Re: computer Compaq Presario 5301 vintage 1999. OS Windows 98. I am considering erasing my hard drive and starting over. I have a Windsows 98SE which says ; for distribution with a new PC only and on the bottom section says; Microsoft Windows 98 for PCs without windows. Question; Will this CD serve as my re installation disk? Thanks

Most probably Yes.

Just plug the CD in and boot off it. (Make sure you have set the boot order with CD first ad hard disk second in the BIOS)

If the setup starts fine, then its ok.

Your going to need the product key so make sure you have that.

Now to do the job correctly you are better of formatting the drive so its all clean and it checks fore any drive errors when its formatted. First of all you need to save all your important files so you don't loose them. Either burn them to a CD or get a flash drive that compatible with Win98SE.

You can download a boot disk from here. You can get either a Win98SE or a WinME they both do the same job. Once you have a boot disk made up you need start you comp up with the boot disk inserted. If it doesn't start to read the floppy drive first you need to change the boot sequence in the BIOS/CMOS to boot from floppy first. After you have started up from floppy and you get to the A:\ just type in Format C: and follow the instructions. After the drive has been formatted you need to go back and change the boot sequence again so it boots from the CD Rom. Start the comp up again with the Win98SE CD inserted and follow the installation procedure.

Now the only other problem you could have is the drivers for your additional hardware e.g. sound card, graphics card, printer, scanner etc. You maybe able to get these of the manufacturers web site or you could search DriverGuide.