Reinstalling Windows 98 SE

I have an elderly neighbor who refuses to give up on their Pentium 366mhz
computer. The original O/S was Win 95, which was upgraded to Win 98 and then
Win 98 SE. Recently they've switched from 56k dial-up to cable broadband,
the problem is that they do have Outlook Express installed on their PC.
I've tried searching Microsoft's Downloads for IE6 but I haven't been able to
locate it.

I do have a retail copy of Win 98 SE that I no longer use. Can I use my
copy of Win 98 SE and reinstall it over their multiple upgraded Operating
System to restore IE, Outlook Express, etc without overlaying or losing any
of their existing applications and data?? And would this solve their
problem??

What is the problem? Is that a typo? Did you mean to say, "...the problem is
that they DON'T have Outlook Express installed on their PC..."?

If so, and you really want to install IE6SP1, get it here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1e1550cb-5e5d...f5-b02b

(TinyURL = http://tinyurl.com/6zjbm)

If they have some earlier version of IE and want to retain that, do they
have a folder anywhere named "Windows Update Setup Files"? If so, to
install/reinstall components, including OE, run IE5SETUP.EXE from that
folder. Or double click the item in Add/Remove Programs named "Microsoft
Internet Explorer 5 and Internet Tools". If the original Setup files have
been deleted, there are places on the internet where you can obtain
replacements, just not at Microsoft.com. Post back if that's the solution
you wish to persue.

If your Win98SE CD is an OEM CD (OEM will be part of the Product Key), then
no, you can't use it to overinstall the system. Unless the system is
actually having problems, I wouldn't do that anyway. And even if it *is*
having problems, I would strongly recommend a Clean Install rather than an
overinstall. Reason is that overinstalling overwrites newer files with older
versions and also rewrites Registry entries that may have been updated,
breaking Updates and some other things that have been installed since the
last Upgrade. You also end up with DLL Hell, aka Version Soup -- files that
are part of a set of files but with mismatched versions.

--

Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"Russ" <Russ RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:86892796-DA3F-45AD-B10A-F4D2B039DFC3@microsoft.com...
>I have an elderly neighbor who refuses to give up on their Pentium 366mhz
> computer. The original O/S was Win 95, which was upgraded to Win 98 and
> then
> Win 98 SE. Recently they've switched from 56k dial-up to cable broadband,
> the problem is that they do have Outlook Express installed on their PC.
> I've tried searching Microsoft's Downloads for IE6 but I haven't been able
> to
> locate it.
>
> I do have a retail copy of Win 98 SE that I no longer use. Can I use my
> copy of Win 98 SE and reinstall it over their multiple upgraded Operating
> System to restore IE, Outlook Express, etc without overlaying or losing
> any
> of their existing applications and data?? And would this solve their
> problem??