Windows 98SE on a Dell Mini 10

Windows 98SE on a Dell Mini 10 Do SATA drivers even exist?

#1 treelzebub

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Posted 22 January 2010 - 06:07 PM

Hi all! Long-time reader, first-time poster.

For reasons I need not get into here, I would like to install Windows 98SE on my Dell Mini Inspiron 1011 [specs below]. I know it's a bit ridiculous to even ask, but do Win98 SATA drivers for my chipset even exist? I went to the Dell Support site, and they don't even offer SATA drivers for XP on their web site, let alone any legacy support.

I will settle for installing windows 2000 sp4 if anyone thinks those SATA drivers exist. Any suggestions beyond "forget about it, kid"?

Thanks!
-Tre

Laptop Specs:
CPU: Intel Atom N270 (1.6GHz)
HDD: Seagate Momentus 5400.4 (SATA; 120GB)
RAM: 1GB
BIOS ver: A06

#2 ThunderZ

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Posted 22 January 2010 - 06:15 PM

Google comes up with this when searching win2k sata support. From glancing at a couple it would appear 2k may be possible.

I won`t say "forget about it, kid" regarding 98. But I will say "Good luck".

#3 treelzebub

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Posted 22 January 2010 - 06:25 PM

Thanks! I'm aware of people who have installed 2k on SATA drives, however I wondered if my specific chipset were supported in any capacity. I am Googling and searching forums as best I can... but, to be honest, of all the drivers I've downloaded in the past 20 years, legacy SATA drivers are by far the most elusive.

Thanks for your help!

#4 garmanma

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Posted 22 January 2010 - 07:43 PM

I believe a BIOS flash might be in order
It was for my Thinkpad at least

Mark

why won't my laptop work?

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#5 treelzebub

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Posted 22 January 2010 - 09:15 PM

Thanks, garmanma-- can you be more specific? How can this help get me working SATA drivers for either Win98 or 2k? Sorry, I consider myself an advanced Windows user, but this is new territory for me.

#6 OldPhil

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Posted 23 January 2010 - 11:05 AM

Boot the machine up hit F2 to get into setup, you should be able to see if in fact the bios has SATA settings. If it has them you should not have to do the bios over, if not like Mark says do it. Go to the board manufacturers site and get the latest edition, then do a little reading to get yourself comfortable doing it, take your time and do it step by step.

This post has been edited by OldPhil: 23 January 2010 - 12:15 PM

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#7 cryptodan

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Posted 23 January 2010 - 11:54 AM

I don't think that there are Windows 98 SATA Drivers, and you have to think about the hyperthreading. Windows 9x/ME only supports 1 processor without hyper threading.

Here have a read:
http://www.intel.com/support/processors/sb/CS-017343.htm

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#8 caperdog

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Posted 23 January 2010 - 04:17 PM

from what i have been reading people with BIOS that supports SATA have not had to supply a driver when installing 98, the way you would with XP and the install went fine.

#9 treelzebub

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Posted 23 January 2010 - 04:55 PM

hmm which is it? some are telling me it's possible on this laptop, and others are saying it's not! both sides present compelling evidence... :thumbsup:

This post has been edited by treelzebub: 23 January 2010 - 06:14 PM

#10 ThunderZ

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Posted 23 January 2010 - 05:13 PM

Have you seen this.

One common thread I have come across and experienced myself is that you will need a floppy drive. In your case an external USB connected one. Everything I am reading is saying the mobo Sata drivers will work if the proper install procedure is followed.

This post has been edited by ThunderZ: 23 January 2010 - 05:22 PM

#11 treelzebub

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Posted 23 January 2010 - 06:06 PM

I did see that, actually, ThunderZ. My BIOS does not contain anything called "Enhanced" or "Compatibility" Mode, nor are there any config options for SATA drives. It merely recognizes that i have a SATA drive. Here are photos of each BIOS screen (apologies for the blurry photos):

Pic 1: "Main" Menu. The only options I can edit are the first two: "System Time" and "System Date".

IMG_0705.JPG (47.52K)
Number of downloads: 24
Pic 2: "Advanced" Menu.

IMG_0707.JPG (41.99K)
Number of downloads: 18
Pic 3: "Security" Menu.

IMG_0708.JPG (45.64K)
Number of downloads: 17
Pic 4: "Boot" Menu, which is just for boot order settings.

IMG_0709.JPG (41.91K)
Number of downloads: 18

Any suggestions based on this very limited set of BIOS settings?

#12 ThunderZ

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Posted 23 January 2010 - 06:17 PM

Your right, I do`t see a thing in there that would seem to help either. Besides the $$ of an external floppy drive, and no guarantees it will work anyways there would probably be another problem with 98 unsupported devices. Up to and including the chipset. Not to forget audio, video, wireless network, etc.

#13 ThunderZ

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Posted 23 January 2010 - 06:18 PM

This post has been edited by ThunderZ: 23 January 2010 - 06:20 PM

#14 treelzebub

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Posted 23 January 2010 - 06:26 PM

Fair enough! Well, I've found the SATA drivers on CNET, and it says it supports Win2k! So I've abandoned the idea of Win98 altogether. I'm going to attempt installation with these drivers, and report back with my results!

Thanks again, everyone.