LoneCrusader

Disabling HyperThreading in the BIOS is not necessary. Windows 95 Processor Limit has now been broken. and Windows 98 FE had a HotFix issued by Microsoft for this. Windows 95 512MB RAM limit is now broken by RLoew's Patch v7.0. On another note, can anyone tell me the last ATI TV Tuner card produced that was compatible with Windows 98 and/or can be made to work in 98?

Yes, it's mainly a matter of personal preference. I personally don't like to have a bunch of partitions that I am not using always displayed/assigned drive letters in the OS I am currently using. However, I agree with the point you made back during the earlier discussion about working on files from one OS from another OS. If this need arises, I just unhide the partition I need to see to do the work, and then hide it again. Having the partitions hidden from one another during a malware attack should at least prevent damage to the hidden partitions/OS's and eliminate having to restore the entire machine from scratch. It may also give you the ability to use an antivirus program from one of the non-infected partitions/OS's to work on the infected ones. No, I currently only use BootIt NG on the Multi-OS computer, because I needed it there to solve the specific logical partition hiding problem. I have retained System Commander for my other machines because of the password protection ability. Switching to BootIt NG was quite painless on that system, I just booted into the OS where System Commander was installed (1st primary, 1st hdd, Windows 95 in that case) and uninstalled it, (which gave a warning that other OS's besides the current one may be unbootable {of course!}) then checked for any leftover files or registry entries and removed them. Then I installed BootIt NG (if I remember correctly this was done by shutting down and rebooting from a boot floppy created by the BootIt NG package) to the same partition SC was in, and it simply took over where SC had been previously. Of course I had to re-set-up my Hidden partitions settings for each OS.

Look again (inside Precopy2.cab, LAYOUT.INF and "find" it). It's there... (in WIN98_54.CAB) Thanks, I don't know how I missed it. I even ran an archive search with WinRAR and it missed it somehow. Who knows. EDIT: VMM32.VXD exists there, but not VMM.VXD.

May I ask what relevance this has to the current discussion?

Thanks for the explanation, and I agree wholeheartedly that the "Wizards" included should be avoided. I suppose when I say "partition settings can be changed quickly and easily" that was directed more toward novice users, as it is "point and click" in System Commander (it may be this way in XOSL, I have not used it so I don't know.) Worth mentioning that it is point and click in BootIt NG as well. I also agree that functionality is more important than the graphical interface, however I consider a nice graphical interface to be a major plus. AFAIK the gfxmenu for GRUB4DOS is only a background splash image displayed behind a Text-Mode Menu list. I do agree as well that GRUB4DOS has many advantages in the fact that it can be used "universally" as you described. IMO, it does take some getting used to however, especially for someone who may have never used Linux or even DOS...

You're not stupid, and these are by no means stupid questions. Only recently did I discover the answers to some issues about VMM32.VXD myself. If you have plain Win98SE installed and have not installed any of the various updates that are available here or any of the packages from MDGx's, I think you can safely assume that you have VCACHE.VXD version 4.10.2222, as this is the version included in the 98SE CAB's. VMM.VXD is another matter, I was unable to find it in the 98SE CAB's, and I also noticed the other day that it is not present in one of my Win95 installs. It MAY be created based on a need for it, it may be already part of the initial VMM32.VXD "starter" file included in 98SE, otherwise it may not exist?, I do not know the answer to that one. RE-EDIT: Text restored. Still unable to find VMM.VXD in 98SE CAB's.

I'd be interested in knowing why you think this if you don't mind explaining. I would also note that I do not use any of System Commander's "Wizards" and so forth; as I noted in another thread, I use it strictly for creating/formatting partitions, and I use it as a bootloader because it allows password protecting the boot menu (I am unaware of others that do this ) and the settings for visible/hidden partitions for each OS can be changed quickly and easily if the need arises. Also I like the "look" of it, although I wish I had a "Windows Classic" skin for it, instead of the XP Lego-Look.

VMM32.VXD along with VMM.VXD and VCACHE.VXD (these two files along with other VXD's for your system are merged into VMM32.VXD {as explained by submix8c} during Windows installation) manage and control the allocation of RAM for Windows 9X systems, hence the need for providing info as to whether or not these files are "vanilla", meaning that they are the standard files from a clean install and have not been modified, or whether they have been altered or patched to change the way they handle RAM.

Yes, thank you for the explanation. I should also add a few clarifications about my own setup(s) and why I had arrived at the conclusions that I was basing my input on before. BTW, I don't create a bunch of imaged partitions to do this with unless there are circumstances where I have to do so to get things working using my method. When I set up a multiboot system, I first use the System Commander bootable CD to create a primary FAT32 partition on a blank HDD and set it Active. Second, I install Windows 98 to that partition, and 98 sees it's partition as C:\. Third, I either go ahead and install System Commander to the 98 partition and use it on reboot, or again use the System Commander CD to create a second FAT32 (or NTFS) primary partition and set it Active, and Hide the 1st (98) primary. Fourth, I install XP to this second primary partition, and XP setup does not assign a drive letter to the hidden 98 partition, therefore seeing it's own partition as C:\. I keep the system partitions hidden from one another, however, this can be changed at any time (by simply unhiding the XP partition for 98, not sure about vice-versa) should the need arise. This process is repeated for whichever OS's are to be installed. The only limitation is the 4 Primary partitions limit. I handle sharing files between different OS's by creating a shared FAT32 data partition on a second HDD, which each OS will see as D:\ using this method. I can't think of many "common" situations where one would need to do this, but I get around the 4 Primary limit by making the 4th an Extended partition, and then using the image/clone method discussed by Dan Goodell. I have only needed to use this method once, for what I call my "Multi-OS" computer. It was on this machine that I discovered System Commander's inability to hide logical partitions from one another. This machine has 24 operating systems on it, 5 versions of Windows (95C/98SE/ME/2K/XP) and 19 different Linux distros, each set up to be independent of the others (excepting the fact that the Boot Loader will be installed to MBR + 1st Primary). The problem, in summary, was that I needed to put Win2K and WinXP in the 1st and 2nd Logical partitions (respectively) on the 1st HDD, without having them dependent on another OS for their boot process. So I installed them to a primary, deleted the relevant drive letter assignments in the registry to force their re-issuance on next boot, edited the BOOT.INI's to reflect the destination partition, and imaged them, then restored them to the logicals and edited the partition table values as discussed. This worked fine for Win2K using System Commander, but not for XP. As System Commander was unable to hide the Win2K (1st logical) partition from XP, XP attempted to assign C:\ to the 2K partition on boot and froze up. I solved this by using BootIt NG, which can hide logicals. I agree this may present several issues, all possibly unique to the given system. But I can say that I was able to change from System Commander to BootIt NG with no issues whatsoever on the Multi-OS computer I described above. This may have been simplified by my insistance on keeping each OS independent of another OS for booting purposes however.

I actually hate to ask this, because I do not consider it worth arguing about, especially since no one appears to be interested in using my method. But for my own information, and to eliminate any possibility of confusion, what specifically have I stated that was incorrect (and things not done the "Microsoft way" are not de facto "incorrect"), and what are the workarounds for said issues? It is perfectly right and a consequence of both direct experience of the author AND of commonly available knowledge at the time. Technically no, because birds are heavier than air, and they were flying in 1800. Really that is what this whole discussion comes down to. Do you choose to dual/multi-boot the "Microsoft" way, or the "non-Microsoft" way. (This could also be extended to include partitioning methods.) I would choose the "non-Microsoft" way, first time, every time. However, I seem to be alone in this, at least on this forum. @mntview64 Best of luck in your endeavor.

I never claimed there was a "NEED" for copying/cloning to a logical partition. I just mentioned it as a possibility because I know it works, I have done it. I speak from my own experiences and things that I DO know. If I don't know, I state clearly that I am not certain (AFAIK), or that I may be wrong. I have tried to help the OP based on my own multibooting experience. If I have stated something incorrect without noting my degree of certainty, then please correct me. I am reminded of something you said to me before:

Give Firefox 2 a try. It is much newer than IE6, it can be customized to look almost exactly like IE6, and there is an Addon (PlainOldFavorites) that will allow you to use the IE6 style Windows\Favorites folder instead of Bookmarks. I can't give you a definite Yes or No on this, but I can't imagine that there is not a way to get it working in XP. AFAIK, XP cannot be installed to a logical partition, however, if one first installs it to a primary partition, and then copies it to a logical partition, (this is a tedious process described in the link I provided), it will run and function normally as if it were in a primary partition. Windows 98 assigns drive letters on each boot. It will only assign drive letters to partitions that it can read, the others just won't show up at all. One possible solution no one has mentioned is SysInternals NTFS for Windows 98 (if it can still be found) as it will assign a drive letter to the NTFS partition. Windows XP however sets "permanent" drive letters, and then remembers them by entering them in the registry. (Can be changed by editing/deleting the relevant registry entries, also described in my link) Neither OS will "Change" the drive letters assigned by the other OS if this is what you mean. They may assign different drive letters when they are booted, but this will not affect the other OS. You could manually edit the drive letter assignments in XP to match those of 98; or If you use a 3rd party bootloader (examples above and in my link) simply hide the 98 System partition when booting XP, and hide the XP System partition when booting 98, this way each OS sees it's own partition as C: and the other drives would not be affected, they (should) be assigned the same letters in both OS's.

I used the CALL command to call WININIT.EXE in my FIX95CPU patch script. It works...

I have yet to use any SATA devices in any of my systems, and I don't have experience with them, but if you cannot get the manufacturer drivers to work, you may want to consider RLoew's SATA drivers. They are not free, but it may fix your problem. RLoew is a member here and will probably see your post, maybe he will have some further insight. For now, here is a link to his website: R. Loew Electronics Consulting

Ok, I see your point. First, I am not implying that one partition/bootsector/OS/filesystem is more or less likely to go "berserk" as you put it. I was just giving an example of the benefits of keeping each OS's boot code and/or system partition fully independent of one another. Whether or not one system or another would fail is not the point of my suggestion. In my own setup, I use System Commander installed to my 98SE (1st Primary Partition 1st Hard Drive) to manage booting 98SE, XP, and RedHat 9. So technically, System Commander is using the MBR + 98 partition when it loads. However, when I choose one of the three operating systems, say XP, both of the other partitions (98 and RH9) are marked hidden by System Commander before passing the boot process to the chosen OS. This way XP has it's own isolated C: partition, it's own independent boot code, and does not see, alter, or invade my 98SE partition. As far as which bootloader to use, that's really a matter or personal preference combined with what features are needed by the individual user. I personally like System Commander, as it has a nice interface and allows one to password protect access to the boot menu (of course anyone who knows much about computers can get around this, I know). However System Commander does have limitations, for example, it cannot hide logical partitions from one another. Most people would not need this feature, but it is worth mentioning. The link I provided above suggests XOSL (Free) and BootIt NG (Not Free) as example bootloaders. I use BootIt NG on one of my systems, and it works well, and can hide logical partitions from one another. One possible method of making the boot process completely independent of any OS partition would be to create a small partition just to contain a bootloader, and then have the booloader hide it when passing the boot process on to a given OS, as I described above. Instructions for this were included in the documentation for System Commander, and I am confident it can be done for other bootloaders as well. This method would provide further insulation against the possible corruption/failure of any OS/partition/boot code, as only one partition/OS would be affected by said problem. And, in the event something went wrong with the boot loader, it could be repaired without having to deal with the "quirks" of any OS, or alter/repair their boot files.

As I said, I am unfamiliar with this, I just know that booting WinXP from the second drive did not work with my setup. This is not different in any way from what will happen to the 9x. I mean, if something goes wrong with your 98 partition and/or bootsector the XP will be unbootable AS WELL as your 9x. That's why do boot starting floppies exist (and yes, you can boot start NT/2K/XP/2003 and Vista :ph34r:/2008/7) from a floppy. cannie made a very specific topic, that is however full with info about dual booting: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=118623 jaclaz Obviously the 98 partition would be unbootable in that situation as well, I thought that was obvious. My point was that BOTH systems would therefore be unbootable, as WinXP would have placed it's boot files in the 98 partition. If XP was not allowed to do this, then only the 98 partition would be affected under these circumstances. Just offering a different perspective. I believe I will stick to the Dan Goodell way.

AFAIK, there is no way to set it permanently to a different User Agent using the Switcher. There may be a way to do this by altering the registry or some file, but I don't regard it as that much of a problem, as most sites don't complain, I've only had problems or nag screens on MySpace and YouTube so far. Apparently, as you pointed out, the browser version is all that matters, because this string works as well. Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win95C; en-US; rv:1.9.0.18) Gecko/2010020220 Firefox/3.0.18

You can add strings as you wish, or try using the IE ones. See the other thread for full reply.

Once the User Agent Switcher is installed and you have restarted Firefox, click Tools, then scroll down to "Default User Agent," another menu panel should appear, click "Edit User Agents," click the "New" button, choose New Folder, name it "Mozilla Firefox," then select your new folder in the list, and click "New" again, this time choose "New User Agent." A box will appear with several blanks in it, the first one is the description. I would name it "FF 3.0.14, WinXP" then the line below it is the User Agent String. Copy and paste the string I gave you or one you have chosen from the other site I referenced into this box, overwriting the one in it, which is your current one. Then click OK twice to get back to your browser. Now the new User Agent should show up under the "Tools > Default User Agent > Mozilla Firefox" menu. Click on it to set it as your current User Agent. When Firefox is closed and restarted, the User Agent will be set back to default, however, all you have to do to change it is click on the "Tools > Default User Agent > Mozilla Firefox" menu again, as any User Agents you set up and save will be retained. For anyone out there who wants to keep Win98 in the User Agent for the heck of it, I found that this String works as well: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98SE; en-US; rv:1.9.0.18) Gecko/2010020220 Firefox/3.0.18

In my experience with multibooting, (and my setup and opinions will differ from others here), I would never allow Windows XP to see the Windows 98 partition. If Windows 98 is installed in the first primary partition on the first hard drive, and then you try to install XP to the second primary partition on the first hard drive (WITHOUT HIDING THE 98 PARTITION FIRST) XP will assign its partition drive letter D, however, it will invade the 98 partition with it's boot files, (BOOT.INI, NTLDR, etc), overwriting the 98/DOS style boot sector. Then, if something goes wrong with your 98 partition and/or bootsector, your XP will be unbootable. As far as I know, 2K/XP cannot be booted from any hard drive other than the first one without the use of a boot loader that can remap the hard drives. (GRUB4DOS has this ability, but I do not use it and have very little experience with it.) I may be incorrect in this, as most of my experience is only with 9X systems, but I did try once to boot XP from the second hard drive, and it did not work. For a complete understanding of multibooting, I recommend this site Understanding Multibooting by Dan Goodell. Good luck!

I had a similar problem with MySpace a while back. There is a Firefox Addon that will solve your problem, the User Agent Switcher. You can use it to manually set what your browser will identify itself as, known as the User Agent String. I set mine to: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; ; rv:1.9.0.14) Gecko/2009082707 Firefox/3.0.14 and it does away with the nag boxes. See this site for more User Agent Strings, and my Firefox/MySpace thread for more info.

I do not think that I would be the only one to perceive certain responses in that thread as hostile. And the idea that "NDIS.VXD 4.00.1113 does not fix any version of 95" is blatantly incorrect, as my experiments and the results of others can now confirm.

I had originally thought that somehow I was the first person to discover how to fix this problem in Windows 95, because I remember searching for a solution a few years back (Old post at Annoyances.org) and was unable to find one. However, recently I discovered this thread Windows 95 unofficial patches by Petr wherein he obviously had identified the problem, along with a solution. I am amazed at some of the hostility given to his solution and some obvious misinformation in that thread.

I wish I had taken a screenshot of the error when I saw it before, now I am unable to reproduce it. Everything seems to be working fine now.. that's good of course, but I don't know what was going on before. EDIT: I can now also confirm testing of the UDF driver on Windows 95B, everything still works perfectly!

I must say it would be very nice to have such a driver, and/or be able to support >4GB files on 98. Especially for dealing with DVD .ISO's. This issue was discussed recently in my thread about flash drive problems. But as dencorso said, if RLoew cannot fix it, then it's not likely to be fixed.