Computer is CD-ROM Bootable
This is actually pretty easy. First, make sure that the setting in the BIOS about the boot-up sequence is set so that the CD-ROM is included in the boot sequence and that it is before any device that has bootable information on it (such as a hard drive with another OS installed on it). If the settings that are currently in there don't work for you, just hop back into the BIOS and move the CD-ROM as the first bootable device (you will have to change this back later on, explained below).

The process of starting up the installation is pretty simple. Put in the Windows 98 or 2000 CD-ROM, start up the computer and it should automatically boot itself into the installation process. Follow the instructions in the installation programs and follow the installation procedures for these OS's until you run into when the installation program begins to copy files to your hard drive.

[Ed: These following 3 paragraphs are for people who had to move the CD-ROM as the first bootable device (mentioned above). If you don't fall in this category, you can simply skip these 3 paragraphs to save you some confusion.]

In the Windows 98 installation program, the process of copying files onto your hard drive will happen right on the first boot right after you inputted the installation settings; however, in the Windows 2000 installation process, this might be slightly different. To this day, after installing Windows 2000 many, many times, I still can't figure out a pattern to which boot, the first or second, the Windows 2000 installation program begins to copy files after. I've run into many cases where the installation runs just like the Windows 98 installation: boot from CD, run through some questions and files begin to copy. Then there are those times that require an extra boot from the CD-ROM: boot from CD, run through some questions, reboot, boot from CD again, run through those same questions again and then it begins copying files onto the hard drive.

It is very important that you know when the installation has copied the necessary files onto you hard drive. This is because after the files are copied, you must move the CD-ROM drive to after the hard drive in the boot-up sequence, so we don't keep on running into the installation program over and over and over again.

When installing Windows 98, this time is pretty easy to recognize. It will always be after the first boot from the CD that the necessary files get copied onto your hard drive. Hence, you will move the CD-ROM drive back in the BIOS after the first time the installation program reboots your computer. In the Windows 2000 installation process, however, we run into some inconsistencies that were mentioned above. The easiest way to figure this out is to simply watch for a notice in the installation process that simply states, "Files are being copied onto the computer." After this appears and the copying process is complete, the installation program will reboot your computer, and then you can make the necessary changes in your BIOS.

After the files are copied onto your hard drive, we can move through the rest of the installation process. Basically, you just wait for the stuff to load, and after a few reboots and some more questions during the middle of the installation process, you'll be able to boot right into your new installation of Windows.

Computer is Non-CD-ROM Bootable
This process involves an extra step but is still pretty easy. Stick the Windows 98 boot disk that you made earlier as you are rebooting your computer and let the computer boot from the floppy. Select the With CD-ROM option from the menu and it'll boot with CD-ROM drivers installed already. Once the boot process is complete, just switch to your CD-ROM drive letter, which should be one letter down from what you're used to seeing as the boot disk creates an extra virtual drive to store some temporary data. For Windows 98, type setup or setup /is if you want to avoid the scandisk at the beginning of the installation. For Windows 2000, switch to the i386 directory of the CD, and type in winnt to start the installation.

Follow the instructions on the screen and, after a couple reboots, you're in your new Windows environment.

On to: Getting Everything Back Up