Can I have help moving data from an old Windows 98 desktop PC to my new Windows 10 PC?

Anonymous

I've got this really old Gateway desktop PC that started life as a Windows 95 or earlier (I forget) that I'm wanting to get rid of. It's been sitting unused forever and I disconnected it from my home network years ago when I needed more places to plug stuff into my router since I have 2 Windows XP machines & 2 Windows 10 machines on it.

That old Gateway PC has a 3-1/2" floppy drive that I don't have any discs for and never will, along with a CD drive, a DVD drive and I just discovered that it even has 2 USB ports on the back that I never knew existed.

I've tried endlessly to save the 500mb of Photos and Docs on it onto either a CD or DVD but from all I can tell, they both must be broken or at least maybe the formatting of the discs that I do in a drive on my Windows 10 DELL isn't correct.

Heck, during the formatting process, I even thought that since I'm wanting to use the CD in that old beast Gateway thing, I should set the File System setting from UDF 2.01 (Default) to UDF 1.50, thinking I should use the oldest one it had.

Nothing has worked and I've tried reformatting & Copy/Pasting a bunch of times.

Oddly, it will seem like it is writing to a CD and it shows it stepping thru the Videos, Photos and Docs, but I'll always keep hearing the drive's motor start & stop every 5 or 10 seconds & then if I wait long enough, it does finally show all of the files.

But it's totally weird that if I put another blank CD in that same drive, it shows as if all those same files are on it too.

Weird. That must be some flaw in that old Windows 98 Operating System I guess.

I'd at first tried sticking a USB adapter with a flash card in, thinking that would be super quick. But, it wasn't recognized and something told me that it needed a driver, which isn't possible to get on that PC since it isn't connected anymore to the internet.

So, sorry about all this talk but after spending countless hours, I've concluded that it might be best & easiest to just bring that old PC into my home office & park it next to this Windows 10 DELL Inspirion, hook them together somehow directly with a USB cable instead of thru the router, and then maybe I could just access the old PC's drive and Copy my data off of it.

After all, then I can either burn it onto a tiny flash card or just let it stay on my D: hard drive on this where all of my data is. My C: with Windows & my programs is an SSD to make it super fast.

So, I've rambled on but I do need some basic help in knowing that the old hard drive will be able to be accessed by my new PC if I just connect them with a USB cable or will I need to have a keyboard, mouse and monitor on the old PC too?

I've put this in Windows > Windows 10 > Files, Folders & Storage but if an Admin thinks it should somewhere else, please feel free to move it. Thanks for any help. :-)

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

Did you chose the correct USB drivers for your edition of Win 98?

http://www.technical-assistance.co.uk/kb/usbmsd98.php

You stated earlier that the USB driver that you chose (downloaded) is nusb33e.exe. This is for Windows 98SE (Second Edition).

If this is the correct selection for your edition of Win 98 did you follow the installation instructions (found on the download page)?

http://www.technical-assistance.co.uk/kb/win98se-usb-mass-storage-drivers.php

Standard Disclaimer: Any non-Microsoft websites provided here appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for any ads on these sites that may advertise products frequently classified as PUP's (Potentially Unwanted Programs). Thoroughly research any product/program advertised on any site before you decide to download and install it.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

First of all, what drive on the device is the drive letter E: associated with?

Why did you do both at the same time (one at a time is best practice, especially on and old outdated OS that is no longer supported (nor able to be updated past were it was when you stopped using it or updating it when updates were still available)).

At this point try shutting down then unplug the CD drive and the thumb drive then startup the device, then do a restart and give it 10 or fifteen minutes to stabilize, then plugin one of the (either the CD drive or the thumb drive, your choice) peripherals then let me know what happens. What do you then see in My Computer, System properties (Device Manager?) etc..

Let me know.

-Richard

0 comments

82 additional answers

Anonymous

2019-05-10T01:08:00+00:00

AWESOME, This is done. CASE CLOSED.

Thanks for your patient help. I realize that my bad habit of adding things with Edits and of writing way more than is needed about what I've encountered might be a pain sometimes. My excuse on the writing stuff to post in here that is basically just so that I remember what I've done and what happened. That keeps it all in one place rather than having notepads full of stuff that I might lose or not know later if I should keep or can just toss.

That's my excuse anyhow.

Thanks again. :-)
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2019-05-09T19:21:56+00:00

OMG!! I just went thru all those same steps again and this time after it said that it was installing the software needed, it popped back to the My Computer window and suddenly Removable Disk (F:) displayed. I'd never seen that before.

I'm not going to take any chances of something screwy happening so I'm going to put all of my data on it right now. Boy, am I ever a happy camper right now. I guess I'll even be happier when I put that Thumbdrive in my new DELL and see my stuff on it there.

Ok, let me know how it turns out.

Good Luck,

-Richard
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2019-05-09T07:19:57+00:00
Yes, I chose the Win 98 2nd Edition driver and it looks like that by accident, I did follow their How-To that installed it since I did double-click the driver file, an exe, when I finally had it in My Docs on that old computer. My problem might be as you'd said, that I also did the other driver at the same time before restarting the computer, that being the one for the CD-RW drive.

So, that How-To says:

To install the drivers Version 3.x
1. Download the exe file to the desktop
2. Remove ALL drivers for USB flash drives in Device Manager
3. Remove ALL drivers for any USB 2.0 controllers (many have an uninstall option)
4. Remove ALL unknown devices from Device Manager
5. Run the exe file you downloaded, and follow the instructions, rebooting after installation
6. When the computer boots up again, it may detect new USB 2.0 controllers, in which case you may need to reboot again.
I 've got to admit that I don't know how to find or Remove Drivers so I just skipped 2 & 3.

I hilited the TransMemory item in Device Manager in the Other Devices section which was the one with the yellow [ ?] that when clicked on, tells me that "The drivers for this device are not installed". I picked CD-ROM and stuck in the disc & I unchecked everything else (Floppy, MS Windows Update and Specify a Location. Click NEXT brings up:

Windows driver file search for the device: USB Mass Storage Device

Windows is now ready to install the best driver for this device. Click Next to continue.

Location of driver:

C:\WINDOWS\INF\USBSTOR.INF

NEXT > Windows has finished installing the software that your new hardware device requires.

Then this popped when I clicked NEXT: "Windows is installing the software for your new hardware" and now in Device Manager in Storage Device, it says USB Disk without a yellow [ ?] on it.

I closed and reopened My Computer and I don't see anything new. So, I unplugged the USB Thumbdrive & plugged it back in & it popped that Add New Hardware Wizard again with all the same challenges. I think I'll do a Restart and see what happens when I push in the USB Drive.

OMG!! I just went thru all those same steps again and this time after it said that it was installing the software needed, it popped back to the My Computer window and suddenly Removable Disk (F:) displayed. I'd never seen that before.

I'm not going to take any chances of something screwy happening so I'm going to put all of my data on it right now. Boy, am I ever a happy camper right now. I guess I'll even be happier when I put that Thumbdrive in my new DELL and see my stuff on it there.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments