I have been running Fedora Core 5 for nearly a month but i cant do anything on and tried to put Windows on my laptop but failed.
can any one type out a walkthrough please?

What problems are you having with your linux distro? Maybe we can help you out and get you going on that.

Windows-support happens (if at all) in General ... moved.

Same question.

To put W98 back on your system is easy. Before you do that though, lets make sure that's what you really want to do. What led you to try using nix? Are you just looking for a free version of Windows or are you just having difficulty finding learning materials for *nix? If all you really need is a step in the right direction for learning how to properly use FC5, you're in the right place. However, if you're too stuck in the M$ way of things, then going back to 98 may be the best thing for you. After all, not everyone can learn *nix.

Here is how to go back to 98 on a laptop that has both a floppy drive (A and a CDROM (D-
1. Make sure all critical/important/gotta hang onto data is backed up to something other than your laptop's hard drive.
2. If you do not already have a 98 boot disk, go to http://bootdisk.org and make one.
- Alternatively, some of the 98SE CD's were bootable CDROMs. Mostly OEM's so this is not too common.
3. Once you have a boot disk, you will need to set your laptop's boot order in the BIOS. When you first turn it on, the initial screen will have a prompt telling you to press a key to enter setup (usually either "Delete" or "F2". Use whatever key it tells you to enter the setup program.
4. In the BIOS setup you will need to locate the option for "Boot sequence" or "Boot order" or just plain "Boot". The order you want should be something like Floppy first, then CDROM and then Hard drive. If it's a newer laptop, it may have some other options, but ignore them and lets just stick with the basics for now.
- If your 98 CD is bootable, you can set the CDROM as the first boot device. I usually recommend keeping the floppy first for future troubleshooting purposes and to make things easier on anyone you have work on the system in the future. Just my two cents.
5. Insert the boot disk while still in the setup program.
6. Save your changes and exit setup (sometimes, F10 will work for this, but not always. You need to pay attention to the menu options of your system's setup program to know how to move around in it).
7. The computer should now boot off the boot disk into a DOS environment used to install W98. The first prompt you should get will ask how to start the computer. I recommend going for "Without CDROM Support" for this first boot (you will reboot before you need the CD). This will load a basic DOS environment (6.0 I believe) for prepping the system for a reinstall.
8. At the DOS prompt (A:\>_) type in "fdisk" and hit <Enter>. This program is used to [crudely] manipulate the hard disk partitions so that Windoze can make use of the hard drive.
- If your hard drive is larger than 2GB, fdisk will detect that and give you a brief explanation of how this may be a problem for older OS's. Luckily you have the option of enabling large disk support. Do so.
9. In the main manu of fdisk, you have the following options
1. Create DOS Partition or Logical DOS drive
2. Set Active Partition
3. Delete Partition or Logical DOS drive
4. Display Partition Information
5. Change Current Fixed Disk * This option is only available if your computer has more than one hard drive. I doubt you'll see it. *
To make a selection, you will need to type the number of your selection and press <Enter>. The first thing you will want to do from this menu is see what fdisk thinks your hard drive has for partition tables. Choose option 4. Display Partition Information.
10. Make note of the number of partitions (probably 3 or more, not sure about FC5's default setup). You will need to delete them in reverse order, so you need to know how many there are.
11. Press <Esc> when you're finished viewing the existing partitions
12. Now you need to select option 3. Delete Partition or Logical DOS Drive. I sincerely doubt that any of FC5's partitions will be recognized as logical drives. Since I'm not familiar with that OS, you would do well to note that you need to delete any logical drives before you can delete the extended partitions that contain them. Also, you need to delete the extended partitions before deleting any primary partitions. Primary partitions are deleted last.
13. When you are done deleting partitions, you are ready to create your new Windows 98 FAT32 Primary partition. At this point I will defer to the KB at M$ for the rest of your fdisk instructions - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/255867/EN-US/
14. When you are done creating your partition and formatting the resulting drive, it's time to install the OS. Reboot with your boot disk in the drive and choose to start with CDROM support. When you get the DOS prompt (A:\>_) Type in "cd D:" and press <Enter> to change to the cdrom drive. *NOTE: If you have partitioned the hard drive with more than one partition then your CDROM will be the next available letter of the alphabet.
15. At the "D:\>_" prompt type "setup" to begin the 98 setup program.
16. Follow the prompts and good luck. If you need help, M$ will have more and maybe even better answers relating to 98 than I. I only wrote a handful of those articles ;-)

if you still wanna give a try to linux .... may be fedora core5 is too hard for you ...... try pclinuxos (pclinuxos.com) or other distros

What we you wanting to do that you were unable to do? I notice that this is your first post so obviously you have never come here to seek any help with using your Linux distro. Folks here are pretty good at helping newbies learn what they need.

Anyway, as to your question, what exactly failed when trying to install win98?

Just format the hard-drive and install whatever you want.

Linux does have a substantial learning curve, and there is nothing at all which compels you to have anything at all to do with it.

Hi

going back to w98 means no MS support....zero.

rather than get excited do a big change all at once, consider running a live cd such as knoppix and see if you can learn how to make preferences then move on to the big stuff like gosh installing software etc.

We all had to learn to move away from MS.....I know many claim they never used it so forgive my poetic licence.

BTW...you are in for a rude shock (means spending biggg dollars ) if you are waiting for vista but I assume you have been reading about the delays and broken intentions of that issue in MS mags.

good luck whatever your decision.

Windows 98? Don't do it. Anything but that godforsaken OS. GO for XP or 2000 if anything.

Agreed. If you must retreat back into the clutches of Windows, those are much better choices.

If your sure linux is not for you, then I sugest after you get win98 up and running upgrade to xp. If you need a quick program to completely erase all linux partitions download "delpat.com" @ http://fryssupport.net/downloads/Del-pat.com and run it in dos. If you want to run both windows and linux at the same time, try running puppy linux off a jump drive. Good luck

If he still has his 98 license, then why drop another $50-$100 in M$'s coffers for a brand new copy of W2KPro or even XP Home? Especially since no-one on this board would ever commit, condone, suggest or support software piracy.

I say use what you've got and what you're used to. Otherwise, you're just opening yourself up to a new set of problems, driver issues and BSODs. Don't waste money on a new version of Windows for old hardware. When you buy your next Dell or HP or whatever off the shelf brand you'll settle with, rest assured, Windows will already be firmly entrenched and ready to go.

There are thousands of linux distro's! Try some other ones before concluding that it's "too hard"!

There are TOO many reasons that justify using linux instead of windoze to list!

Stick around a while, hang out in some linux forums and you will soon find that it's not so hard!

I'm a Linux newbie too, and believe me if you are having trouble there are some great people in here to help you. Don't give up on it. I had trouble with Fedora too and tried Open SuSE 10.1 and it fit well, so there is a distro out there that will fit you if you have patience.
Once you do get a Linux OS up and running, then get used to it, you will find out that LINUX ROCKS! It's sort of like learning a new language.
If your hard drive is large enough, load your Win program first, then load your Linux Distro after. You can then use your (ugh) Windows while you play around with your Linux.
Go slow...mess around with it, that's how you learn about it...whatever you do, mess around as a user, not as root...you can really mess things up if you goof as root, but if you goof as a user it's just a pain, not a blow out. Believe me, that is one thing I learned the hard way.