ShadeTreeLee

Version 2.0.2600.2 (msi.dll) Windows Installer was the highest versioned package for 9x ever released. Version 3 and higher are only for NT5 and beyond. "Error 1721" seems ripe for a google search... JRE 6 is still beta IIRC with only JRE 5 actually being supported by Sun. I've never understood the rush to install version 6 when they aren't yet done with version 5 - I guess it has something to with counting. It has been a while since I re-visited the Sun Java issue, grudgingly I'm off to do that, thanks for the reminder.

Aefdisk will both partition and format a hard drive in the blink of an eye more or less. And of course you get your choice of FAT types on those partitons. But you will still need to reboot in order for DOS to load the new partition/format info to then be able to make use of it for the Windows installation... As RetroOS said, System.ini is generated during setup from inf files such as shell.inf and many others. Why ask this? It sounds like you are leaping right along since you don't seem to post 2 questions about any one item. That's good?

I wouldn't know but I have the same suspicions. No not at all. Total lockup requiring cold boot up when using ActiveX in a normal manner type of a bug. That's why I called it a serious bug, it is serious. As far as I am concerned that is a broken update (912812) and always will be. Nope, none at all. So best of luck. I meant killing online help which is where the bug was that was allowing site hijacking to occur without the users permission or notice. And this allowed code to be run that was bad stuff. So MS kill bitted it. And then they fixed it. And then, I forget what they did but it was confusing at the time and has remained so all this time. I have no idea what came first or how it was left. I suspect no one ever got hurt from the vunerablity but when you leave gapping holes wide open something tends to fly in them eventually. Kill bitted means dead to me which is where I want a service I never used anyway to be at.

Look for "Internet Explorer Q916281" under Add/Remove Programs list for the uninstaller. It should restore original files you had before this Cumulative Internet Explorer Update was installed. But the one prior to this one (912812) had broken ActiveX issues of it's own, serious ones. You might be able to kill bit that particular ActiveX object to defeat the delay? How to stop an ActiveX control from running in Internet Explorer Deja Vu? I was thinking MS already kill bitted(sic?) web help files way-way back when we still had support?

But maybe not in the way you expect. I was playing around with a Roxio UDF Reader for a standard PC and found that one only had to place the udfreadr.vxd file in the iosubsys folder and reboot in order to effect the ability to read a udf CD in the computer with no other CD writer software packages installed. Of course with my Adaptec software installed here, I don't need the UDF Reader installed - maybe you don't either. But what I did find out was that autorun would only work when I used an early version (1.01) of the UDF Reader file, the latest and last version (5, at that time) DID NOT WORK RIGHT. It gave a silly error stating that it could not find the executable named in the autorun.inf file but stripped of it's extension. Double clicking it worked, so just no autoplay. It would real hard to know what they got right or wrong when adding DVD support to the game plan. I won't be of any real help beyond this post as I can't do DVD and certainly don't have your software installed either, this was just a note to let you know that they got it all fouled up pretty early on in the game. I don't have the udf.vxd file as this is the first I've heard of it. Good luck figuring it all out.

You would be the first person to ever suggest such a thing that I've heard of and this several years after both platforms are no longer supported - as a rumor I just don't think it's gonna fly, Orville. 98se is NOT the same as 98 Gold with or without updates. It's not the updates that make 98 Gold into 98se by any means at all. So far, your basis has been wrong on both of the only two points you had, but other than that, welcome and how's it going?

There is the Windows Update Catalog site but one must be running Win98 and at least IE 5.50 for it to work. And after consulting my C:\Windows\Windows Update.Log file, I see that the direct link to the KB916281 update is here. But it's got a much longer name if you use that direct link - it's the same file otherwise. I only posted it to get you to look at your own Update log file and gather your own info and updates to be burned to CD before MS pulls 98 from the WinUP site.Latest official update? Don't you mean last? MS don't do 98 updates anymore

Yes, it might do just that. Tripo- the Windows installation folder is C:\WININST0.400 but you are going to have some troubles getting your files in there while Windows is installing. Perhaps a better place to put them would be the same folder that is holding your installation CAB files as suggested by cannie but the executable there is not Install.exe, it is always Setup.exe. This would be impossible from the MS Win98 CD but most experienced Windows installers are installing Windows from a Hard drive folder anyway. You just copy the Win98 folder from the CD to your hard drive and run Setup from that folder. It's 10 minutes faster and results in bug free installations as well. Windows will always look to the cab installation folder first and use all expanded files found there first as well so if your hardware is detected and your inf files match the hardware, then you get exactly what you wanted here - you won't even be notified of the driver installation, it will just happen as if the files were on the CD to begin with. This is exactly how a Custom (OEM) Windows installation was made to be possible in the first place. Good luck. SlugFiller - I don't know what to say, it sounds like you've been through the ringer two or three times on this one. But all that stuff above is true, you can even make Setup use different text messages while it installs your version of Windows as well as use different pictures for the slide show. It's all customizable, by original design. Soporific's custom billboard screen for UBCD

Not exactly, the EBD folder is only used to make EBD floppies when you invoke bootdisk.bat file, the folder you are wanting to use instead is the Windows\Options\Cabs folder provided you have one and have moved your cab files there along with applying IO.SYS update KB311561 AND you have [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup] "SourcePath"="C:\\Windows\\Options\\Cabs" in your registry pointing the Add/Remove Programs|Startup Disk creator to the replaced files. If a file can be found in a cab folder already expanded, it is used directly instead of the file compressed inside a cab somewhere, so this replacement technique works out perfect for us this time around. It does however require changing the ones in the EBD cabinet file just as you suspected.

In my experience, Windows support for the floppy drive is crap. Especially a Windows format of the floppy which is almost a patented guarantee that the floppy will become totally unusable at the first attempt to do so under Windows. OK, I might be pulling it a little there, make it three uses under Windows. BUT you take the same "ruined" floppy and then format it in true, "boot to" DOS mode and then it's good to go for any true DOS mode work forevermore or about three file transfers using Windows. And then it starts up all over again. I have no idea which Windows "driver" it is that just doesn't get the job done right but the problem is real and it exists right on up through XP. I expect it really started with Win95 but I've never attempted to "prove" that assumption at all. I'd really love it if someone would fix that driver. I do extensive floppy file transfers using 5.25 disks mainly but have noticed the same problem with 3.5 floppies as well. I came to this conclusion back in 1999 when I first started moving files I gather on the Internet over to my Atari 8 bit that is using a hard drive so I also have to deal with cross platform transfers on top of the Windows floppy problems. I absolutely require perfect floppy formats and Windows just can't deliver.

Good Deal! As I first suspected, there is probably something slightly out of kilter with the Finnish time zone files and that is what is really triggering your Date/Time Dialog box. OR perhaps just a line or two is missing from the "Finnish registry" in the Time Zone area - perhaps you can discover what it is and supply the lines to effect a custom fix? Monitor.inf should be supplied normally as it's found in the Windows\INF folder. That is curious why it can't be found. See the help file for WillyPad. And see the \TOOLS\RESKIT\INFINST folder of your 98 installation CD itself. The sample Resource Kit can be installed from the \tools\reskit\setup folder and that would get you inf file and msbatch info as well. It is in the \tools\reskit\help folder as the rk98book.chm file. My example comes from msbatch.inf file itself. After it has booted once, the msbatch.inf file is supposed to be in the Windows folder but it lacks any method for putting itself in there which is an oversight on MS's part but nonetheless, it is supposed to then delete a MSN icon from the Desktop. It does that by invoking itself and "installing" the named section (RunOnce.BatchDelay) like so: [install] AddReg=RunOnce.BatchDelay,Run.Installed.Components,Skip.PCMCIA.Wizard,Registry.WinUpdate [RunOnce.BatchDelay] HKLM,%KEY_RUNONCE%,BatchRun1,,"%25%\rundll.exe setupx.dll,InstallHinfSection Delete.MSN.Icon 4 %10%\msbatch.inf" [Delete.MSN.Icon] DelReg=MSN.Icon [MSN.Icon] HKLM,SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{4B876A40-4EE8-11D1-811E-00C04FB98EEC},,, Each section is placed in an order such that one can see that the previous section deals with or "calls" the next section - this ordering is not required, it is only used here to help you see how the "inf" methodology works. At the next boot up, the RunOnce key in the registry will run the section of the msbatch.inf file where the MSN.icon section is deleted from the registry and that key deals with the NameSpace of the registered GUID number starting with 4B876... Which if existing in the registry causes the MSN icon to appear on the desktop - if it's not in the registry, the MSN icon is not on the desktop. You could just as easily have named a supplied batch file or even a separate inf file and your inf file can launch other inf or batch files as needed. It seems the INFINST.exe method will work in concert with msbatch.inf also which is something I did not realize before this either. So there again is yet another way to launch custom application installations.

Thanks, I'll put that tip into my notes on msbatch stuff. They are supposed to. OptionalComponents controls your installed Optional components like WordPad, Paint, themes, etc. NoPrompt2Boot controls whether or not you get the timed "About to boot" prompt box or not.If neither of these are having any effect then you are not making the changes to the msbatch.inf file that is in charge of the installation which means you are doing it wrong somehow? I wasn't kidding when I said - that's all I got. So no, I don't have a clue at this point, but someone else may still join the thread.You might try it with US mountain time set because that's where I am and I DON'T get the Date/Time Properties Dialog box showing here when I run a msbatch.inf installation. There may be a difference in our time zone setup files that is causing this?

The function SetLayeredWindowAttributes does not exist in Win98's user.dll file so you have a foreign file from somewhere other than Win98 calling for that function which rightfully can't be found on your Win98 machine. With a full error report you should be able to spot the offending file that generates this error and perhaps figure out where it came from to effect a fix that way? Using Dependency Walker anyone can quickly look up the available functions on their system to start tracking down this same type of problem. Quick, easy, free, and you can fix your machine with it.

OK, Dave-H and BenoitRen, I'll relent some and let you have your double quotes as a fix but when I tried it, that broke the application's ability to work with the file I wanted to "open with" in the first place - it just wouldn't. I of course, tried double quotes around both and even more tricks but no cigar for me. Your mileage DID differ - good to know, thanks. I'm not surprised a MS tech wouldn't own the auto_file thing, they are the same people who want us 98 die hards to start calling 98 Gold, 98 Standard Edition at this late date, as if maybe the initials SE couldn't possibly stand for something else... If you don't know what I'm talking about, re-visit any MS Knowledge Base article and view the section about which OS the article applies to. Back in the day it used to just say: 98 98 Second Edition which is more than obvious enough to understand which is which - so why change it now?

Under your [setup] section, you have OptionalComponents=0 NoPrompt2Boot=0 and mine has both of those with a 1. You are also missing InstallDir="c:\windows" entry that mine has in the same section. I seem to recall that NoPrompt2Boot is your problem but it happened to me so long ago I really can't recall exactly what the fix is. I just don't recall if there is a first logon workaround but Soporific's Unattended Boot CD project would be a real good place to start looking for one. If anybody's got one it would be that guy. Calling batch files is just one possiblity, one can also call other inf files from MSBatch.inf, Soporific does both if I recall correctly. 95 and ME also use MsBatch.inf files so yes they do work the same within reason. All that said, getting a truely hands off Windows install is quite a tricky thing to do in native english, there may be a Finnish foilble or two that just plain gets in the way. For example, EBD=0 or else you must answer a pop up box asking if you want to make a bootdisk. You also don't get an EBD directory if you have EBD=0 so it must be added later if you want to be able to make a bootdisk in DOS mode by invoking the bootdisk.bat file. Windows Add/Remove Programs|Startup Disk tab will still make one using it's own file list so not all is lost, but it's a hidden, unknown of hassle unless you've been this way before. To make EBD files show up as per a normal install, I add in this stuff: [install] CopyFiles=EBD.Files [DestinationDirs] EBD.Files=13,EBD [EBD.Files] io.sys,winboot.98s aspi2dos.sys aspi4dos.sys aspi8dos.sys aspi8u2.sys aspicd.sys autoexec.bat,autoexec.ebd command.com btcdrom.sys btdosm.sys config.sys,config.ebd drvspace.bin ebd.cab extract.exe fdisk.exe findramd.exe flashpt.sys himem.sys oakcdrom.sys ramdrive.sys readme.txt,readme.ebd setramd.bat,setramd.ebd The [install] section already prexists so don't make MsBatch.inf have two of them, just add the "CopyFiles=EBD.Files" line to yours. It doesn't matter which order it is in. That's all I got, good luck.

What is damaged is the system.ini file where it mentions those files. If this happened within 5 booting days ago you could do scanreg /restore at boot up DOS mode and select a cab file from before when this started happening and get a fully working system.ini file back into play. In addition to the registry getting backed up, system.ini and win.ini are also backed up in the day to day operation of scanregw and the five day rotating rb000.cab file scheme.

You must use double quotes around the path. Then it works fine. Some older programs don't do this, which causes the problem you mention. Nope, since double, triple, and even quad quoted strings will still get cut at the space character - I'm thinking it must be the space character that is causing the problem.Another note of point is when you add double (or more) quotes then that breaks the passed parameter that functions as "%1". No amount of creative quoting will get it working again either. It looks pretty straight forward, but it is NOT. It must be single quoted and there can not be any space characters in the path or you get a folder name in the list and not the executable as I first posted. As best as I can guess it, the dohicky that is reading the path to the executable is somehow 16bit and not able to function with long file names. How or why that could be is beyond my knowledge. Another note, the dohicky is inside the shell32.dll file via dialog box number 1063 and 1070 as seen with ResHacker. New programs foul up here because this is NOT common enough knowledge, something I was hoping to alleviate to some degree by posting the info here and in the same detail at annoyances.org. There are not a lot of software writers over there though and only a few here come to think of it.

Once upon a time it helped my nephew to add this line to the [386Enh] section of his system.ini file. DMABufferSize=64 Strangely Windows doesn't have a DMA buffer natively, one has to manually provide for it with the above line. Yet without the DMA buffer some hard drives use even UDMA just fine - it's only SoundBlaster that chokes without one set aside. Any Joy?

When one uses the "Open With" method to re-associate default file actions a unique entry is made into the registry, but the original entry remains. original situation [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt] @="txtfile" gets paired with: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile\shell\open\command] @="C:\\WINDOWS\\NOTEPAD.EXE %1" because the default (@) line's entry matches exactly the text after the first backslash in the second group's name. @="txtfile" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile\ txtfile is what the match is made on. After re-association with Open With app it looks like this: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt] @="txt_auto_file" which then gets paired with: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txt_auto_file\shell\open\command] @="C:\\WINDOWS\\NOTEPAD.EXE %1" but this entry is not changed and remains in the registry: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile\shell\open\command] @="C:\\WINDOWS\\NOTEPAD.EXE %1" I'm assuming "txt_auto_file" gets read and acted upon before "txtfile" does and thus the Open With file re-association method works gangbusters. When you see an entry with _auto_ in it's text you know it was put there by the Open With do hicky. AcDsee does a similar thing with image extentions to the extreme such that I've seen several complaints of broken file associations. Only an install of Irfanview is reported to be able to fix the situation also. A side note is that the Open With list of programs is generated on the fly by reading of the executables in entries such as this one: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile\shell\open\command] @="C:\\WINDOWS\\NOTEPAD.EXE %1" only the shell\open\command string is used to create an entry, the path given MUST be in a short file name path with no spaces allowed or the first spaced folder name is used instead of the executable's name. e.g. @="c:\\proGram files\\myfile.exe %1" becomes proGram entry in Open With list where @="c:\\progra~1\\Myfile.exe %1" becomes Myfile entry in Open With list, the period and executable's file extension is dropped. Note that punctuation is exactly replicated in the list if that's of any real use. Now you know how that PROGRAM entry gets in there. Ever had Windows ask you for the location of PROGRAM? Now you know how it came to be so. For some strange reason it doesn't matter if the path to the default icon is in long file name form or not - that seems to work no matter what. There doesn't have to be a corresponding file extension "chain" for a custom executable to show up in the list, something like this would work all by itself: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Myfile_is_the_Bestest\DefaultIcon] @="c:\\progra~1\\Myfile.exe,0" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Myfile_is_the_Bestest\shell\open\command] @="c:\\progra~1\\Myfile.exe %1" The Open With list will now include a Myfile executable listing with the proper icon showing.

Mine (version 5.30.23.1227) is found at the C:\Windows\System folder. It comes from an Office 2000 update - KB920906.Yours, (version 5.30.23.1200) comes from Version 2 of the Windows Installer which also puts it in the C:\Windows\System folder. Here is an even higher version: http://www.mdgx.com/add.htm#RTF But I don't think it will help much as I suspect the real problem is with IE 6 installation which desperately needs a reinstallation. So just prior to your wiping and reinstallation of Windows 98, double click on ie6setup.exe and choose Custom to then select each box manually of each item previously installed to ensure that the files will be extracted to then be used to overwrite the current files in use. Reinstalling IE takes all of 5 minutes, can be done at any time and hands down beats an IE "repair" choice. Just make sure you have a Mailnews.cab file in your IE installation folder for OE reinstallation use. For best results, reinstall IE from a local hard drive.

I won't be of much help recommending disk caching software, but have you seen/applied this? MS-DOS Does Not Properly Process Hard Disk Hardware Errors http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=311561

Yes there absolutely is and to both questions too.REGEDIT4 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce] "Defrag"="Defrag /All /Detailed /Noprompt" .Copy and paste the above into a Notepad document and Save it As "Defrag.reg" file. Right click it and select Merge from the right click menu or you can just double click on it as well. When you reboot, Defrag will run though all your drives before the Desktop proper loads so no systray items even. The best way to prevent Windows from constantly writing data to the drive (which causes Restarts) is to move the swap file to a drive other than C:\. Next best tip is to make it a big minimum size swap file with no maximum set, mine is 300 megs but I only have 128 meg of ram. Adding these two lines to [386Enh] section of System.ini is all it takes here. And a Reboot of course. MinPagingFileSize=307200 PagingDrive=F: If you don't have a Drive F: then of course it won't work as shown above, some common sense is required. You need the free space with no chance of running out of it, again doh! The formula is 1,024k x 100 x 3 to get to 300 meg (307200) setting as shown. This can also be done the regular way via Windows key + Break key press|Performance Tab|Virtual Memory box. Best tip is to use Windows ME's defrag.exe in Win98 to speed up the process 20 times over. http://www.mdgx.com/98-5.htm#WDIW

Hi, Frank. First you are welcome, I'm glad to be of any help at all. I don't know anything personal about UDMA6 mode as I'm doing good to get UDMA4 to work here. I can't really understand your last sentence because I wonder why the maximum to be applied is limited to UDMA5. If you meant to say instead, that despite all attempts to set it higher (UDMA6), it just won't fly at that speed, then we do have some common ground after all as I also can not get my system to remain set at the highest speed that the drive's info state they are capable of. One of my Seagates is UDMA5 capable but it won't return a 00 code for that setting when the debug script is run. My other drive is a UDMA4 Seagate and both will only accept a speed script for UDMA3. It doesn't seem to matter anyway though. The methodology for testing actual UDMA speed is to use an application like Hard Drive Tachometer which will read files and clock them as to the actual disk speeds achieved. What I have found is that once you have a drive returning a 00 code for <b>ANY</b> UDMA setting, the drive is set to use it's highest possible UDMA speed and other settings are ignored anyway. And one can even fudge the setting speed by one higher, get back a non-good code for the drive and still have the drive run in it's highest UDMA mode anyway - so there is a lot going on here that just isn't fully known or discussed. I would sugest that you do a Google search for your Brand and model number of hard drive, perhaps there is a firmware upgrade that can be applied or a special driver or unique information for it? That's exactly how I found out that Seagate drives very often require the DMA script approach in order to get them run beyond PIO4 mode. The motherboard has a great deal to do with it also as my nephew's rig only had troubles one time and after running the script once, his remained in UDMA speeds without needing the script at every boot like mine always has. Because of this thread: http://www.msfn.org/board/Can-t-enable-DMA...ED-t112779.html I went here: http://www.mdgx.com/98-2.htm#W98DMA IDE BUS MASTER DMA FIX to learn that Windows 98 was shipped with the DMA turned off and the modification to the two inf files is required in order to allow DMA to be used in the first place - no wonder I have so much trouble with it. Please vist the DMA sites that mdgx has listed there - lots of more DMA info for you.

There is a bug in the "change settings without rebooting" dohicky that can be fixed by using the Quick Res tweak from 95 Power Toys set supposedly. But only sometimes does it actually work to change settings without rebooting or answering that silly "look OK?" screen first. There is also a stand alone Quick Res toy from these folks http://qres.softwarecave.nl/ which will change your settings automatically when you select a shortcut for a particular game for example and back when done with it. And this one also has the fix for the "change settings without rebooting" bug and/or having to look at a permisso screen again supposedly. The only time I had similar troubles, somehow, something had changed my refresh rate from "Adapter Default" choice. You might check yours? The various options and even choices screen we see are all determined by the various drivers that get installed depending primarily on the hardware installed and or are enabled in the BIOS. Just FYI. So a final check really should involve removing all possibly related devices from the device mangler and rebooting to see what you eventually wind back up with. And then double check your settings.

I don't have the file ATL71.dll on my system but I do have Atl.dll and ATL80.dll files. Both tell me by their various Properties strings that they are "ATL Module for Windows (ANSI)" and one comes from a Visual C++ 6 package so I would suggest that you download and apply such a package. SP6 for Visual Basic 6.0 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=290887 Visual C++ 6.0 Runtime - Atl.dll Microsoft ® Visual C++ 6.00.8449 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=259403 Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable Package (x86) http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;DisplayLang=en Visual C++ 2005 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86) version 8.00.50727.762 ATL80.dll http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;displaylang=en Although 2005 SP1 does not list 98 as "supported" it does still install as that is where my ATL80.dll file came from. Further, both 2005 C++ download pages state that you need Windows Installer 3.0 or 3.1 but that is patently false information as Windows Installer version 3 is NOT for Windows 98 nor can it be made to run on 98 at all.