herbalist

That's great news. Got that full system backup made yet?

If you still have the disk for the photo printer, there is a quick way to find out if it's the problem. Install it on your new drive (after making a backup) and see if that causes the problem. I've also had problems with HP printer software causing conflicts. Unless you've got something installed on your old system that can't be replaced, I'd consider building the new hard drive into a finished unit, making full backups as you go. I'd start with anything that installs drivers, like the printer.

I have NUSB and Orangeware drivers installed on both 98 and 98SE. The 5 partitions on my external hard drive all work fine. Both parts of a U3 flash drive are readable. No problems running the external hard drive and 2 flash drives together or with moving data from one to another. The 98FE box has the original msgsrv32.exe, 4/10/1998, so a newer one does not appear necessary.

Except for some test setups, I run the same 3 security apps on every Windows unit I have. Kerio 2.1.5, Proxomitron, System Safety Monitor. On one Win2K unit I'm also trying out SandBoxie. I like its ability to act as an isolation layer for the attack surface but haven't decided if I'll keep it.

I believe that Thunderbird stores each e-mail folder as a single file. I'm pretty sure that Thunderbird also has an option to compress the individual e-mail folders. Right click on the e-mail folders (inbox, sent items, etc) and look for a compress folder option. There should be an option that will compress them automatically.

This is pretty much a job that's done manually. Look in Program files for odd named folders, often using the names of adware. Delete or erase their contents. Look in program files>common files for similar items. Clean the temp folders and temporary internet files, especially its content.ie5 subfolders which are not always visible when using "Open" but are when using "explore". Scanner is a little utility will show you your hard drive usage as a pie chart. It's available here. Unless you actually need some of what's on that drive, some app that you can't replace, or certain user files, etc , it's a good idea to wipe any used drives completely. A used drive can contain malicious code that is missed by an AV. If it's NTFS formatted, it can even contain rootkits. I strongly suggest wiping it with a utility like DBan before using it any further, then reinstall a fresh OS. If you must explore that drive, use an app like SandBoxie to isolate anything on it that might get executed. Use the online AVs to completely scan that drive.

Most software firewalls will control traffic for individual applications and executables. Most also check the MD5 of the file requesting internet access and will alert you if it's changed. Depending on what version of Windows you're running and what your requirements are, there's a large selection of firewalls to choose from, ranging from simple packet filters to multifunction security suites. Most of the modern firewalls are security suites. I've always liked Kerio 2.1.5, a simple rule based firewall which has been around for many years and is no longer supported. Most people prefer something a bit newer with more comprehensive coverage, aka a security suite. If you could tell us which version of Windows this is for and whether you prefer a simple firewall or security suite, we can narrow down the choices for you. Rick

I've uploaded it here. Hope it's still useful.

The installer and user batch files would need a bit of editing on the paths to make it install and work properly. The installer extracts to a temp directory, which would give you the opportunity to edit the files if you're so inclined. One common symptom of a bad battery is the system time changing on a shutdown. Was the time off when the BIOS settings changed? A weak or dead battery wouldn't likely show up on a restart. It usually takes a full shutdown where it's fully powered down for a few before it shows up in the system time.

How old is the battery?

As far as I can tell, how well NUSB works is very hardware dependent. On my HP Pavilion with a Stratitec USB card, both NUSB and Orangeware drivers work great. On my Gateway 2000 which has a different USB card (I forget the brand) that uses native drivers, it doesn't work well at all. I just purchased a couple of flash drives (a 2GB Sandisk U3 and an HP 4GB) and a 4 port USB hub. On the HP, I can plug both flash drives, my external hard drive and a USB mouse into the hub, and after the normal driver detection and installing, I can move data from one USB device to another with no problems. On the Gateway, trying to copy or execute files on the external drive caused blue screens, "unable to write data" errors. It could not consistently detect the flash drives when I plugged them in. If I unplug a flash drive, then plug it back in, the Gateway PC rarely detects it again unless I reboot. On the HP, I can add and remove them at will. Oddly enough, the external hard drive isn't visible in "unplug or eject hardware" on the HP, but it is on the Gateway. On the HP, USB devices work equally well with 98FE, 98SE, and 2K. On the Gateway, 98FE and SE both work poorly. Haven't tried 2K on it yet. I'd need to swap the USB cards between the 2 to determine if it's the cards or the PCs hardware that's the limiting factor. That's a bigger job than I have time to do right now. For now, I'm going to try a DOS CD that has USB drivers. It works well on the HP with the external hard drive. Haven't tried it with the hub or flash drives. Except for the BIOS, it will remove the OSs and drivers from the equation and allow me to determine if the hardware is the primary limiting factor on the Gateway.

Dave-H Instead of working with registry restores and worrying about corrupting your existing setup, You might consider using TestRun. It's a collection of batch files that copy your registry and allow you to experiment on a duplicate. If you totally wreck your registry, it's simple to get back to where you started from. It's useful for the type of experimenting that you're doing, test installs, etc. I've uploaded it here. http://www.mediafire.com/?5mtuz1zrcyy Rick

I still have a copy of Adobe e-book reader 2.2 if you want to try it. It's quite old but it is 98 compatible. I don't read e-boks so I don't know how much has changed since this was released. It's a bit bloated, about 9.7MB. If you're interested, I'll upload it.

This sound quite similar to a WinME unit I worked on some time ago. The built in USB functioned erratically, then failed completely. The problem was a hardware failure, apparently a component failure. It wasn't a damaged connector or solder joint so I couldn't repair it. My 98FE unit had 2 factory USB ports. I needed more so I installed a Stratitec 5 port USB card, quite cheap at the local WalMart. It came with Orangeware 2.0 drivers, which do work on 98FE after installing them manually. Between the Orangeware drivers and NUSB98FE 3.20 , every USB device I've tried has worked properly. A new USB card and drivers are a very worthwhile upgrade to a 98FE unit if you want to use modern USB devices, even if you do get the original USB connectors working.

I haven't looked into the latest IE security updates, what they specifically patch, and where 9X system stand in relation. At best, they fix a couple of specific problems. IE6 can't be made secure with patches and updates. It's been being patched for many years and is no more secure now than it was a few years ago. If ActiveX is installed, IE6 becomes that much more vulnerable. That would depend on whether 9X systems were vulnerable to the specific exploits to begin with. In the last few years, a fair percentage of new exploits that XP was vulnerable to didn't affect 9X systems. It also depends on the payload they try to deliver through the exploit. At present, a lot of the delivered malicious code is rootkit material, which rarely affects 9X systems. Rootkits are possible on 9X systems, but the percentage of them on the web is small enough that it's not worth writing code specifically for them. On the other hand, if the code specifically targets IE6, it may well work on a 9X system. There's several. PDFs, java, media files and Flash are some that come to mind. These can be a bigger problem for 9X users than they would be on newer systems, mainly because 9X users often have to use older versions with known vulnerabilities. The 9X compatible version of Adobe Acrobat is one example. Specifically crafted commands can be added to files in these formats that will start IE6 and can send specific commands to it, such as go to a specific server and download and execute a file. I believe that MS office documents can also be used for this. Not browsing with IE6 reduces the risk of its being exploited, but to eliminate the risk it either has to be removed or completely blocked from executing. The policy editor and HIPS software are two options for controlling the activities of Internet Explorer and the other software that integrates with it. A software firewall can also prevent IE from gaining web access regardless of what launches it.

I find that logic hard to accept. I don't see where IE6 was any more secure or any less vulnerable to being exploited on an NT system. If anything, the opposite is true IMO. The browser is a major part of the attack surface. The more that browser is integrated into the OS, the more the OS itself becomes part of that attack surface. IMO, 9X systems are more resistant to attacks from the web when IE6 is not used. IE6 has been replaced on all the newer versions of Windows with IE7 and IE8. With security app vendors dropping 9X support, it makes no sense to continue using a vulnerable and obsolete browser when more secure and up to date browsers will run on 9X systems.

Add the following line to MSDOS.SYS: Bootkeys=0 This prevents booting to safe mode by using the CTRL or F8 key. The text file contained in mustbevalidated.zip explains this and much more, such as changing the boot order at the BIOS and protecting it with a password. This will prevent its being bypassed with a bootdisk or live CD. If all the steps it mentions are properly implemented, it would require opening the case and pulling the battery to defeat it. The included text file is worth reading even if you don't plan on using the registry files. Like XP, 98 is not at all secure out of the box, and like XP, a few small changes can make a big difference. Rick

The use of "Cancel" to bypass the login screen can be prevented with a registry entry that requires users to be validated. REGEDIT4 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Network\Logon] "MustBeValidated"=hex:01,00,00,00 Registry files to turn this feature on and off and a text file that expands on this protection are contained in the Must Be Validated zip from Doug Knox's site. It works quite well. Rick

In case you didn't see it, this page on MDGX's site has links to more sites and pages with info about 98.

A software firewall can be quite useful. You'll get differing opinions as to whether or not it's necessary. The modem/router is actually a software firewall. They're generally called hardware firewalls because they're installed in a separate piece of hardware which has its own operating system, usually Linux based. In order to keep this simple, I'll limit the comparison to the filtering/controlling of internet traffic and leave built-in HIPS and other "features" out of the comparison. Each has their own strengths. I'll attempt to list some of them, then you can decide. A firewall installed on Windows is application aware. It can control traffic to/from individual applications and system components. Hardware firewalls control traffic on a system-wide level. Software firewalls can give you detailed control over outbound traffic. In addition to specifying which apps will have internet access, a software firewall can control what protocol those apps can use, what IP addresses they can connect to, and what ports they can use. A hardware firewall can also restrict outbound traffic, but it will apply those restrictions to everything on the system equally. A software firewall can alert you if something new tries to gain internet access. It can also alert you if an application that's allowed internet access changes. A hardware firewall won't. Firewalls in routers and modems are not as vulnerable to attack by malicious code. It's not that the software firewalls installed in Windows are weak. It's the operating system they're running on that's vulnerable because it's also running all the users software. At times, a software firewall can conflict with something else that's running on the system. When that happens, it's usually another security app that it's conflicting with. The modem/routers firewall doesn't have to deal with a constantly changing environment and isn't subject to vulnerabilities introduced by the users software. There's very little attack surface on a router/modem and most of that is the firewall itself. On a typical PC, the potential attack surface is huge and almost always has unpatched vulnerabilities in something that's running on it. Depending on your OS, there's a wide range of firewalls. Some of the combined firewall suites are heavy enough that they noticeably affect performance, even on the most powerful PCs. Others are so light there's virtually no impact, even on old systems. A few years ago, a firewall was an application that controlled internet traffic. Today, a firewall is usually a security suite containing an internet firewall bundled with several other components. Which is better depends on your needs. The trend is towards combined suites. I prefer separate, freestanding applications. Hardware and software firewalls are not entirely comparable. The roles each is designed to fill are different. Hardware firewalls are at their best when they function as gateways to a network, even if that network is one PC. Blocking undesired inbound traffic is their strength. A software firewall is at its best when it's controlling traffic for individual applications. Some users consider that control unnecessary. Others insist on it. Myself, I consider a software firewall necessary for enforcing a default-deny security policy. It blocks all traffic except for what I specifically allow. Software firewalls also provide a means of controlling traffic between PCs on a network. A software firewall can prevent a PC from being compromised by an infected PC on the same network. When it's all said and done, how necessary a software firewall is when using a router/modem will depend on how important it is to you to be aware of and be able to control the traffic that is entering/leaving your PC. Rick

Browseui.dll is used by both Internet Explorer and Windows explorer for the menu. It's also used by windows explorer when the start menu is opened.

Apache 2.0 for Windows will run on 98. As installed, it does not start as a service. Version 2.2 does not appear to work on 98. Links to the different versions here.

A lot of us would like to see a completely rebuilt and modernized 98 that retains all of its best features. It probably won't happen. Most of the unofficial projects are maintained by one or two people who are basically donating their time and skills. Some of them maintain websites that contain their projects. To my knowledge, there is no release schedule or long term plans with most of them. You either have to check them or check back here for updates. Many of the unofficial updates are one time installs. Gape's unofficial service packs are good, as are Maximum-Decim's updates. Others like KernelEX and the GDI heap extender are in a constant state of development and should be considered experimental. Regardless of what you choose, make a full system backup first. IMO, the best approach would be to update as far as you can using the "official channels". Clean out all the temp files. Equip it as you want it. Optimize the system as much as you can. Then make a full system backup. This way, you can start over with a finished system that's ready to go. Dual and multi-boot systems make this task easy. Internet Explorer is a problem for a lot of people. IE6 is very vulnerable and way behind in regards to web standards. A lot of people do like FireFox or Opera, but on 9X systems there's other options that IMO are better. SeaMonkey and K-Meleon both run very well on 98. Both are fast, light, and dependable, not to mention more secure than IE. Some users will remove Internet Explorer from 98 using either 98Lite or IEradicator. This is not something a novice or casual user should consider. It can break some other software that relies on IE components and might change your system in ways that you don't expect. Another reason for a system backup first. I've removed Internet Explorer from about half of my 98 systems. There was some extra work involved in configuring and equipping them, replacing a couple of files needed by another application, etc. The result was lightweight, stable systems than run much faster than the hardware specs suggest that they would.

That option is present on the older 9X compatible versions, but is visible only when it's running on an NT system. When running on 98, the "replace task manager" menu entry isn't there. Rick

BurnAtOnce 0.99.5 is a reliable burner for 98. Handles audio (many formats), data, ISOs. Lightweight, Open Source. Not pretty, but works quite well.