Answers mixed in...

>From: "E B Lund" <[log in to unmask]>
>I have a 6 year old 400 Mhz Pavilion 8380 with Windows 98 and
>recovery discs HP# 5011-6391 & 92.

I have been given that same model (and ALL disks) by a friend
that got a new machine.

>I have acquired HP Pavilion recovery discs HP 5011-9439 & 40 with 98SE
clipped.
>"The Recovery CD is licensed for use with your HP Pavilion PC and must be
>accompanied by a Microsoft Certificate of Authenticity"  although the disk
>didn't come with one.

That COA "might" be required as you "might" need an Install Product Key
(25 letters/numbers) before install will proceed...  Mine came with two.
One for the OS, and one for the following:
Money98, Works4.5, Encarta98, Picture It 2.0, Creative Writer 2.0

>Notice that it doesn't designate that it has to be used on a specific HP Pavilion model.
>However, if you go to the HP site, it says only the Recovery Discs for your system can
>be used on your system.

Mine is not specific about the system model number either...
I "did" look at the CD (once) awhile back and noticed all the Windows files
are in a password protected Zip file so that they can not be used unless they
are "unlocked" (or decrypted) at the proper time in the install process...

>So, here's the question:  Can I use the 98 SE recovery disc to install SE on my 98
>system or will it hose it up?  If I have a new hard drive, can I load this on the new drive?
>Does anybody have experience positive or negative with this situation?

If a new drive is an option, clone the old to the new and experiment with anything
you want to do --- using only the NEW drive installed alone in the system...
If you try to do a system restore with a newer recovery CD it will likely treat the
computer as if it had a blank HD and erase everything... (You could try all this
using ONLY the new HD...)

>I have some more complex questions about this transition, but I can't move forward
>at this time if I can't use these SE discs.

A more "normal" approach to this "problem" would be to use a Microsoft
Windows98 Second Edition Updates CD that would allow an update from
Win98(gold) to Win98SE. This is how my friend did it... MS part number X04-12707

I used that box as a test bed for Eval/time limited installs of newer OSs...
It most recently ran Win2000Pro. I think it would ran Win-XP-Pro, but I never
tried to "use it" after the initial Eval install...
If you could get your hands on an MS XP-Pro 120 day Eval CD, it might
be worth looking into...
                                                     Rick Glazier

            Do you want to signoff PCBUILD or just change to
                    Digest mode - visit our web site:
                   http://freepctech.com/pcbuild.shtml