Windows 98 supports FAT32, so transferring data does not necessarily require starting the old system. This workflow is for people familiar with Linux and a healthy, clearly identified FAT32 partition connected to a modern Linux PC. Stop on read errors, unusual noises or uncertain hardware identification and plan an appropriate recovery method first.
1. Prepare before connecting
Shut down and disconnect power from the old computer. Remove and connect the drive only with a suitable adapter and power supply; seek skilled help if uncertain. Prevent automatic mounting on the Linux workstation beforehand. Do not accept initialization, formatting, conversion or repair. For particularly important originals, use a suitable hardware write blocker; a later software setting cannot undo earlier writes.
Document source and separate backup destination by model, capacity and identifier. lsblk --fs shows filesystems, labels and UUIDs. Do not trust a name such as /dev/sdb1 alone: names can change after reconnection, and cloned disks can share a UUID. FAT32 must actually be identified, not inferred merely from the Windows name.
2. Mount read-only and verify
Create a new empty mount directory on Linux, for example /mnt/w98source. The source must not already be mounted writable elsewhere. This pattern requires a verified unique UUID; replace VERIFIED_UUID, which is not a real value:
sudo mount -t vfat -o ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec UUID=VERIFIED_UUID /mnt/w98source
findmnt --mountpoint /mnt/w98source -o SOURCE,FSTYPE,OPTIONSThe output must identify the correct partition and show vfat and ro. If it shows rw, no output or the wrong source, do not copy or test writing. These options are not a complete security environment: noexec prevents direct execution, not all execution through other programs. Keep unknown programs and macros closed. Do not generalize this procedure to other filesystems, whose read-only mounting behaviour can differ.
3. Accept the copy
Copy the required folders, including necessary hidden files, to another healthy drive, not another partition on the same old disk. Use a new destination folder, move nothing and avoid overwriting existing data. Record errors and skipped files.
Compare folder structure, file count, sizes and important content. Check accented characters and long names; investigate character-set mounting options before renaming originals if names appear wrong. FAT timestamps do not contain a complete time-zone history; daylight saving can cause one-hour differences. Owners and permissions displayed under Linux are determined by FAT mount options, not preserved original NTFS permissions.
4. Keep the original
Open important documents only from the copy in a suitable protected environment. Keep a second verified copy separately. Unmount the source using sudo umount /mnt/w98source when finished; if busy, close open accesses first rather than removing it forcibly. A document copy is not a bootable system image and replaces neither applications nor licences. Retain the unchanged original until the transfer is accepted.
Sources: Microsoft: FAT, HPFS, NTFS; Linux: VFAT; mount(8); findmnt(8).