os reinstall

[shupola]

i have an old compaq laptop that runs windows 98. when i bought it and got online, it got a virus and now it doesnt work well at all. its not my main computer, but i like to play around with it as a tinker toy and it would be a lot easier to deal with if it was virus free.

my question is could i somehow save windows 98os to a cd so i can reinstall it after i format the hard drive? i know most computers have a system recovery disc to reinstall the os, but it didnt come with one since i bought it from a private owner rather than a computer shop. is it even legal to do this? i think it is if i install it on the same computer. also what files would i have to save to the disc if it is possible?

 

[Praetor]

my question is could i somehow save windows 98os to a cd so i can reinstall it after i format the hard drive?

Not from the already-installed-copy you cant (unless you count drive-imaging)

is it even legal to do this?

nope. (again, unless you do drive imaging but that doesnt help you after you reformat)