PassingBy

Hmmm ..... Can you fill in the blanks please ? 1. Motherboard model 2. Chipset 3. VGA chipset 4. Audio chipset 5. NIC if available On VIA chipsets, older drivers version 4.43 seems to works best (may need to patch in the irq driver manually) ... Nvidia drivers can be made to work fully (driver+cpl) on win95 upto version 61.77, above that requires some patching upto 81.98 ... Haven't tried ATI or Unichrome drivers yet ... Audio for realtek is version 4.03 vxd ... Rgds

Hmmm ..... AFAIK, Blackberry RIM are not of the usb storage class and thus nusb will not be of any help ... Blackberry RIM are using usb serial communication class. I'm not aware of any updated drivers available except for windows xp sp2 ... Rgds

Hmmm ..... The versioning trick does not work. It probably have some other dependencies elsewhere ... I did an experiment much much earlier by extracting all vmm32 and recombine it back with the patched ntkern and it goes 'huh?' on me ... There's an exta 5 or 6 functions in ntkern win98 that is missing from win95. I haven't given it much thought yet on how to overcome this ... For now, I'm planning to find working generic drivers to support pendrives (done), usb fdd (done), usb hdd (not yet), usb CF/SD/MS (not yet) and usb cdrw (not yet). I have already made an unofficial usb support update for win95 that combines usbsupp+usbupd2+usbqfe into one single package. Also included is generic drivers for usb pendrives and usb fdd. So, there's still a long way to go to complete this package. Rgds

Hmm ..... A few things first: 1. I have confirmed that you do not have to install IE to get nusb working. 2. It seems that the Compaq uses a custom design ieee1394 for their systems with parts from adaptec and TI ... It seems that the design and drivers is specific to compaq only. The generic adaptec5800 driver you're using does not seem to match win98 driver set ... 3. I believe that due to the design of the ieee1394, the built-in support in windows98 is the best solution if you have a need for it. 4. NUSB 1394bus files was not taken from winME. It was the latest qfe update for win98se if I'm not mistaken. Based on your requirement, I'd suggest that you disable the ieee1394 if its not going to be utilized. Either leave it as a yellow quotation mark or mark it as disabled in the device manager menu. Do this before installing nusb. If you're up to it, you can also remark out all references to iee1394 in the nusb inf update. If nusb have been installed, you may try booting into safe mode and disable ieee1394 in the device manager. Rgds

Hmmm ..... NUSB won't work on win95c ... period ... However, I was/am/will-be looking into the possibility of having broader usb support on win95c ... It's not going to be easy getting nusb 98 working on 95c as there's many dependencies missing (the critical ones are missing from the ntkern.vxd) ... chances for usb 2.0 on win95c looks bleak but never say never ! (M-D's NUSB is proof that it is possible for win98) ... The major problem on win95c is working & compatible drivers ... It's possible to patch-in some things like eject-from-tray stuff but there's still a long way to go ... It's on my to-do list for the near future but no time frame has been set ... Rgds

Hmmm ..... I was wrong in regard to shell32 dependencies ... It will only blow-up on win95 system that I played with (and thats a different story) ... I've tested M-D's nusb32e on win98FE and win98SE fresh installs and noticed that shell32 is indeed correct and no problems encountered. It was a non issue afterall ... I'm currently running 95b/98fe/98se/Me versions (legit of course) plus some betas and sometimes get myself mixed-up ... I've re-read the #1st posted thread again and in my haste to make a reply, I overlooked the ieee1394 ... I am guessing that the adaptec ieee1394 is not playing nice here ... @bizzybody: Can you please upload the adaptec driver that you're using somewhere (mytempdir or something) ? I have a feeling that the updated 1394bus could be breaking this card ... One way of confirming this is by removing the adaptec card from your system before installing nusb ... BTW, does it look something like this ? http://www.sfc.wide.ad.jp/~riho-m/diary/98...8940/F1_001.jpg If the 1394card is the cause, I'd like to see where and why ... Rgds

Hmmm ..... Have you installed IE5.5 or IE6 yet ? ..... The included explorer.exe only works with IE5 and above installed. IE5 +above will install an updated shell32 ... If IE5 +above is not installed, explorer will "blow up" as it has direct link to shell32 ... Anyway, thank you for the compatibility report ... I repackaged NUSB for W98FE and I seem to have overlooked this issue myself ... I will see how it will affect W98FE in this regard and will make the necessary reconfigurations ... As for your situation, you'd probably have to extract explorer.exe from your setup CD (or .cab files) and copy it to your \windows folder ... another possibility is to download and extract shell98 update from mdgx ... that should fix the ka-blooey ... Chipset drivers haven't much role to play with NUSB AFAIK ... BTW, there is only minor changes between nusb3.2 and nusb3.3 that should only be a concern to ALI based mboards ... Rgds

Hmmm ..... @awergh, Thanks for the earlier tip ... I tried IE6 with ie5wzd and noticed that the installation are kinda different ... I've been looking into ie6 setup process on win98 and ms obfuscate many of the setup process ... I don't have the time or luxury to look into everyting so I thought I'd make a quick version hack onto ie6wzd ... I patched the original ie6wzd to bypass version check and used it to install ie6 on win95 ... The initial setup installation went smoothly ... (and the installation feels somewhat different) but upon reboot there were several unloadable/unregistered dlls ... I think I may have messed up the version check somewhere ... I think that some registration entries were not installed correctly ... Perhaps I'll try again later ... Well, I had fun doing it ... its been quite a while since I snoop into ms binary ... Rgds

Hmmm ..... From what I understand, most programs will check the windows version/platform thru kernel32 GetVersion/GetVersionEx (or so like that) to determine the platform ... For W98SE, the use of KernelEx will override this setting ... I was looking into making a similar system wide hooking DLL to override precisely this that will work on all W9X ... but unfortunately due to the lack of time and expertise at the moment, it'll have to take a back seat ... There are several other ways thru the use of system file version checks that may be used too ... Rgds

Hmm ..... I never upload to rapidshare ... Please check which version of W98 you are using ... Nusb32e W98SE is offered by Maximus Decim (and is available for download thru his preferred site) ... Nusb32 W98FE went thru extra compatiblity and stability testing to help ensure its fitness for its purpose ... thus was only released a day or two ago ... I believe it won't be long before both will be picked up by technical-assistance site ... Rgds

Hmmm ..... NUSB 3.20 English for Windows 98 First Edition (stable) have been released ! Please refer to post #350 : http://www.msfn.org/board/?showtopic=43605&st=349 for updates. This is the recommended version to use on W98FE as it corrects an issue with ACPI systems ... Rgds

Hmmm ..... IMHO, your current system specs should be able to last another 3-4 years at the very least ... I have a system with similar specs and from my experience it works smoothly without any noticeable drag with win98 ... For the no sound thing, it's either the drivers messed up or a hardware failure occured (could be the speakers or the onboard audio circuitry) ... If you feel that your current system is still adequate, I suggest the following : 1. Have the internal components cleaned. Get all the dust out and clean the contacts of pci, ram etc etc ... A full disassembly and cleaning each component is recommended ... (Remember: discharge yourself of static if you do this) 2. Replace with a good pci audio card if the onboard audio is indeed faulty. It will give a better overall system response. Any hardcore gamer will attest to that ... If that's too much, a cheap usb audio add-on is another option ... 3. Additional 256mb ram will be a good choice if you can afford it ... 4. A fresh install will definitely make a difference ... if you're up to it ... I see that you have two harddrives installed. Based from my experiences with the two models in the past, I recommend that you replace the ageing maxtor with a new harddisk. That particular model 2F020L0 (Maxtor Fireball 3) will have its disk lubrication wear out due to overheating sooner or later. The samsung SV1021H will outlast the maxtor by several years IMHO ... it (SV1021H) is a cheap mass consumer model but has proven its reliability ... Replacing the harddisk will give a data transfer speed boost and you'll definitely feel the difference ... Rgds

Hmmm ..... This is just a preliminary suggestion here ... Kindly take with a pinch of salt ... If I'm not mistaken, due to how NV chipsets were designed, there's a few changes in the design that will break windows9x and even DOS ... Months back I was installing a k8n4-e system and it worked fine in XP ... but it was unable to boot to DOS from a floppy drive when I wanted to make some simple DOS tests ... (Probably DOS doesn't know how to handle NV hardware ports ...) My guess is that the IDE, SATA & USB controller is integrated as one controller unit and uses shared IRQ ... Thus they require bridging-drivers to work properly ... If you're willing to experiment and proficient enough then you can try modifying the setup file of an earlier W98 NF2-Gb driver or the current W2K NF3 driver to see if they can be loaded by W98 ... Rgds

Hmmm ..... NUSB 3.12 Beta for Windows 98 1st Edition have been released ! Please refer to post #350 : http://www.msfn.org/board/?showtopic=43605&st=349 for changes/updates/reports. Rgds

Hmmm ..... Thank you dencorso for your hints but I figured that one out earlier while doing some reading up and digging around for clues ... I am pleased to report that the native ms usbhub20.sys driver is now working with windows 98 FE ..... I was snooping into via usb2.0 hub driver headers and after comparing with ms usb2.0 hub driver, I concluded that they're were both from the same base reference material (plus minus bug fixes etc etc). My guess was confirmed later on when I verified that all function calls are the same except WMI calls ... so that's where the difference is and its enough to break it ... I'm planning to update nusb for windows 98 FE soon ..... the planned changes will be : 1. Using UMSS.SYS compiled from MS sample reference driver. I concluded that usbstor.sys will not work on W98FE due to different function calls to ntoskrnl (available only from W98SE upwards). The working replacement was found at http://sweetlow.at.tut.by/download/umss.zip 2. Minor changes to get MS usbhub20.sys loaded correctly on win98 FE ... 3. Updated explorer.exe to match nusb3.2 4. Updated DISKTSD.VXD (4.90.3000) for possible usb fdd support ? 5. Generic W98FE driver support for usb fdd. There's many drivers flying around but I believe there's a generic version that will work on nec and mitsumi drives. This is still unverified as I'm waiting to get my hands on a usb fdd to tryout. 6. Please comment if I should include the ATI usb2 fix (to match nusb3.2) ... I'll be putting the update on hold until I can verify usb fdd can properly work ... Rgds

Hmmm ..... I've made preliminary test runs of the version patched DISKTSD.VXD on windows 98 FE (thanks for the tip dencorso!) and so far has found no signs of trouble ... Haven't had the chance to tryout the usb fdd support yet ... will give an update when that's done ... Native Usb 2.0 does not seem to work on windows 98 FE ... It seems that MS usbhub20.sys is not loaded by ntkern ... Can anyone help determine if this is also due to version checks or hardware related problem ? I'm much rusty on this thing ... any help or hints is appreciated ... However, replacing with vendor usb 2.0 hub driver then the whole thing works. Tests was done on a VIA 8235 based usb2.0 ... So, for VIA based usb 2.0, only the usbhub20.sys file needs replacing to make it work ... I'm also experimenting with other drivers to see if there's any other possible solution ... I've also made the usb power/bandwidth property tab works but I think most users won't be too concerned (and probably will be left out later) ... I've made minor changes to the driver set to support VIA usb 2.0 ... This makes it sorta not so native ms usb driver ... For the time being, I'm not updating the win98 FE usb driver set until I can figure out if the the above issues can be resolved. Update: I was looking at VIA usbhub20.sys file and wondering if it could be a generic hub stack (perhaps it is a reference to MS usb hub driver somewhere) ..... I'm curious to know why it can interact smoothly with the other "parallel" usbport and usbehci driver from MS ... Usually this kind of thing will go "huh?" in windows ... Final edit: Yep, the VIA usbhub20.sys seems to be based on MS DDK library ... if anyone willing to "experiment" usb2.0 on win98 FE with this please let me know ... I'll make a patch for you to tryout ... Rgds

Hmmm ..... I just noticed something ... I believe that I have my webviews all mixed up ..... I have just rebuilt another win98 system and I noticed that the RP7 webviews are different. Most of the webview functionality are already there ... It's likely that I have modified the wrong webview files for RP7 afterall ... If this is so then its back to the drawing board ... To all who tried out the webviews above, I apologize for any inconveniences .... I'll post any update if there's any soon ... Rgds

Hmmm ..... That is a required conditional operator. That is not a bug, I repeat, that is not a bug . Once you looked at the source code, you'll notice that the line below is now remarked out as it was "originally" remarked out in WinME webview. Initially, I fixed the function call as I thought there's a use for it. Then it was broken with .flv preview. I double-check with WinME webview and see that it's not used, so I remark it now. Remember, media preview will hinder file manipulation (rename/delete) if preview has started. Bottomline, it's individual taste. I do not use webview all the time but it can be refreshing once in a while ... Rgds

Hmmm ..... I have watched this thread right from the start. I reserved my comments until now as I would like to see what concept ideas will be presented ... IMHO, using ProtectIt! as a model is unsuitable as it targets a different audience back then. That targeted audience now is a very much different bunch all together... This was an area that I spent many many moons reading up, researching and finding/testing possible solution (back then in 2004). I have concluded that this can only be done effectively by making significantly huge changes to the windows system kernel. It's something that will have a system wide affect. That's something way beyond my scope back then and I do not wish to have months of headaches figuring that one out ... There are many (commercial) utilities that offers filesystem (folder+file) access restriction such as Protect Folder, Folderlock etc etc etc ..... but none offers multi-user level system access and/or permissions ... AFAIK, there's currently no bulletproof way to do that on win9x systems by adding some add-ons ... There's too many issues to handle if one wants to implement a fully secure multi-user system access permissions & policy on windows 9x. You'd have to be proficient enough and understand enough of what's going on in the kernel to make these changes ... With this in mind, I propose that the concept to be diverted to a different path that will give an intermediate level permission access. This is the path I would choose if I'm making such an add-on. (However, I'm no longer on that path ...) To understand better, please have a look at (and perhaps try out) trust-no-exe (freeware) by beyondlogic.org ..... it is an intermediate level permission access to any folder/file for NT/2K/XP systems ..... I personally use it to block malware (which I feel is nearly 100% effective) and have implemented it on many many systems to limit access to FAT32 partitions where permissions is non-existent ... I believe an intermediate level access model (based on trust-no-exe) is a more achievable target. Rgds

Hmmm ..... For video thumbnails with wmp preview, as per Tihiy's suggestions, I've made the necessary changes to the thumbnail/preview block to make 'em work right ..... The piechart in My Computer requires its own webview. I don't think making huge changes to the existing folder.htt is wise ... Thank you for 'reminding' me to test the webview with photos ... I've just tested a mixed bunch of MP3s, WMVs, FLVs, MPGs etc etc dumped into a single folder and noticed that picture thumbnails are not working ... It's fixed now. Please try the fixed webviews ... I'm pretty sure I got it right this time as both video/picture thumbnails plus video preview is working as intended now (at least it does for me ) ... FLV = Flash video. The ones that you see on youtube etc etc etc ... Normally requires a standalone player to view them locally. FlowPlayer is one of them who makes nice and small 'applets' to embed flv in html ... I had a look at flowplayer and feels that they will make excellent flv preview ... Rgds

Hmmm ..... I was testing webview preview and video thumbnail the other day and found that .flv previews were pretty bad in wmp ... sometimes it just doesn't play right ... I was wondering if its possible to do flv previews without all those codecs packs ... then I stumbled on flowplayer (again) ... I patch it into RP7 webview just for fun and walla ... it's working now ... so, please see post #1 if anyone wishes to try em out ... Rgds

Hmmm ..... These are provided for those who wishes to retain certain webview functionality in the RP7... The webview archive below includes : FLV preview requires Flashplayer already installed. FlowPlayer 1.2.0 is being used for local previews of FLVs without any other codecs installed. Please report bugs here to be squashed ... Screenshots: *Updated* Webview for video thumbnails with wmp7 preview: RP7_VidTnails_n_preview.rar *Updated* Webview for flv preview: RP7_FLV_preview.rar Rgds

Hmmm ..... @dencorso: Essentially, you're changing the version checks to 4.10 to allow it to load .... something like DOS did back then ... That has given me an idea ..... perhaps these device loaders can be used to patch older win95 too with this method. I'll try these on win98 FE to verify if these can work ... well, as soon as I can find some time ... If it works then we need to figure a way to tag the original version numbers somewhere else ... Rgds

Hmmm ..... I remember using this boot screen for a while some time ago .... I looked it up again and this is where I got it from : http://themes.belchfire.net/themes_file-4176.html Rgds

Hmmm ..... I've never done this before but it looks interesting. Found this in MSDN : http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms683476.aspx I'm very much rusty doing any coding but this sounds like fun ... I wish I knew where to begin ... You have my vote for the 95 version ... Rgds