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I'm getting this error message every time I try to install the OS, typically when I click "Next" after it asks if you want to do a regular/custom/etc install, though it does vary somewhat. It does not specify which module or file is causing the error and just says <MODULE> where that would be. I've found similar issues in old threads and tried unchecking "Enable PAE/NX" (which was already unchecked) and "Enable VT-x/AMD-V" with no luck. I also reduced the RAM from 64MB to 32MB and ran "SETUP.EXE /ie /im /is" from the command line; the error still persists. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have sometimes had this sort of problem when first trying to install Windows 98. It seems to be something to do with the boot record on the disk.

The way I found round it is first to boot using a start-up floppy from Windows 95 OSR2. Use this to partition the hard disk (telling it that you want "large hard disk support") then to format it. After this run SETUP.EXE from the CD or, perhaps better, copy the directory WIN98 to C: and run SETUP from there. (I would also recommend using the option: "SETUP /p j" to avoid Windoes 98 using 100% of its CPU time.)

I appreciate the suggestions but I'm still having the same problem. I don't know what you mean by OSR2, but I found a 95 boot floppy image and was able to format the disk with it, but the 98 installer doesn't recognize the partition. Running setup.exe /p j just crashes, as does the regular installer. I'm also unsure how to copy the installer files from the CD to C:, as copy isn't recursive and only copies files in the root of the disk; setup.exe won't work this way. I tried running the 98 installer just so it formats the drive, then setup.exe /p j (from the disk, not on C) and it still generated the SUWIN error.

I'm on OS X, btw, not sure that will matter.

This may be a stupid question, idc: how in the world am I supposed to copy the contents of the install disk to C:? That seems to be the solution a lot of people have found but I just can't do it. xcopy doesn't exist in 98, apparently, and copy won't copy the whole disk.

You don't need to copy the whole disk, just the "WIN98" directory, and it has no subdirectories. So just create a directory on C: with MD C:\WIN98, then copy it with COPY D:\WIN98\*.* C:\WIN98

Did that, ran setup /p j from C:\WIN98, exact same error.

What in the world...

OSR2 is OEM Service Release 2 of Windows 95. The original release could only handle FAT16 hard disks; FAT32 came in with the second release.

tldr: it's still broken

Here's what I did:
1. Booted from the Windows 95 OSR2 floppy (ver returns 4.00.1111, which is OSR2)
2. fdisk, deleted the old partition, created a new one (enabled large disk support, confirmed it was FAT32)
3. format C:
4. Copied WIN98 directory from D: to C:
5. Ran setup /p j from C:

Same error again! I just don't understand this. It's so phenomenally vague, it's impossible to track down the cause.

So here's what I ended up doing: I found a VDI from someone who had already installed 98SE and just used that.

Mr. Harper, thanks so much for your efforts.

Hmmm, so now you have a pirated copy of Win 98SE! Wonder if the MS Security Service is watching.

erdeslawe wrote:Hmmm, so now you have a pirated copy of Win 98SE!

Not true. I gather he has a valid license to use Win98, so he is doing nothing wrong. The mechanism of installation is not relevant. The incorrect CD key is not a legal matter, just a practical one.