LoneCrusader

vfat.vxd does not exist (as a file) on my system. Do you actually run Windows 98 - on bare metal (not in a VM)? With large SATA hard drives with win-9x controller drivers? Because it is compressed into VMM32.VXD when Windows 9x is installed. Rest assured it IS present AND required. And therefore cannot be circumvented by using another driver besides ESDI_506.PDR.

What?!? jaclaz falling for Microsoft FUD?? Maybe you should see a doctor... are you feeling OK?

Windows 95C OSR 2.5 is actually EXACTLY the same as 95B OSR 2 and 95B OSR 2.1 when installed except for a small handful of updated files dropped into the \win95 folder to be picked up and override the older version inside the .CABs during installation. No new set of CABs was built for 95C OSR 2.5. See this. So what makes OSR 2.5 different? It contains an updated VMM32.VXD that corrects memory management errors with some Pentium processors and it force-installs Internet Explorer 4.0. Other than these two points, 95C=95B. The 95C CDROM includes later versions of the USB Support supplement than the 95B CDROM, but these are stand-alone packages that must be manually installed, and they can be applied to 95B as well as 95C. So, the point of this is that all updates for OSR 2.x apply to all versions of OSR 2.x. The only update you should purposely exclude is Q179897 (VMM.VXD 4.00.1113/4.03.1216), since it is in OSR 2.5 already, and once USB Support is added it will be further updated anyway, superseding Q179897 with Q247965 (VMM.VXD 4.03.1217) if my XUSBSUPP patch is used (I highly recommend this - the original official Microsoft USB updates for 95 are a mess). Now, as for deciding which files are newer, you have to check the actual versions of the files, not just the timestamps. Timestamps are a very unreliable method for comparing files as they can easily be altered, even unintentionally. For each new file, right click on it and inspect its Properties pages. Original files should mostly be versioned 4.00.950 or 4.00.1111. Updates are usually 4.00.951 or 4.00.1112 and up, etc. No, I said that msdun12 and msdun13 (Dial-Up Networking 1.2 and 1.3) were superseded. They are superseded by dun14-95 (1.4). There should be no need to install 1.2 and 1.3 when you have 1.4. Many of the HotFixes you have included files that were later replaced again by another update containing a higher versioned file. This is why you must compare versions; it isn't ALWAYS correct for every file, but it is MOSTLY correct. OAINST installs as part of either W95Y2K, and/or DCOM95, and/or Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2 I believe.. maybe all 3. I don't remember offhand and I'm not in front of my project computer at the moment.

The better portion of those updates are listed in my first post in this thread. Out of your list, these were not listed specifically by me previously: 238453US5 249973USA5 259728usa5 265334US5 273991USA5 crlupd dcm9xCfg FrancFix Jet40SP8_9xNT mdac26sp1 msdun12 msdun13 msxml3 OAINST q240308 q329414 remideup ROOTSUPD speu VC6RedistSetup_enu vipup20 w95filup wmi9x wmp6cdcs y2kvdhcp However a good many of these are either superseded by a later update (ex. msdun12, msdun13), installs as part of another package (ex. OAINST), possibly irrelevant depending on your system configuration (ex. wmi9x, wmp6cdcs), or apply to an "external component" (ex. Jet, MDAC, MSXML); these I would put in the category of DirectX/etc, as being separate add-on packages - this makes sorting the updates much simpler. The best advice I can give you is to have a look at the list of file versions given by Petr that I linked to in my first post. Extract the updated files from each HotFix package (ex. 238453US5) using WinZip, WinRAR, etc, and compare the file version of the updated file inside to Petr's list to determine whether or not you have the last available version. If an update contains only one file that is later superseded by another update, you can safely ignore that update and use the later one. Check out MDGx's website for most of the updates I listed in my first post if you don't have them. If you have a question about a specific update, post it here and we will try to help. I did find several packages and updates that I did not have previously thanks to your list.

I never got around to compiling a list beyond what is listed already in this thread, either in my posts or in the various linked pages. I doubt that you will find a more thorough attempt at this anywhere else, because even here at MSFN Windows 95 is followed and used by only a small handful of users compared to the 98/ME crowd. If you want to provide a list of what you have it might help in figuring out what you are lacking, if anything, and may provide some information that is lacking here if I have not covered everything. When installing Firefox 2 on Windows 95 you should do as many updates as you can first, and then you have to take some careful steps when running the installer and BEFORE running Firefox. There are a couple of threads out there about this, but some of them take unnecessary steps. Here's a set of instructions I wrote down some time ago for making it work. Install Firefox 2.0.0.x on Windows 951. Update Windows 95 with Microsoft updates to the fullest extent possible.i.e. - DCOM, DX8a, DUN14-95, IE4.01 SP1, IE5.5 SP2, WINSOCK2, & others2. Run the Firefox 2.0.0.x installer, choose Custom Install, uncheck:"DOM Inspector" and "Quality Feedback Agent"3. BEFORE RUNNING FIREFOX - Go to Start > Find > Files or Folders - search for"nsSearchService.js" and "nsSafebrowsingApplication.js"Delete both of these files.4. Run Firefox, it will ask to import settings from Internet Explorer, choose"Don't Import Anything"5. Install Addons and Plugins as usual.Once you have done this see this thread for Flash issues. I can't help you here; if your video card cannot produce higher resolutions then there's no way around it unless you replace the card. There's an outside chance a program such as PowerStrip might help you, but I have no experience with it.

Sounds like a good point to use the Reset button if you have changed your mind about powering off. (However pre-fab computer manufacturers have this nasty annoying habit of not providing such a button. Moral of the story - always build your own computers and avoid prefab junk... lol )

Try an older version of the ATI drivers as suggested by submix8c. If you cannot find one that works, I believe I have a compatible one that I can upload somewhere for you when I get a chance. See this for USB support.

Unfortunately there is no Auto-Patcher for 95 as submix8c pointed out. There are several projects here pertaining to 95 though, as linked and otherwise. You should be aware though that not all of those projects are compatible with each other, so mixing them all together is not advised. For example using the Unofficial Service Pack in conjunction with FIX95CPU or XUSBSUPP can create a potentially unstable or unbootable system.

This is simply not true. Microsoft FUD compounded and repeated by other sites whose authors apparently never bothered to learn any better. I've been using 95B/C on 40GB and larger disks for many years now without any issues. Of course the 128GB/48Bit LBA limit applies, but there is no such thing as a 32GB limit.

Paint Shop Pro 6.02 is nice... but it's up to you as to what you prefer and need. Really depends on what you want to do with it...

This is a possibility that should not be quickly dismissed though. If the driver farfigs11 mentions only lacks one WDM function under 98SE, then there is a chance that it could be made to load with WDMSTUB or a more advanced approach such as rloew's WDMEX. The real question is what other dependencies might that specific file have, and is it deeply intertwined with some other part of the Windows driver package that requires NT; or, will it "just work" as a substitute for the 9x file when placed with the rest of the last driver package for 9x provided the missing function is satisfied. Since the thread is still going, I thought I would add a bit more information on this for the record. I downloaded and examined the file referenced by farfigs11. I have no means of testing it, but I assume the missing function he is referring to is NdisMQueryAdapterInstanceName. Everything else seems to be satisfied; although still no guarantee it would work under 9x, even if this was stubbed or satisfied.

No. That's the beauty of the RAM Limitation Patch - no more such fiddling is required. You install it and go on about using your system. I would do away with any such entries once the patch is in use.

Microsoft issued basic USB Controller driver support for 95 OSR2. The package also included some files for using USB cameras, but no other USB devices were supported by Microsoft at that time. There were a handful of USB devices that did work with Windows 95, but each had to provide their own driver stack rather than having a generic stack built into the OS (such as USB storage, USB-HID, USB printers/scanners) as began with 2K/ME/XP. Specific USB devices that do work with 95 and had their own drivers are extremely scarce; most manufacturers couldn't be bothered to create WDM drivers for 95 since 98's WDM capability was so much more advanced. So, in all reality, unless you already had a specific USB device with a driver designed for use with 95 you gained nothing from the Microsoft USBSUPP package. The XUSBSUPP package rloew and I put together combines the Microsoft USBSUPP update (and all of the later HotFixes that were issued to fix broken things in it) with a generic USB Storage driver stack, a safe unplug/eject utility, and a special driver to reset USB2 controllers into USB1 mode so they can be used under 95. This is virtually the extent of USB device capability under 95 without the specialized hybrid setups I mentioned before. Side note - in order to be able to use a Scroll Wheel under 95 you must install IntelliPoint 3.1, 3.2, or 4.0, or a third-party mouse driver that supports the wheel. I recommend IntelliPoint 3.2 as 4.0 doesn't seem to add anything new for 95 and has silly requirements such as IE5 being installed, and, it calls home for updates without asking permission.

Hello again! Glad to hear everything is still working! As rloew has already pointed out, there are no existing USB-HID (Mice\Keyboards\Joysticks) drivers that work under Windows 95. We have been able to graft Windows 98 NTKERN + the Windows ME USB Stack + Windows 98SE USB-HID stack onto a Windows 95 system. USB2 drivers can be loaded as well but may suffer issues depending on the hardware. This of course requires several specialized files designed by rloew and some patches to NTKERN, along with a file from a Beta version of Windows 98. It won't help with your USB Mouse, but a replacement package is now available that replaces all of the Microsoft USBSUPP packages and also replaces USBSTR95. The provided USB Storage driver is much more robust and handles basically every USB Storage type of device that could be obtained for testing. HDDs, optical drives (including Blu-Ray), ZIP drives, flash drives, flash card readers, FDDs, etc etc. Even U3 devices. It is as close to NUSB as you can get for 95 now, unless you have the hybrid system rloew and I have described.

You can disable the login box when using Client for Microsoft Networks by deleting the "PrimaryProvider" key under HKLM\Network in the Registry. I'm not in front of my 98SE machine at the moment so the path may be slightly different, it's been a while since I looked at that specific issue.

I didn't mean that Dave-H should deviate from the DOS avenue; this has many possibilities in and of itself that may be more extensible to a wider variety of hardware. I just didn't want to see the other avenue so quickly dismissed since it may enable the use of the Windows drivers.

This is a possibility that should not be quickly dismissed though. If the driver farfigs11 mentions only lacks one WDM function under 98SE, then there is a chance that it could be made to load with WDMSTUB or a more advanced approach such as rloew's WDMEX. The real question is what other dependencies might that specific file have, and is it deeply intertwined with some other part of the Windows driver package that requires NT; or, will it "just work" as a substitute for the 9x file when placed with the rest of the last driver package for 9x provided the missing function is satisfied.

Check the jumper setting on the HDD. If it is the only drive on the cable just remove the jumper, as this can cause a delay during POST and possibly other delays later.

I have seen issues before when trying to run 98SE on a "prefab" (i.e. Compaq, Dell, HP) system that originally came from the manufacturer with XP installed. I have no explanation for the issues, other than maybe the PC manufacturers make small tweaks to the systems that make them unstable under 9x. These issues can manifest themselves even when all of the necessary drivers can be found for the hardware. A couple of examples; a friend of mine had a similar Compaq that I never was able to get 98SE to run stably on, and I once tried to set up 98SE on a Dell Dimension 2400 that had an Intel 865 Chipset motherboard (a chipset fully supported for 98SE and one that works perfectly under most circumstances) that never seemed to run smoothly. The best thing you can do is choose a motherboard that has 9x drivers and build a system from scratch; but I know in some cases this is not possible... Good luck...

No to mention the fact that a VM seems to be involved somehow...

Glad to hear you got everything working!

The various RAM tweaks for using more than 512MB never worked for me, so I'm surprised you got as far as you have with 2GB, congrats. Installing NUSB should take care of the USB issue (a USB2 controller driver is lacking in Windows 98, NUSB provides one along with a Mass Storage Driver). Did you install the TCP/IP protocol when you set up 98? Do you have the LAN card set to Obtain an IP address automatically? (assuming you are using DHCP) Also be sure to check an see if IE is in "Work Offline" mode,if so, turn it off. Anything else, we will probably need more detailed specs for your machine.

Try setting up your system without the Unofficial Service Pack and see if the problems still exist. Unless you have a hardware problem, I'll wager it is the source of your issues.

Mass Storage Controller driver stacks and USB2.0 driver stacks are two completely different entities. NUSB provides both for 98 simply because 98 lacks both and it made sense to bundle the USB updates. USB2 drivers were produced for 98. None were ever produced for 95, and the 98 versions will not work under 95. There is no solution to this unless a method to substantially update or expand NTKERN under 95 can be achieved.

What does the BSOD say specifically? USB Keyboards, Mice, Joysticks, and no doubt many other devices are not supported under 95, PERIOD. Just because it works under 98 or ME does not mean it will work under 95. In fact you can safely assume that NO WDM driver designed for Windows 98 or later will work under 95. This includes the HID driver stack. If you really want something to test and occupy your time, download the Windows NT4 DDK and extract the contents of the \win9x\usb\ddk\hid\bin folder. This HID driver stack was designed for Windows 95. That should keep you busy for a while. If you can get it to work, please let us know.