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Under Win98 when you double-click on the installer of v3.0: This program has performed an illegal operation ...

Thanks for the info. I am still using the really old KAV v4.5 under Win98, the key is valid until 2010, I had no problems with a signature update today. In the info they did not mention v4.5, they only mentioned non-supported versions 6 after Oct.1, let's see whether v4.5 will still get signature updates after Oct.1 It's Oct.15 now, old KAV v4.5 still updates its virus signatures Ok. Did any user of other builds of v6.0 experience difficulties in getting virus updates? Or were they automatically updated to v6.0.2.621?

Hi herbalist, Main reason: so that I can access the partition also under DOS 6. Also, Win98 is possibly faster when running under FAT16. I can also run old DOS 6 tools, like DCF & VGACopy, in a full-size DOS window with SlowDown; I am not sure this works if Win98 is on a FAT32 partition, although it would be interesting to try. If you don't use DOS 6, then the Win98 opsys could be also on a FAT32 partition. FAT16 has worked fine for me during the past 8 years, I had no reason to change. I leave \Windows\ and \Program Files\ together on a FAT16 partition, and try to never install applications/software to \Program Files\. This arrangement allows for very fast opsys backups (or: restores): under a 2nd Win98 or under WinXP I just zip up the about 1.5GB in \Windows\ and \Program files\ (or: delete the previous \Windows\ and \Program Files\, then extract backups from zip file). This directory-based backup allows opsys restores, even if you have resized your partitions, or if you have moved up to a larger HDD with more partitions. The boot stuff is handled by System Commander, System Commander saves/backs up the files necessary for booting & wipes out any boot-sector infections. This directory-based restore allows to restore for example opsys backup #15 (made 5 years ago on laptop A, 30GB internal HDD, different partition structure) on laptop B, 120 GB HDD. Recently I started to use Partition Table Doctor v3.5 (a must-have), to also back up the disk structure.If \Program Files\ were also to contain my applications, my opsys backups & restores would get huge and slow, too unwieldy to make regular opsys backups. After installing 2-3 new applications, I make a new opsys backup. The install-to directories of applications I usually back up only once, into application backups. My backup strategy consists of opsys backups, application backups & data backups. I have about 50 opsys backups, each between 0.5 and 1.5GB. I can restore the state of my computer to roughly any point in time of the last 8 years. I make on average about 10 opsys restores a month, mainly after trying out new downloads. I also note down chronologically in a text file all installs & uninstalls of software & additions of hardware. I am currently restoring an opsys backup of 12 months ago and re-installing about 10 applications because a year ago I had installed the Buffalo wireless network card WLI-CB-G54S; after throwing out the card I couldn't get rid of its driver anymore, without the Buffalo driver other wireless network cards would not be able to connect to the Internet anymore. By having a chronological sequence of opsys backups I can also quickly identify when a virus infection started & what caused it. I have 8 old near-identical laptops (all Dell Inspiron 7500) in different locations, the internal HDDs are easily exchangeable, and I was always able to recover from a disaster with the above backup method, without a major head-ache. When I travel by plane, I usually just take the HDD with me, not the laptop; at the destination I insert the HDD into another laptop there. So in short: I install Win98 applications to a different partition to allow quick backup of the Win98 opsys. The partition with the Win98 applications was in the first years also FAT16, but then I changed to FAT32 after the applications exceeded 2GB. That's why I have Win98 on FAT16 & the Win98 applications on FAT32. What separates the worlds of Win98 and WinXP is NTFS. I don't like NTFS, and when you run WinXP under FAT32, WinXP becomes a likeable flavor of Windows, generally superior to Win98, but you shouldn't use it on the Internet for security reasons. BTW, Panasonic etc. don't like NTFS either, their SD/SDHC cards are for FAT/FAT32. NTFS is good for corporate use, to lock out your co-workers, but not for consumer/home use. The only use I have for NTFS is for files > 4GB. Eventually I will try to get Vista running under FAT32...

Buy System Commander 9 and get yourself PowerQuest PartitionMagic v8.01 (not the version from Symantec). The pdf file (esp. chapter Operating System Limitations, pp127-129) on the System Commander 9 CD is very helpful, they used to have it as an accompanying book.I am using many operating systems, a good partition plan is essential. In your case (Win98/XP) I would suggest the follwing: C: 2 GB FAT16, primary, install System Commander there, this is your boot partition, also for old DOS 6 if you need it D: 2 GB FAT16, logical, for Win98 \Windows\, E: 20 GB+ FAT32, logical for your Win98 programs + data F: 30 GB+ NTFS, logical, for WinXP, WinXP programs + data (to be converted later to FAT32) G: 30 GB+ NTFS, logical, for huge files >4GB On my desktop I have Vista on a dedicated 2nd internal HDD, booting via System Commander from C: After the installation of WinXP, go into PartitionMagic and convert partition F: (WinXP) from NTFS ==> FAT32. WinXP under FAT32 is enjoyable, fast, and more under your control, you can make virus checks & backups under Win98. WinXP+applications on FAT32 is noticeably faster/crisper, esp. on older/slower machines.

When I looked with Paragon Partition Manager 9.0 RecoveryCD v8.08 (NOT the Windows software, but the CD which apparently boots from Linux a different version) I made an interesting discovery: The Recovery CD saw a 4GB SDHC card, freshly formatted by Panasonic Formatter, as having 2 partitions! The 1st partition was displayed as File system: Free, Size: 4.0MB. The 2nd partition was displayed as File system: FAT32, Size: 3.7GB. Somehow the RecoveryCD kept Panasonic's code in a separate partition. I then created with the RecoveryCD a multi-partition SDHC by just using the space originally occupied by the 2nd partition, leaving the Panasonic code in tiny partition 1 untouched. I created 3 primary partitions. When booting into WinXP, I put this 4GB card into a card reader which was set by Hitachi Filter Driver to fixed, and then copied my standard 122MB of photo files onto these fixed partitions. The speed increase was substantial: Partition 2: FAT32, 1289 MB - 85 seconds = 1.43 MB/sec Partition 3: NTSF, 2080 MB - 180 seconds = 0.68 MB/sec Partition 4: FAT16, the remainder (about 480MB) - 105 seconds = 1.16 MB/sec In a 2nd test I created an extended partition containing 3 logical partitions of similar size, each partition 32kb cluster size (=64 sectors/cluster) Partition 2: FAT32 - 75 seconds = 1.63 MB/sec (FAT32 in the single extended partition is therefore faster) Partition 3: NTSF - 200 seconds = 0.61 MB/sec Partition4: FAT16 - 107 seconds = 1.14 MB/sec In a 3rd test I created a similar extended partition containing 3 logical partitions, but this time each partition had a 16kB cluster size (=32 sectos/cluster) Partition 2: FAT32 - 83 seconds = 1.47 MB/sec Partition 3: NTSF - 210 seconds = 0.58 MB/sec Partition 4: FAT16 - 132 seconds = 0.93 MB/sec This contrasts with a previous similar test of Acronis Disk Director 10 under Win98: 132 seconds = 0.92 MB/sec as top speed of an SDHC card formatted by Acronis. Because the RecoveryCD somehow leaves the special code by Panasonic intact, it can create the by far fastest multi-partition SDHC cards. Paragon Partition Manager 9.0 RecoveryCD boots into Linux 2.6.18.2-34-paragon & recognizes an SDHC card in an USB 1.1 port and in a USB 2.0 add-on PCCard. Paragon Partition Manager 9.0 RecoveryCD is the TOP TOOL for creating multi-partition SDHC cards. Maybe some more tricks can be found to bring the speed of multi-partition SDHC cards up to the 4.06 MB/sec of the class 4 SDHC card formatted as a single partition by Panasonic Formatter

ChipGenius v2.64 (runs under WinXP, does not run under Win98) Quite useful utility for SDHC card readers, for some card readers it identifies the chip used. Does not tell whether a card reader works with SDHC or just with SD cards. Very handy for documenting your card readers: in contrast to ListUsbDrives v1.7.8, the displayed info can be transferred with copy & paste. No installation, just double-click on the .exe Added to my toolbox. Download location: http://www.mydigit.cn/mytool/chipgenius.rar An excellent list of controller chips, including chips in SDHC card readers, is contained in: http://www.hjreggel.net/cardspeed/info-controller.html Amazing, 24 manufacturers of controller chips for card readers & memory cards. BUT: Knowing the manufacturer of the controller chip still doesn't give you a Win98 driver for the card reader.

This is kind of a grey/overlapping area: SDHC cards are useful under Win98, but to prepare them properly, you need WinXP. eMule is for me a must-run-on-Win98 application, for security reasons, but after 2 days to a week, eMule hangs. I suspect mainly because of physical failure of the HDD: reading & writing small amounts of data for very many threads, all over the HDD, and that uninterrupted for a long time, may just stress the HDD too much. Maybe by using SDHC cards instead of a HDD as location of the Temp directory of eMule, uptime can be significantly increased. During the past 2 weeks the mule (on a dedicated old laptop) has been running with a 4GB micro-SDHC card as a 2nd Temp location, together with a 60GB Temp directory on the HDD, but I haven't seen a change in uptime. I will know for sure after having moved all Temp files onto SDHC cards. Thanks for the links jaclaz, I'll be checking them out.

The Toolbox was moved to the front page of the topic

Thanks jaclaz, but I assume fat32format by ridgecrop & Fat32Formatter by tokiwa are not for Win98. I prefer to manipulate multiple partitions on removable media like SDHC cards under Win98. Explorer under WinXP can access only the 1st partition of multiple partitions on removable media, unless you set the removable drive to fixed, with Hitachi Filter Driver v3.20. But this adds another layer of potential errors. Paragon Partition Manager 9.0, for example, can partition/format removable SDHC cards under WinXP. If you have one card reader set with Hitachi as "fixed", you can create multiple partitions under XP with Paragon on a normal card reader, then insert the freshly multi-partitioned card into the other card reader set to fixed, and all partitions on the SDHC card will be displayed by WinXP as "local disk". The 32GB limitation for FAT32 of WinXP-Format may have been another reason why Panasonic made the Panasonic Formatter v2.0: maybe next year 64GB SDHC cards will be released, and WinXP-Format cannot format them (inefficiently) as FAT32. It looks like the capacity limit of SDHC cards may be 128GB. Since SDHC cards are quite slow (<10 MB/sec), it should be possible to use several card reader sticks together in a USB hub, without a noticeable loss of speed.

Cluster size I just made 3 more tests: Using the same 4GB Kingston SDHC microSD card & the same old laptop, I copied under WinXP the same 122MB to the microSD card, with the following results: When the card was formatted under Win98 with Acronis as FAT32, 32kb cluster size: 138 seconds = 0.88 MB/sec when formatted as FAT 32, cluster size 16kB: 132 seconds = 0.92 MB/sec Conclusion: cluster size doesn't make much of a difference on write speed of SDHC cards. Here a comment by H.J.Reggel: "with FAT32, two FAT copies can occupy up to 1.56% of the media, and cause a lot of processing overhead. There is a recommendation to start with a cluster size of 4kB for disks of more than 260MB and up to 8GB, and to use 32kB cluster size for disks of more than 32GB. But for photo/video recording on flash media, the cluster size should be as large as possible, to reduce the overhead for FAT handling." http://www.hjreggel.net/cardspeed/info-formatting.html That's probably why the Panasonic Formatter uses a 32kb cluster size on a 4GB card. Huge boot record of Panasonic Formatter The 4GB card freshly formatted by Panasonic Formatter had a boot record of 3.064MB (6276 sectors), possibly with special instructions for the controller inside the SDHC card. Maybe this has something to do with the copy-protection scheme of the SD card controller. When the card was reformatted by Acronis Disk Director to FAT32, cluster size 16kB, the boot record was reduced to 16kB (32 sectors). It could be interesting to look into the huge boot sector created by Panasonic Formatter, which may give a clue why the Panasonic Formatter creates fast cards, while the other formatting software creates slow cards. Making an image file of a SDHC card WinImage v7.0.a.7009 was able to create under Win98 a .IMA image of the 4GB SDHC card, file size 3.927.104 kB (I don't know how good the created image was). It would be interesting to test whether WinImage can create an identical image of an SDHC card, including boot record. DCF, the classic predecessor, was pretty good at reproducing copy-protected floppy disks... In a 3rd test, I formatted the 4GB SDHC card with Acronis to FAT16, 64kB cluster size. The same copying test under WinXP took only 90 seconds = 1.35 MB/sec. Using FAT16 instead of FAT32 does make a significant speed improvement. I was able to read under Win98 the 4GB SDHC card formatted as FAT16, 64kB cluster size, using the Praktica card reader and the nusb v3.3 driver. So the nusb driver does support FAT16 filesystems up to 4095MB.

nusb v3.3 is entered in Win98SE Add/Remove as "Remove Unofficial Universal USB 2.0 Stack". What does uninstall exactly do and not do?

Benchmarking partitioning/formatting software for SD/SDHC cards I initially made a full format of a Kingston 4GB, class 4 micro-SDHC card with the Panasonic Formatter 2.0. For each test I copied under WinXP 200 .jpg files, altogether 122 MB, from a FAT32 partition of an internal IDE 80GB 2.5" HDD to this micro-SDHC card, always newly formatted with the software in question. Here the amazing results of the time it took to copy these files: - if fully formatted under WinXP with Panasonic Formatter 2.0.0.3: (FAT32, only cluster size possible: 32kb): 30 seconds = 4.06 MB/sec - if formatted under Win98 with Acronis Disk Director 10 as FAT32: 123 seconds = 0.99 MB/sec - if formatted under WinXP with Windows-Format as FAT32: 103 seconds = 1.18 MB/sec - if formatted under WinXP with HP Formatter (FAT32, 4kb clusters): 100 seconds = 1.22 MB/sec - if quick formatted under WinXP with Panasonic Formatter 2.0.0.3: 30 seconds = 4.06 MB/sec, same copying speed as full format The tests were done under WinXP, on a 700MHz laptop, 512MB RAM, Praktica card reader via a USB 2.0 PCCard. Files were copied to the micro-SDHC card from a FAT32 partition of an 80GB 2.5" HDD. Conclusions and implications: - copying to an SDHC card is about 4 times faster when the card was formatted with the Panasonic Formatter; using any other formatting software reduces writing speed to a fourth. - it is much more important to use the right Formatter than to use a fast SDHC card. - when you use SDHC cards, you need WinXP, Win98 alone just won't do it - partitioning an SDHC card into multiple partitions comes at a huge speed cost; if speed is important, it may be better to use several SDHC cards at the same time, rather than partitioning a single card into multiple partitions. This makes combo card readers which assign several drive letters of special interest. The hama Traveldrive, for example, has the size of a stick, and you can use on it simultaneously an SDHC & a micro-SDHC card. On the hama Traveldrive stick, for example, the micro-SDHC card could be a specially formatted smaller boot drive, also containing the encryption key, while, in the other slot, the larger SDHC card could be the non-booting (encrypted) data/program drive formatted with Panasonic Formatter. - the Panasonic Formatter does not format NTSF since the SD Memory Card Specification only accepts FAT12, FAT16 & FAT32. By formatting an SD card with another Formatter as NTSF or Linux, its speed is reduced to about a fourth, which makes SDHC cards not well suited for running Vista or Linux.

Partitioning Software for SD/SDHC cards If you format an SD/SDHC card on your computer with Windows-Format, the SD/SDHC card may possibly not work in your camera anymore. "Ok I have a problem.... the SD card I use in my camera might have gone Pete Tong" http://www.vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=38005 "Generally, SD/SDHC Memory Card file systems formatted with generic operating system formatting software do not comply with the SD Memory Card Specification." http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/sd/d..._formatter.html Maybe this warning by Panasonic just refers to FAT12 partitions, where the SD specification allows a max.FAT12 partition size of 256MB, vs 32MB of the Microsoft specification ( http://www.compuphase.com/mbr_fat.htm ,towards the end) 1) Panasonic SD Formatter v2.0.0.3 (runs under WinXP, not under Win98SE) Since large capacity SDHC cards are quite expensive (a class 6, 32GB SDHC card costs over $200), Panasonic - possibly to prevent customer returns - made this program which can restore an elsewhere formatted card to a near-original factory condition. So if you have done a lot of weird stuff with your SD/SDHC card, like creating several partitions, with NTFS or Linux file systems, different cluster sizes, extended partition, multiple primary partitions, etc., this program can clean that all up. The download location is http://panasonic.jp/support/audio/sd/downl...tp/sdfv2003.exe The Panasonic Formatter creates a single partition on SD/SDHC cards and formats it, only very few choices possible. 2) HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool v2.18 (runs under WinXP, not under Win98SE) Also creates a single partition on SD/SDHC cards, but does probably not adhere to the SD Memory Card Specification since it was made for HP flash sticks. Its main use is to make an SD/SDHC card bootable. By selecting in the HP Format Tool the boot file on a floppy, one can possibly create an SD/SDHC card which boots into the XYZ operating system. 3) Acronis Disk Director Suite v10 build 2089 (under Win98SE) My top choice for special formatting and fiddling around with partitions on SD/SDHC cards under Win98. Allows to format FAT, FAT32, NTFS & Linux partitions on SD/SDHC cards. The more recent build 2160 I rejected, it hung under Win98 after the 2nd internal HDD was partitioned by Vista during the installation of Vista. Norton Disk Doctor and ScanDisk have not found any errors after Acronis Disk Director formatted single and multi-partition SD/SDHC cards. There is one annoying bug: Acronis Disk Directory Suite 10 does NOT see the SD/SDHC card if the SD/SDHC card is already inserted in the USB port at Windows startup. To make a card visible to Acronis Disk Director: - you should insert it into the USB port after Win98 is up; - or: remove the card reader with the eject-utility in the system tray, then re-insert the card reader - or: run and exit immediately afterwards Paragon Partition Manager 9.0; voilá, Acronis sees the SD/SDHC card until Windows shuts down. 4) Paragon Partition Manager v9.0 build 4156 (under Win98SE) It sees the inserted SD/SDHC card as partitionable media, BUT: DON'T use this software for modifying or formatting partitions on an SD/SDHC card. After re-formatting the 2nd partition of a multi-partition SD/SDHC card from FAT16 --> FAT32, Norton Disk Doctor found errors like: 2x "Invalid Disk Table in Boot Record", "Entries with invalid file names" and ScanDisk found errors like: "The K:\ folder is damaged", "The K:\ folder contains incorrect information about PARA0_1?.???" Also: The partition of an SD/SDHC card freshly formatted under WinXP with Panasonic Formatter is incorrectly marked red, Invalid Filesystem. Uses of Paragon Partition Manager v9.0 with SD/SDHC cards: - as a door opener for Acronis Disk Director Suite: it makes an SD/SDHC card visible - to export files to & from NTSF partitions with Volume Explorer. It is very easy to export, for example, files from an NTFS partition on an SD/SDHC card to a FAT32 partition on the same card. - its disk editor, to see what's in the boot sector and in the MBR of an SD/SDHC card Seagate DiscWizard 2003 v4.07.11 and DiscWizard for Windows v4.09.05 (under Win98) Also see the inserted SD/SDHC card as partitionable media, BUT: Rejected, Norton Disk Doctor & ScanDisk also detect errors after an SD/SDHC card was partitioned & formatted with it.

This posting was originally #1; 3 newer postings are above I have 2 hama USB "Cardreader 6 in 1" model 55310 v3. Singly they work fine under Win98 & WinXP SP2, when connected to a Belkin USB 2.0 PCCard adapter or to the USB 1.1 port of an old laptop. Both card readers have printed on them the SAME "SN: 06822630800". a MAC number is not indicated. PROBLEM: I cannot have these 2 card readers connected at the same time. Under Win98, upon inserting the 2nd card reader, the msg: Unsafe Removal of Device is displayed, MyComputer stops displaying the 1st card reader, but shortly afterwards displays the 2nd card reader, under the same drive letter of the 1st card reader, the files on the SD card in the 2nd card reader are correctly displayed & fully accessible. Under WinXP, when I have the 1st card reader inserted into the USB 2.0 PCCard and subsequently insert the 2nd card reader: 1) into the other slot of the USB 2.0 PCCard, MyComputer displays correctly the content of both card readers, each with a different drive letter (in contrast to Win98). But when I try to copy stuff from one cardreader to the other (both connected to the USB 2.0 PCCard, sticking out of the laptop), the system completely freezes & I have to press the reset button. 2) into the USB 1.1 port at the back of the laptop, the system crashes (power off) immediately, on the next reboot there appears only a blinking cursor, on the 2nd reboot it gets into WinXP again, but with the error msg: "The system has recovered from a serious error" & wants to send a msg to MS. QUESTION: Is this a problem of the hama card reader or of the Belkin USB 2.0 PCCard? Is it because both card readers have the same SN? I have been using, for example, 2 Adaptec ACS-100 external HDD enclosures connected at the same time, with no problems, but they each had a different SN printed on the back. How can I assign a unique identifier to each of the card readers (WinXP apparently can distinguish between them because it assigns different drive letters to them & displays/reads their content ok, maybe it distinguishes between them by port number??) QUESTION: Which other SDHC card readers work fine under Win98 & come with a unique SN? Are there any USB SDHC card readers which work with Win98/XP/Vista/Linux? Note: A SD/SDHC card reader is needed for transferring .nds files from the PC to the R4-III Nintendo adapter. Without a Win98-compatible SD card reader, the file transfer cannot be done under Win98 & must be done under WinXP, see http://www.msfn.org/board/Compatible-Hardw...963#entry794963

Benchmarking file systems: FAT vs FAT32 vs NTSF on SD/SDHC cards Here is the time it took to copy a directory with 200 files, altogether 122MB, to an SD card SD card formatted FAT: 42 seconds SD card formatted FAT32: 92 seconds SD card formatted NTSF: 200 seconds (from a FAT32 partition of an 80GB HDD, 700MHz laptop, 512MB RAM, via a USB 2.0 PCCard under Win98) There are many implications of this result: - Windows & browser cache files, temp files e.g. for unraring, should be on a FAT drive - CD/DVD images for burning under WinXP should be on FAT/FAT32 drives for better burn quality, not on an NTSF drive - frequently accessed software/files in general should be on a FAT drive - maybe a 4GB SDHC card should be partitioned into 2 FAT partitions, if speed matters, but that would require another benchmark

The list contains Foxit Reader v2.2 as Win98SE compatible, that's why I installed it, even if v2.3 had already been released. Their website states: "Foxit Reader supports Windows Me/2000/XP/2003/Vista" http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php - Win98 was left out. What was also strange is that they had both v2.2 & v2.3 for download. Wikipedia states: "Foxit Reader v1.3 is the latest version which runs on Windows 95 and NT 4.0, v2.0 the latest for Windows 98... According to the developers a further version will support Windows 98 again." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxit The Wikipedia article was last modified on Sep.13, 2008, so the authors of it must have known v2.1-v2.3 BUT: I am a new user of Foxit Reader, I recently installed v2.2 under Win98, everything seems fine - are there some hidden incompatibilites which I have not yet come across? Are there any problems with the add-ons for versions after v2.0?

Well, Brother is not my brother anymore. I was at a large computer store a few days ago, the only brand with a lot of Win98 models was Epson (D92, D120, DX7450, DX4400, DX8450)

Creating bootable SDHC cards Under Win98 you canNOT readily create a bootable SD card. When right-clicking on the SD drive - Format - Full - select Copying System files: the format will complete ok but the system files will NOT be copied, when formatting is complete, the selection "Copy system files" in the Format window will be greyed out. The HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool can, hower, create a bootable SDHC card under WinXP, extracting DOS boot files from an inserted floppy disk. UltraISO v9.2.0.2536 cannot extract the created boot sector of the SD card, Read error. The HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool can be downloaded from http://www.bay-wolf.com/utility/usbkey/usbmemkeyboot.zip The referring page http://www.bay-wolf.com/usbmemstick.htm is interesting.

I am using for partitioning (under Win98) Acronis Disk Director Suite v10.0.2160, then I run PartitionMagic v8.01 (PowerQuest build 1274) to check that the created partitions are Ok under Win98, and I finally run Partition Table Doctor v3.5 to make sure that I can lateron make/restore a backup of the partition table. I don't know about the specs, it's preliminary & of May, 2004.I am using three THERMALTAKE 3.5" SATA to USB2.0 & eSATA HARD DRIVE ENCLOSURE - A2395, which I bought from the Frys store in California in Feb.2008. I initially bought 1 to test it, then I bought 2 more because the enclosure worked fine. It allows me to access a SATA HDD under Win98 (on an old Inspiron 7500 USB 1.1 laptop, via a Belkin USB 2.0 PCCard) - without having a SATA PCCard. It's a marvellous device to access SATA HDDs under Win98, even if your computer doesn't understand SATA. Furthermore it has an eSATA connector for connecting to an eSATA/SATA connector at my desktops. Here a note from the frys website: "IDE [=PATA] hard drives will only work with the USB port. SATA hard drives will work with both USB and eSATA ports". The product description is at https://shop3.frys.com/product/5480749?site...CH:MAIN_RSLT_PG There is a switch at the back of the enclosure for switching between USB & SATA port connections. Inside the enclosure I couldn't see the markings on the chips, they were all covered up with metal shielding, on the board inside was printed: "Thermaltake USA, designed in California, 3.5"USB&SATA-TO-SATA&IDE REV.1". The Win98 Add New hardware wizard displayed during installation "Windows driver file search for the device JM20338 SATA USB Combo" I am using in these enclosures 750GB Seagate Barracuda SATA & PATA HDDs.

PROBLEM: With eMule one can often download several versions of a pdf file, with slight differences between them. How can one distinguish a good pdf file from a slightly corrupted pdf file? BeyondCompare, the best tool for comparing nearly-identical downloads (e.g.mp3s) is of no help since it has no plugin to compare the content of pdf files. SOLUTION: Adobe Acrobat (this is NOT the Acrobat Reader) can compare the content of 2 pdf files page-by-page: Tools - Compare - Two Documents - Page by page visual differences - normal sensitivity (high sensitivity may not be necessary). To check whether a .pdf file has slight corruptions, create a copy of it & then compare it in Acrobat against the original. If the pdf file contains corruptions, Acrobat will display an error msg during the file compare, like "Digital Signatures - Alert: Unrecognized object name", just click Ok to proceed. If the page-compare with Acrobat does not show any differences, the Hex Viewer of BeyondCompare may still show corruptions/slight differences. PROBLEM: new pdf formats The last version for Win98 of Adobe Acrobat is v5.0.5, which can handle up to PDF v1.4 (Acrobat 5.x). Acrobat v5.0.5 is extremely unstable under Win98: when you compare a PDF v1.4 file, for example, against a similar file in v1.6 format (Acrobat v7.x), Adobe Acrobat 5 hangs. Are there other software packages which can compare 2 pdf files in a format > v1.4? If not, cleaning up pdf downloads cannot be done under Win98 & may have to be done under WinXP.

A company which still supports Win98 cares for their customers and is not out for a fast buck with the largest market segment, like HP, rippe-tee-rip. The compatibility with Win98 is a seal of quality for a new product, even if one does not use Win98.The Brother MFC 845CW is a multi-function inkjet, the HP2605dn is a duplex laser printer. I am prejudiced against inkjets, inkjets may be problematic with occasional printing. In 5 years I will most likely be using Win98 only occasionally with a few printouts in between, but I will still need the capability to print under Win98. I have a 13-year-old HP-5L laser printer in my vacation home, it has always worked right-away without any fiddling around when I turn it on, during my annual holidays there.

I just tested FolderSize v1.31, referred to in the link above, under Win98: - it works Ok on a 750GB ext. USB HDD - it works Ok on a large partition (239GB), it correctly counted 410.000 files in that partition I have been using DISKdata v3.4.1 (it's not freeware) and still prefer it, DISKdata sorts the displayed results and has a better feel to it. FolderSize has a feature which I have not seen in other utilites: it indicates the number of files & folders in a partiton & on a CD/DVD. FolderView may also be a starter during recovery work on damaged CDs: On a very badly damaged CD FolderSize could display the directories & number of files/directories; DiskData just hung with a blue screen, and Windows Explorer froze. With FolderSize you may have a chance of seeing what you may have lost on a bad CD, for the actual repair work I use BeyondCompare + Windex window cleaner. Another plus of FolderSize is that it's a standalone program & doesn't require installation.

I am using about 6 or 7 Adaptec ACS-100 (3.5", PATA only, max.1000GB) enclosures, 2 Thermaltake USB-eSata switchable (3.5", SATA & PATA) and about 5-6 fantec DB-25U2 (2.5"), they all work Ok. I had also bought several other makes, which I returned because I couldn't get them to work properly with all my other hardware. The Adaptec & the fantec use the same driver Genesys USB Storage Driver Win98 v1.61, which is also used by my external USB DVD-burner enclosures Genesyslogic GL811E; this genesys (or Genensys?) driver seems to be pretty good. I also had bought 2 USB SDHC card readers (a hama 55310 & a Practica Mini Card Drive II), both compatible with Win98 according to the description on the box, but I only got the hama with a Genesys driver to work with Win98, the one by Praktica only works with Win XP.The Thermaltake has an annoying blue light illuminating the Thermaltake brand name, the HDD inside does not sit firm, the cables inside are made of bad plastic which tends to come off (bare wires??) when it comes in contact with the sharp metal inside of the the enclosure - but it works under Win98 & Win XP, and the SATA ext.HDD is noticeably faster than the PATA in the Adaptec ACS-100. When using many different USB devices simultaneously, reducing the number of USB driver makers (i.e. I try to stay with devices using Genensys drivers) may perhaps reduce the risk of incompatibilities. The Thermaltake I bought in February is a JM20338 SATA USB Combo. The JM20337 chip you mentioned may be an older model. The max.drive capacity of the enclosure may be indicated on the box. If you use Win98/FAT32, you'll get lost clusters eventually. I use standalone Norton Disk Doctor, which has a partition size limit of about 239GB. The next limitation is set by your disk recovery software, e.g. when your partition table is corrupt. In any case, you need to partition your huge HDD for Win98. With NTSF/WinXP it's a different story. FAT32 partitions up to 239GB have worked fine for me so far under Win98.Why do you need such a large partition? The only software package I know of, which requires a huge partition, is the German Digitale Bibliothek. I have currently 255 volumes installed, on an external HDD, & the DigiBib directory is about 126GB (The DigiBib software can only read volumes located in a single directory).

I have the feeling that your windows has been corrupted. Maybe the easiest solution would be to restore a backup of windows, made before your computer maintenance.About 5 years ago my Win98 system started to freeze when I shut off an Olympus camera connected via USB. The problem was caused by the installation of BlackICE, a firewall. When I unloaded the blackd.exe process, which was loaded at boot time thru the registry. everything was fine. I then restored a backup of windows, taken prior to installing BlackICE, & everything was fine. So my initial guess would be that it's Symantec's firewall. I wouldn't touch Symantec software with a five-foot-pole, except for the standalone version of Norton Disk Doctor, it goes too deep into the system. Once you have Symantec stuff installed, it's very hard to get rid of it again, Add/Remove leaves over a 100 registry entries, which have to be cleaned out manually. Also about 5 years ago. the computer wouldn't recognize the Olympus camera (USB) after I installed a newer IomegaWare software/driver for a jaz 2GB drive. After removing the IomegaWare software & re-installing the Olympus driver the problem was solved. Again, the easiest solution would be to restore a previous working backup of Windows.

You are absolutely right, I fully agree with you, but I don't even know how to use a Nintendo DS. My 13-year-old, however, told me he now doesn't need to buy any games anymore, and that he is just using backup copies