I've begun to use a rather unique approach to installing Windows 98/ME on a system, this method allows me o do it within about 20 minutes, and the system wil have all the updates from the Windows Update site, leaving me with just having to find drivers...

What I do is I insalled Windows on one machine, got it all up to date, then I deleted the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum key, this basically reset the device manager and makes Windows re discover all the devices, well after deleting that key from Safe Mode I reboot the system and use host to make an image, then I take that image and apply it to other computers. Works like a charm, I only need to enter the registry afterwards and change the CD-Key and owner name, etc, etc...


Problem is that the audio will only work 75% of the time, essentially what happens is the audio drivers will install, but not be in the preferred devices list, meaning I can't get any audio...


Does anyone know a solution to this problem? It's been a thorn in my side since I use this method, and when I do a motherboadr swap...

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated....

Is there a way for me to do a complete "reset" of Windows 98's audio feature? Like deleting a bunch of critical files involved in creatng the audio in 98...

I really want a solution...

Maybe you could try to use the little known Microsoft Preptool for Win98 and then report back how it does work as no one here seems to have ever used it.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/win.../WIN_DEPLOY.exe

Link doesn't seem to work...

Try this:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/win.../WIN_DEPLOY.exe

Unzip with WinZip or PowerArchiver [ http://www.mdgx.com/toy.htm#ZIP ] using original folder names.
Then unzip W98PREP.EXE from the \WIN98 subfolder using PowerArchiver.

Hope this helps.

How will this help me with the audio issue I have right now? I need to resolve it....

Preptool is supposed to remove all hardware before imaging. What you could try to do do is just run it on your system and reboot instead of imaging and see if it removes your audio properly. I think it is also a good idea to actually uninstall the hardware before resetting the registry as setup might find the files for your old audio hardware and installs them automatically. (It seems to me that some older AC97 drivers will work on an older card but not on a newer one despite that they install on both.)