Now supports FAT32 on disks created under Windows 95 OSR1) One way in which such a disk can be created easily is via CDBoot,Ī utility available here at this website.
Not be able to access the Win98 CD via DOS after formatting, so
#Ibm aptiva windows 98 driver#
The first thing you will need is a boot disk containing a real-modeĬD-ROM driver for use in MS-DOS.
#Ibm aptiva windows 98 upgrade#
Windows 98 Upgrade CD with Product ID number.After a 35-minute wait, the voice on the help line (based in Dublin, of all places) offered clear, concise and polite help but I still had to go through the painful ritual of reinstalling the machine's entire software package. How about ganging up the cables to avoid the rats'-nest effect behind your desk, or providing accessible front-of-the-box jacks? Also, the monitor was a pain to adjust.Īfter two weeks of trouble-free operation, my use of the restart switch on the back to turn the Aptiva on somehow forced this computer into a cycle of boot-up-then-shut-down that never offered the Windows desktop. But the overall design was less than creative, starting with the dull putty gray of the case. That said, though, the ViaVoice bundle needs work the chintzy headset microphone differed from the model pictured in the CD tutorial and had sharp edges that tangled in long hair.Īs for the hardware itself, both keyboard and speakers were fine, with a refreshing absence of fan noise from the case itself. IBM also includes ViaVoice speech-dictation software, which is also absent on most competing PCs. And IBM has buried its documentation a little too well. SmartSuite (a bundle of word processor, spreadsheet, database, graphics toolbox and calendar/address book) is a nice touch, but probably excessive for most home users. The big-ticket item in the selection of bundled software is Lotus' SmartSuite, which IBM includes instead of the usual selection of Microsoft titles. Winging it alone, I succeeded, but only because I have previous experience with the vagaries of IBM Internet accounts. And IBM's Web-help pages for Aptiva models offer no Internet tutorial option for Windows 98.
A third, unrelated call to tech services ended in an electronic menu warning about a $35 minimum charge for assistance. My next call took 16 minutes on hold and terminated in a busy tone. A call to the help line brought a 13-minute wait for a technician who breezed past my query, saying I had to pay to see anything more, then hung up. But signing on to the Internet via an existing account with IBM's own Internet-access service took a lot longer.įirst I exhausted the free access IBM throws in with the machine, which leads to a cul-de-sac of only 200 links hardly the Web universe. Support: One-year warranty 24-hour, toll-free hardware and bundled-software support for first 30 days ($35 per-problem charge applies afterward).įrom box to power-on installing, the Aptiva took me a mere 12 minutes, which is saying a lot because I've never set up a desktop PC before.
#Ibm aptiva windows 98 serial#
Specifications: 350 MHz AMD K6-2 3D Now! processor, 512k L2 cache, 64 megs memory, 4 megs video memory/ATI Rage Pro Turbo accelerator, 7.45 gb hard drive, 32x CD-ROM drive, 56-kbps v.90 modem, one free PCI/ISA expansion slot, plus two free USB ports and one free serial and parallel port each.