Change BIOS to Change OSs?

I recently bought a used Compaq Deskpro EN. It came with Win 2000
loaded and a recovery disk (not a full operating system.) I bought the
computer with the intent to partition the drive and load Mandrake Linux
10. I'm not familiar with Win 2000 and I have a full install of Win 98
SE so I took the original HD out of the Deskpro, replaced it with a
different drive (thinking this would make the reformat easier AND
preserve my ability to play around with win 2k at a later time), stuck
the Win98 CD in the reader and rebooted. The Compaq BIOS recognized
that the HD did not have a NTFS partition (I'm guessing on this) and
refused to proceed further. So here are my questions:
If I clear the CMOS and flash the BIOS with one from whoever made the
motherboard, will it accomplish my purpose (allow me to load the OS of
my choice?)
Is this the best way to solve my problem, or is there a simpler
solution?

System info:
Compaq Deskpro EN PC 866
Midtower case with 200W power supply
HD Seagate Barracuda ATA, model ST320414A, 20 GB
CPU Pentium III 866 Mhz
Audio integrated
Display Adapter Nvidia
OS Windows 2000

Thanks in advance

glenn

First, reflashing the BIOS will not overcome any issues with the hard drive.
The Deskpro EN BIOSes are operating system neutral.

Second, press the F10 key to enter the BIOS setup and then examine the info the
BIOS shows about the hard drive you installed. Check the hard drive jumpers for
proper master-slave setup.

Third, the only BIOS available for a Compaq motherboard is from Compaq. There
may be a later BIOS on the HPaq web site.

Fourth, to install Windows 98 on the computer, you need drivers for the
motherboard chipset, the nVidia graphics, audio, and the built-in network
adapter. Trust me. They are not on the Windows 98 CD. Download all the
drivers, and, hopefully, burn them onto a CD and copy the CD contents onto the
hard drive after formatiing it and before installing the OS. Once Windows 98
has done the best job it can, install the motherboard drivers, followed by the
other drivers. You may not be able to find the drivers on the HPaq web site for
Windows 98. For the motherboard drivers, use the Intel web site and download
the motherboard drivers for ANY Intel 815 chipset board. Download the nVidia
TNT2 drivers from the nVidia web site. Download the network drivers from the
Intel web site after identifying the on-board Ethernet chip, either Intel 82557
or maybe 82559. The audio is an ADI chip, and ADI may have Windows 98 reference
drivers for the chip... Ben Myers

On 27 Dec 2004 15:06:10 -0800, wrote:

I recently bought a used Compaq Deskpro EN. It came with Win 2000
loaded and a recovery disk (not a full operating system.) I bought the
computer with the intent to partition the drive and load Mandrake Linux
10. I'm not familiar with Win 2000 and I have a full install of Win 98
SE so I took the original HD out of the Deskpro, replaced it with a
different drive (thinking this would make the reformat easier AND
preserve my ability to play around with win 2k at a later time), stuck
the Win98 CD in the reader and rebooted. The Compaq BIOS recognized
that the HD did not have a NTFS partition (I'm guessing on this) and
refused to proceed further. So here are my questions:
If I clear the CMOS and flash the BIOS with one from whoever made the
motherboard, will it accomplish my purpose (allow me to load the OS of
my choice?)
Is this the best way to solve my problem, or is there a simpler
solution?

System info:
Compaq Deskpro EN PC 866
Midtower case with 200W power supply
HD Seagate Barracuda ATA, model ST320414A, 20 GB
CPU Pentium III 866 Mhz
Audio integrated
Display Adapter Nvidia
OS Windows 2000

Thanks in advance

glenn