Nomen

Maybe older versions work, but the current version gives me this (regardless how I set Kex properties): LIBRECAD caused an invalid page fault in module LIBSTDC++-6.DLL at 0187:6fc5483c. I'll try older versions...

My win-98se system has Office 2000 premium SR1. I recently got an error message (End Program-WMS Idle) when trying to shut down. All references to that error seem to indicate that it's related to Microsoft Office Communicator 2005. I had no idea that MS ever had a product that they called "Communicator" - seeing as that was the name of Netscape's email and usenet client going back 5+ years earlier. I don't believe that this MS-Office Communicator was part of Office 2k (I can't find it under my office 2K program group), and there is almost nothing on the internet describing MS-Office Communicator other than it was an IM client and was replaced with "Microsoft Lync". So - I'm basically asking if Office 2k had this "Communicator" component - or if there could be some other explanation as to why my system seems to be running this "WMS" thing.

There is far too much information and questions about specific apps that are being posted in scattered places within the 9X/Me forums that should be concentrated into their own sticky threads. It would be very useful for conversations about Firefox, Opera, and Flash to happen within their own sticky threads - even if (or especially if) those conversations, questions or answers involve Kex and/or Kex stubs. The stickies would include or start with what is known about any or all versions of the given app in terms of their compatibility with win-9x/me + Kex, instructions for installing the app (registry settings, kex stub entries, other tricks) links to installation files (current or old versions), etc. Just how many app-specific sticky threads are created is a matter for debate, but the list could also include Java, PDF readers, VLC, Other Browsers, Other media players.

It's not that I need a cad program to be able to print or send a job to the printer. These printers come with software to do that. What I'm looking for is a program where I can come up with the 3-D design plans for something I want to create. Once I save these plans as an appropriate type of file (usually .stl) then I can use the software that came with the printer to print that file. Most of these consumer-grade 3d printers rely on the owner either downloading cad files from sites like thingiverse or using google sketchup to create their own plans. Has anyone ever tried sketchup on win-98?

Having just acquired an Afinia 3D printer, I'm now wondering if there's any cad software that runs under win-9x (with or without Kex). Any ideas?

I've never had a 32 gb flash (thumb) drive that didn't work on my win-98 systems. I am leery of buying anything larger because of one instance of someone else's 64 gb drive that didn't work. I would like to know of other people's experiences with 64 gb thumb drives and win-98 (with maxim decim's driver). I note that the OP is asking specifically about thumb drives - not hard drives with USB interface. For the record, I'm not a believer in nor do I have any use for connecting hard drives to any computer via USB. It's a waste of time to use anything other than their native SATA interface.

Hmmm. I could have sworn I set the kex compatiblity to either 2K or XP for several different versions of K-lite before running them. I tried again, just now, and was able to work my way up through these versions: ffdshow_rev2583_20090105_clsid.exe ffdshow_rev2583_20090105_clsid.exe ffdshow_rev3176_20100102_clsid.exe ffdshow_rev3721_20110107_clsid.exe ffdshow_rev4225_20120105_clsid.exe and this time the install ran each time. So ok, I stopped at the last version (4225). At this point I have no idea if I've gone to far, or if it works or doesn't work. PS: This site is really a bear to post to for people that are really running win-98. I can only post using Opera 12. MANY other web forums I can still post to using FF2.

I've tried to install newer versions of K-lite, but the install ends quickly when it determines it's running on a win-98 system. I've tried to unpack the k-lite exe file using 7-zip, but that doesn't work. How do you get newer versions of Klite to bypass the win-98 check?

According to this: http://www.activewin.com/directx/features.shtml ============ DirectX 9 New Features There are many new and exciting features in all of the DirectX components. (...) DirectX Audio (DirectSound® & DirectMusic®) DirectSound support of 192+ kHz: The maximum frequency of sound buffers has been increased from 100 kHz to 200 kHz, where supported by the operating system (i.e., starting with Windows XP SP1). Note that this new frequency limit is not currently supported by DirectShow. =============

Ok, so I have VLC 2.0.8 installed, and it plays everything fine (including 192 khz / 24 bit audio) but I must have float32 turned off. VLC 2.1.0 and higher seem to turn float32 on by default, and this is known to produce distorted audio for some systems. So now I am trying the portable version of 2.1.1, and yes -> I can play 192 khz / 24 bit audio (including the test file) but only because I change the default Audio Output Module from "automatic" to "Waveout". The Automatic setting seems to always use DirectX (which doesn't work for me with hi-rez files). Another output option (Windows multimedia device output) also does not work. The setting for "Waveout" is to use "Microsoft Soundmapper". The other option is "C-Media Wave Device ($1, $64)" and if I select that, I get no audio, and diagnostic message is "waveout error: Waveout couldn't find appropriate channel mapping". When I had version 2.1.0 installed (it replaced older 2.0.x version) I could not play 192 khz/24-bit file no matter what options I tried. Version 2.1.1 still stutters on some 16-bit/44 khz flac files, and 2.0.8 plays the same files just fine. Here is the log output when the stutter happens: flac warning: an error in the stream caused the decoder to lose synchronization.flac warning: an error in the stream caused the decoder to lose synchronization.main warning: playback too early (-90136): down-samplingflac error: frame's data did not match the CRC in the footer.flac warning: an error in the stream caused the decoder to lose synchronization.flac warning: an error in the stream caused the decoder to lose synchronization.main warning: playback way too early (-179632): playing silencemain debug: inserting 7921 zeroesflac error: frame's data did not match the CRC in the footer.flac warning: an error in the stream caused the decoder to lose synchronization.main warning: playback too early (-91957): down-samplingflac warning: an error in the stream caused the decoder to lose synchronization.main warning: playback way too early (-184476): playing silencemain debug: inserting 8135 zeroesEdit: I have ffdshow (K-lite codec pack) installed Feb. 2010. FFdshow.ax version 1.0.5.2427.

So in terms of VLC 2.0.8 - for 24-bit/192 khz it doesn't matter if I have output module set to "Default" or "Waveout" or "DirectX", because Waveout will always be used (according to Module Tree output in message window) and I will hear silence unless Waveout device is set to Microsoft SoundMapper. Float32 for DirectX or Waveout can be on or off - it makes no difference. Properties for Win32 Waveout have 2 choices for output device (Microsoft Soundmapper / C-media Wave Device ($1,$64). I hear silence (no audio output) if I select C-Media Wave Device. If I select Microsoft Soundmapper, I can hear the music. Properties for DirectX have 2 choices for output device (primary sound driver / C-Media Wave Device). Now, when it comes to playing 16-bit, 44 khz flac files, things are different. If I force the output to use DirectX, and set float32 to ON, playback is noisy for a short time and I get blue screen errors and even if I get the desktop back, the system is unstable. I haven't tried, but I think I get the same (blue screen) if I set float32 on and set output to Waveout. My audio drivers are: - C-Media cmuda.sys (5.12.01.0042.6). - audio3d.dll + a3d.dll (Sensaura) 4.12.01.2008a - cmids3d.dll (c-media) 1.0.0.0 - cmirmdrv.exe (1.0.0.11) - cmuda.dll (5.12.1.135) - udaprop.dll (1.0.2.2) Also - Media Player Classic (6.4.8.2) and Windows Media player 9.00.00.3349 don't play the 192khz sample file.

When I was first interested in VLC 2.1.0 on Nov. 9, I downloaded the installer version (vlc-2.1.0-win32.exe) and ran it. It wanted to remove the previous version (which was either 2.0.6 or 2.0.8). I said sure, go ahead. So I now have fully installed 2.1.0, and the default for both waveout and DirectX was to turn on float32, which caused problems for audio playback (which made it really nasty-sounding noise). Even when I turned off float32, I couldn't play 192 khz audio. I then downloaded the portable (.zip) versions for several versions of VLC, such as 1.1.5, 2.0.0, 2.0.8 and 2.1.1. I ran those, and NONE OF THEM worked for 192 khz audio. I then downloaded the installer version of 2.0.8 (vlc-2.0.8-win32.exe) and ran it. It wanted to un-install the previous version (2.1.0) and I said sure - please do. I told it to delete cache and preferences during the install. I then started 2.0.8 and the default setting for float32 for waveout was on (I turned it off) and the default for directx was off. I then tried the sample 24-bit/192 khz file (the file I mentioned above) -> AND IT PLAYS. So -> VLC 2.1.0 is somehow incompatible with playing 192 khz audio files on win-98, and installing the "installable" version of 2.1.0 does something to win-98 system files that PREVENTS earlier portable versions of VLC (like 2.0.8) from playing 192 khz files. So when *installing* 2.1.0, what win-98 files (or registry entries?) does it touch / alter / replace?

I downloaded some music recently (2-channel stereo, 24-bit, 192 khz) flac files. They don't play on VLC 2.1.0 and 2.1.1 (I hear no audio during playback). During playback, VLC statistics shows the input bit rate (input, demuxed and content) all active, but the Audio statistics (decoded / played / lost) all show 0 blocks / 0 buffers. Even VLC 2.0.8 shows the same thing - no audio playback. I tried a test file that I got more than a year ago (2-channel, 24-bit, 192 khz) and it also doesn't play. The last version of VLC I had prior to updating was 2.0.6, and I know the high bit-rate files played on it, but I have to now go and find that version of VLC to be sure. Schwups - can you play any high-resolution flac files (24-bit/192 khz) with VLC? There are some available as test files here: http://www.2l.no/hires/index.html The file 2L50SACD_tr01_stereo_192kHz.flac is the smallest one (108 mb).

Does it make a difference if you turn off the float32 setting? I just downloaded this: http://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/2.1.1/win32/vlc-2.1.1-win32.zip It doesn't seem to require installation - vlc seems to run directly from the directory you unpack it from. So I ran it, and immediately checked the float32 settings and they were off. I then played a flac file (Acoustic Alchemy - Reference point) and it played fine. Bit-rate showed anywhere from 800 to over 1000 kbits/sec. I then played Yellowjackets - Live Wires (.wav file) 720 mb .wav file (I believe this is a DTS 5.1 file) with VLC reporting input bitrate of about 1400. Sounded great. But all is not well. I then played another .flac file (Pools - Steps Ahead) - with VLC showing only about 800 kbits/sec input bit-rate. It played in a sort of stuttering way - as if someone was opening and closing a switch connecting my PC to the speakers, with no noise or poping during the switching. I stopped the playback and ran VLC.exe from version 2.0.8 and played the same file - and it sounded fine. I played a few more large .flac tracks (Pat Metheny) with 2.1.1 and they seemed to play fine, but something I noticed is that there is a single stutter at the very start when playing many flac files.

Ok, I think I've solved the problem. First, I had to realize that changing settings in the advanced preferences always seems to require closing and then opening VLC for the changes to take effect. I found that the default setting for VLC 2.1.0 for Audio - Output Modules - DirectX and Waveout both enable "Use float32 output". Once I de-selected those (removed check-mark) the audio plays fine. I went back and looked at the settings for the stand-alone VLC 2.0.8 and float32 options WERE NOT CHECKED. So if someone wants to see if their win-98 system will play audio with the float32 option enabled, that would be useful to confirm if it needs to be disabled. Remember that you need to restart VLC after making these changes.

Here is the direct download link for what I think is the stand-alone (no installation required) version of VLC 2.1.0: http://mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/vlc/vlc/2.1.0/win32/vlc-2.1.0-win32.zip Or use what-ever mirror you're comfortable with. It would be useful to know what other experiences are for this version in terms of audio playback.

My current version of msvcrt.dll is 7.10.3052.4. The file is located in \windows\system and is 360,448 bytes (Apr 5/2004). I have msvcr70.dll also in \windows\system. It is version 7.00.9466.0 and is 344,064 bytes (Jan 5/2002). From DOS, I renamed msvcrt.dll to msvcrt.old and copied msvcr70.dll to msvcrt.dll and re-started windows. I made sure that vlc.exe kernelEx property was set to enabled (default) and tried again to play some music files. There was no change - audio playback was essentially noise (technically, not "white" noise or static, but strange frequency-shifted or maybe 4-bit audio instead of 16-bit?). I then downloaded the .zip version (stand-alone?) file vlc-2.1.0-win32.zip, unpacked it, then ran vlc.exe and tried to play an audio file - and again it was noise. Yesterday I downloaded vlc-2.0.8-win32.zip (again, I think this is stand-alone) and it plays audio just fine. Regarding msvcr70.dll - did I follow the instructions correctly? Do I have the right file?

A little while ago I installed VLC 2.1.0 over-top (or replaced) 2.0.6. Other than setting the install file to kernelX win-XP/sp2 compability mode, and also vlc.exe to the same, I haven't done anything else. VLC seems to run fine - except that it plays flac and mp3 files horribly - like it frequency-shifts the audio and it sounds really bad. I haven't tried to play any video with it yet. Is there anything I need to do (mess with codecs, edit a kstub file, etc) to get this to work? Edit: I've played various types of video files, and the video is fine, but the audio is horrible. PS: Is there any way to enable a "simple" text editor when creating or editing posts on msfn? I can't seem to type anything in the edit window using my default browser (Firefox version - Bon Echo) so instead I'm using Opera 12.

If you want to continue to experiment with different browsers for Win-98, you might want to try Netscape Navigator 9.0.0.6. I use that browser on websites that my default browser (Firefox 2.0.0.20) gives me problems. I don't use higher versions of Firefox because they cause thin white lines (1 pixel lines) to be drawn across bitmapped images when scrolling web pages up and down and other strange behavior with toolbar icons.

Is this the same reason why flash content on web pages show up as a big box with a > play symbol in the middle of the box and instead of playing or rendering automatically when the webpage is loaded you have to click on the > play symbol? (this is for opera 12.02). Speaking of opera (12.02), is it normal to not have browser control buttons like the back or forward button?

I can confirm that it works. I downloaded this file: http://download.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/licensing/win/install_flash_player_11_active_x.msi and set the Kex properties of the msi file to win-2k. Then ran the installer, which failed - but it put Flash32_11_8_800_175.ocx in my windows\system\macromedia\flash folder. I set the Kex properties of that file to Win-2k and then used regsvr32 from a command-line in that folder to register it. I tested it here using IE6 - http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/find-version-flash-player.html and the animation works, and it says I have flash version 11.8.800.175. I've also played some youtube videos and some online forex charts with controls that use flash, and they seem to work fine.

This 2003 thread discusses the "Mr. Enigma" key which apparently is not found on win-9x/me but is found on (Some? Many? Most?) win-XP systems. Someone claims to have found a reference to Mr.Enigma in HIVESFT.INF in the I386 folder of the XP install CD. http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r6097142-Weird-entry-in-registry A letter from Microsoft seems to confirm that the MR.Enigma key is involved with the DVD drive somehow. ========= The key has to do with the built in DVD licensing scheme of Windows XP. Hope this addresses your concerns. Sincerely ... (in a follow-up, he continues:) Regarding the detailed information of this key, what I know is that it's uses are to protect DVD data that is fairly sophomoric at this point. I have searched both in our internal database and on the Internet. I'm afraid that there is no more detailed information so far. However, as far as I know, this issue has been reported to our proper department. It has been bugged and the key does not exist in Windows .Net Server. Should you have any concerns, please feel free to drop me a note. Vincent Jiang Microsoft Online Partner Support ========= That thread has a few comments about MRANENIA, but nothing useful. The keys Mr.Enigma and MRANENIA should appear one-after-the-other in the registry, but it seems they rarely do. Seems the transition point is between ME and XP. But it is interesting that both seem to have something to do with optical drives.

In my case, XXXX is I110. Under that key, I have a single binary value, the name of which is "1 ", which is 4 bytes in length, which are (in hex) 80, 00, 80, 80.

I have the DigitalProductID value at that location. It is a binary value, A3h bytes in length. Starting at byte 24h I have this string: "730-00847". Plugging that string into google turns up many hits to Windows 98 CD's being sold by various vendors - I am not sure how that number relates to win-98 - Microsoft product ID? Stock Number? Starting at byte 8 I have this string: "07604-oem-0002302-49210" - that also happens to be the string contained in the value "ProductId". I have renamed the key in my registry to "backupMRANENIA" - I expect that is equivalent to deleting it. We'll see what happens.PS: Under HKEY_Classes_root\CLSID\ I have key (guid?) with a value called "Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool" and under that a value called "AppID" with a value that looks like a guid. If I search for that guid I find a reg sting with a value "LegitCheckControl". I recall having to run a WGA program some time ago in order to download something from MS. Edit: With the MRANENIA registry key renamed to "backupMRANENIA" and rebooting, the system starts just fine, and I seem to be able to access a data CD from my DVD/RW drive with no problems. Checking the registry, the system did not restore the MRANENIA key after rebooting - and the renamed key remains intact. I'm able to run FF2 and post this edit.

I also have it on my win-98 system. Have a look at these:http://discussions.virtualdr.com/showthread.php?39343-Weird-registry-key http://www.freedomlist.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4121 Using the built-in file-find looking for "MRANENIA" it shows up in system.dat and bbdbcade (no idea what that file is, but it's 15 mb). Manually loading IOS.vxd and CDVSD.vxd in wordpad also shows they contain "MRANENIA". Many or most questions about mranenia seem to pertain to win-98/ME and date to 2001-2004. There does not seem to be anything resembling a valid, coherent or authoritative answer to its function or reason for being in the registry. On my system, that key is a 128-byte binary value, most of which are zero. The first 5 values on my system are 20,03,41,43 and 47 (in hex). The last 83 bytes are zero.