Prozactive

Thanks MDGx! I've been using version 4.10.2225 of ESDI_506.PDR without any problem for about 2 years after I ran into major data corruption problems with >137GB HDs. At the time I was not aware of the 48-bit LBA issue with those HDs. Anyway, I didn't realize an updated 4.10.2230 version was available and I guess I'll violate the old adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and give the new version a test drive.

I think you'll be pleased with AVZ. It seems very sophisticated and powerful, searching for rootkits, keyloggers, and the like. Curious you're having so many problems with Spybot. I'm running Spybot 1.6.2 on my old fairly slow RAM-limited Win98SE laptop without any problems, although it does continue to take more and more time loading as I keep its definitions updated. Right now it's up to around 5 minutes to load, which is very aggravating, but it does load without any errors or crashes. Ditto with the system scans. Thanks for the info about SuperAntiSpyware. I DL'ed it a while back and was thinking about loading it and trying it out, just to have another anti-malware tool in my arsenal. I may still do so to see if I encounter the same definitions compatibility problem you reported. I don't believe MBAM works in Win9x/ME although I have not tried it to see. They officially state it only works in Win2K/XP/Vista/7. I do use it and find it to be one of the best, most effective anti-malware tools out there. All of my Win98 systems are dual-boot, so I load MBAM and other non-Win98-compatible anti-malware programs in WinXP and scan my Win98 partition from there. Good luck and keep us posted.

I recently helped some friends with some particularly complex nasty malware rootkit infections, and one of the tools I found out about and used was AVZ (AntiViral Toolkit). It's not particularly user-friendly (developed in Russian) but it does seem very powerful and it runs in Win98. You can get it from here: http://www.z-oleg.com/avz4.zip You need to update the definitions database via its update menu or you can manually DL and install the latest definitions via this file: http://z-oleg.com/secur/avz_up/avzbase.zip The general advice for running a system scan is to use the "File" menu => "Standard scripts" and mark the "Advanced System Analysis with Malware removal mode enabled" checkbox. HTH

As discussed in another thread which I can't recall right off, you can manually implement the update by extracting and copying the following 17 files from the Win2000 IE 6.0 SP1 cumulative security update into \Windows\System. My systems are dual boot but you should be able to do it from DOS. Browseui.dll cdfview.dll Danim.dll Dxtmsft.dll Dxtrans.dll Iepeers.dll Inseng.dll Jsproxy.dll Mshtml.dll Msrating.dll Mstime.dll pngfilt.dll Shdocvw.dll Shlwapi.dll Urlmon.dll Wininet.dll Tdc.ocx

Thanks. I wasn't trying to be a smart-aleck. I was just a little confused b/c I recently loaded the updated version of MP9URP9X and I thought it updated wmp.dll to a later version. So I double-checked to make sure. I agree.. it's an aggravating job keeping your computers up-to-date and maintaining version control. Several years ago I started maintaining changelogs to help with this task but it's still a time-consuming tedious job.

The latest version of MP9URP9X from MDGx updated wmp.dll to 9.00.00.4507 (from Windows XP SP3 in KB973540). Reference: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/973540 HTH

Thanks MDGx! I knew about but failed to mention your earlier t2embed.dll EOT Font Engine updates. Thanks for updating your update so quickly. I was able to manually update t2embed.dll by extracting it from the recent Microsoft Win2000 KB972270 update and copying it into %windir%\System after renaming the existing outdated version.

I believe it's t2embed.dll, version 5.00.2195.7348

Well I don't know about everyone else, but when it happened to me it was very obvious b/c my laptop's CPU fan instantly came on and stayed on with Opera locked up and nonresponsive. I later verified the 100% CPU usage with System Monitor in Win98SE. HTH

Thank you dencorso! That's what I thought and I appreciate you clarifying it for me.

I've been following this recent technical discussion about INF files with some interest but I'm confused about a few things. I installed NUSB 3.3 a while back and it's been working great so far with every USB device. The only quirk I've noticed is that my LexarMedia JumpDrives don't get the Unplug/Eject system tray icon for some reason but they work fine. I suspect it may have something to do with remnants of the former proprietary drivers which I did uninstall before installing NUSB. Anyway, my Usbstor.inf is v.1.08 with a date/timestamp of 16-Nov-2007, 12:58:50pm. I'm confused where the v.1.09 of Usbstor.inf mentioned in several posts came from. And exactly how do I update Usbstor.inf "by hand, in true DOS"? Do you mean use the DOS copy command? Thanks for the help.

Thank you lightning slinger for the advice on disabling and removing Unite from Opera 10.10. I wasn't aware it was trying to "call home" and that apparently was the cause of the aggravating long system response delay every time after initial loading. On a separate note, I have not experienced the random pauses and freezes to the extent described by CharlotteTheHarlot and fortcollins, and I'm running Opera with an old fairly slow CPU. It does seem to occur occasionally but infrequently enough where it really isn't an annoyance. As mentioned in a previous post, I did experience the aggravating 100% CPU utilization bug in Opera 10.00 but it seems to have been fixed starting with Opera 10.01. The root cause(s) of that problem apparently were related to memory and cache management. I did report the bug to them using their reporting system.

Thank you Fredledingue! Now that you mention it, seems like I did see that a long time ago when I was surfing through the MSFN forums. I'll review it and see how it goes.

Thanks for your reply MDGx. Again, I greatly appreciate all the support you've provided to the Win9x/ME user community and all the time and work that it requires. Ah, I see about the testing issue. I guess I've always assumed (perhaps naively) that an update would properly work. When I manually update a system file I usually make a backup copy of the old file beforehand just in case something goes wrong. I would be glad to help test and/or create installers if I knew how to. I'm not sure how you would test .dll files unless you knew the program(s) that call them (?) Thanks for the info about WinXP vs. Win9x/ME versions. I suspected that was the case for most system files but I see various people replacing certain system files in these unofficial updates and usually with Win2000 versions. I'm still not sure how I got a WinXP version of GDIPLUS.DLL on my Win98SE system but from reviewing my changelogs, I suspect it may have been installed with Adobe Shockwave Player.

Hi MDGx, here is an example of the very confusing version control issue I mentioned in the MDDACU thread. This is what you posted in your latest update on 13-Nov for the GDI+ security update: However, Microsoft states in their MS09-062 security bulletin that KB958869 supersedes the KB938464 GDI+ update referenced in the MS08-052 security bulletin you cited. Therefore, the latest version of gdiplus.dll should be 5.2.6001.22319 and not 5.1.3102.5581. Curiously, the version of gdiplus.dll on my Win98SE system is 5.1.3102.2180 (from WinXP SP2) and I'm not sure how it got to be that way. References: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/954593 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/958869

Thank you MDGx! Yes I saw that you updated the main Win9x/ME update thread. And I didn't mean to sound critical. It was just an observation that it's extremely confusing and frustrating trying to sort out all of the endless Microsoft (and other) updates vs. the numerous unofficial updates from you, maximus-decim, et al. so that one can be sure that they have the latest update. If I come up with some system to help in that regard I'll be sure to post it here.

It's great to see you back, MDGx! And a big thank you for all of your time and effort supporting the Windows community.

Thanks Fredledingue. That's the specific reference by MDGx I was referring to. So Q950749 is the latest update then? I always find version control the most confusing, frustrating, and aggravating aspect of MDGx's and other updates. I'm very grateful for all their hard work but it seems like there ought to be a better way to track and maintain control of all the latest Microsoft security updates and hotfixes that they implement. EDIT: Okay, I just read your edited post. Thank you! Yes that always confuses me too - when both the latest and outdated update(s) are listed. Adding to that confusion is the overlap between MDGx's individual component updates vs. the cumulative updates provided by maximus-decim and others. Again, there must be a better way to keep track of all of these versions.

I'm confused. Isn't Q950749 the latest update? (according to maximus-decim in post #24 earlier and MDGx in post #1 of this thread.)

Just wanted to let you know that Opera 10.01 was released yesterday. So far it appears to have finally solved the aggravating 100% CPU utilization problem I was experiencing (and apparently many others too). The 10.01 changelog states "Issue of 100% CPU usage fixed by preventing and avoiding the filling up of message loop", whatever that means. Their developer blog said the problem was related to its cache configuration. Opera 10.01 download

Thanks erpdude8 and many apologies for not acknowledging this for so long! I have looked at the KB article, and as you say, it acknowledges the problem, but doesn't offer any fix. I've looked and cannot find the file for download anywhere. If it were possible for you to post it somewhere where I could grab it I'd be very grateful, as it doesn't seem to be available from MS through any normal mechanism. EDIT: Forget that, found it on the MDGx page, where I should have looked in the first place of course! LATER EDIT: Unfortunately tried it, and version 4.10.2223 still doesn't give me any processor information in the system properties tab, just like 4.10.2224. Just the memory is displayed. This may be because I am using Xeon processors. I'll stick with 4.10.2222, which at least gives a generic processor type display on my system. Same here. Updated Sysdm.cpl to version 4.10.2223 via MDGx's Q216204.exe and found that System Properties didn't give any CPU info at all. It just displayed the installed RAM, and my CPU is a Mobile Pentium III, one of the processors listed in Microsoft's KB article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/216204 I finally reverted back to 4.10.2222 using System File Checker to restore the original Sysdm.cpl from my Win98SE cab files. It took a few tries before I realized that Q216204.exe placed a backup updated copy of Sysdm.cpl in \Windows\Options\Cabs. At least the original version gave a generic CPU description as you stated.

Ahhh someone beat me to it! Still going strong, thanks to all the great people here.