.EXE - you will then start the windows 98 setup - just follow the instructions.  

The good thing is that Windows 98SE had USB drivers built in so your USB stick should work in Windows.

Hope this helps.

Brian_Pamo

Peter999_2 said:

Hi Brian,

You don't have windows 8 you have windows 98 (as in 1998).  

Yes, Sorry I should have said that.  Silly error by me there.  The only thing I know about the floppy I booted into is that it is called Plop.  I genuinely have no idea what this contains. I read your post but I am confused about booting into windows using a floppy.  My problem is the fault with the CD Rom.  The sole reason I booted using Plop was so I could use files from a USB key.  I may be wrong but I think that booting into windows may not be of any help because of my need to access files on the USB key??
Thanks for your time.

tehone

I've tried several times on the other thread to help you, so let me try again
Find my post about Daemon Tools - it'll tell you the details

On a different computer, you can make the existing (physical CD) into a virtual file that can be copied onto a USB - this will let you copy it to the old laptop.
The old laptop can be "tricked" into thinking that this file is a CD, so you can take the path of least resistance in your case, which is to add the english language pack to your German Win 98 install

Brian_Pamo

tehone said:

I've tried several times on the other thread to help you, so let me try again

Indeed you have. Thank you for that. You’ll see that lots of people tried to help and I’ve been sort of doing boys here and there so I thank you for your continued help. 

I’ll do that tomorrow. 

Cheers 

HereToday

Brian_Pamo said:

Hi all

A lot of you have been helping me with a problem I have dealing with an old Laptop (COMPAQ EVO N110), which I simply MUST keep because of the old software on it (that in turn operates a piece of hardware that has a hardware dongle).  I know a lot of you will suggest buying a new laptop etc but it just isn't viable because of the machine that is controlled by this old laptop. Also, I am learning so much from you lot about disc images etc.
So, where I am up to now...
The laptop in question is so old (at least 20 years old) that it is not possible to boot from a USB key.  Therefore, I opened a thread on here and some kind folk gave me some excellent advice on making a boot disk on a 1.44 floppy (using PLOP).  Indeed, I did as instructed and made a boot disc of PLOP on a 1.44 Floppy and then sucesfully booted the old laptop into PLOP.  So, I then put the rescue discs (see below) in the CD Rom of the old machine and it is clear something is wrong with the CD Rom or its controller because it just won't read the disc and it also would not read the disc when I booted the laptop into the German, corrupted version of Win 98 (another story). 
So, what I want to do is transfer the rescue software and/or windows 8 from the rescue discs mentioned below to the USB key so I can install these rescue discs from there.  I sort of half half an idea what might be required and I guess there will have to be some image files written somewhere along the line?

So, I have 3 brand new discs that will hopefully allow me to restore the system.  These disks are labelled as follows:

DISK 1 of 2 is titled Compaq QuickRestore 110 Series
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disk 2 of 2 is titled as above
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disk 3 is titled Compaq QuickRestore W98 SE - CONTAINS SYSTEM AND APPLICATION RECOVERY
(Which I'm sure is Windows 8) which is exactly want I want.  The registration key is still on the machine so all is ok from there.  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, keeping in mind that it looks like the CD Drive is faulty (remember the age of this machine) I guess I somehow need some way of getting the software off these 3 discs into some sort of executable file. 
I'd be grateful for your advice guys.
I know some might say that this is a lot of messing around for such an old, decrepit laptop but aside from the fact that it is vital that I keep this laptop I really am enjoying learning from you lot.  So, with thanks in advance I await my next lesson.
Cheers all

https://archive.org/details/win98se_202012

droopsnoot

Brian_Pamo said:

Hi all
So, keeping in mind that it looks like the CD Drive is faulty (remember the age of this machine) 

As well as the other options, have you had a look for a machine of the same spec that you could use for spares? Or an external USB CD-ROM drive? (I think I have one of the latter in the shed, for example)

I recall reading that MacLaren had bought a pile of old Compaq laptops and kept them in a shed somewhere, because it was the only model that would run the diagnostics / setup software for the F1 supercar, and it was easier / cheaper to grab them off eBay when they appeared than to have the software rewritten. I believe advances in virtual machines have changed things, and they now run the stuff in that way, which might be worth looking at once you have things running again.

Neil_Jones

Virtual machines don't always notice the presence of security dongles, particularly if they're older ones that connect to serial or parallel ports (before Windows 98 came along, USB was only supported in Windows via what was dubbed "Windows 95 OSR/2", but you could only get this preinstalled on a new computer, it wasn't available to buy - if you wanted USB and you didn't need to buy a new computer (as they were quite costly at that point - four digits were quite common) you had to wait for 98 to come out).  If the situation is purely software that runs in its own environment and doesn't need to talk to something else and is happy in what is effectively its own little world, a virtual machine will almost certainly suffice.  If it needs to talk to a dongle or an external peripheral, you may have an issue in a virtual machine.

tehone

Neil_Jones said:

Virtual machines don't always notice the presence of security dongles, particularly if they're older ones that connect to serial or parallel ports (before Windows 98 came along, USB was only supported in Windows via what was dubbed "Windows 95 OSR/2", but you could only get this preinstalled on a new computer, it wasn't available to buy - if you wanted USB and you didn't need to buy a new computer (as they were quite costly at that point - four digits were quite common) you had to wait for 98 to come out).  If the situation is purely software that runs in its own environment and doesn't need to talk to something else and is happy in what is effectively its own little world, a virtual machine will almost certainly suffice.  If it needs to talk to a dongle or an external peripheral, you may have an issue in a virtual machine.

I wasn't suggesting it as solution to bypass the security dongle - (which are a nightmare!!)

I believe the OP has the laptop they need, but its running a German version of Windows, so I'm suggesting it as a way of running the install language CD to install an English version (or run the install process on top of the existing windows).

Brian_Pamo

tehone said:

Neil_Jones said:

Virtual machines don't always notice the presence of security dongles, particularly if they're older ones that connect to serial or parallel ports (before Windows 98 came along, USB was only supported in Windows via what was dubbed "Windows 95 OSR/2", but you could only get this preinstalled on a new computer, it wasn't available to buy - if you wanted USB and you didn't need to buy a new computer (as they were quite costly at that point - four digits were quite common) you had to wait for 98 to come out).  If the situation is purely software that runs in its own environment and doesn't need to talk to something else and is happy in what is effectively its own little world, a virtual machine will almost certainly suffice.  If it needs to talk to a dongle or an external peripheral, you may have an issue in a virtual machine.

I wasn't suggesting it as solution to bypass the security dongle - (which are a nightmare!!)

I believe the OP has the laptop they need, but its running a German version of Windows, so I'm suggesting it as a way of running the install language CD to install an English version (or run the install process on top of the existing windows).

Hi guys
Just to clarify...I already have the laptop I need.  I waited a very long time to get hold of this SPECIFIC model (because of a hardware dongle that will be plugged into it).  I eventually got the machine off Ebay from Germany.  However, it arrived with a (semi) corrupt version of German windows installed.  I now know the CD Rom drive controller doesn't work so my only option is to install an image of Windows 98 from a USB key.  As stated, a few of you have ggiven me instructions how I can do this so if you don't mind I will come back later and let you know how I fared.
Thanks again all.

Peter999_2

Hi Brian.     If you go to this page and create a floppy MSDOS boot disk with USB support.   You then boot from the floppy and follow my previous instructions. 

https://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2018-02-05-USB-in-MS-DOS-and-Win98.htm

Hope this helps.