Tarun

I was unaware of this. Last I had heard on the topic of Firefox was that 1.5 was the last to work on Windows 9x/ME. Though it has been a while since I had heard of it. It was around the time Firefox 1.5 was just being released so some of the sources that I had read that 9x/ME support with Firefox would end there most likely were speculating.

After AutoPatcher was taken down, I came across a legal project that does everything I could need and is almost 100% automated. c't Projekte - Offline-Update. You get plenty of options to create an update application wizard for numerous Windows OS', and even include Windows Service Packs and Office products!

I'm surprised at you, Tarun, a moderator. Other MSFN members who have posted replies in the 9x forums to suggest simply that the original poster change their OS, with no intention to actually help and answer the original poster's question, have been sanctioned by moderators for flaming. The original poster wishes to ensure the system is safe and secure. Unfortunately this cannot be so easily achieved on Windows 9x/ME. Even upgrading to Windows 2000 would grant a huge increase in both stability and security. I recommended XP as it is still a mainstream OS and so shall it continue to be for several more years. Windows 98 is nearly ten years old (June 25, 1998) and can be perfectly acceptable for those who cannot afford a good computer and/or an upgraded OS. However considering this is a refurbished computer that the poster sells, it would be of no harm to invest a little more to run a stable, reliable OS that won't give the end user many (if any) problems and has the highest compatibility with software available today. To me, it would seem logical to invest a little bit more to run XP at the very least since this is going to be sold for profit. You should look at this from an end-user point of view. Even if Vince4Amy throws in all these "Windows 98 customizations", it may not (and there is a potential that it cannot) fit their needs. Just look at all the work that the poster is having to go through already. Imagine how troublesome this would be for the end user! Quite literally it can be an annoyance to a nightmare. The poster even mentions how he is having to modify the Office installers just so it will install onto Windows 98. Anti-virus and anti-spyware are also not so easy to come by. Even the need for a firewall is mentioned, but that too is difficult to find (if even possible). Of course you cannot rule out the poor memory management and how frequently you encounter a blue screen in Windows 9x/ME. With that you also have to reinstall 9x/ME more than you would 2000 or XP. While you can attempt to assume the basics that an end user will need this computer for, you cannot know for certain. Taking this into consideration, since you would be/are selling this computer to an end user; you want it to be as easy as possible for them. Remember, they're going to come back to you if anything goes wrong and if they have any questions. If this computer is sold refurbished with Windows 2000 or XP, the end user would be able to benefit from a mass of security features. Including User Accounts and their associated permissions. So if this is a family computer, you could have an unlimited Parents account, while making an account for the Kids set to be a Restricted User. So they cannot install numerous programs and it can even help to protect them online. You can't get that with Windows 9x/ME. Yep, you can have multiple user accounts that allow them to have their own desktop space, their own settings and everything. The user can also benefit from NTFS for file security, partitions and they are not limited by the 137GB restriction that Windows 9x/ME faces. No hacks or patches needed, 48bit LBA is already fully functional. Software is plentiful for XP as well. There are plenty of choices for anti-virus, anti-malware, firewalls, office software, browsers, IM clients, media players, vast amounts of games and much, much more. Windows 9x/ME isn't as fortunate to get updated software and if they do, it's extremely rare. Firefox isn't being updated for 9x/ME anymore, you're stuck with Firefox 1.5.x. Even the security software that you'd use with 9x/ME isn't being updated anymore or has reached it's End-Of-Life for that version, leaving the 9x compatibility behind. Overall, with XP you get stability, usability, multi-user friendly, compatibility, an easy method to network (and share across the network), a great ease of use, ongoing updates from Microsoft, a new Service Pack around the corner, ongoing support from Microsoft for several more years to come until the product reaches it's End Of Life, and the list of benefits goes on and on. I completely support projects such as Gape's Windows 98SE Service Packs which can help keep the OS up-to-date which is great. Even the Auto-patcher for 98 is beneficial to those still on 98. Unfortunately it also is not legal since it is a redistribution of Microsoft's Hotfixes (look at what happened to AutoPatcher) which is a violation of the EULA that comes with every hotfix. But since Windows 9x/ME has reached EOL, its security is very little to non-existant. I hope this has clarified why I suggested a few minor (and affordable!) hardware upgrades to help install Windows XP. It seems very clear to me that it would be the very best option for an end user, regardless if they are new to computers or not. Cheers, Tarun

Put in enough RAM so you have 512MB, maybe get a 32MB graphics card and install XP.

Look for an option to exclude certain files.

I've been using this: http://www.heise.de/ct/projekte/offlineupd...wnload_uk.shtml

That would be a privacy violation and is most likely against company policies.

Which product do you have installed for an antivirus? [ Moved to Malware Prevention subforum ]

The best bet would be to use a Virtual Machine (VirtualBox for example) to run Windows 98 in. Far less hassle, easier to boot and a lot more reliable.

I've disabled Defense+. The firewall itself is all you really should need.

Downloading a pack is about the same as cheating really, because it's unlocking everything the easy way.

You can always go to your hard drive manufacturers website with your drive's model information and find out what the min/max temperatures are. And the temperatures (for those who don't want to convert C to F) are as follows: 25C = 77F 45C = 113F 45C does seem to be getting a bit warm, though it should be fine. Also, you can make HDTune show the temperatures in both C and F through the settings.

Sorry that you've got to format and reinstall. Unfortunately this is the reason why I and many other technicians inform people that "tweaking" Windows and stripping/removing things does more harm than good. Thanks for the positive feedback about my site, it's always nice to hear. Moved to XP forums, as it would be a bit more appropriate there since you need a clean normal Windows install.

What is HDTune reporting as the temperature in C & F?

I definitely agree that a vanilla install of Windows is the very best.

This link details how to check if the flash drive is fake. And this link tells you what you can do. What is the manufacturer of the flash drive in question?

Have you defragged recently?

Did you consider upgrading to XP and making sure your motherboard supports 48-Bit LBA?

IZArc can do what you need. I used to use 7-zip but then switched to IZArc when I found out how much more it could handle. http://www.izarc.org/

What were you doing at the time you received this error message?

Can you access any administrator accounts? Try: Start > Run > cmd In the command prompt, enter the following: net user USERNAME_HERE PASSWORD_TO_RESET As an example, if we want to reset JoeUser's account password we would type: net user JoeUser *

Only the popups related to Defense+ will stop appearing.

You don't need to reinstall to disable it. Just go under the Defense+ section and disable it there.

What's the exact version of Comodo that you're running?

You're funny.