One thing that's being left out here is that when you do a reinstall you
are going to have to supply a product identification number. I you don't
have it, be sure and get it and write it down before you wipe out your
current installation. Look in the registry...
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion and look at
the "ProductKey" entry.

As I said, it will run a little slower if you execute from the CD-ROM.
Loading the CDRW onto the hard disk also avoids any possible problem
whereby the install could fail to find the CD-ROM during a reboot.

Other than that, your understanding of the process is spot-on.

Another thing you may wish to do is to take an inventory
of your hardware, and then set up a DRIVERS directory
on your hard drive, and copy each of your driver installation
programs into it.  Then burn that to the CDRW also.

You could create TXT files for all of your passwords,
ISP, e-mail, newsgroup and browser configuration settings.
Run REGEDIT and search for ProductId and ProductKey.
Write them both down, and/or park them in a TXT file also.

The Favorites folder would be another one to save.

Check Device Manager and make a list of the IRQs
and their corresponding device assignments.

Browse your hard drive, check each folder, and see
if there is anything else that makes a lightbulb go off.

Check your Programs Menu.  Make sure that you have
the install program CDs for apps that you want to keep,
unless you are willing to download them again.
Programs such as WinZip, Adobe Reader, Internet Explorer,
your ISP software, etc.

Although it seems obvious, I'll say it anyway.

When doing a reinstall, make sure you have a boot
floppy that supports the CD ROM. I just made a startup
diskette, rebooted the PC with it and made sure that the
CDROM that I have is accessible with the drivers that
the startup diskette contains. Once I passed that hurdle,
I proceeded to format the C drive and reinstall Win98SE.

Saga

You have copied those setup files to CD/RW. This will be in one of several
possible CD formats. It should be in ISO 9660 or standard DATA format. You
will create a CD in this format using a CD writing program such as EZ CD
Creator.

If you configured your system to use CD/RW as a full read-write device, and
you simply copied the files to the disk using Explorer, then that disk will
not be accessible from a boot to floppy without additional drivers. You
don't have to change anything in your setup or media to create a proper DATA
(ISO 9660) CD - it's all in the procedure that you use and the options that
you select.

When you boot to floppy, the CD letter will be displayed on-screen during
startup. It won't necessarily be F.  You can test this by booting to floppy,
noting the CD drive letter, inserting the CD, and issuing a command such as
DIR x: where x is the drive letter of the CD. You should see a listing of
the installation folders and some files. Once tested, you can put the CD,
startup floppy, extra drivers and installation key to one side in a safe
place.

Sorry about the bootable ISO image. Just checked my NTI CD Maker 2000
Plus and noticed a button with "Bootable CD."  

I'm new at CD drives. Installed my CD-RW a couple of months ago, but
have'nt made much use of it. The software I use with the CD-RW is NTI
CD Maker 2000 Plus to make images and other stuff, and NTI FileCD.
I've mainly used FileCD since it's easier in that it works almost like
a hard drive.

I also checked and I see that I made 2 backups of the Cab files in
c:\win98. This I did  when I first installed my CD-RW, hence my
confusion. One CD of the cabs was made using FileCD (just copied the
files to it), and the other one using CD Maker 2000 Plus as Data CD.

Apologies to everyone in the group. Although I have received a wealth
of info and suggestions, I feel now that I should have made my
homework before posing my questions.

Thanks to everyone for your assistance.

John

http://www.vdare.com