You want neither FreeDOS nor MS-DOS 6. The "DOS 7.1" that comes with Win98 works fine.
With it being 30GB, you shouldn't have any BIOS problems (like CHS vs. LBA) that plague moving hard drives between machines on older systems without repartitioning.
With it installed in the different laptop, all you should have to do is fdisk (possibly including fdisk /mbr to fix the FreeDOS/MS-DOS 6 MBR), and then format /s. If you can boot the CD-ROM in that other laptop, this should be easy. Then copy the WIN98 directory from the CD-ROM to the hard drive, boot it in the original machine (it might beg for the date/time due to missing autoexec.bat) and then run win98\setup from there.

jakethompson1 wrote on 2023-02-23, 06:27:

You want neither FreeDOS nor MS-DOS 6. The "DOS 7.1" that comes with Win98 works fine.
With it being 30GB, you shouldn't have any BIOS problems (like CHS vs. LBA) that plague moving hard drives between machines on older systems without repartitioning.
With it installed in the different laptop, all you should have to do is fdisk (possibly including fdisk /mbr to fix the FreeDOS/MS-DOS 6 MBR), and then format /s. If you can boot the CD-ROM in that other laptop, this should be easy. Then copy the WIN98 directory from the CD-ROM to the hard drive, boot it in the original machine (it might beg for the date/time due to missing autoexec.bat) and then run win98\setup from there.

Thank you for the reply. For the sake of not being confusing the computer this hard drive is for is a Compaq, and the computer that is already working is a Dell. So the Compaq does not have a floppy or disk drive. So if I format the hard drive, move only the windows 98 files to it, then put it in the Compaq, it's not going to boot right?

get ahold of a win98 boot floppy image online. either write it to an actual floppy or find out how to boot floppy images from a cd/usb. boot the image and transfer the dos 7.1 (win98) system to the win98 target hdd with 'sys c:' or 'format /s c:' replacing c with the appropriate drive letter if multiple hdd installed. also, if you repartitioned the hdd make sure the first partition is marked active with 'fdisk' or it won't boot. if the win98 folder with the cab files is copied to the hdd then you can transfer it back to the original laptop and boot off it and install win98 with setup exe.

i don't remember if win98 was distributed on a bootable cdrom, but if it was you might be able to use that in lieu of a boot floppy.

stanwebber wrote on 2023-02-23, 15:47:

get ahold of a win98 boot floppy image online. either write it to an actual floppy or find out how to boot floppy images from a cd/usb. boot the image and transfer the dos 7.1 (win98) system to the win98 target hdd with 'sys c:' or 'format /s c:' replacing c with the appropriate drive letter if multiple hdd installed. also, if you repartitioned the hdd make sure the first partition is marked active with 'fdisk' or it won't boot. if the win98 folder with the cab files is copied to the hdd then you can transfer it back to the original laptop and boot off it and install win98 with setup exe.

i don't remember if win98 was distributed on a bootable cdrom, but if it was you might be able to use that in lieu of a boot floppy.

yeah win98 is on a bootable cd rom. I see what you are saying, I should be able to find out how to do that. I'll give it a try and ask here if I'm still having problems.

Maybe test with a different hard drive? For Windows 98 laptop, the 30GB hard drive seems is not the original hard drive.

thenix wrote on 2023-02-23, 14:24:

jakethompson1 wrote on 2023-02-23, 06:27:

You want neither FreeDOS nor MS-DOS 6. The "DOS 7.1" that comes with Win98 works fine.
With it being 30GB, you shouldn't have any BIOS problems (like CHS vs. LBA) that plague moving hard drives between machines on older systems without repartitioning.
With it installed in the different laptop, all you should have to do is fdisk (possibly including fdisk /mbr to fix the FreeDOS/MS-DOS 6 MBR), and then format /s. If you can boot the CD-ROM in that other laptop, this should be easy. Then copy the WIN98 directory from the CD-ROM to the hard drive, boot it in the original machine (it might beg for the date/time due to missing autoexec.bat) and then run win98\setup from there.

Thank you for the reply. For the sake of not being confusing the computer this hard drive is for is a Compaq, and the computer that is already working is a Dell. So the Compaq does not have a floppy or disk drive. So if I format the hard drive, move only the windows 98 files to it, then put it in the Compaq, it's not going to boot right?

As long as it has the right MBR and the partition was either formatted with /S or subsequently SYSed, it will boot but drop you straight into a command prompt (no GUI).

jakethompson1 wrote on 2023-02-23, 18:59:

thenix wrote on 2023-02-23, 14:24:

jakethompson1 wrote on 2023-02-23, 06:27:

You want neither FreeDOS nor MS-DOS 6. The "DOS 7.1" that comes with Win98 works fine.
With it being 30GB, you shouldn't have any BIOS problems (like CHS vs. LBA) that plague moving hard drives between machines on older systems without repartitioning.
With it installed in the different laptop, all you should have to do is fdisk (possibly including fdisk /mbr to fix the FreeDOS/MS-DOS 6 MBR), and then format /s. If you can boot the CD-ROM in that other laptop, this should be easy. Then copy the WIN98 directory from the CD-ROM to the hard drive, boot it in the original machine (it might beg for the date/time due to missing autoexec.bat) and then run win98\setup from there.

Thank you for the reply. For the sake of not being confusing the computer this hard drive is for is a Compaq, and the computer that is already working is a Dell. So the Compaq does not have a floppy or disk drive. So if I format the hard drive, move only the windows 98 files to it, then put it in the Compaq, it's not going to boot right?

As long as it has the right MBR and the partition was either formatted with /S or subsequently SYSed, it will boot but drop you straight into a command prompt (no GUI).

I think what I'm confused about is I'm not sure how to put the DOS 7.1 that comes with Win98 on the hard drive. I'm trying to look that up now though. Because if DOS isn't installed then the computer won't boot into anything, it will just say it hasn't found an operating system . (Or ask to put in a boot disk)

thenix wrote on 2023-02-23, 19:10:

I think what I'm confused about is I'm not sure how to put the DOS 7.1 that comes with Win98 on the hard drive. I'm trying to look that up now though. Because if DOS isn't installed then the computer won't boot into anything, it will just say it hasn't found an operating system . (Or ask to put in a boot disk)

When you format a file system from DOS you inherently pick whether it should be bootable or non bootable. If you make it bootable by passing /s to Format, it copies a bare bones DOS environment (io.sys, msdos.sys, command.com) to the new file system. Even though DOS has not been "installed" this (together with fdisk /mbr) is enough to have it boot to a DOS prompt rather than display missing operating system or non-system disk or disk error.

jakethompson1 wrote on 2023-02-23, 19:19:

thenix wrote on 2023-02-23, 19:10:

I think what I'm confused about is I'm not sure how to put the DOS 7.1 that comes with Win98 on the hard drive. I'm trying to look that up now though. Because if DOS isn't installed then the computer won't boot into anything, it will just say it hasn't found an operating system . (Or ask to put in a boot disk)

When you format a file system from DOS you inherently pick whether it should be bootable or non bootable. If you make it bootable by passing /s to Format, it copies a bare bones DOS environment (io.sys, msdos.sys, command.com) to the new file system. Even though DOS has not been "installed" this (together with fdisk /mbr) is enough to have it boot to a DOS prompt rather than display missing operating system or non-system disk or disk error.

OK I didn't know that till now but I think I get it and I'm about to give it a try. Thanks for explaining that.

Hey got it working yay. I was so close but thanks for everyone that helped me to get me on the right track. For those who are interesting this is a Compaq evo n400c, it's a really cool little computer.

Yeh I had its bigger brother the Evo 600 at my very first job. apparently one of the reasons was because it came with an ATI mobility radeon and our boss was a bit of a gamer.
What I really liked was the multibay where you could swap out the Optical drive for a FDD or 2nd HDD. (which needs the docking station on the 400) and the wifi/blootooth adapter that fits onto the silver strip on the lid. Back then Wifi was more useful but been only 802.11b maybe the bluetooth is the better option today?

My right shoulder still clicks from carrying that thing all around Sydney day in day out including commuting on peak hour trains and laptop bag also been crammed with other hardware for site visits. Laptop itself never had a single fault though despite it's hard life.