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to Oscardog: i have several system backups - that is not a problem. Real problem is if i shall be unable to reach some valuable data in short time even if the system is not repaired yet. If the problem is hard to detect the most quick way how to reach them is to use DOS with set of apps able to copy and view them and eventuallty send them throught internet.

yeah thats right. I tried the newest version from July. No trouble at all and this version seems to run little bit better that older versions, but its just feeling. But in the file list (in dxdiag) is certain that there were not used some newest files. in version from february was wsock.dll from year 2007, now i dont see the file here...

I was quite amazed when i found out how many versions of DX9c actually exists. Two days ago i tryed the "bimonthly updates" redistributable package from microsoft page. That version was not most newest - from february 2007, but of course Windows 9x was not mentioned in the list of supported systems. Installation was without any trouble, system seemed fine after next reboot. In DXdiag was certain that some modules have been updated, so i am sure that those packages are working. Then i tried some common apps to test it. Most of them worked fine except one - that god damned teletext filter... First i want to say that i am sure that this seems to be a problem of the txt filter itself, but the question is how can an application be incompatible with different versions of same DX9c... I dont know if the bimonthly updates are sent throught automatic updates to Windows XP users, but to me it seemes that these small differences in versions can cause amount of unspecified and hardly identificable issues if they are installed on win9x system. Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectX what are your opinions about "standard" dx9.0c packages distributed with games and video drivers and about the newest packages which are no longer supporting win9x?

well the memory management of w98 is quite a mystery for me. I have 1,5 gb of ram right now and 512 mb is used as ramdisk with swapfile. Somebody here mentioned that win98 does not use Upper memory but if i let it unfilled i cant start my machine and i need to raise amount of ramdisk to 700 mb... If i use umbfill system can start with 1024 mb or ram and 512 mb of ramdisk I wonder how it works if win98 really dont use free upper memory.

to Awergh: i want to use dos based apps as alternative environment in case of emergency when system fails due any reason. Also i want to use it as safe place to begin system recovery. I was able to clear system from virus infection some months ago, simply by finding files which are not part of system (they are too new) and then i used scanreg to return the registries. system was completely cured manually in 10-15 minutes after initial symptoms. but i am still looking for tool which can make virus test in dosmode to prove that all malicious files are deleted. also in dos mode most infected files are not running or required by system so their removal is easier. i like arachne because its way of displaying web pages is quite compatible with today's standards and as i have heard it is still being developed. Also i have in dos drivers for most devices which i use. Sound driver, lan card driver, and i also found driver for my TV tuner.

thanks a lot for explanation.

this is strange. i found out that version of regsvr32 in my system changed, and i dont know when... I use two system patches. exuberants service pack and KUP i have done system return to 3.6.2007 and i tried to reinstall the teletext filter. everything failed. Regsvr is not the problem here. thanks a lot.

this was my source: http://www.thpc.info/ram/vcache.html link is on your page and i have no possibility to check which entries are valid or not except clasiccal "try and fail" debugging. Only entry which matters is Maxfilecache. question is why and how it fixes our trouble...

I didnt know that *.ex_ are packages. Thanks for info. I tried the unpacked regsvr32 this time and it worked correctly. I want to explain the trouble i had: I was using ATV2000 tv tuner application to watch TV on PC. Since installer was adressing regsvr32 in directory which is standard for winNT based systems several modules were not registered. On developers page i found information that some modules can be registered manually using regsvr32 if installer fails to do it. Most of these modules were rather old (year 2000-2002), but module Teletext.ax was the newest one, and standard regsvr32 from windows 98se was unable to register it. Now i used regsvr from Windows 2000 OEM package which owns my brother and teletext now works perfectly. Is it possible to add regsvr32 sp4 to any service pack which is here being developed?

Hi. i was trying to fix this issue because for me is necessary to run som dos based aplications even in windows and this can cause serious errors while running them - including installation of Unofficial service pack. I thing i found a fix. There are several reasons why this error occur. Mostly is caused by some graphics adapters, or by large ram and by system settings in config sys and system.ini. Fixing of problem depends on the reason of memory insufficiency. 1. Dos based programs - it is absolutely necessary for them to have enough memory to run. Mostly it means conventional memory. 2. Command.com and command line programs (*.bat, mem, or other w32 apps running in dos window) - here are mixed reasons why the will not run. They need conventional memory, and they need classic windows memory to run. 3. Windows based applications - here is only one reason - lack of free system ram. This error occurs even when you have really large ram and have large virtual memory swapfile so the reason is not the amount of ram at all, but mostly the memory management. I used some critical applications where this error can cause trouble to diagnose the problem and now i am sure that it is caused by too large MaxFileCache value. Here are the lines which i used in system ini and fixed problem. [vcache] MaxFileCache=131072 MinFileCache=4096 chunksize=2048 namecache=4096 directorycache=96 To prove that these settings are correct i tried some things. 1.I opened You tube and play any video, then i turned on TV tuner and i watched both videos. If one of them goes blank or is frozen it means that memory is consumed. With setting above it didnt occured. 2. with tv tuner and you tube opened i ran Ultima online by *.bat file. It ran correctly. Then i ran command.com and it worked. (ultima itself has trouble with lack of memory) 3. Opened Notepad/Metapad and selected quite large text and used copy/paste. With the setting aboe it worked without error. This positive state didnt changed even when i was using apps for hours without restart. If the MaxFileCache is larger than 131072 all "Not enough memory" errors appeared again - when the number was larger the intensity of memory errors was greater. This error is probably linked also with hardware construction and this is the thing i want to discuss I have 2 HDD, 2 CD roms, Ati Radeon 9800XT, 1,5 gb RAM. I need a feedback from somebody who is using more or less peripherals, different graphics and ram. System has 1024 Mb of ram and 512 mb of Ramdisk, where the win386.swp is stored. Try to use vcache settings i have posted and then try to raise Maxfilecache. Good diagnostic tool is any video playing and attempt to run Command line, or copy/pasting blocks of text in notepad. Before testing be sure that you have enough free conventional memory (at least 450-500 kb) Report if memory error occur while using 131072 kb of maxfilecache - send here your Vcache section of system ini, config sys, and autoexec.bat file.

yes i tried that file from w95 - it worked, version from w2k install cd but it was not functional. i dont have any possibility to get it from win2k sp4. how can i detect error in file that is being registered and the trouble is not in regsvr32, or how to register it manually?

i have encountered some errors while using this service with some newer apps. the file is from year 1999. does exists any newer version compatible with 9x systems?

to erpdude: i remember that this driver was for all known ms systems including w9x platform.

Since many drivers are using WDM standard there is mostly not necesarry to hack or crack them. the only problem now is that WDM standard changed. Driver developers are quite lazy and they dont want to pay for development drivers for legacy systems. Althought WDM means win9x,2k,2003,xp compliant the developers do not create drivers for w9x... therefore no hack or crack should work, because there must be done a lot of coding or at least scripting... If the driver is able to work with ntkern.vxd but if there can be some blocks sometimes without any reason. there can some work of this type do something... But Driver packs... hard to say. it is not only for single device, but there are mulltiple devices... i doubt if it could be possible or easy to do. I think there shall be necessary to reprogram some dll/sys modules to be compatible with win9x...

WinRar 3.61 KUP: No Type: packaging utility (rar, zip) Description: There are no known limitations or bugs in this software, and it can be safely used. Performance Test KUP: No Type: Pc Benchmarking utility Link: http://www.passmark.com/ Description: This is not a diagnosis tool but just set of some test if you want to know how good is your computer. There are no known limitations or bugs.

Xvid Codec (Nic's build| Version: 1.1.0 b2 build 6.04.2005 Kup: No Type: Codecs http://www.free-codecs.com/Nic_XviD_Codec_download.htm Description In comparation with koepi's build is this codec fully functional when video processing application is trying to use the codec, but in Start menu is little bug - link is trying to execute rundll32.exe in c:\windows\system folder, but in win9x is rundll32 located in c:\windows folder. when is decoder/encoder opened from other application it works correctly AC3 Filter 1.11 (final) Versions 0,70a, 1.11 Kup: no Type: Codec / audio filters Description Filter needed to play movies with HQ sound. works great.

If you are able to install and run the program which does not have any OS limitations, but they are not working properly try to describe the errors you have encountered. (for example some codecs are developed for all MS operating systems, but in fact they are not working at all in w9x environment) Winamp 5.34 (full) Type:Player Kup: Not needed Description of issues: Really impressive environment for playing media, but there seems to be a problem with AC3 sound - player is reading it as "Mono" althought AC3 filter is running at the background. When video finishes and you try to play another media the program sometimes freezes, mostly leading to restart. This error occurs always, and only while playing media in this player. Xvid 1.1.2 (koepi's build| Type: Codec Kup: Not Needed Description of issues: Codec seems to miss registry entries needed to run correctly under windows 9x. After installation the files are present in system but codec cannot be called from tv capturing or video processing application.

If you know about interesting software which can work under windows 9x with or without KUP post here name, version, some issues which occured, description and if possible download location if it is freeware. Try to separate the software in classes: Games, Players, Codecs, Browsers, Tools, Other Media Player Classic Version: 6.4.9.0 (Current) Type: Player Kup: Not needed Link: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.p...ackage_id=84358 Description: Easy to use Media player. It play most formats and fix some issues which may occur by other players. Bugless. Prey Version: 1.00 Type: Games Kup: Needed Description: Very good FPS, with excellent graphics. It contains some minor issues. Autorun is not working properly, graphics may corrupt during play (problem is in graphic driver) Cole 2k Standard Version: 6.0.9 Type: Codec Kup: Not needed Link: http://www.cole2k.net Description: Codec pack desginged to decode most existing video formats incuding h264, mp4, xvid and divx and AC3 sound. Cooperation with win9x is guaranteed by developer.

so i found some issues in NVidia drivers and send similar request to devs but they just said that the win9x projects are discontinued. Just try to wait if they release new version of this driver, or try to find older version somewhere... next choice is to find a way how to upgrade rundll32 for these purposes.

it is certain that they have written driver for win9x based system without test system available (or in virtual machine), and the driver is not working with Rundll32 which is used by windows 9x. write it as a bugreport, do not say anything about warranty.

i have taken a look at that driver. it seems to be suitably written for Windows 9x systems, but i received the same bug as you did. i think there is bug in driver - manufacturer tried to keep full compatibility, but he failed... try to contact them...

take a look here: www.driverguide.com and then look at the top of this topic. try to identify your hardware so much as possible. there is chance that there are drivers available for same card but the name of the product is different - most important are marks at the chip on your card.

if they are using ntkern.vxd and there is no other vxd file (only sys and dlls) it is quite possible.

to Benoit-ren: as long i know WDM was not supported officialy by windows 95, althought the w9x systems are quite similar in way how they handle hardware, so i think it is quite possible. to Eck: WDM was intended as standard for all microsoft OSes. One driver for each microsoft system without any limitations. As long i know it is not like that... If we say "WDM Standard" it means that systems from w9x to wXP have to be able to use same driver without limits, but reality is really different. Drivers which really meet this are mostly developed for windows ME and 2k. 1. Generation as you say... windows 95 is able to use them. But i have never seen a WDM driver developed directly for w95 If some web page is offering drivers for windows 9x they are mosstly VXD based. Developers had not enough information about WDM standards when Windows 98 was mainstream system. since w95 there were VXD drivers. i was not examining which drivers were used in earlier windowses, but VXD became known as driver for w95. Then Windows 98 came introducing new WDM standard. 2. Generation This was introduced with w98. Few WDM drivers have been developed in that time if any was ever released. At this point the developers had choice which standard they shall follow, most of them were still developing VXD drivers even when it was waste of hardware effectivity. 3. Generation Then when windows 2000 was introduced. It has no support for older VXD standard so developers had to move on WDM. In the same time Millenium Edition was introduced and skilled users were hoping that it is different from w98 mostly in range of functionality - in fact these systems are running on same base, with same possibilities if we are talking about drivers... Drivers developed for windows 2000 are most compatible if they are served as *.inf. Only few drivers from this generation are screwed up. You can use them freely in windows 9x without any major limitation, and also windows XP can use them. But there is first stage of incompatibility - mostly visible at graphic drivers. ATI and Nvidia bounded installers with DLLs which are included only in windows 2000 and higher. VXD left for windows 9x, WDM was only for 2k and higher. 4. Generation Then when XP came, 2k returned to server rooms (althought it is quite good client computer OS) and developers felt that XP is something different (it is. so much hw comsuption...) at this point they started to develop drivers for windows Xp. since system is 2k based they are fully compatible with windows 2000. With Vista range of compatibility is broken again and here is begining new type of driver standard at all... The truth is that WDM drivers have great advantages over VXD, but if we are talking about WDM for windows 98/ME/2k and about WDM for 2k/XP there are no major differences in functionality and performance. Difference is only in construction of installer, and in the way of implementation in system. WDMs from third generation are able to run on all systems, WDMs from fourth miss compatibility with 9x - system paths in infs are not defined, or installer or driver is bounded with 2k dll. (i have tested it with various pci cards - sound card, tv tuner, lan card... Developers usually offer VXD driver for w9x and WDM for 2k and higher. in some cases is worth to try install 2k driver on older system to test compatibilty. I had no trouble to use WDM drivers in windows 98se at all pci cards i have here, and then use same drivers in WXP. their functionality or performance or even buggy behaviour didnt changed, and even w9x driver for ATI Radeon was giving comparable performance as newer XP driver - no big differences in performance)

so if i am running DOS mode as a security choice for repairing system (i do it for some time) how much possibilities it offers if i need to repair system or contact friend for help (dos based applications): Arachne Web Browser - rather old applications which can browse graphics based environment. Quite useful but quite obsolete - it is comparable with IE 3.0. No frames, no flash. http://www.arachne.cz/ Toffee - IRC client for dos. i tried it without any limitations except state that it is text mode and singletasking app. http://www.rowan.sensation.net.au/programs.html at this point i want to ask about "GDI Exploit" and if following aplications can prevent its usage, then how safe can dos environment can be since only protection is offered by hardware (as i know) and the last thing - is there any antivirus able to run from dos environment and if it is still updated? i know about various solutions - antivirus booting from CD, but i am looking for pure dos application - if there is any. here is latest arachne and some other apps http://www.cisnet.com/glennmcc/arachne/