MDGx

The Start button logo is an icon inside %windir%\SYSTEM\USER.EXE .Open USER.EXE [backed up copy] in Exescope [shareware]: http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA003525/emysoft.htm#6 and replace the icons you want from the icon group 105. Those icons must [usually] be of same size and number of colors: 1: 32x32 16 colors 2: 10x10 16 colors 3: 14x14 16 colors 4: 12x12 16 colors 5: 16x16 16 colors 6: 22x22 16 colors Create/edit icons [iCO format] in: - Muangelo [shareware]: http://www.microangelo.us/ - IconEdit32 [538 KB, freeware]: http://gwdu05.gwdg.de/samba/windows/html/iedit32.zip - Free Icon Studio [2.57 MB, freeware]: http://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/win95/...eiconstudio.exe HTH

Hmmm. Strange...I just accessed the original Tclock site: http://homepage1.nifty.com/kazubon/tclock/ and worked ok. Edit: But the links to files don't work. Bummer. See this post for updates: http://www.msfn.org/board/?s=&showtopi...st&p=577934 HTH

the_guy:Probably SED detection problem with IE 6.0 SP1 system files. Example from my SED file: HTH

If I may intrude... I found these links about correct use of the apostrophe punctuation mark/symbol in languages using the Latin alphabet [']: http://www.dace.co.uk/apostrophe.htm http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxwheret.html http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_apost.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostrophe Have fun.

http://www.mdgx.com/newtip16.htm#RSB

Thanks for your feedback.Unfortunately I have not envisioned tweaking 98SE2ME to regional settings. I've designed it only for English editions with no regional specific fonts. But you have a good point. Could you please list here all Romanian specific font names found in your %windir%\FONTS folder? Also, if you can post here the registry values for Romanian codepage/keyboard/fonts settings would be helpful. Thanks for your time. That way I'll have something to work with, and I'm going to try to find a fix. But if nothing works, I'll just backup all fonts from %windir%\FONTS into something like %windir%\FONTS.9ME whenever one installs 98SE2ME options 1 or 2, so they can restore them afterwards if necessary. Mult noroc

UPDATED · 10-24-2006 Updates: - Windows ME SP1 2.02 Beta 7. - IE6UPD Alpha 2. - RUNHELP.CAB + HTMLHELP.HTM expired certificate Fix. - OLD IE 5.5 SP2 VGX.DLL Fix: Q279177.EXE - Unofficial Jet 4.0 SP8 Fix: Q918144.EXE - All fixes below redone with install prompts: OE911567.EXE Q911567.EXE IE905495.EXE IE834707.EXE IE905915.EXE IE883939.EXE

Anonymous author of various 98/ME fixes [u891711, Q918547, SHELL98 ETC] sent his thoughts about the 98/98SE Explorer/OS lockups when deleting large files/folders using IE 6.0 SP1 browse*.dll files: HTH

Quoted from READ1ST.TXT [the "98SE2ME.PIF COMPLETE GUIDE" section]:READ1ST.TXT 98SE2ME options 1 + 2 add the "MaxFileCache=393216" setting in %windir%\SYSTEM.INI for the safety of all 98SE OSes, because 98SE systems with over 384 MB of RAM may not restart properly or may lockup if this setting is not present in SYSTEM.INI.But you can change "MaxFileCache=" to whatever you want. "MaxFileCache=524288" = is maximum supported by 98SE OS in order to boot properly with large amounts of RAM. More info: THPC: Vcache Settings for Windows 95/98/ME: http://www.thpc.info/ram/vcache.html MSKB: 32-Bit File Access Maximum Cache Size: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=108079 MSKB: Out of Memory Error Messages with Large Amounts of RAM Installed: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=253912 MSKB: Windows 95 May Fail to Boot Due to I/O Subsystem Failure: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=225497 HTH

I would like this problem fixed also please.Thank you very much also i have a big network and the hand is missing under shared folders another problem i would like to see fixed.Thanks again for a healthy Win98SE system. 1. To get back your 98 SE style dialog boxes:After installing 98SE2ME options 1 or 2 you need to replace %windir%\SYSTEM\SHELL.DLL with the original one found as SHELL.NEW [rename it as SHELL.DLL] on Win98SE setup CD-ROM [CABs] inside WIN98_51.CAB [example using D as drive letter for your CD/DVD drive, change as necessary]: EXTRACT/Y D:\WIN98\WIN98_51.CAB /L C:\TEMP SHELL.NEW REN C:\TEMP\SHELL.NEW SHELL.DLL Then exit Windows or reboot to native MS-DOS and replace %winbootdir%\SYSTEM\SHELL.DLL with the one in C:\TEMP . Type WIN and press Enter to get back to Windows UI or reboot normal. Done. Or you can use a DOS batch file to do all this [example]: 2. The "missing hand" under shared folders issue: I don't have a network [except my connection to the internet], and I have deleted all remote shared folders a long time ago. Therefore I can't test this in my environment. But if/when I have the time to restore a "virgin"/"from scratch" Win98SE setup, I'll try to research this. And if I find the culprit for the "missing hand", I'll post it here. HTH

Linked here: http://www.mdgx.com/ietoy.htm#UPD Posted here: * Unofficial Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 Updater (IE6UPD) Alpha 2 for Windows 98/98 SP1/98 SE/NT4 SP6a/ME installs all current MS IE 6.0 SP1 updates + security fixes: http://www.msfn.org/board/?showtopic=82003 IE6UPD.EXE [7.81 MB, English, free]: http://www.mdgx.com/spx/IE6UPD.EXE

Linked here: http://www.mdgx.com/web.htm#MEU Posted here: * Unofficial Windows ME Service Pack 1 (SP1) v2.02 Beta 7: http://www.msfn.org/board/?showtopic=61407 ME SP1 [19.1 MB, English, free]: http://www.mdgx.com/spx/MESP202B7.EXE

soporific: Just a suggestion: At your Add-Ons section you point to my Win98/98SP1/98SE page: http://www.mdgx.com/newtip98.htm But the add-ons are classified at my web site as follows: - System Add-Ons: http://www.mdgx.com/add.htm - DirectX 8/9 Updates + Tools: http://www.mdgx.com/dx.htm - IE 4/5/6/7 Updates + Fixes: http://www.mdgx.com/ietoy.htm - WMP 6/7/8/9/10/11 Updates + Fixes: http://www.mdgx.com/wmp.htm - Drivers + Tools [3rd party, non-M$]: http://www.mdgx.com/drv.htm Also, each component/update has it's own link, for example: MDAC: http://www.mdgx.com/add.htm#DAC .NET: http://www.mdgx.com/add.htm#NFR Java: http://www.mdgx.com/add.htm#JAVA M$ JVM: http://www.mdgx.com/add.htm#JVM ... etc. These links can be found under the respective web page contents at these locations: http://www.mdgx.com/add.htm#ADD http://www.mdgx.com/dx.htm#MDX http://www.mdgx.com/ietoy.htm#BRO http://www.mdgx.com/wmp.htm#WMP http://www.mdgx.com/drv.htm#MOU http://www.mdgx.com/drv.htm#CDR http://www.mdgx.com/drv.htm#DRV http://www.mdgx.com/drv.htm#MOD Could you please point to these URLs for specific updates and/or to the main web page URLs for updates categories? Thanks. Keep up the good work.

Web Folders update [official] is available:http://www.mdgx.com/add.htm#WFL Q840315 is superceeded by HTML Help Q922616 + Q896358 cumulative update [unofficial]: http://www.mdgx.com/add.htm#HHU respectively: http://www.mdgx.com/files/HHUPD.EXE But Q896358 [official] is available separately: http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownlo...f0c368525bc.EXE Q835732 update is part of a larger [cumulative] update [unofficial]: * Unofficial Windows 95/98 CRYPT32.DLL 5.131.1880.14, CRYPTDLG.DLL 5.0.1558.6072, CRYPTUI.DLL 5.131.1878.14, ENHSIG.DLL 5.0.1877.8, MSASN1.DLL 5.0.2195.6905, MSCAT32.DLL 5.131.1880.14, MSSIP32.DLL 5.131.1878.13, RSAENH.DLL 5.0.1877.8, SCHANNEL.DLL 5.00.1880.14, SOFTPUB.DLL 5.131.1880.14, WINTRUST.DLL 5.131.1880.14 + XENROLL.DLL 5.131.3659.0 128-bit SSL Encryption Security Vulnerability Fixes: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/...n/ms04-011.mspx Direct download [664 KB, English]: http://www.mdgx.com/files/CRYPT9X.EXE More info: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/...n/ms02-050.mspx More info: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/...n/ms02-048.mspx Requires MS IE 5.xx or newer already installed: http://www.mdgx.com/toy.htm#IEX Q229670 is superceeded by Q918547 update [unofficial]: * Windows 98/98 SE Graphics Rendering Engine (GRE) Windows MetaFile (WMF) Security Vulnerability Fixes (English): http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/...n/ms06-026.mspx Q918547: Unofficial Windows 98 SE GDI32.DLL + GDI.EXE 4.10.2227 Fix: http://www.mdgx.com/files/918547.TXT Direct download [329 KB]: http://www.mdgx.com/files/Q918547.EXE HTH

Win95B/95C OSR2.x IO.SYS patches are official from M$ in all available languages: * Microsoft Windows 95B OSR 2.0/2.1 International (other than U.S. English) Memory Leak IO.SYS Patches: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=170456 See also this guide if you want to do this by hand using DEBUG: http://www.mdgx.com/osr2.htm#IOFIX There is also another official M$ IO.SYS patch here [English language only] which seems to be newer [look at date/time stamps]: * Microsoft Windows 95/OSR1/OSR2 Hardware Profile Errors IO.SYS Fix: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=185301 Direct download [296 KB, English]: http://www.mdgx.com/files/IOSYSUPD.EXE HTH

I have created + maintain only 98SE2ME from your list of "98 modifications" above.Therefore I can only speak about 98SE2ME. For all others please contact their authors/maintainers. As far as I'm aware 98SE2ME does not influence/change the way scandisk or scandskw perform/behave/etc. 98SE2ME only replaces older scandisk.exe + scandskw.exe files from your 98SE with the newer WinME counterparts, and only if your 98SE versions of these files are already present in the default directories [%windir% = usually C:\WINDOWS] at 98SE2ME install time: %windir%\COMMAND\SCANDISK.EXE or %windir%\SCANDISK.EXE %windir%\SCANDSKW.EXE So far I've never heard of any such incompatibilities/bugs/errors related to 98SE2ME. But if you have changed/edited/deleted/renamed scandisk.ini, or if you are running either scandisk [from native MS-DOS] or scandskw [from within Windows] with any command line parameters other than default, then scandisk and/or scandskw will behave differently. In Win98SE the C:\MSDOS.SYS [and C:\WINBOOT.INI if any] "AutoScan=" setting dictates how scandisk [native MS-DOS mode] behaves at boot time in case of disk errors. Scandskw [Windows mode] behavior can be modified by making changes to your registry. Please see the scandisk + scandskw guides linked in my previous post above for details. BTW: Scandisk.exe boot time behavior can also be changed by "hexing" %windir%\WIN.COM which contains this string: SCANDISK /SIMPLEUI /CUSTOM Norton Utilities/SystemWorks can rename/disable scandisk.exe and replace it with its own ndd.exe native MS-DOS tool. So does Helix/NAI (McAfee) Nuts & Bolts = dmdos.exe . If you install Windows ME, scandisk.exe from Win98SE is disabled/deleted/renamed. This is because WinME uses only Windows mode scandskw.exe. Hope this helps.

All these CAB + INF files are identical in 98 (FE), 98 SE + ME.The RUNHELP.CAB I created can be used with all Windows 98 + ME editions. No need to create separate files for each OS. New: Now RUNHELP.CAB + HTMLHELP.HTM are replaced automatically with fixed versions in 98 (FE)/98 SP1/98 SE/ME by running RUNHELP.EXE [62 KB, English]: http://www.mdgx.com/files/RUNHELP.EXE Enjoy.

Correct link for Q236926 is: http://download.microsoft.com/download/win.../236926USA8.EXE The 1 you have is only for Win95/95a/95B/95C: http://download.microsoft.com/download/win.../236926usa5.exe Also, MS99-038 [Q238453]: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/...n/ms99-038.mspx http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownlo...92055011d7c.exe is superceeded by Q269388 which installs newer files: * Microsoft Windows 98/98 SE HP Omnibook Portable Computer Docking Error VIP.386 (4.10.2003 for Win98/98 SP1 + 4.10.2227 for Win98 SE) Fix: http://www.martini-man.com/pub/HPOmnibook/...9388/README.TXT Direct download [189 KB, English]: http://www.martini-man.com/pub/HPOmnibook/.../269388USA8.EXE HTH

I'm going to answer by quoting my previous post, which answers your question: HTH BTW: This is a 98SE2ME related issue. If you have any other questions about or related to 98SE2ME, please post them in the dedicated 98SE2ME forum: http://www.msfn.org/board/?showtopic=46349 Thanks.

This works, because it downgrades the LFN to a supported SFN [tilde + 1, tilde + 2 etc...].But the orignal LFN will be lost. So it's back to square 1. ;-( M$ Windows all editions/builds cannot use LFN for install folder name. This is because the OS loader has to recognize and use the install folder before the LFN component has a chance to load. This is valid even for NTx OSes, because they too load on top of a stripped-down boot loader, without LFN support. LFN support component must load later in the sequence.

P4 is faster than AMD only if you buy a Core 2 [EX is the fastest, Duo is slower] CPU.Almost all older P4 editions [except maybe Extreme Gamers editions] are slower than similar generation AMD CPUs. OEM CPU = provides only 30 days of factory [intel or AMD] warranty and in some cases does not have a heat sink. Otherwise called "white box" CPU. Retail CPU [Non-OEM] = full 1-2 years [or whatever manufacturer provides] factory warranty. Always comes with all accessories, including a [usually primitive, not recommended for overclocking] heat sink. OEM and retail also apply to hard disks, video cards, modems. In the software [M$] world: OEM OS = installs only on a "virgin" hard disk, only as full "from-scratch" install. Sells only bundled with at least 1 hardware component [can be a $1 power cable, depending on the respective vendor]. Full OS = installs either as stand alone or upgrade [if previous OS detected] Upgrade OS = installs only as upgrade [if previous OS detected] If you need a cheap OS: search ebay. But make sure the OS is genuine from M$ = must have either COA certificate and/or security hologram. NVidia = known for better 3D video speed. ATI [now AMD] = known for better 3D video quality. Check other/dedicated forums/websites for reports on how well video drivers perform in 9x OS environment, and how well they support games and 3D/multimedia/DVD apps. Also, check web sites which post comparison benchmarks and reviews on various video controllers. Only after that make an educated decision. You should decide which GPU you want, for which purposes you want your new computer, like playing games, DVDs, 3D rendering, database/programming compiling or any other GPU/CPU demanding tasks = you do want the fastest [and best quality] available computer components you can find on the internet. If you are going to use your new PC just for handling email and Office documents/spreadsheets = an older, slower PC does the job. Keep also in mind *upgradeability* [very important keyword], for example get a mobo with at least 4-5 PCI slots, and lastest CPU socket for future upgrades, and a case with plenty of room for larger [overclockable] CPU heat sink + cooling fan, even for a future water cooling device, if you wish, and with enough room for 3-4 internal hard drives, 2-3 internal CD-R(W)/DVD-R(W)/Blu Ray/HD-DVD drives. The mobo should have at least 3-4 USB [2.0 if possible] ports, and eventually FireWire [if you plan on using it]. Keep also in mind that Win9x/ME OSes do not support [as far as I know] PCIX video controllers. Win9x also doesn't provide processor support for P4 CPUs. Intel does, but most of their driver installers [PCIX, SATA, RAID etc] are only for NTx OSes [2000/XP/2003/Vista]. There are a lot of good posts in these forums about which chipsets, CPUs, GPUs, disks, standards etc are supported by 9x Oses. For example: 9x does support AGP video port. 9x does support USB with NUSB installed. 9x does support FireWire with vendor specific drivers. Think also about a powerful enough PSU [Power Supply Unit], to accomodate all components [present + future]. Start looking for a good *quality* [also an important keyword] PSU of at least 500 W or better. Make sure they have at least 1 fan, and preferably with modular [can be disconnected at will] connectors, so you can use only the power cables you need, without cluttering your case with unneeded cables hanging around, which would only impair cooling by blocking the air flow. Make sure you get at least 2-4 good quality ball bearing case fans [usually 80mm], preferably with variable speed. Example: screw in 2 fans in front of the case to blow inward and 2 in the back of the case to blow outward. If you care about overclocking/cooling, see some dedicated web sites: http://www.mdgx.com/pc.htm A good quality web based vendor for highly rated PC components is NewEgg: http://www.newegg.com/ Always shop around using price search + comparison engines: http://www.mdgx.com/bench.htm#PRIC for best prices for each component. Always purchase with a major credit card and only from trusted vendors, so you can get your money back [by calling your credit card company to void a transaction] in case a vendor doesn't honor the money-back guarantee policy, etc. Try to stay away from new/unrated/dubious internet vendors or from local stores/retailers. Local retailers always charge state tax [in the USA anyway], which can be avoided if you purchase from the internet. Also, large retailers who also have at least 1 store in your state [if you live in the USA], will charge you state tax, even if you purchase from them only from their internet web sites. This includes: Circuit City, CompUSA, BestBuy, Office Depot, Costco, Walmart. Of course, most web based vendors charge for shipping + handling [s/H], but you can watch for bargains/coupons/special offers/sales in order to save money. PriceWatch should be your shopping guide: http://www.pricewatch.com/ HTH

Thanks, Petr.I've updated the link: http://www.mdgx.com/ietoy.htm#XML Although, I think the only bug in V1 was that the registry keys [which set the "kill bit" for MSXML 2.6] were listed without quotes, which makes them flawed and useless, because reg key names listed in INF files that contain spaces must be listed surrounded by quotation marks. Example from V1: Same [fixed] example from V2: Notice the extra quotation marks around the reg key name in V2.Also, I think they have replaced [or maybe I have in my INF (?)] 400 with 0x400 . The unofficial fix I created already has proper registry keys in the INF: http://www.mdgx.com/files/Q924191.EXE

soporific: Great job. Keep it up. Although I have a few comments, if you don't mind. I'm guessing that you created this patch so users can install older versions of Kernel32.dll at will, in order to [probably] experiment which version works better on their computers? I'm asking this because these 2 installers do the same: - COPY2GB.EXE: http://www.mdgx.com/files/COPY2GB.EXE - C2GBME.EXE: http://www.mdgx.com/files/C2GBME.EXE They also: - check for file version - install no matter where Windows OS is installed: any folder/drive/partition - add uninstall item in Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs, which allows to install and uninstall as many times over, as many times as 1 wants. What these 2 installers don't do [and I don't approve of any M$ patch installer doing so]: they don't install older kernel32.dll builds [4.10.2222, 4.10.2224, 4.10.2225 etc]. Why I don't approve of installing any older system files: because [as I said before in this forum] older system files have bugs/flaws, and should be always and as soon as possible replaced with newest files [which patch those bugs/flaws] whenever available. Older system files contain unpatched bugs, and if they are used to patch only 1 or a few bugs without patching all previous bugs, they defeat the purpose of completely and correctly patching a buggy OS. Only newest files contain all up-to-date patches, and they are the only ones that should be used to patch any other bugs/flaws that may be discovered after the last patched version was created. Otherwise the OS will be exposed to all security flaws, vulnerabilities, bugs, lockups, errors, IPFs, buffer overflows etc..., or whatever other problems have been fixed in newer/current versions. COPY2GB.EXE installs the latest version of kernel32.dll: - 4.10.2226 on 98 SE or [whichever OS is detected] - 4.10.2002 on 98 (FE) + 98 SP1 C2GBME.EXE does the same thing on WinME: installs kernel32.dll 4.90.3001 . Both these installers also check for Windows OS build and install only on proper OS edition. They do not install on any NTx OSes. They are built using M$ iexpress interface using SED configs + INF installers, just like all official M$ patches. This is recommended, because: - it is a UI based installer which most people are familiar with - abides by M$ patch/(hot)fix guidelines as much as possible - iexpress/SED based installers are more flexible, and provide more options [for OS/file version checks, for example] than plain DOS based BATch files. BTW: By using: VER | FIND "whatever" commands in your batch files, might return an error. This is because certain people [some actually frequent these forums quite a bit] use a 3rd party [non-M$] command shell environment, like 4DOS, NDOS etc. And if using for example 4DOS [which replaces COMMAND.COM with 4DOS.COM], the VER | FIND command won't work properly, because it has completely different errorlevel response in 4DOS. Also, if using 4DOS, COPY/Y must be replaced with COPY/Z or use: SET COPYCMD=/Z instead of: SET COPYCMD=/Y Just my 2 ¢ Hope this helps.

Nice work. Keep it up.

You may wish to run Letter Assigner [the native DOS executable] from your config.sys [which has to be on C:\ root] with a command like this: INSTALL=C:\LETASSIG\LETASSIG.EXE Most executables/TSRs/devices/memory residents that are meant to run either from autoexec.bat or from native DOS prompt can be run from within config.sys using the INSTALL / INSTALLHIGH commands. All MS-DOS 6/7/8 editions have install(high) built-in. INSTALLHIGH is only used if upper memory is present at boot time by loading an UMA/UMB memory manager [uMBPCI.SYS, EMM386.EXE, QEMM386.SYS, RM386.EXE, 386MAX.SYS etc], and if you want to load "high" [in UMA] a device/driver/TSR/memory resident program. MSCDEX, SMARTDRV, MOUSE*.*, DOSKEY etc can be loaded this way from config.sys, for example. Then you can load up your autoexec.bat from the drive/partition created/reassigned by LetAssig. This is only a suggestion, I have never used Letter Assigner. Another solution that doesn't involve LetAssig [but is only a workaround] would be to create a "fake" autoexec.bat in C:\ root, with these 2 lines: @echo off call d:\bats\autoexec.bat which in turn will run your "real" autoexec.bat from D:\BATS , or wherever else you want to place it into. Your d:\bats\autoexec.bat can also be named to anything else, if you like, but don't change its file extension. ______________________________ glaurung: Good point. M$ Windows [any edition/version, including all 3.xx, 9x + NTx based OSes] cannot install in a LFN directory. Windows install folder must abide by MS-DOS SFNs [short File Names] convention: 8.3 characters, which cannot be certain symbols, like: / \ ? > < | * " : ______________________________ IMO: Autoexec.bat and config.sys names and extensions [but not their locations] can be changed by hexing IO.SYS [which has to reside inside C:\ root] using any decent hex editor. And I believe COMMAND.COM name [extension must be COM or EXE] can be changed this way too. HTH