Prozactive

Thanks for your reply Xeno86 and all the other followup posts. I'm still somewhat confused what Adobe Flash Player 10.1 has to do with the default XP SP2 specific compatibility mode I noted for Adobe Flash Player 9.0.280 that I installed. Like I said, I don't understand the compatibility modes and settings for KernelEx at all. I did not read all 36+ pages in this thread so I was not aware of the issues with KernelEx and Opera 10.5x. I discovered that through my own trial and error experimentation. I deliberately wait a long time before I upgrade to newer versions of major software like web browsers so that hopefully most of the significant bugs, etc. are worked out. I was aware that Opera 10.60 would not work without KernelEx and that supposedly 10.61 would. I do plan to upgrade to 10.61 soon and hopefully that will work well.

I'm new to KernelEx, having just recently installed 4.5 beta 2 then updating to RC 1 after it was released. It seems to be working well overall although I have not installed any KernelEx-only applications yet. Just a couple of observations/comments and questions... - After installing the recent Adobe Flash Player 9.0.280 security update, I noticed that NPSWF32.dll was configured by default to run in Windows XP SP2 specific compatibility mode. I've also noticed this is the default setting for several other system files. Is this correct? I don't understand the compatibility modes and settings for KernelEx. - Through trial and error, I've found that Opera 10.54 seems to be much more stable when KernelEx extensions are disabled. When they're enabled, Opera 10.54 tends to crash frequently and randomly with invalid page fault errors mostly in module <unknown>. - As I mentioned in a separate thread, Windows Media Player 9 now runs normally with the updated Quartz.dll when KernelEx extensions are enabled.

That's good to know. I've found that enabling KernelEx (4.5 RC1) causes Opera 10.54 to crash frequently. Disabling KernelEx seems to have greatly increased its stability.

I finally installed KernelEx 4.5 RC1 and I've verified that WMP 9 now works normally with the updated Quartz.dll when KernelEx extensions are enabled.

Thanks Tihiy. Unlocking the taskbar solved the "grips" problem. I have not been able to duplicate the corrupted text editor window borders issue and it appears to be a freak one-time event. If it happens again I'll get a screenshot and report back. The Power Meter (battery properties) system tray icon is still invisible but it doesn't bother me much. About the only remaining problem I've noticed so far is the Recycle Bin icons behavior. They do not properly show the Recycle Bin status (full or empty) on a consistent basis, generally tending to show it as full when it actually is empty, although the reverse has been true occasionally. Is there some way to fix this?

Thanks. I consider myself rather geeky but I'm fairly new to Opera and I haven't played around much with its config/prefs. My first inclination was to go to Appearance/Skin to switch skins to the new file but there was no option to do so. Opera kept wanting you to select and download a skin from a wide variety available online. I finally found the standard_skin.zip file in \Program Files\Opera\skin and then it became fairly evident how to do so. Edit: Okay I just read the latest updated posts and now I'm confused. Do I still replace the standard_skin.zip file?

Thanks. You should mention that it's installed in the main \Opera\skin directory, replacing the existing standard_skin.zip (I presume) as it's not intuitively obvious.

Thanks for the blazing quick reply, Tihiy! Hm I'll reinstall RP 9.6.5 and try to get a screenshot of the corrupted text editor windows when it recurs. As I recall, it was like the entire lower border was missing. Also, I do have IE 6 installed and I'll try unlocking the taskbar even though the grips/handles are normally present with my default "Always on top" configuration. I'll report back ASAP.

I finally bit the bullet and installed Revolutions Pack 9.6.5 but unfortunately had to uninstall it after a short period of testing. Initially it seemed to work fine with the only noticeable bug being the Power Meter (battery properties) system tray icon almost completely vanishing on my laptop. I could live with that, but then I eventually noticed that the "grips" or "handles" in the Windows taskbar were missing and thus I could no longer slide them to manually expand taskbar buttons after they became compressed during use (by opening numerous taskbar buttons). That was a showstopper for me, and I also started noticing corruption in the lower window borders of my text editor windows (I use the TheGUN text editor as a replacement for Notepad). I appreciate all the hard work that's obviously gone into its development but I don't think I'll be installing RP again until these issues are resolved (especially the lack of taskbar "grips"). Thanks for all your effort and support!

With a very secretive changelog!! I saw that as well and was quite curious. They finally updated the changelog with details of the security issues.

Thanks for the advice, dencorso. Unfortunately it didn't work as I suspected, since I was already able to freely rename the file in Windows. I tried registering the new version of Quartz.dll several times after a clean reboot, including one attempt in safe mode. All failed with the same error message I reported earlier. Curiously, the version of Quartz.dll included in the Win2000 update was 6.05.2600.1316 and not 6.05.01.0914 as stated in KB975562. The existing version of Quartz.dll on my system was 6.05.01.0902. I also looked at the update.inf file included with the Win2000 update to see how the update was implemented (especially registry changes) but unfortunately I'm not very familiar with INF files.

Microsoft released yet another critical security update for DirectX/Windows Media components in June (reference: MS10-033). Has anyone successfully installed them in Win9x/ME? I tried manually installing the updated Windows 2000 files (Asycfilt.dll, Quartz.dll, wmvcore.dll) but got the infamous "Class not registered" error in Windows Media Player 9. I traced the cause of the error to the updated Quartz.dll but I was unable to register it with Regsvr32, getting the following error again: LoadLibrary("Quartz.dll") failed. GetLastError returns 0x0000001f. Interestingly, the system passes all Dxdiag.exe DirectX diagnostics. Any ideas or suggestions?

Adobe Flash Player 9.0.277.0 and 10.1.53.64 released today (fixes critical security vulnerabilities). Flash Player 9 download: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/406/kb406791.html

For reference, as discussed in this newer related thread, I performed a DOS file compare check of the registry before and after installing the latest rootsupd.exe update and here are the results. EDIT: Updated with zipped file of DOS file compare data.rootsupd.zip

Yeah, you and jaclaz are pretty amazing. I figured some of it had to be from memory in addition to any other aids/tools/bookmarks you might use. Thanks. I did (and always do) check the digital signature of the rootsupd.exe file. Like I said, Microsoft must've just updated the file within the past few days since MDGx updated his webpage. I installed the new updated file then performed the registry file compare check (before and after the update) as you suggested in your earlier referenced thread. The results of the registry file compare check showed that numerous changes were made by the latest rootsupd.exe vs. the former version, mostly in this registry path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\SystemCertificates\Root\Certificates\ I think I'll post the results of the file compare check in that other thread just for reference. Thanks for all of your help!

Thanks for the referenced link, dencorso. I don't know how you keep track of all the threads you reference! That thread helped explain things a bit more but I find this topic particularly confusing. Apparently Microsoft must've just updated their rootsupd.exe file recently (within the past few days), by the way. The new rootsupd.exe has a file size of 336,280 bytes vs. 324,008 bytes for the file I just DL'ed a few days ago. Examining its contents shows that updroots.sst increased in size from 272,887 bytes to 294,107 bytes even though its date/timestamp didn't change whatsoever.

That's a good question. I was wondering about that myself recently when I was reviewing MDGx's latest updates. Surprisingly it does appear that Microsoft updated their root certificates for Win98 on 24 Aug 2009. Apparently they also updated them again on Nov 2009 (for WinXP/Vista/7 I presume).

I've often thought that reinstalling Windows would (hopefully) solve your mysterious Spybot problem but of course that's a major step to take. The last time I reinstalled Win98 was back in 2003 and I don't recall all the specific details, but it was a lot of work especially reinstalling all the security (and other) updates/patches/hotfixes, etc. I believe I had to reinstall all of my applications too but again I can't remember. I know you can do a repair installation of WinXP but I'm not sure about Win98. I'm sure some web searches would quickly give you lots of information on your options. I've disabled TeaTimer on all of my Spybot installations. Seems like it caused lots of problems early on without much tangible benefit.

JorgeA, Sorry about the slow response. Thanks for the info about ESET. I've heard about it and I know there are several other online virus scanners people have referenced. I've never used one on my own systems but I have run a few scans on other people's computers during malware recovery efforts. They do seem to work quite well, although I tend to be leery of any online type system scan for whatever reason. Like I said, luckily I've had very few encounters with malware and hopefully that will continue. When Avast! support for Win9x/ME ends, I will probably switch to PC-cillin or NAV. You should take a look at the very informative "Surviving Without a Virus Scanner" thread dencorso referenced earlier. It presents a long technical discussion about this topic and I will probably implement many of the suggestions. HTH

JorgeA, Thanks for the info about SAS. I probably will install and start using it. I first learned about SAS from the "Last Versions of Software for Windows 98SE" thread, so I was aware of and DL'ed the last version that supposedly worked in Win9x/ME. I'm pretty sure it was the version you referenced. Thankfully (and fortunately) I've had very few problems with malware/viruses/spyware/trojans, etc. in my long history with computers. I can't say the same for my friends and relatives though. It's been a sobering, eye-opening, and educational experience trying to help them recover from all of their malware problems! I finally solved my Avast! problem. It was a very mysterious bug initiated by the fact that my license key was expiring soon, and caused lots of aggravating system freezes. Turned out that the solution was registering for and installing a new license key. Very strange. Unfortunately their support for Win9x/ME is expiring later this year and I'll have to decide what to do when that happens.

Dave-H, Thanks again for the excellent info. I didn't realize the Trend Micro download page had recently changed but it's quite confusing. I did note the very large size of the "Consumer OPR" pattern file (almost 80MB!). I'm glad you confirmed the lpt$vpn.xxx file names within the pattern updates. The last definitions update provided by VCOM (now Avanquest) for Fix-It Utilities contained a large file with that name format. I'm fairly certain I will be able to update their version of PC-cillin with the latest pattern file from Trend Micro. Like you said, the "Malware OPR - Windows" version of the pattern file is more in the size range of the update file provided by VCOM. I'm still working on resolving my Avast! antivirus problems but it's nice to know I have an alternative when their support for Win9x/ME runs out (or earlier if I can't resolve the problems).

Dave-H, Which pattern file update do you use to update your version of Trend Micro PC-cillin? I took a look at Trend Micro's pattern updates and they list about 2 dozen different files. I suspect the Consumer OPR pattern file is the correct one to use for the version of PC-cillin included in Fix-It Utilities but I'm not sure.

I didn't replace iecustom.dll because it didn't exist on my system. It's apparently associated with IE 7 from what I've been able to find.

Thanks again Dave-H. I forgot about Trend Micro's PC-cillin. I suddenly started having problems with Avast! recently and I've been debating what to do. Fix-It Utilities includes a version of that antivirus and I believe they're still updating the definitions. UPDATE: Well I spoke too soon. It appears that they've discontinued updating the definitions as of December 2009. Maybe there's a way to update the definitions from Trend Micro. I'll have to check into that.

Thanks Dave-H. I was wondering about that. I updated the 17 files from KB978542 (excluding iecustom.dll) and Outlook Express 6.0 seems to work fine.