ived zipped up a nice install of 98se with all the sps tweaks etc i got a nice clean install i want to be able to just unzip it to a new hardrive any hardrive so i always have 98se good to go if i crash i dont need a restore cd or rcovery i have those i need a way perhaps a dos unzipper etc to call to d the cd containing the zip to install it on c:\root possible from a floppy what i need is how to do it what dos unzipper i need to put on floppy etc .probably right up mgdxs alley.

May I suggest looking at Savepart. It can save entire partitions to a file (or multiple files if you need over 2 GB), and restore the partions from the file. Probably when using this to transfer an image you should make sure your partitions are of compatible size and type. You can ensure this by using a partitioning tool such as FDISK, or better yet, Ranish partition manager aka part244.exe.

Savepart also has compression and decompression capability, but the compression it is awfully slow. It might be better to just save your partition to a file and then use PKZIP to compress it.

Note that I don't think your 98 SE image will work unless the computer you install it on has similar hardware. Part of what 98 SE SETUP.EXE does is assemble a file called VMM32.VXD that is a compressed archive of the VXD files your hardware needs.

PKZIP 2.50 is probably adequate for your compression needs.

You may also try downloading the Microsoft's Cabsdk (which contains MAKECAB.EXE, or my favorite, CABARC.EXE). These can produce CAB files, which are similar to ZIP files. If you run CABARC with the "-m LZX:21" option you will get very good compression, better than PKZIP and almost as good as 7zip.

Unfortunately CABARC.EXE runs is a Win32-only command-line tool. So you can only compress in Win32. However, you CAN use the standard Windows EXTRACT.EXE program to extract CAB archives in DOS mode.

I am not aware of any 7zip command-line extractor that runs in pure DOS mode.

You can simulate a Win32 [32-bit] environment by using DOSLFN [free, open source]:
http://www.geocities.com/jadoxa/doslfn/
Then u can use CABARC, PKUNZIP, or any other unarchiving tool that otherwise works only from within Windows.
Just make sure your tool is capable of handling LFNs.
Example: add this line to your BATch file used to extract all files to your HD:

DOSLFN t+ w+ le

Then add a line for your unzipping tool.

If I may, I'd like to suggest using 7ZA.EXE, part of 7-zip, or as separate DOS console zipping/unzipping tool [free GPL]:

7-Zip v4.18 Beta 32-bit ZIPping/unZIPping integrated Windows Explorer shell
extension + DOS box command line tool for Windows 9x/NT4/2000/ME/XP/2003
supports most popular compression formats: ZIP, 7Z, RAR, CAB, ARJ, GZIP, BZ2,
TAR, CPIO + RPM, highest ZIP compression ratio (2-10% better than most other
ZIPpers) otherwise attainable only by ACE/CAB/RAR formats, highly customizable
(free GPL):
http://www.7-zip.org/
7-Zip Shell extension + DOS box/console tool [1.02 KB]:
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/sevenzip/7z418b.exe
7-Zip DOS box tool [320 KB]:
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/sevenzip/7za417b.zip

7z format is 1 of the best available, especially for large archives.
I use 7-zip to compress 98SE2ME.

And u don't need to put these tools [+ batch file] on a floppy, they are small enuf to fit on the same CD where your 98SE archive resides.
Just make sure to select bootable CD when u burn it.
One last thing:
depending on which burning tool u're using, u may need the boot.bin file. U can probably find it in most [if not all] of these guides:
http://www.msfn.org/articles.php?action=cat&acid=1

Hope this helps.

thank u kindly guys ill try it today.u rock

Just for the record, Savepart is here:
http://www.partition-saving.com/

Last version (I did not test it) is v.3.00, it uses the zlib compression library 1.2.2:http://www.zlib.net/

that should be faster in compression/decompression.

jaclaz