DeadDude

Drugwash, thank you **VERY** much for those two links. Thanks to you, we should get a new boot logo created in no time... And the sci-tech link may not be what I was looking for, but that link DEFINATELY has enough information to get me started on my little side project... Don't get any hopes up, cuz I think many others tried... but I hope to get some of that 'basic functionality' in 98 on some newer cards... not sure what this entails, but that link you sent will help me sort it out... I *really* wish I could locate the guide on modding an XP driver to Linux... and a friend elsewhere claims to have seen the guide on modding a Linux driver to 98... may be a shot in the dark, but I gotta take that shot... just something I was thinking about... and nothing more than a hobby-job (dont ask for info on development, cuz I ain't developing anything yet.) I also was thinking of creating a VGA to COMPOSITE adapter... all the ones I find for sale are very expensive for just 640x480 support... (want to jack my X51V pda into a portable DVD player's screen) ideas??

If time is the biggest issue, then just go after 98SE... you shouldn't have to tinker quite so much to get it 'stable' (restore, anyone?) What kind of ram does it take? You may get lucky and find some real cheap at your local ma and pop computer shop... I wouldn't install anything past IE 4 with only 64megs ram.... firefox or opera is your best bet... if you *need* MS Outlook, you will be forced a new IE... if this is the case, you may want to use ME and deal with killing off the bad parts of the OS manually just to avoid issues later installing IE... With 64megs though, I would try to stick to 98SE at nearly any cost... You could always try Jackhammer... it is open-source, and includes *many* software packages out of the box... It is based on 98SE. Be warned though, it is a BETA!!! http://jackhammer.sourceforge.net

I have a suggestion... Why not include Open Office? The full blown version... isn't is under the correct type of license? if not, I apologize... also, why no virtual ram by default? I see the benefits, but AbiWord has no issues I can see with it enabled versus not enabled... Anyone care to assist in making a spiffy new desktop theme or wallpaper?? or logo.sys perhaps? I can't figure out how to do the animations..... anyone got the sci-tech video wrapper thingy? I cant find it anywhere... I think that's about it... at least for now... oh yeah, I can't get it to read 1500 megs of ram in VMWare... I would normally think this is linked to hardware issues, but in a VM, that shouldn't be an issue... I got 2 gigs of ram, and VM cuts me off at 1768 or something for a VM...

Um, I know there is a way to save the password for the log on... and then there is a way that you can load a program before the rest of the shell loads.... could you *technically* create your own 'logon' type program to do this function? It would have to be able to create the required password files on first use, as well as direct the boot to the proper account selected (I think a few reg keys or something similar may need to be set) There is also the problem of which logon type is actually needed by the end user... I think the default should be the one most similar to the default on on XP... MS Networks (I believe, I could be wrong so don't quote me this late on a Saturday night), and if this is true then it isn't a problem, is it? I think I recall seeing some VBScript to swap out the logon type dynamically... but I don't think it was intended to 98 (think 2k) I saw something like that.... somewhere.... I'll get back to ya boss...

I got an E1705 laptop from Dell with a 7900GS... core duo @2.0 w/ 2G ram any ideas if *this* could do 98???? It is PCI-E, that's about all I know right now... it runs Oblivion at 1440x900x32 with full AA and that last option turned on (in the loader proggy for Oblivion, halos or something like that), at 60+FPS easily... If I could run 98 with this rig, that would be freaking awesome....

@Petr the system(s) in question were installed using my funky 98SE cd... the autopatcher thread has more info on this CD... It is listed in Device Manager as AC'97 HD... No matter though, as I am trying to get a different 98SE cd to try on these... perhaps the name will be different using a "real" 98SE CD? Any ideas of compatibility with a GeForce FX 5500? Haven't tried yet, but I got this lying around for hopefully a Win98 system...

DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS OTHERS CONFIRM!!! Try booting into Safe mode, and removing everyything under Hard Drisk Controllers. If you suspect there is "deeper" corruption, you can try removing everything from your device manager. I have done this before with mixed results; sometimes Windows will reboot and auto-detect all the hardware properly... other times, it just stays dead. If VIA are the drivers taht are bad, you *should* be able to remove everything VIA-related in safe mode, in dev man, and reboot to initialize the hardware install again... If it picks the wrong drivers again, DO NOT REBOOT AFTER INSTALL. As long as you DO NOT REBOOT, the system hasn't yet "locked in" the files. Try swapping out your drivers now, then reboot after you select the proper driver... If it doesn't work, boot into safe mode again, remove that piece of hardware in dev man, reboot and try again. Honestly, it seems to me like you already hit a brick wall... I would try the above, simply because there's nothing to lose now, right? BUT STILL DO NOT DO THOSE STEPS WITHOUT CONFIRMATION FROM OTHERS!!! Your particular problem may have an easier solution... I am not familiar with it, sorry...

I took maaaad screenshots of my latest installation of Jackhammer... I'm going to try to post a few here, now... (not sure how to, bear with me) Boot screen: Login Freshly booted (after video drivers installed and 256 color direct draw error is now gone) A glance at the new start menu A glance at the new shutdown menu A whole bunch of stuff open, trying to show the tweaks I could see easily... notice MP9... don't know, but something is special about it... Why are some of FireFox's menus in ??german?? (I don't know what language it is, sorry if I offend) The brand spanking new System Properties window I don't know why that information is wrong about this computer... it may be a VMWare issue, but the cpu is 2Ghz Duo... but the ram size is correct as the VM setting for this machine...

Question on the CD thing.... Microsoft gave away over 2,000 copies of 98SE to a small non-profit org "Computers for the Community" This org rebuilt donated hardware into computers that they gave away... I was their 'certified computer technician' for 2 years, and routinely took work home... I really don't think my CD got swapped with one of their's... but it is the only thing I can think of... unless my "local shoppe" was somehow selling stuff they had no right to. and now knowing the CD is definately a major fubar, perhaps it *is* from that batch M$ gave away? It is awfully odd... but perhaps M$ knew about the screw ups and that's why they gave them away instead of selling them? Just some final thoughts on this issue.... Thanks for the help in nailing the problem down, and it looks like we still found some sort of a bug in Auto-patcher... yay, I *didn't* spam! @Soporific Sorry to be happy about a bug, but I'm sure you can understand how crazy I was getting over this... Would you recommend not installing the 98SE2ME from Auto-patcher, and installing the full package to see if it still happens? Would using VMWare produce similar results? I would think so, and if it does... I can pop out whatever tests you want real quick... cloned machine, anyone? Is it illegal to send a copy of the virtual machine to someone for comparison? I got cable internet, so tell me where to upload it if it is OK to do so... I can make it as small as about 200megs (maybe smaller, I never tried it) My latest VM 98 installs are jackhammer, so it doesn't reflect this issue... but tomorrow... err today... later today I will try... @anyone else I will not send anything to anyone else. Actually, there are perhaps 3 people I would send to, but they should already be able to figure out who they are from their posts. I do NOT condone stealing software, even if it is a 10 year old OS from the biggest and richest monopoly on Earth. (they'll track you down and tag you for life... I've *seen* it)

DUDE!!! THAT'S WHAT HPJOBBER DID BEFORE!!!!!!! Except it wasn't a Win balloon, it is just BLACK. And it was inside HPJobber... not explorer.exe... and hpjobber doesn't use the standard GUI model, it has some weird attempt at resembling DOS... right down to no menu at the top at all, it is all keyboard driven with some mouse hacks thrown in... The very first install I had, using all the crap I listed, had that SAME problem.... but I only noticed it in HPJobber... (when it happened, I just used keyboard to shut down and restart) So I think that **is** the problem, right there. Yes, my CDs are some freaking thing ... thanks for the post earlier with colors... made it easier to recap... Okay... sooo.... My OEM CDs are some really crazy beast. My version string is fiddled with from the ?beta? 98SE. The version is further modded by the partial install of the 98SE2ME thingy... (even if unintentional, this plays into it I think, as the version is *still* different after this) *That* explains the wild version on a fresh install... as well as the entirely impossible version after auto-patcher... Dang... Does anything know the viability of trying my CD key on another CD? I know with XP that is usually possible, but is it on 98SE? (Methinks this HPJobber software is absolute garbage... need to convince him to change to QuickBooks or something... looong story on it, but here's a try: HPJobber *was* a DOS only program, no DOS box even... the guy was crazy smart, and this was a time when programmers often put time bombs and the like to keep people legit and updating/upgrading. Well, this guy, as the story goes, committed suicide. A company bought the rights to the software, but couldn't locate any source code. So, they wrote a Windows program that reads the DOS data files... and that's where it all gets uber-freaky. Don't know what to believe after this point...)

And with that all out there in the open now.... Methinks ROS may just be where I'll put my eggs in the future... Then again, this Windows: Jackhammer project looks like it may also be viable.... it is a core 98SE install with some **major** overhauling. I don't know what else to say about it, because frankly, it is in early Beta... oh yeah, it claims certain driver issues are resolved.... don't know the specifics, as I just got around to installing it in VMWare... and video drivers are a "VMWare" thing in this setup... I like ReactOS for forwards compatibility... and it looks like Jackhammer is the beast to maintain the Win9x core in the future... Why *did* M$ fuse NT and 9x?? (I know their reasons... and the 'typical' reasons... but seriously, why *not* keep business seperate from pleasure?)

VER doesn't work for me but WINVER does. Also, if you've installed 98SE2ME the OS version shown will be Millenium not Win98SE. 98SE2ME changes the OS version reported to ME??? Is this true? Isn't that in the auto-patcher?? Is it possible that some *specific* hotfixes and magic voodoo that these packages *together* (hell, even so far as to say on *this specific rig*), caused this problem? Later today I will have 2 of these towers up and running... and a third will be with me for at least a week... I've almost totally 'worked around' this, (I've got the owner manually writing in totals on invoices, and he seems to be able to deal with that), but I am totally curious now what is going on... Who knows, maybe going through all this could get me to a point where I can help like y'all... (is it *just* because 98 is old that you guys know all this?? trial and error? :bows: )

first time posting in here, so I hope I got the tag idea right.... sorry if I didn't! I got Windows XP Media Center installed on an E1705 Dell laptop... AFAIK, it is fully updated and patched... but for some reason late last night, while using VMWare (does that matter? I dunno), a whole mess of the icons next to my clock disappeared. Among them, the 4-6 icons with meters and speed controls... What I mean, is I got 2 programs that do the whole "hardware sensor" thing and fan controls, and dynamic CPU speed switching... The programs did *not* close, if I try to run them again they error out "Another process is already running" If I use CAD, and manually close those programs, I *can* reopen them. But their icons disappear again. This is really bugging me, as without access to the controls I sometimes get locked out of the fan controls to cool my laptop... and I've been 'locked' into ?!300Mhz?! from time to time. As I said, the only thing done last night was installing VMWare, creating a pc for an experimental OS, tinking with that OS... VMWare prompted to disabled auto-play, I said yeah... ANd my DVD drive started getting smacked every minute or so... You know, it tried to spin up for a disk, didn't see one, so it stopped... minute later, repeat... (like the old 95 would to simulate the auto-insert notification) I think this was a bug of the OS I was trying in the VM, but it didn't stop when I exited the VM. SO I just shut down for the night, and noticed just before I clicked "shutdown", that those icons were missing from the clock area.... And now today, the same thing happened.... all I have opened/used was a networked printer, and firefox (+Adobe PDF reader)... any ideas?? I don't think I have a virus, but if someone knows of one that does this particular thing, please inform! Oh yeah, I did a 'scandisk thorough' (the equivalent in XP with chkdsk) yesterday morning, before anything happened....

Well, the suggestions point to a 98FE cd... but I think it may be the other way.... it *is* a SE cd, regardless as to what the numbers say. and it is an original... It was purchased (both copies I have) from the local computer shop when they quit supporting 98... You see, these copies were supposedly the *last* version of 98SE. That's literally all I know, as I wasn't "into" versions and crap back then... the CDs are about 5 years old now... I am leaning towards thinking these CDs are probably some 'hotfixed at M$' hacked jobs now... especially when i think of the other M$ offerings of the time... And the driver CD for the mobo seems to all be WDM drivers... On a side note, these CDs were purchased waaay back when M$ first released a Security Updates CD for ?all? Windows (I know it included 98SE to XP updates, and pre-SP1 for XP) I did NOT use this CD on anything related to the issue at hand, so please do *not* tell me I shouldn't. But please tell me more about the issues it causes, as I was previously thinking of using it on these...

Alright, I got this running on VMWare finally... It said to contact the Revolutions creator, the sp2.cab file or something was missing... Other than that, everything seems quite nice... Any ideas how it would work on real hardware, though? I am thinking of using this as a base for a Live 98 DVD, any ideas about this? I would try this immediately on my laptop, if I had the proper drivers already... Awesome job, keep it up! Any ideas if I could just install the revolution pack separately?

AWESOME!!! Thank you for that link! It is *exactly* what I need! I'll post back when I get a working iso...

First and foremost, I think that your specs for Win95 are only going to be good for W95... sorry dude... but, you also mentioned a possible fix for those issues- recompiling the kernel. Not a bad idea, if you are a developer. Someone like me, a tinkerer in software, no programming skills really... I can't do that... so it is a no-go for my side of this issue... Someone said somewhere the problems of Linux for people like us here is that there are too many choices. and I agree. Do they **all** run ****ALL**** the same software? Recompiling the KERNEL?!?! How often do you have to do that?! What is the software support like in Linux? IF YER NOT A PROGRAMMER? Do you see the issues with Linux clearer? It may honestly fit the 'requirements' for a PC, but not necessarily the people requirements of their PC... I'm quite smart, and I can do anything I've tried eventually... but I still have yet to give Linux an honest go- I have the entire world to enteract with, not just Linux users... The online software for my college (for instance) only supports IE5.5+ and FF 2+ and the Linux build in my live CD doesn't work with it... hmmm.... neither does Launch.com (music site with video), or any other multimedia website... and there's no Windows Media support at all on Linux... we hate the M$ beast, but we are still dependant since we don't want to be shut ins.... Wanna get that geat game of yesteryear to play on your dinosaur? Too bad, Linux can't do it. Linux on NEW hardware and with emus can **try** to do it... but hell no. If it was *easy* to create a minimal but *fully functional* Linux distro with all the compatible programs to replace Windows entirely, then it may be an option... just like how the Knoppix LIVE DVD works... You see, the issue is how the hell do you install hardware or software on Linux? Everything I've read is waaaay too intense just to play pacman...

No takers, eh? Well, I did some browsing, and found a live ReachOS cd.... anyone think I could take a stab at moving stuff around and using that as a base? I think it might not work since ROS is XP/NT based... ideas? Would it be better to start with a clean partition, installing 98SE with everything, installing software, and configuring ram disks... then burning the whole thing onto a DVD? Sounds like the right idea, but I don't know how to create the DVD from a virtual disk on VMWare... not to mention I can't load drivers into it this way, either.... Would the pasthrough dpmi thingy setting allow the virtual pc to see the real hardware for installing drivers? If so, I still need to figure out how to burn that virtual partition to a DVD that is bootable and usable... "live"

I thought they were originals... The entire CD face is a hologram... The background is a globe, with north america on the top left side. The background also says Genuine Microsoft tiled everywhere. At the rights side of the hole it says For distribution with a new PC only. For product support, contact the manufacturer of your PC. SECOND EDITION left side of hole says Do Not Make Illegal Copies Of This Disk under the hole it says Microsoft (raised above the rest) Windows 98 under that is the Microsoft certificate sticker thingy (hologram as well, it is ALL hologram, hard to see in the dark, looks blank) Isn't this a legit original? The otherside (data side) has a ring around the hole, with more holograms VALID smms diamond GENUINE logo logo windows 98 ASP0210 X05-39104 (NM.05) 08 IFPI L894 BARCODE

On Friday I will have two of these towers to 'play' with... So, if you can think of anything you would like me to run or screenshot, just ask. (is it possible to move or delete these posts? I just realized I am basically spamming the hell outta this thread with my OT issues... I didn't know it was OT until now) EDIT:::: (posting 2 or three times is even worse than loooooong edited posts, right?? don't wanna step on toes) @MDGx Dude, you must have been uber in the womb... Do you know if 4Dos is cross-platform? It isn't involved in this particular situation, but your extremely knowledgable post on it made me miss my old Win3.11 w/Calmira Online! II shell and 4Dos.... Ever heard of Calmira II? It was a darn good 9x shell clone for 3.11 @All I just started browins the various posts on updates, and I've concluded that I somehow have a few key files that are hacked between ME and perhaps 2k? This is quite interesting to note, because the only files installed are OEM drivers. I have yet to examine all the file versions of all the dlls, but if someone knows a quick and easy way (batch file anyone?) to pull this list, please share it. I don't want to have to manually look each file up and copy it down... but I could... I know dxdiag will show dx files, but I don't think those are the culprits... If it really matters, 2 of these machines installed with 2 hiccups (locked during hw detection), while the third did not. On first installs, the 2 with hiccups did not boot, vmm.exe errors. Reinstalled after fdisk again, and 1 hiccup each but no more issues. The other two machines have been 'built' a few times, but 98SE always locks up on install. It is odd, as *all* of the components are identical between the 5... and swapping parts between all 5 will make those 2 boot properly... (swap harddrives with 2 that are setup) The device manager all appears O.K. no exclaimations anywhere... or red 'x'

Thank you for the replies... sorry to confuse with the xx, I didn't remember the actual numbers but I knew it wasn't 10. the actual version reported (I had to go check at the guy's shop this morning) is: 4.95.2222 That's right... NINE FIVE. (sorry for the confusion, old and new and ancient standby pc version numbers got confusing late last night) What the heck happened here? Once again, GREAT MANY THANKS for all the help on this.... didn't mean to cause confusion, but now y'all know what I'm faced with here.... I *know* somthing boosted the version to 4.95... but what the hell did it? Does anyone know of *ANY* M$ OS with a x.95.xxxx version? Perhaps some file (ntkern.vxd or something?) isn't actually a 98SE version, but "works" and hasn't been found yet? I don't know.... but it doesn't cause any issues except in HPJOBBER.... oh yeah, and the computers were MANY TIMES faster with that version returned.... Only installed files were Win98SE (after the Gold fiasco), driver CD from GigaByte, and Auto-Patcher 1.7, then 1.8... and that sequence boosted it to 4.95.2222 No Auto-patching at all, and it reports 4.10.1999.... but that *still* can't be right, since it should be 4.10.2222, correct?? Could one of the driver packages for the mobo be causing the change? It is the same board I posted in another thread.... this board: http://tw.giga-byte.com/Support/Motherboar...8I865GME-775-RH (Did I install the updates properly? ran AP1.7, then ran AP1.8 immediately afterward.) Some extra info on the ORIGINAL OLD machine *without issues* in the shop: This tower had 95, updated (with upgrade CD) to 98 Gold, then once again to 98SE. It gave a fuss, but manually deleting one or two files made it work. I used AP 1.5 or 1.6 on it a looong time ago (I'm starting to wonder if the same project name was used elsewhere, as this was back in 2002/3). This machine does everything 100% correct. It also properly reports as 4.10.2222 To Summarize: Current setup, with almost correct version (4.10.1999): I have 5 brand new towers built with the above linked motherboard. I built and installed everything... standard crap, boot from CD, fdisk&format, scandisk, copy cabs, setup with switches for no extras, couple of reboots then desktop in crappy VGA, pop in mobo CD, it does *everything* automatically... Messed up setup, with 4.95.2222 reported: same as above, but instead of driver CD, I used the updated drivers from the company site (link above also gets to the drivers). Comparing the two (CD to site), they should be identical... but the file sizes are a little off (I assume from compression and the 1000k/1024k web bug) STILL installs similar to above, except I picked the order... INF Chipset, SVGA, USB, Sound, DX 9, Sound (to enable *all* functions... I watched the 'proper' install to learn to do this) Originally, I had updated the sound card drivers with a W2K version driver, but it is now only on ONE of the 5 (to nail this issue down). The versions reported all match still. (so this supports the claim that updates and drivers won't change that number) Now I want to know how that version could be changed... I mean, is M$ the only people with the knowledge of how to do it? Or could the Intel INF installer do it or something? Thanks for the help! Sorry for any extraneous confusion! (this issue is confusing itself, I don't need to goof up from lack of sleep)

I checked out that link.... So I guess PCI-E installs are similar to forcing a PCI driver upon an AGP card or vice versa? My only experience was a total failure... Does PCI-E use a miniport driver or something like that (can't remember the name, AGP uses it)? I guess perhpas ATI has one thing going for them... drivers. I'm a NVIDIA guy.... hence, I didn't think it *could* work... I got 7900gs.. no 98 possible.

Dude. Wow. Ignore those lame ......-......s. While I haven't tried this bundle... I support this idea 100%. I will be looking into aqcuiring this and testing... One question, can the files be burned to a DVD?? I'll just check the site... thanks dude! just tell those idiots to suck an egg... This is a giant leap towards what I want to find/make... a bootable live DVD with packages like this included on it...

What specific flavors of Linux would be suggested? Why those flavors? How is the hardware support for laptops? For desktops? For USB devices? I would love to have a lightweight Linux install... but I got an E1705 Dell laptop... and I don't know Linux... but I like the Knoppix DVD... I boot it in VMWare often enough to claim I use a Linux OS weekly... BUT... I boot the Knoppix for the software it comes with... not for anything else. I like the shell a *lot* more. I like the 'feel' of it. Something says power and simplicity... The file system is almost too scary to bother fiddling with... if not for my Amiga experience, I would *never* try anything on Linux/Knoppix... I use it in work for diagnosing truly dead hardware... ya know, sometimes Windows is just being a bastard... the hardware is actually fine... Windows 2000 sounds like the next in line for older hardware, and I can easily understand this stance... it answers correctly to my criteria in the beginning of my post... BUT. I never really considered 2000 as 'user friendly'. I can't put into words why I feel this way, even with standard 98 themes applied and icons and fonts and everything.... it just feels alien to me somehow... How's about ideas about shell replacements on 2000? I tried a few on XP and 98 back in the day, and all of 'em had issues... anyone know of one that is finally working properly as a replacement shell?? I like this thread, and I often wondered the same thing but never figured to ask... thanks for having the gusto to post it.

Are you serious??? NOTHING in the auto-patcher changes the Windows version?!?! WHat I am referring to is when you choose properties on my computer... it lists the owner of the PC, the vendor (if present), the amount of ram, and the Windows Version. I know the dlls are different versions.... So, if no updates can change that version string data.... how the hell did I get 5 towers all reporting 4.xx.2222??? This blows my mind... are you 100% positive?? **nothing** was installed other than auto-patcher with **EVERY SINGLE** update applied... even the 'manual' installs... Has anyone ever heard of software drivers somehow changing this data? It is literally the only thing installed besides the updates.... (although I know it isn't the drivers, since a non-updated tower reports 4.??.1999 still) This is really weird. Can more people confirm this statement? (no offense intended, I seriously am shocked with this revelation... what the hell changed the version?!)