briton

If you look at the fact that Microsoft are fully aware and in touch with sites such as WindizUpdate, you will know that they are not trying to stop "3rd party updating". Naturally, they are concerned that if they endorse/allow/ignore any sites which actually store the updates themselves on 3rd party servers (as opposed to Microsoft servers (1st Party) or the user's own storage (2nd Party), they will end up being involved if malicious code gets into the updates. As Microsoft don't provide official support for Win98 and earlier versions of Windows (even though you can get tons of Win98 stuff from their servers which is nice of them), they are hardly likely to attempt to shutdown this kind of autopatcher site ESPECIALLY if there is never a report of malicious code emanating from here! Conclusion? Get your autopatcher etc from the links here and not from some helpful site elsewhere.

Please note that if you have a standard Windows98SE installation and it is not on an IBM laptop you should not use the 2226 version of the file but use the 2225 version instead. You should ONLY use the 2226 version if the ESDI_506.PDR file installed with Windows actually has the version number ending 2226. (Answering my own question here lol)

OK thanks very much Drugwash and soporific. You both made it very clear. I knew the warning about the IBM laptop version was theoretical - as in "it MAY cause problems". However, there is still a problem with the way in which the files are provided. The Enable48BitLBA Download Thread simply states: 2006-07-29 20:05 Win98SE version (4.10.2226) released - only for replacing an existing v4.10.2226 file As that is a sticky post and the thread is only sporadically posted to, this means that there will be users like me who, finding they have version 4.10.2226 will get stuck wondering. Many of them will NOT know how to find out the version of the .pdr file but WILL know how to find their version number. Can't change the sticky. Not much point burying the advice in a quiet thread. My point is that it would probably be a good idea for a Moderator to amend LLXX's sticky post to explain that the 2226 version should ONLY be used if the PDR file has that version number regardless of what the kernel/windows version is and maybe a pointer to how to use GETVER to find out (I notice that GETVERS doesn't work either). Remember that LLXX cannot amend that post for obvious reasons so could someone else please? (You might also want to make it more obvious which files to download - like put the type of windows against the file link - the number of downloads suggests that many like me downloaded 2226 thinking it was simply the latest version - in fact EVERYONE seems now to be downloading that version and I doubt there are that many IBM laptops around lol) For me, that's it - I am back on track thanks!

soporific there is something odd going on here. My Win98SE version starts by installing KERNEL32.DLL version 4.10.0.2222 which is in the WIN98_31.CAB file on the CD and I copied to my windows\options\cabs folder from where I instal Win98SE. ESDI_506.PDR comes from the same CAB file and was originally presumably the same version as the kernel. That is why I wasn't sure which Enable48bitLBA zipfile to download - the .2222 version zipfile or the latest. Now according to the acquired wisdom from both this thread and that download thread I should be having startup problems because this is DEFINITELY not any kind of laptop - I ought to know, I built it lol Now if I understand the (not very apparent) guidance on the other thread, one should ONLY download the 2226 version if your ESDI_506.PDR file has that version number - which the average mortal will only know if they find that their KERNEL32.DLL or Windows 98SE version number ends 2226. Now come the problems. I manually replace the 2222 version of ESDI_506.PDR with the 2226 version and, luckily, have no problem with startup so I can finish the installation. Later on, I discover that Autopatcher is worth a try so I use it and include the 98->Me upgrade. Now I find that sitting in my Windows\Options\Cabs directory is a KERNEL32.DLL version 4.10.0.2224 which I didn't put there and couldn't have come from my Win98SE CD. If that were being used, I should still NOT be using the 2226 version of the ESDI_506.DLL file. BUT in my Windows\System directory, the KERNEL32.DLL has version 4.10.0.2226. This of course means that in using the version 2226 version of ESDI_506.PDR, I am KIND OF following LLXX's advice (before she got banned) to use that version of the file ....... Question - how on earth did something somewhere decide to make my Windows 98SE version 4.10.0.2226 instead of 2224 ot 2222 and somewhere maybe even skipping 2225? And if this is what happens when using the autopatcher and 98->Me, then the advice about IBM laptops is not correct but rather should use the Windows version number as identifier. Any ideas what is going on here and what I should do? I am prepared to do a clean reinstallation, but I am not going to move the partition which means I need to replace the ESDI_506.PDR file during the windows installation. Presumably I should use 2225 for that even though the system will be 2222. And I can stop at each stage and check versions of kernel32.dll and esdi_506.pdr (the latter using getver.exe). If I need to test like that, should I disable 98->Me when I autopatch the first time so I can check the versions before and after? Any thoughts!

OK. The reason I would have missed it is easy. Years ago, I came to MSFN and checked out a thread which had started in which the idea of a Win98 Service Pack was being mooted. Not developed, mooted. So I went off and developed a purely Microsoft SP for my own uses with no other fixes that weren't available on the Update Site. This year, I was pointed here by someone on another forum regarding the >137GB problem. I first read the thread in which its development was first mooted and then discussed (and argued especially with regard to a commercial version which already existed). That thread seems to have died when the final result was produced. When I understood THAT thread, I then went to the thread from which I could download the end result. I searched to see why the different versions/version numbers were not explained at the point of the download links. I then took the latest version and used it. It worked. I also compared it with the earlier version whose version number matched my Win98SE version number. I posted a question on that thread asking which version number I should use (and should I match my Windows version number) as I hadn't found anything very clear. There hasn't been an answer. Maybe I should have reposted, but as the file was working, I didn't chase it. Then when I used auto-patcher, my Windows version number changed so I made the logical assumption that latest version was the one to use and only to revert to an earlier version if there was some reason not to. Now it seems I was supposed to read some other thread (or this one?) to find out which file to download from the sticky post which held the download links. So you are saying I should have been using the SECOND TO LAST download version? Hmmm! Wonder why my PC is alive considering my Win98SE partition is entirely above 137GB lol Thanks for pointing it out. Any chance of someone doing something in that sticky post to point out which file to download for which use e.g. "this latest version is for IBM compatible laptops only and NOT for PCs"? I mean people who want that file don't necessarily read other threads! Sorry to have reported incorrectly. Still very puzzled but thanks for the pointer!

Yo soporific! Check this out and see if I am an id***! (If I am, I'll delete it cos it will be in the way!) Extracts from HFSystem.bat follow: :48BITLBA :: ERRORLEVEL 194 :: this is the version for ALL PCs/portables EXCEPT IBM portables with removable disks SET ABOOT=D SET TRACK=48BITLBA SET TITLE=Unofficial Update for Drives over 137gb (not for IBM portables) SET FILES=48BITLBA.exe SET CHECK=%windir%\SYSTEM\IOSUBSYS\ESDI_506.PDR SET CHEC2=4.10.0.2225 SET USECH=FILC SET USEDP=none SET SKIP!=OP0901 %COMSPEC% /E:2048 /C "%LOC8%\code\MainCode.bat" DIALOG1 :48BITLB2 :: this is the version for IBM portables with removable disks SET ABOOT=G SET TRACK=48BITLB2 SET TITLE=Unofficial Update for Drives over 137gb (for IBM portables) SET FILES=48BITLB2.exe SET CHECK=%windir%\SYSTEM\IOSUBSYS\ESDI_506.PDR SET CHEC2=4.10.0.2226 SET USECH=FILC SET SKIP!=OP0902 %COMSPEC% /E:2048 /C "%LOC8%\code\MainCode.bat" DIALOG1 IF EXIST "%PATHZ%\@_DoBoot.tra" goto BootNow IF EXIST "%PATHZ%\@_GoBoot.tra" goto BootNow Shouldn't the 48BITLBA section SET CHEC2=4.10.0.2226 and the 48BITLB2 section SET CHEC2=4.10.0.2225 ? If you, you have the final digit of the version number wrong in each case. Just swap them and I can test it again (if I haven't changed that and tested myself lol) Let me know!

Yo Briton, can you tell me more about this ... which version of ESDI_506.PDR do you have installed?? (to find out, put a copy of the file you have installed into the \bin directory in the AP program directory, open up a DOS box at that location, and type GETVER ESDI_506.PDR and it will tell you the file version) ... i can't find any newer version of this update OK. I did what you asked and it wouldn't help. So I researched and here is the short answer If you need more, let me know. TINY answer: I used your GETVER on the new one (my one) and I get version 4.10.0.2226 VERY short answer: If your error check gives the existing file newer message when it discovers that the existing file is identical to the file AP will use to replace it, the problem is solved! (Sorry, I couldn't find where those file message reports are generated, but I am sure you know ) Basically, AP is finding that my file is the same date as the AP file even though the message says that the exisiting file is newer than the AP file. SOMEWHAT LONGER answer with some details assumes that the message solution above is not the answer: My version of ESDI_506.PDR is extracted from: Enable4 8BitLBA | Break the 137Gb barrier!, Who said it couldn't be done? Enjoy your huge disks Post #1 Attached File(s) 4102226F.ZIP ( 14.1k ) Number of downloads: 1172 Manually inserted the extracted ESDI_506.PDR into the CAB file on the Win98SE disk before installation. VERSIONS/DATES/SIZES GETVER gives version 4.10.0.2226. So I looked to see where your fix was coming from to compare. I found two files in the Hotfixes directory:48bitlba.exe 48bitlb2.exe which from the batchfile tells me are the two versions for normal and IBM laptops. I opened them and extracted the ESDI_506.PDR files to the bin directory and renamed them ESDI_506.LBA and ESDI_506.LB2 resepctively. Then using GETVER ESDI_506.* provides this result:4.10.0.2226 Esdi_506.lb2 - AP file from 48bitlb2.exe 4.10.0.2225 Esdi_506.lba - AP file from 48bitlba.exe 4.10.0.2226 ESDI_506.PDR - extract from 4102226F.ZIP (the one I used) Just to check that my version and the lb2 version match and the lba version doesn't in other respects, I checked file dates/sizes:Esdi_506.lb2 - Saturday, July 29, 2006, 02:02:18 - 28,526 bytes Esdi_506.lba - Thursday, July 20, 2006, 12:38:32 - 24,431 bytes ESDI_506.PDR - Saturday, July 29, 2006, 02:02:00 - 28,526 bytes Same match/mismatch. Conclusion if the newer file message answer above is not correct? Although I am CERTAIN that I disabled the IBM laptop item and enabled only the normal enable48bitlba (after all, these were the default options weren't they? and I checked anyway!), AP is trying to use the laptop version anyway! I doubt this! Hope this helps - let me know if you want more!

See post # 485 - I included the link to the place which tests all Macromedia players and will install on demand unless you refuse. Here it is again - try it (in any Windows version): http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/welcome/ Sorry not to help with UBCD - I find the boot CD is so personal, I make my own and change it for different needs. You are trying to cater to all tastes and all eventualities so partial success is amazing and you should never feel a failure! As an example, I wanted to move my XP partition from first partition of second HD to 2nd partition of 1st HD, put Vista on the 1st partition, convert some partitions to NTFS, move some other partitions and resize them all WITHOUT using any commercial software. Done in about 11 minutes and without breaking any licence agreements, but all the boot CDS on the web couldn't do it so I had to find my own way! For others, my way might not have worked either. UBCD is great, but the first thing many people are gonna do is break it apart, swap some things and so on. My own boots now have a full 2.44MB disk image which contains all I want if I want to go straight into DOS without CD support - again, built without paying a penny and without pirating. Good luck!

Surely there is no point in including Flash players or Sun Java - they produce updates so darned often without any announcements could you really keep up? For the players, users only have to hit this URL to test and download/install if necessary both Flash and Shockwave: http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/welcome/ Obviously for Sun Java, they just go to java.com. Again, the releases come spradically and sometimes seem like such small changes. Patching Win98SE is one thing. But once you have secure internet access configured with an up to date anti-virus program, the work is practically done isn't it? I mean otherwise are you going to include security/malware programs and so on? I put the basics of those on my boot CD but it's a personal choice thing!

Sounds like me before I found this site. I got a variety of similar messages, but whatever I did, they were always different error messages - or it left me hanging. I was one of the lucky ones because the Win98SE partition was ABOVE the 137GB limit so I found out about the problem before wraparound tried to mess with my other partitions. How big is/are your hard disk(s)? If the 60GB partition is on a disk larger than 137GB, you have to do the Enable48bitLBA thing manually from DOS during the installation (or other ways see below). If your disk is 137GB or less, ignore the rest of this! Remember, it is the DISK size, not the partition size. I stopped installing Win98SE direct from CD years ago - I wrote a batchfile which created the C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS path on the empty partition I was installing into and copied all the \Win98\ files to that directory as you probably want them there forever anyway (we aren't chasing our tails on disk space like we used to!) If you do that, you can then install from hard disk and you won't need your CD for any changes you make to Windows later. If you do install from hard disk, you can swap the ESDI_506.PDR file anytime before you start the install and it will be fine. If you don't do that, another way is to insert the hacked ESDI_506.PDR file into the CAB before you write your next installation CD - the problem with that will be if you want to use the CD on a system which has smaller disks than yours. If you don't do either of these, you have to remember to have that file available to DOS and stop the installation into DOS before that final reboot and swap the ESDI_506.PDR file from DOS before rebooting. The time when you must swap it is when the installation program does its final reboot into Windows itself to start the plug and play detection etc. Hope this helps you. If not, I hope it helps someone else

I thought I had already lost it when I turned 55, and me having another b-day just this month! How ironic!!! (like my new Custom Title?)Me too but I am ahead of you in the race to oblivion! (I lost it so long ago I forgot what it was.) Hmmm! Unless you put an old one in, if the PC doesn't have a diskette drive it is either too old to worry about or it had a new enough CD burner lol See? If we don't get enough information, we have tp make an a** out of U and ME don't we?Oh, Windows Update off the Start Menu? Yeah, it is way too obvious - who needs that flashing at them every time they want to click something. I always delete it and use the Internet Explorer | Tools | Windows Update link, but chaqu'un a son gout. You know one of the really losing things Microsoft did when they moved on to XP? They made it too hard to make the entire Start Menu controllable with the keyboard. I spent YEARS refining my lovely start menu links with letters and numbers so I didn't have to reach for the mouse for anything lol

USB Stick or CD R/W seem to be good ways to do this stuff. Every time I decide to reinstall Win98SE, I find the hardware has changed so much I need to put some new drivers on the CD anyway (I make my own not having been converted to any of the universally brilliant CDs yet lol). Just an idea. (A CD R/W lasts a LONG time if you look after it - I have one Linux type CD R/W which I can see through which still works OK - although I have actually replaced it now lol) My 1GB Boot USB Stick keeps getting rewritten from hard disk for all sorts of installs but it can be tricky getting it to work for some CD type things.

Got it. Sorry! Hear! Hear! (I HAD broken the habit - this site made me try it again lol) TweakUI does it so there is a simple reg tweak. I'll check if there is an easier way. EDIT: As far as I can see, when you switch the Primary Logon from "Client for Microsoft Networks" to "Windows Logon" the following change is made in the Registry: HKLM\Network\Logon "PrimaryProvider"="Microsoft Network" changed to: "PrimaryProvider"="" I can't tell if there is any other change - any ideas anyone? It being Win98SE and not Vista or XP, it wouldn't surprise me if it were that simple! END EDIT! Sounds OK to me. My C++ skills are elsewhere or I would leap in. But I can test if someone starts the ball rolling and comment on source.

Silly me not remembering that IE6 has to live on with MS support indefinitely as way too many users (especially XP users) won't upgrade to IE7 for a variety of reasons many of which are unmentionable lol Thanks for all the replies, submix AND SO QUICK TOO I only mentioned the languages/Euro and other stuff for completeness. All these and anything else I immediately eliminate from showing again by using the Configure Windows Update (or is it Preferences? or Options? it's on the left hand side of the webpage anyway lol). If anyone hasn't ever checked that out, do it now - you have to do it again if you reinstall, but it is only clearing some checkboxes. Do we need a sticky which shows the superceded updates still being "offered" by Windows Update after using the Autopatcher (especially KB type with so many numbers to check and match lol) or did I miss that? Now then, I wonder if that Autopatcher could automatically make the expandable Control Panel on the Start Menu instead of me doing it manually when I first install Win98SE? lol (Dunno what I mean? Well, after TweakUI is in, disable "Shortcut to" on the shortcut creations. Then create a folder in Start Menu called "Control Panel". Then open Control Panel, select all items and drag them into the new folder and create shortcuts. Done.) Thanks again.

OK, I just did a clean install of Win98SE and then AutoPatched it before doing anything else. Some thoughts/questions.... 1. Another tip for people who want to run the patcher and not get bother in the hour of rebooting. In addition to multi-booters setting the Win98SE partition as default, remind people they need to go into Networking and change the Primary Logon to Windows Logon instead of Network Logon. Otherwise, at the first reboot, it will stop at the Network logon even if they haven't used a password. (Can you tweak that when the autopatcher starts?) 2. TweakUI installs without installing it's two help files (tweakui.cnt and tweakui.hlp) in the Windows\Help directory. It may be something weird about my icons, but your tweakui.exe is showing as a RAR file whereas the Microsoft download is a ZIP file. Actually, you could include the contents uncompressed as it contains 4 files (tweakui .cnt .cpl .hlp and .inf) totalling ONLY 162KB and the INF will install it without trouble! Just a thought. (For those missing the help files, just unpack them and put them in the Windows\Help directory. 3. After patching today, I tried Windows Update and it reported 2 criticals and 38 Win98/Win98SE updates. a. The criticals are: Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 (KB916281) Security Update for Windows 98 (KB891711) b. The Win98/Win98SE include: 34 multi-language updates plus the Euro tool (not needed) Microsoft .NET Framework version 1.1 Windows Critical Update Notification 4.0 Agent 2.0 So do I need any of them (apart from language/Euro)? I included .NET version 2.0 in the autopatch and it is showing on the uninstall list so I don't see why 1.1 showed up - is that needed for some strange backwards compatibility thing? Presumably the Critical Update thing is long past doing anything useful. What about the Critical Updates? Haven't they been superceded by others in the patcher? Hope the tips help and thanks for any answers (Note: the 98toMe web folder thing needed a close and restart of Explorer after switching off Web Folders BEFORE browsing to the Windows or Program Files directories otherwise they were turned back on - strange WinMe thing I think)

Sorry, seskanda, I slipped up. When I wrote the first answers, I hadn't yet visited the HP tech support site so my answers further down answered some of my own questions (BIOS update not "planed" included lol). Well, to change a BIOS chip, you buy a new one, pull the old one (using chip extractor) and insert the new one. To be honest, you would do better to find a replacement mobo and it's probably a lot cheaper! That's good to know. On another note, i had a Western Digital 120 GB, but it died on me via S.M.A.R.T failure, could it have been caused by the BIOS limitation of 65 GB HD? Once again, I should have edited my first answer once I realised that HP were limiting to 65GB. If I read their limit correctly, it makes no sense "You can have whatever size hard disk you like, provided you only use 65GB of it"!!!! So I assume that the partitions have to stay within THAT limit which means that you are STRONGLY advised to dump that mobo! To answer your question, no, S.M.A.R.T. doesn't work like that. Without checking on your particular HD manufacturer's blurb, S.M.A.R.T. primarily predicts failures by having feedback within the drive regarding the mechanical wear. The manufacturers' tests tell them what wears at what rate under normal use and they then fit the hardware with monitors which feed back the state and sometimes the rate of change of the wear. On top of that, I understand that some manufacturers include some data checking. But unless they changed the way they do things, they aren't interested in partitions etc because S.M.A.R.T. is looking at the disk itself. But HP are saying you can't use it past 65GB. Well, the S.M.A.R.T. "failure" may not be a failure. It depends on what kind of "failure" it was. S.M.A.R.T. predicts failure and if the wear or the errors S.M.A.R.T. is picking up allow, S.M.A.R.T. will stop you using the disk. Before you junk the "failed" HD, make sure of two things: (1) The S.M.A.R.T. report should tell you what you have - maybe you have data which you can recover without paying some expensive data recovery outfit! (2) If you put the HD in another PC which CAN take that size of HD and then, before booting that PC any other way, boot into a WD diagnostic program diskette/CD (is that Lifeguard? I can't remember) and check your HD out! Past 65GB? According to that HP support site, no. If the BIOS limits you to 65GB, then presumably that means you can't actually get past that point meaning that everything you do will show that drive as having only 65GB in which case you don't need to jumper it do you? I am not really clear why you have a 300GB HDD, but you don't throw together a PC to use it! Not being critical, but at random I just hit a barebones system which would take the drive - $129 plus s&h. Why bother with the old mobos? Buy or build a new box - you have an OS or you wouldn't be on a Win98SE site! You have a case/power supply (the HP site doesn't say what form factor - if it isn't full-size ATX I would recommend you get a box with some space but they come cheap) etc etc The 137GB limit we are talking about on this forum is something Windows 98SE has in the OS itself. Unless you do the Enable48bitLBA mod, if you don't force Windows to run disk access in real/compatibility mode, either Windows won't actually boot (my case when I installed the Win98SE partition starting above the 137GB limit) or you get wraparound errors when the OS attempts to write above the 137GB limit (which is a disaster because the user will never know until the data has been trashed with totally unpredictable results). Before the ESDI_506.PDR file was modded (Enable48bitLBA and Loew versions), you could still use the >137GB HDD provided you set Real Mode (using MSCONFIG from Safe Mode being the easy way). If you are going to use that 300GB as a 65GB drive, can I swap a 80GB drive for it? lol Just kidding. Hope you get it solved.

No BIOS update available for that? Otherwise, change the BIOS chip? Yes. You can partition in as many different sized partitions as you like PROVIDED you are sure that not one part of any of them is above the 137GB limit. Get something that will show you exactly where the partitions are when you set them (I use Ranish Partition Manager which works from DOS or I use Gnome Parted on a Live CD or USB stick - either of these allow you to decide exactly where the partitions start and end as do many other programs, but those are both free). WARNING! Read the HP blurb below about the BIOS limit of 65GB. Without the BIOS supporting it, Enable48BitLBA won't work because it can't. I'm not against it - I know nothing about it! You might want to try this link for HP info about your PC and large HDD: http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechS...jectID=tis09141 which says: Model: HP Vectra VLi8 PC Test: Boot with a large HDD Boots with a IDE 137 GB HDD but... Comments - Limitations: PC will boot with a large HDD (up to 137 GB), but BIOS setup limits HDD maximum capacity to 65 GB. Bios Update Planed? (yes, that is how hp spell planned lol) NO There is also a forum about your computer at hp.com HP lack of support and their own confusion about what they sell you was the reason I started building my own computers years ago and I'll never buy another box except to get something inside it cheaper than buying the component. Have you thought of upgrading to a more modern motherboard but not so modern it costs more than $30 or $40? I think one of mine cost $17 and runs HDD larger than 137GB! Hope some of this helps.

So did you try windizupdate yet? It works pretty well, it's free, it's had its source code opened up to users, it's well tested and covers most of XP (the site tells you what it doesn't cover and all of that is available easily elsewhere). I haven't tried it fully in Win98SE as I manually installed all the updates from disk (previously downloaded from Microsoft) until I found how good the autopatcher is). Otherwise, you could always redesign the wheel but it's best not to have to reinvent it! lol

Are you sure it's worth it? However good your bandwidth is, your upload bandwidth is seriously small compared with your download. Once you get hit by some simultaneous "downloads" (uploads to you), it is likely to ground to a halt anyway - or as near to it as makes no difference to the users. (For example, my 3.0Mbps DSl connection uploads at 384Kbps limit - I know exactly how well the upload performs because I use VoIP all the time and upload is the killer for that as it can't be allocated too easily.) If you have a T1 connection or if you are happy with your upload bandwidth, you would do well to bang together a cheap box and run a Linux server package on it to keep yourself secure and you can set it up and forget about it. Last time I investigated there were some simple Linux distros which did nothing but that and, of course, they were free (and you didn't have to learn anything very much to set them up - just download an ISO, burn a CD and let it install into your dedicated server box which needs little attached to it except a mobo and enough storage at good speed for your downloads - as you control it through your LAN, you can even remove it's monitor etc if you want once you got it set up). You can get straightforward bandwidth limited hosting for very small amounts (one of mine costs me $12 a year but I choose large storage of 1000MB and unlimited email addresses at the cost of some serious bandwidth limitation at 2.5gib per month - not enough for you I presume) and some of the domain name guys like godaddy offer "free" hosting (ad supported of course). Then again you could shop around for a friendly host - windizupdate is hosted free in your part of the world and their host might act friendly and suggest someone. Finally, you could put the whole project (projects) on sourceforge and get some dev management thrown in. Just some ideas. (Oh and I'd offer but so far, my bandwidth limitation isn't going to handle that massive patcher unless it gets broken down so that updates to it don't need a complete download. You don't need someone offering a site which closes down as soon as people start downloading the latest.)

So much to learn, so little time lol Every project I get involved with (usually way back behind the scenes) I find myself having to go back to school with no teacher lol I was reading your batchfiles and thinking how easy you had made it for me (or someone) to knock out some pretty simple C++ code and send you the source for those who prefer a pretty windows type program, then I hit a few things and thought "hmmm! I need to read that part up before I suggest it" and so it goes on lol Great work. (The whole 98toMe thing makes interesting reading, but it is taking time to get my head around what the changes actually do.)

I was lucky that I couldn't BOOT into Win98SE without using msconfig to use real mode disk access because my Win98SE partition STARTED above the 137GB limit. (Real mode didn't slow it down much because disks are fast nowadays.) Once I found Enable48BITLBA, I did the manual exchange of files in DOS. You might want to include a warning though - users who CAN boot Win98SE without real mode need to know they MUST swap the PDR file if they are accessing disks >137GB or they will seriously mess up their data when it wraps around. Can your batchfile check the disk size and "force" that update? Version 2. Full version. I am thinking of starting again (new install of OS, then autopatch) so I will check it out before I come back on that. Anything you want me to try out if I do that? I do several things as standard when I reinstall Win98SE. Show file extensions, system/hidden files, use classic folders, apply this to all folders. TweakUI to not allow web content on desktop etc etc. After the 98toMe upgrade, it was fine EXCEPT those two folders. WinMe insists you click to show them but I can't get it to STOP insisting and it uses Web Folders to avoid showing them if you click the folder in the left pane. I THOUGHT it was a TweakUI thing that could get rid of it, but I now seem to remember it is a registry tweak. I'll research further and post here if I find it. Web folders disabled for all folders won't change it for those two folders (only) - Windows and Program Files. I need to spend some time on that thread. Thanks. You mean it still works? I thought it threw us out lol I visited it before they ended support and downloaded everything including the kitchen sink lol I must try it some time. (Windizupdate does some updating too for Win98SE but this site kicks arse! (If you have XP, you might like to try that site.) Thanks for the help. Let me know if you want something tested for when I do the clean reinstall/patch (some time or other - I am working up Vista and Ubuntu but still working in XP for now).

I write my own partition table using Ranish Partition Manager. I use XOSL (the original version before it went to sourceforge) to multi-boot - it is a really nice way to boot ANYTHING (for Linux I point XOSL at GRUB but only because the distro I have uses GRUB as standard and I don't boot anything but those kernels from it).

Great stuff and nice that you make it tell us what it is doing! Did a clean install of Win98SE, switched the 48BITLBA file manually in DOS as it won't boot at all during installation without it (the Win98SE partition starts past the 137GB point so Windows throws up random errors on boot trying to guess what is wrong lol), sorted out enough drivers etc to get it working and then ran Auto Patcher (Full Version) v1.95.PR2 (which I think is still the latest). The patcher decided my 48BITLBA was newer (there was a later version on the forum than the one included). One tip that might be worth putting in a readme file is that the patcher rebooted the OS 20 times on that first run. Might be a good idea to warn multi-booters to set the default to Win98SE partition for the duration before they start! It works so well and tells you everything. Thanks! Now for the questions: 1. dotNET Framework: It didn't install and I couldn't find it on the menus. I installed it from a download I had (with all the other official Windows 98SE updates from way back when they cast it adrift). Did I do something wrong? 2. Win98 to Me: After all the updates were completed and I ran the patcher to check there was nothing I had missed, I tried Win98 to Me. I felt some trepidation about this as I had once bought a HP box with WinMe on it when that was the latest thing and before I was building my own boxes and I HATED WinMe which is why I got my own Win98SE. Anyway, I am not sure I see what the difference is after Win98 to Me was installed but I haven't played with it much. One thing I DO know is that it is now forcing me to have web-type folders whenever I use Explorer to see C:\Windows or C:\Program Files. I thought we could tweak that out. (I always have .3 extensions showing for ALL files which should be the standard anyway and I always have hidden and system files/directories showing in Explorer - I figure if I can write my own partition table, I can avoid messing a few system files lol. Any ideas how to tweak those folders from doing that? I disable all web folders etc and tell it to make all folders like that, but those two insist on WinMe'ing! What other Microsoft "forced on you" silliness does Win98 to Me put back in? If there is much, I'll uninstall it. But it was written so well, I'd like to use it! Can you tell me what advantage it has for me? 3. Windows Update: I am confused. Why would you want to connect to the Windows Update site when running Win98SE? Are they still providing any new files that we need on top of the unofficial ones here? Thanks.

WindizUpdate (www.windizupdate.com) works for many. Check their forums for info. Of course, you can't use it if you ONLY have Internet Explorer as a browser

Great work. I haven't seen any mention of this on either of the two break the 137GB threads so I thought I would mention it..... Instead of testing by filling the drive, surely simply installing Win98SE on a partition which STARTS above the 137GB barrier? Without the patch, you won't get it to restart on installation without forcing compatibility/real mode disk access and then you have to enable the CD/DVD drives in DOS mode (using autoexec.bat and config.sys). Of course, I can't think how to send you the images you asked for because unless I show you my partition table, you won't know that Win98SE is booting from a partition starting over the 137GB limit, but it is. And of course I checked the property tables and it's still using the LLXX version of the ESDI_506.PDR. And the CD/DVD burners are now showing up in device manager instead of simply showing in Explorer. So all's well. Probably the ultimate test isn't it? Win98SE simply won't START if you install it on a partition above the 137GB limit. Very good going! Now a few quick questions/points: Q1. Buried in this thread is an installer (which backs up the original). What is the latest version of this and which version of the patched driver does it install? Q2. Should I be matching the version of the patched driver against the version of the Win98SE (showing on my desktop) - for example, if I show 2222, should I revert to the 2222 patched driver or continue using 2226 which is what I downloaded thinking it was the latest? Q3. I want to slip the driver into the CAB on my Win98SE installation CD. But I read somewhere on this thread that I am supposed to install the driver and get a "1 later than the latest MS version number". Does that matter or can I simply replace (overwrite) the existing driver in the CAB? (Yeah, I know how and I have the backed up original.) Q4. If you use the patched driver and then check the file details, you will find that the provider is Microsoft. I think I have a question or a point about this, but I'll let you consider your own and answer them to yourselves! . Again, thanks for the driver. It is nice not being stuck being able to have a DOS partition on the tail end of a 200GB disk, but having to put my Win98SE on the second disk.