azagahl

You use RECALL Mdgx? Do you have a bug where clicking on the Close button on a DOS Prompt window causes it not to close, but to emit a high pitched shriek instead? Because I had that bug... I ended up going with DOSKEY instead.

Does your board let you have full Ms-Dos Mode use? I mean, with good real, extended and expanded memory available (if you set it for it)? Yes, I can load HIMEM.SYS, EMM386.EXE with a complete EMS page memory, load dozens of TSR's, and then boot into Windows 98 SE. The motherboard I'm using is MSI K8T Neo Fis2R (MS-6702). Almost all my DOS TSR's are loaded high and I have like 100 K of UMB's. I load a lot of TSR's - NANSI, smartdrv, Zeno video accelerator, some fix??.com that adds support for fonts missing from most video cards, SBLive drivers, CD-ROM drivers, RAM disk, doskey, etc.. Also I use LSPPP ethernet drivers and various apps support ftping / browsing from within DOS. Even with all ROM shadowing turned off, I think my BIOS (or maybe it's my video card) eats up some memory at E000-E080 or so. It's really annoying and results in splitting a memory region but it's manageable I guess. "unable to control line A20" Never seen this message. Sorry Also I'm not using SATA. The idea of newer technology scared me and I could just put the money into bigger capacity anyway. ATA 100 seems fast enough for me. It is known that UMBPCI can't work on most AMD/VIA based mobos because ISA DMA cache area [located in UMA] is not available in native MS-DOS. You're right it doesn't work and crashes like crazy even though the creator claims my chipset is supported. The extra utilities for working around the DMA problem don't help. It sounds like UMBPCI isn't able to exploit lower UMB's anyway which is unfortunate . And I believe access to memory mapped UMB's through EMM386 can be faster. My setup also doesn't work with FreeDOS UDMA drivers. They fail randomly and can lead to hard disk corruption. I talked with the author about this but no solution was found.. Overall I'm happy. I think VIA is cheaper than intel and the VIA IDE Miniport drivers allow > 137 GB disks under 98 SE.

All I need to do is spray paint the components silver. Nahh.. leave it as a frankencomputer. It gives it more character. My floppy disk and sound cards are now both in their 3rd computers. And its an AMD 64 dualbooting Windows 98 SE / Linux with about 10 partitions ranging from FAT16 to Reiserfs filesystems. It is set up so I can also boot into DOS and browse the internet, download files etc... I spruced up my PC by spending $3 on Saturday for a keyboard with actual Windows keys..

Ive been getting theses errors copying when im installing the gfx manufacturers updates This is very disturbing. Are you sure the drivers are the right kind for your graphics card? Are you installing the drivers from an exe file? It's possible, but unlikely, that the exe files are corrupt. It might be that your CPU / motherboard / memory combination is unstable. It's also possible, but unlikely, that you have a weak power supply, heat buildup problems, or a bad hard disk. The result of such problems will be that extracting from exe files or archives, especially large ones, will fail. Games will also crash quickly. I also recommend downloading a few programs: MEMTEST86, Prime95, and super_pi.zip. MEMTEST86 writes out to a floppy which you can boot from and it checks for memory problems. With Prime95, enter Advanced password 9876, and the choose Options and set Priority 10. Then do Torture Test. If your computer lasts half an hour then your hardware is probably OK. If it detects math errors you have stability problems. Super Pi is just another stress test. Also try downloading 7-zip, IZarc, and possibly TUGZip. These programs do things such as help you open ZIP files. Try right clicking on a large zip file or executable such as DX9 installation program. You should be able to choose Extract Files. If it starts extracting but then fails partway through you have stability problems, or the archive is corrupt. Hope this helps.

I use AMD64 and I leave Cool'N'Quiet on. My CPU temp can drop down to around 38 (depending on ambient temperature), which I think is good. There are reports of some kind of reproducible crash while installing XP unless you turn CNQ on. I've never seen the bug (I use Win 98 SE), but I mostly turned CNQ on hoping it makes my PC more reliable. I strongly recommend using SpeedFan which can automatically turn down your fans when your computer gets cooler. This helps alot with the noise. Let me know if you can't get SpeedFan to work for your mobo. The 64-bit part of AMD64 is useless unless you use a 64-bit OS like an x86_64 build of Linux. slamd64 looks tempting.

I cant believe how many people are using 98se You're right, my father-in-law and I use it by choice. Most who use XP do so because it came with a new computer, not because they actually need the features in it. I recommend 98 SE to anyone who wants to avoid the bloat, activation hassles, security risks, and cost of XP. Unfortunately I also need to also use Linux to exploit my 64-bit processor fully. Unlike XP 64, 64-bit Linux has been around for a long time. I'm going to stay away from XP 64 as it seems like an afterthought and I've heard there are a lot of problems. It's another example of MS copying and not innovating.

I wanna know which will strick the market with more like a bang...will it be C++ or Java! C++. Reasons: C++ is MUCH older than Java and does not show any signs of disappearing. C++ results in much more efficient programs. For today's movie-quality computer games, performance is probably the most important factor. Microsoft decided to innovate and create an "enhanced" (i.e. incompatible) version of Java VM to disrupt the creation platform-independent Java programs. Threats to not include their VM by default (and thereby busting many Java programs) and lawsuits over that have created a lot of uncertainty over the viability of using Java. Java VM's are plagued with security problems. As a result, Java hasn't lived up to its promise, IMHO. I recommend new students learn C++ before they try to learn Java, as C++ makes you think about the messy details like object lifetime and ownership - Java lets you get away with being less attentive. I think it's important to learn the hard way first. BTW, I am vary concerned about C#. Keywords are added to C++ very sparingly. In C#, literally dozens of extra keywords are dumped into the core language. Will C# apps using .NET Framework 2.0 will be able to function with plugins designed for .NET Framework 1.0? Also C# has no multiplatform support at all. And Microsoft pumps out brand new frameworks (MFC, OLE, ActiveX, ATL, .NET, etc..) every couple of years.

You didn't post enough code, but I suspect the problem is here: void createThread( char* label) What is filling in the parameter "label"? Where does the string memory come from? You are storing the pointer in permanently in threadLabels. Make sure that memory pointed to has at least a long a lifetime as it is pointed to by threadLabels. Failure to do this could lead to bugs like you are seeing as well as crashes. Also, you had better hope that trim() does not write beyond the length of the string passed in as that could be disasterous. May I suggest including the <string> header and using std::string which automatically contains and manages each string's memory. Hope this helps.

ived tryed many host progams like adhost etc they do add host file to windows but nothing shows up in the zones? 98se By "zones", are you talking about the security zones in Internet Explorer? I doubt IE knows anything about HOSTS - the HOSTS file is used at a lower-level as part of Windows Sockets (e.g. ws2_32.dll) to provide the first used mechanism for looking up HOST names and converting them to IP addresses. The HOSTS file works automatically for any program that uses the Internet, so you shouldn't worry about stuff not showing up in the zones. If you want to check whether your HOSTS file is working properly. then from a command prompt (command or cmd on 2000/XP), type "ping hostname" and you will see the resolved address. Or, if your host is disabled with an address such as 127.0.0.1 or 0.0.0.0, then just open it in your internet browser and you will find it inaccessible.

BTW, I recently learned something about the HOSTS file - even gigantic hosts files can be installed on XP. Unfortunately, the DNS service will consume about ten times as much memory as the HOSTS file is in bytes! This can exceed 20 MB easily. Other OS's such as 98/ME/Linux do not have this problem. Also, the DNS service will consume all available CPU until it fully loads the HOSTS file. This can take a few minutes. My first tests on XP seemed really random because I did not wait long enough for the DNS service to finish loading. I tried it again recently and it does reliably blocks bad websites.

Did you want something Yikes? FYI this thread is about optimizing the HOSTS file (commonly used to block access to spyware/malware/virus/offensive/etc.. websites).

(since the surface of the sun is ~9300K). It's only 5780 K: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun So 5400K is the common choice for simulating daylight. I don't know what 6500K is for - indoor lighting? It seems 6500K is somewhat of a standard choice for computer graphics. Not sure about photography... 9300K looks far too blue.

9300K colour I didn't try that; I thought 5400K or 6500K were "standard"; wouldn't 9300 K look extremely bluish? I'll give it a try.. I think on an LCD its phony anyway because they don't actually heat anything, it's just simulated. On mine you can set R G and B factors directly.

I gave DVI-D another try and set my monitor from User color settings to 5400 K and it looks nice now. I also used Norman Koren's gamma test patterns to tune for Gamma 2.2. I can't tell if DVI-D is better than VGA - they both look spectacular on LCD.

you are not using the standard IDE controller for your disks because of some hardware you have. Yes, I use IDE Miniport dirver which supports Ultra ATA disk speed + 48-bit LBA addressing for many VIA motherboards under Win 98 SE. You might be right, VIADSK.MPD might prevent SMART from working. FYI SmartmonTools seems to work under Mandriva LE 2005 x86_64. Anyway I am not sure SMART technology is any accurate as no physical measurement is made on the drives. SmartMonTools appears to report various stats such as disk age, number of errors, etc. Some drives support temperature measurements. Example: SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16 Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds: ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE 1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x000b 200 200 051 Pre-fail Always - 0 3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0007 101 090 021 Pre-fail Always - 5700 4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 097 097 040 Old_age Always - 3014 5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 200 200 140 Pre-fail Always - 0 7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000b 100 253 051 Pre-fail Always - 0 9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 095 095 000 Old_age Always - 4231 10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0013 100 100 051 Pre-fail Always - 0 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0013 100 100 051 Pre-fail Always - 0 12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 098 098 000 Old_age Always - 2949 196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0012 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0012 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x000a 200 253 000 Old_age Always - 2 200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate 0x0009 200 200 051 Pre-fail Offline - 0 SMART Error Log Version: 1 No Errors Logged SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1 Num Test_Description Status Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error # 1 Short captive Completed without error 00% 0 - Device does not support Selective Self Tests/Logging

My NVIDIA video card has two outputs - an ordinary VGA kind and a DVI-D kind. My LCD monitor has the same kinds of inputs. However when I view DVI-D on my monitor, it looks chunky, very bright, and the number of colors is greatly reduced. Is DVI-D just intended for TV's?

Can anyone get SMARTVSD.VXD to work? It is supposed to provide SMART monitoring for hard disks. I can't get it to work with 98 SE SP 2.01 or after 98SE2ME (I didn't try unpatched Windows). I turn SMART on in my BIOS, my hard disks are supported, and I see a nice message when I boot up. But inside Win 98 SE I can't get any SMART info. I tried three different apps - SpeedFan, HDD Health and Western Digitals' DataLifeGuard diagnose. The last two apps just constantly complain that SMARTVSD.VXD not installed even though its sitting in IOSUBSYS directory. The VSD part stands for vendor specific, and I noticed that my file is 18 KB while there is also 9 KB and possibly other sizes available on the net. I tried a couple of versions and nothing worked.

New critical patches available on Windows Update (June 15, 2005): Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 (KB883939) Download size: 3.0 MB Security issues have been identified that could allow an attacker to compromise a computer running Microsoft Internet Explorer and gain control over it. You can help protect your computer by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer. Read more... Q329048: Security Update (Windows 98) Download size: 267 KB This update resolves the "Unchecked Buffer in File Decompression Functions" security vulnerability in Windows 98. Download now to help prevent a specially malformed file from causing unauthorized Sorry, I don't have the files yet... edit: I use 98 SE and the second patch applies apparently.

Maybe "As Far As I'm Aware"? AFAIK is more common, IMHO.

I have an Antec case with two front USB 2.0 slots I have that setup to. Man those tiny wires are hard to connect.

The best CPU / memory stress testing tool is Prime95, enter Advanced Password 9876 and choose Priority 10. Then choose Torture Test. Hardware problems usually cause instability though, not slowdowns. Your slowdowns might be due to viruses or spyware, so check for those. Also try defragging your disks. SiSoft Sandra can do benchmarking and it makes helpful suggestions about how to improve your configuration.

Yeah, that is the problem. in SpeedFan the SMART tab is blank. Same thing with Everest. No info. Nada.

I hope MS will consider those Modders/PC enthusiasts/etc I hope so too. It looks like things are set to get worse with Treacherous.. err "Trustworthy" Computing. MS will lose a lot of customers for playing games with its users. FYI you can avoid activiation by installing original XP and then using a volume key and then you can upgrade to SP2. However it is harder to activate XP CD w/ SP2 which is designed to check for well-known volume keys. I still think it's better to just use an OS without these hassles. Who really needs DOS support anymore? Having one operating system lie on top of another is just not smart. I see it as versatile. In DOS I can mount a compressed RAM disk on the fly from a script. Can XP do that? Personally, I like to master many different OS's. No need to put all your eggs in one basket. Also, a lot of bios utils, boot managers, and disk partitioning / imaging tools still use DOS because of its direct hardware access support. 98 does not have better hardware support Sometimes it does. XP SP2 is incompatible with an awful lot of hardware. I can't find the large list at Microsoft's website any more (did they remove it?) but there is a lot of info out there... http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/archive/forum-153-41.php http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=878478#appliesto

Why windows 98? Several reasons... Better DOS support + CPU real mode support. I can quickly boot into DOS and log on the Internet if I want, and not wait for XP to load. Also it turns off like a TV, you do not have to wait forever for XP to shutdown. Good hardware support - AGP, USB, SATA, Bluetooth devices, etc. Good software support - DX 9.0c, Remote Desktop, etc.. Less runtime bloat + less disk usage = more efficiency No communist activation schemes (important for those who change hardware frequently) Safer from viruses and hackers - no Blaster problems

CPU : AMD 3000 64+ Board : MSI Neo2 as only board to work with Win98 as its having Via Chipset Ram : 1 GB 400FSB HDD : 160GB Seagate Sata Graphics: 5200FX with 256Ram Monitor : Samsung 793s Do you mean 98 SE? Win 98 SE is a good choice (I use it along with Linux). You won't be able to exploit 64-bit capability though - try Linux x86_64 builds. Be sure to install 98 SE Unofficial SP 2.01, the 98SE2ME upgrade (requires an ME disk) which provides all of the good of ME and none of the bad, and Maximus Decimus Generic USB Drivers. Information on all of these patches is available at MSFN. With 1 GB RAM, the disk cache may grow larger than 512 MB which may cause problems in 98 SE. The Unofficial SP corrects this by limiting the max file cache size in SYSTEM.INI to 384 MB. For performance reasons you should use 256 MB or so anyway. If you have any problems booting try to reduce your RAM by setting MaxPhysPage=30000. FYI, I use MSI Neo Fis2R and did not need to do this. I had nightmares using Neo Fis2R and Kingston memory. Random corruption, random ASCII characters while booting, etc.. If you see any corruption, replace your memory with generic brand RAM. Run Prime95 to expose instability problems. I am not sure about SATA, but the following is true for PATA at least. Be careful with drives larger than 137 GB (=128 GiB) which require 48-bit LBA addressing. From DOS mode or Windows Safe mode you will have no problems as the BIOS will be used. From Windows normal mode your hard disk controller will be ESDI_506.PDR which does NOT support 48-bit addressing. The result will be that access to areas above 137 GB will wrap around and potentially cause hard disk corruption. Partitons have nothing to do with this and can't solve this. You can install VIA IDE Miniport drivers to solve this. It will be dangerous to use > 137 GB until you install VIA IDE Miniport drivers; after that your hard disk controller will use VIADSK.MPD and you should be OK. Also SCANDISK and DEFRAG (even WinME verisons) don't work with partitions larger than 137 GB. Some free software suggestions: use Ranish partiton manager (part244.exe) to partition your disk - it's great. Also use Savepart.exe (Partition Saving) for working with partition images, and XOSL or Smart Boot Manager as boot managers. I use SB Live! Value CT4830 which supports DOS mode and has an SB16 emulation device in Windows. It's great.