KIng Mustard wrote on 2025-12-07, 15:37:

I highly expect not but I thought it best to check before I order some 3.5' floppy disks in order to reinstall Windows 98SE on the machine.

Yes. Just use PLOP BOOTLOADER from your HDD or burn it in 32KB ROM and use with bootable cards (something like network cards with boot-rom socket).

Babasha wrote on 2025-12-07, 17:37:

KIng Mustard wrote on 2025-12-07, 15:37:

I highly expect not but I thought it best to check before I order some 3.5' floppy disks in order to reinstall Windows 98SE on the machine.

Yes. Just use PLOP BOOTLOADER from your HDD or burn it in 32KB ROM and use with bootable cards (something like network cards with boot-rom socket).

I do not have a floppy disk nor CD writer.

Is it possible to boot from a USB flash drive without these?

The AladdinV as far as I know can boot from Floppy, HDD, CD-ROM, ZIP and bootrom from an add-in card. The onboard USB controller doesn't interact with the BIOS at all. I had an IDE CDROM so was able to boot the Win98SE CD-ROM. If you are using an SD2IDE or CF2IDE you can write an installer image to the cards to boot from.

If all you have is a floppy drive and a spinny HDD then you would either need a bootable floppy or a way to inject the bootable files onto the HDD using a USB adapter on a modern system.

KIng Mustard wrote on 2025-12-07, 21:54:

Babasha wrote on 2025-12-07, 17:37:

KIng Mustard wrote on 2025-12-07, 15:37:

I highly expect not but I thought it best to check before I order some 3.5' floppy disks in order to reinstall Windows 98SE on the machine.

Yes. Just use PLOP BOOTLOADER from your HDD or burn it in 32KB ROM and use with bootable cards (something like network cards with boot-rom socket).

I do not have a floppy disk nor CD writer.

Is it possible to boot from a USB flash drive without these?

Yes you can boot from USB flash drive. I make my 8gb flash drive bootable just format it inside Win98 and copy system files with SYS <DRIVE LETTER>

On ALI 5, the chances are close to zero.
The earliest I've seen is Intel 815 S370 from Aopen.
And even then, this option is more likely to not work than to work.
It probably appeared in the P4/AXP era.
If the BIOS does not explicitly state that USB storage has been detected, then it definitely won't work.

upd
That's not entirely correct.
Booting from a USB flash drive appeared in version Award BIOS PG 6.
It was not present in version PG 4.5 at all.
This wording would be more accurate.

shevalier wrote on 2025-12-08, 11:36:

On ALI 5, the chances are close to zero. The earliest I've seen is Intel 815 S370 from Aopen. And even then, this option is more […]
Show full quote

On ALI 5, the chances are close to zero.
The earliest I've seen is Intel 815 S370 from Aopen.
And even then, this option is more likely to not work than to work.
It probably appeared in the P4/AXP era.
If the BIOS does not explicitly state that USB storage has been detected, then it definitely won't work.

Just use PLOP BOOTLOADER as i write early
I use it to BOOT from MBR or as ROM extension from socket on network card (or Y2K fixer card)
Success with Intel ML430HX, TC430HX, Forex and OPTI Socket4 and Socket5 motherboards...

Babasha wrote on 2025-12-08, 11:50:

Just use PLOP BOOTLOADER as i write early I use it to BOOT from MBR or as ROM extension from socket on network card (or Y2K fix […]
Show full quote

shevalier wrote on 2025-12-08, 11:36:

On ALI 5, the chances are close to zero. The earliest I've seen is Intel 815 S370 from Aopen. And even then, this option is more […]
Show full quote

On ALI 5, the chances are close to zero.
The earliest I've seen is Intel 815 S370 from Aopen.
And even then, this option is more likely to not work than to work.
It probably appeared in the P4/AXP era.
If the BIOS does not explicitly state that USB storage has been detected, then it definitely won't work.

Just use PLOP BOOTLOADER as i write early
I use it to BOOT from MBR or as ROM extension from socket on network card (or Y2K fixer card)
Success with Intel ML430HX, TC430HX, Forex and OPTI Socket4 and Socket5 motherboards...

I can boot via PXE over the network, but the author of the thread asked about USB flash drives. 😀

Personally, PLOP did not boot from USB when I experimented with a 3COM network card.
I will need to look for a compatible network card from Realtek and conduct a few more experiments.

KIng Mustard wrote on 2025-12-07, 15:37:

I highly expect not but I thought it best to check before I order some 3.5' floppy disks in order to reinstall Windows 98SE on the machine.

Assuming you buy said floppy disks, where were you going to source the 98SE install files from after formatting the drive? Do you have a non bootable 98SE CD-ROM?

shevalier wrote on 2025-12-08, 12:18:

I can boot via PXE over the network, but the author of the thread asked about USB flash drives. :-) […]
Show full quote

Babasha wrote on 2025-12-08, 11:50:

Just use PLOP BOOTLOADER as i write early I use it to BOOT from MBR or as ROM extension from socket on network card (or Y2K fix […]
Show full quote

shevalier wrote on 2025-12-08, 11:36:

On ALI 5, the chances are close to zero. The earliest I've seen is Intel 815 S370 from Aopen. And even then, this option is more […]
Show full quote

On ALI 5, the chances are close to zero.
The earliest I've seen is Intel 815 S370 from Aopen.
And even then, this option is more likely to not work than to work.
It probably appeared in the P4/AXP era.
If the BIOS does not explicitly state that USB storage has been detected, then it definitely won't work.

Just use PLOP BOOTLOADER as i write early
I use it to BOOT from MBR or as ROM extension from socket on network card (or Y2K fixer card)
Success with Intel ML430HX, TC430HX, Forex and OPTI Socket4 and Socket5 motherboards...

I can boot via PXE over the network, but the author of the thread asked about USB flash drives. 😀

Personally, PLOP did not boot from USB when I experimented with a 3COM network card.
I will need to look for a compatible network card from Realtek and conduct a few more experiments.

Meanwhile i dont boot over LAN but boot from USB with onboard or PCI USB cards 😀))

Babasha wrote on 2025-12-08, 12:19:

shevalier wrote on 2025-12-08, 12:18:

I can boot via PXE over the network, but the author of the thread asked about USB flash drives. :-) […]
Show full quote

Babasha wrote on 2025-12-08, 11:50:

Just use PLOP BOOTLOADER as i write early
I use it to BOOT from MBR or as ROM extension from socket on network card (or Y2K fixer card)
Success with Intel ML430HX, TC430HX, Forex and OPTI Socket4 and Socket5 motherboards...

I can boot via PXE over the network, but the author of the thread asked about USB flash drives. 😀

Personally, PLOP did not boot from USB when I experimented with a 3COM network card.
I will need to look for a compatible network card from Realtek and conduct a few more experiments.

Meanwhile i dont boot over LAN but boot from USB with onboard or PCI USB cards 😀))

I'm telling you, the 3COM network card didn't want to work with Plop.
Plop loads on its own, sees the flash drive, but then the loading stops.
I have a Compex RL2000 with a dip socket.
I'll have to experiment to see if it works at all.

PS The RL2000 turned out to be a Winbond W89C940.
Additional cards are already available for it, allowing you to run additional ROMs.
For example, the same Plop Boot Manager.