The clean install was surprisingly easy. I left all of my add-in cards and hardware connected, and everything was configured correctly. In fact, my system is running with two free IRQ's. A little surprising, considering they were all used before. PCI IRQ steering seems to be evolving. Here are some quick questions answered:
 

Should I use the PIIX4 Installation Update (setupex.exe)?

I give this one a big a resounding NO. Can you use it? Yes. Will it mess things up? Usually. Windows 98 supports all of the hardware on the AL440LX, so the patch is really unnecessary. The same goes for the USB and AGP patches used in my Windows 95 Installation Guide.

Should I use Intel's Bus Master IDE drivers (bmide_95.exe)?

Again, another big resounding NO. Can you use them? Yes. Will the mess things up? Definitely. Microsoft included a good set of bus master drivers with Windows 98, which usually yield better performance. Also, the Microsoft drivers don't cause the conflicts that the Intel drivers do.

Upgrade or Clean Install?

Good question. I was actually surprised by Microsoft this time. I took my system, previously configured using my Windows 95 Installation Guide, and did the straight upgrade. Everything seemed to work fine, and I didn't notice any problems that could be traced to hardware. I had a few strange software problems (Norton Utilities, Uninstall, and Anti-virus did all kinds of neat things!), but no hardware problems.

However, I still suggest the clean install. I'm a big supporter of purging your computer periodically. You'd be surprised how many configuration problems disappear when you do a clean install of Windows.

• Prepare your yourself

 Whether you are building a new system, upgrading an old one, or just installing (or reinstalling) Windows 98, make sure you have all of the necessary files before you start the process. There is nothing worse than getting halfway though the process and then realizing that you forgot to download a file or don't have the current drivers for your hardware.
 
 
• If you're upgrading, take care of Windows 95

I highly suggest starting this process with a clean hard drive. It just makes life so much easier. Before you do this though, you'll need a boot disk. There are two ways of doing this:

 

1. Use a Windows 98 startup disk

I found this method works extremely well. Create a boot disk using a computer that is already running Windows 98, or use the boot disk creation utility found on the Windows 98 CD. On the Windows 98 CD, run the program fat32ebd.exe which is found in the \tools\mtsutil\fat32ebd directory. This is a DOS based program, so there aren't any problems running it from DOS, Win31, or Win95.
 

2. Use a Windows 95 boot disk

Format a disk and make sure to copy the system files to the floppy. You will also need to copy the following files:

             From C:\WINDOWS\

                    HIMEM.SYS

             From C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\

                    FORMAT.COM
                    MSCDEX.EXE

             Mouse drivers
             CD-ROM drivers

Setup your config.sys file and autoexec.bat file on the floppy to load your CD-ROM and mouse drivers. Do a test boot from the floppy to make sure that everything works right. My files look like this:

               CONFIG.SYS

                    device=himem.sys
                    device=nec_ide.sys /d:MSCD001 /v          (my CD-ROM driver)

               AUTOEXEC.BAT

                    mscdex /d:MSCD001 /m:10
                    mouse
 

Reboot your system from the floppy. Double check that you can access your CD-ROM and that all of your important data has been removed from
your hard drive. Format your hard drive (you don't need to copy the system files):

               format c:
 

If you don't want to reformat your hard drive, exit Windows 95 and restart the computer into MS-DOS mode. Once you're in DOS, delete the Win95 directory. This won't be as "clean" as the method described above, but it will work. You're likely to retain some garbage files from all the programs you've installed and later uninstalled. Funny how uninstall doesn't get rid of everything.

 
• Update the BIOS on your motherboard

Make sure you using the most up to date BIOS for the motherboard (or the one that works best for you). You can obtain the BIOS and update utility from Intel's site, or you can check out my BIOS page. I'm currently using BIOS 14, which seems to be relatively bug free. I haven't experienced any of the problems encountered with shutdown in Windows 95, and so far everything has worked well.
 


• Clear the ESCD portion of your BIOS

Regardless of whether you just upgraded your BIOS, or already had your favorite BIOS version installed, you need to clear the ESCD portion of the BIOS. The ESCD portion of the BIOS is a writeable part of the system BIOS where Windows 95 and Windows 98 store configuration data for your computer, such as I/O addresses and IRQs for PNP devices.

To clear this portion of the BIOS, enter the BIOS setup and set "Reset Configuration Data" to "Yes." This will clear the ESCD portion of the BIOS on reboot.
 
 

• Check your BIOS settings

While you're in the BIOS resetting the ESCD portion of the BIOS, go ahead and check your configuration settings. Here are my suggestions:

Reset Configuration Data            YES                This will reset the ESCD portion of the BIOS

Plug and Play OS                       YES                Windows 98 is a Plug and Play operation system, and works well with this selected

Legacy USB Support                 Disabled           I've found that if you install Windows 98 with this option disabled, things will usually work fine. The
                                                                          shutdown problems encountered with 95 and 98 RC1 usually don't resurface. However, if you install
                                                                          Windows 98 with this enabled, Windows 98 seems to become dependent on it, and I've encountered
                                                                          shutdown problems on some systems when you disable it. Start off with Legacy USB support disabled. If
                                                                          you run into shutdown problems, then you should try enabling Legacy USB support.

If your CD-ROM drive is on the secondary IDE channel, I also suggest setting it to "None" vice "CD-ROM." Both Windows 98 and MS-DOS will be able to detect the CD-ROM, so the settings seems to be a moot point. In general however, I've run into fewer problems with "None" selected. And that's what it's all about, right?
 
 

• Install Windows 98

Run the setup program from your CD-ROM drive. If you're using BIOS P10 or higher, I suggest you also reference my BIOS P10 page.
 

• Enable DMA support for your hard drives and CD-ROM drives

Windows 98 provides built in support for Ultra DMA/33 devices. The only caveat is that you have to configure it manually. To do this, open the Device Manager. Under Disk Drives, double click on each hard drive to display the properties window. Under the Settings tab, check the DMA box for each hard drive that supports this feature. Windows 98 will come up and warn you that your drive won't work if it doesn't support this feature. It comes up regardless of whether or not your hard drive supports DMA, so don't take the warning as a sign that your hard drive doesn't support DMA. To enable DMA for your CD-ROM drive, follow the same procedure.

• Install your video card drivers

Windows 98 includes drivers for most of the new video cards on the market. If you're like me however, you're always looking for "more power!" Most video card manufacturers provide drivers that are further accelerated than the Microsoft drivers (the Viper drivers are an example).

ATI Technologies Inc.             http://www.atitech.ca/
Diamond Multimedia               http://www.diamondmm.com
Matrox Graphics                     http://www.matrox.com/mgaweb/home.htm
STB Systems Inc.                   http://www.stb.com
 

• Install your remaining hardware drivers and software

You're done setting up the motherboard. Now it's time to finish installing any hardware that wasn't properly setup by the Windows 98 installation, such as:

Sound Card
Modem
Printer
Mouse
Zip/Tape drive

The detection algorithm for Windows 98  for detecting new hardware is better than the one in Windows 95. However, I still suggest that you install your remaining hardware one item at a time, rebooting between installations. Once you have all of the drivers installed and the device is fully operational, move on and install the next one. The install will go much more smoothly this way.

If you have Microsoft Plus! 98, install it once your hardware is properly configured.
 

This is what I have found so far to be the best way to install Windows 98 on the AL440LX motherboard. If you're still having problems, or want a second opinion, I suggest checking out the sites of some manufacturers which use the AL440LX in their computers. Some companies which use the AL440LX are:

AST Research               AST Bravo MS 6300                              http://www.ast.com
Dell                               Dell Dimension XPS D300                       http://www.dell.com
Gateway                        Gateway G6-300XL                                http://www.gateway.com
Micron PC                     Micron Millennia XKU 300                     http://www.micronpc.com
NEC                              NEC Direction SPL 300                          http://www.nec.com
 

Comments? Questions? Write me email and I'll see what I can do!

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