saturndude

I'm trying to organize my photos before backing them up. My primary master is 160 GB: 20 GB NTFS, primary partition, XP Home (SP2) lives here 20 GB EXT3, primary partition, Mandriva 2006 ~100 GB FAT32 (extended partition) for all data files except: C:\documents and settings\mike contains Thunderbird e-mail messages I only log in as Admin when necessary to install software (this is true for both OSes). XP assigned letter "D" to the DVD / CD writer upon install, since the 100 GB FAT32 partition had not been created yet. This is fine with me and I have no problem with it. When I examine E:\My Pictures (and child directories) under "My Computer", I have a great deal of trouble copying files (holding down <CTRL> and highlighting multiple files). Many times, multiple copies (and even copies of copies) are left in the source directory. This seems to be true whether I select "cut", "copy to folder" or "move to folder". It seems to happen whether I go into the "view" menu and choose to display "thumbnails", "icons", "list", "details" or whatever. I could boot into Linux and use "Kuikshow" multiple-thumbnail photo viewer (why does everything in KDE have to be so "kute" with the "klever" spelling?) $DEITY I wish they would STOP IT NOW. Anyway, I would really prefer to use Win XP's "My Computer" (which is the same as Windows Explorer, right?) to do this. It's a file manager, why can't I manage files with it? The Win XP 6-inch by 8.25-inch "Start Here" booklet ("version 2002", "for dist. only w/new PC") has even less info than the "Getting Started" booklet (for dist. w/new PC only) that Win98 shipped with. What am I doing wrong? Any help is greatly appreciated.

LeveL, I am going to bring together many things here. This might be hard for me to explain, so please bear with me. I believe the 44-byte files are placeholders or headers (for the 16-bit ADPCM found on retail music CDs) as some people have said. And I believe when you copy them to your hard drive and then burn them to a CD-R, you will have another audio CD. One question: when you copy the files to your hard drive, how much does the available free space go down? Does the free space go down by 4096 or 8192 bytes for each track (one cluster for each 44-byte track) or does it go down by 176,400 bytes [see footnote] for each second of music (some retail CDs reissued from vinyl records [maximum capacity about 40 minutes] don't fill the CD to capacity, so you might only use 350 megs on your hard drive, not 600 megs or whatever). I thought some copy protection mechanisms (SafeDisc? -- not sure) tested Windows machines and gave Windows CD-ROM players a WAV file that was hidden in a second partition (lower quality, less incentive to "steal" the music). I think this is different from "Enhanced CD", but I'm not sure. FatChucks and other sites maintain lists of copy-protected music discs and the problems people have with them. Check to see if your disc is listed. But if you see 44 bytes, I'm basically 100 percent sure it is 16-bit ADPCM (whether you see 44 bytes copied or quite a few megs copied). [footnote] 44,100 bytes * 2 bytes * 2 channels = 176,400 bytes. (we need 2 bytes to contain 16 bits, that's why they call it 16-bit audio) You asked how to remove the CDA from the registry. Is CDA associated with Windows CD Player? Personally, I'd leave it in the registry unless it was causing problems because of (a) conflicts with your preferred CD player program or (B) spyware issues (some classify Real Audio as spyware because it persistently alters preferences behind your back. If you have Real Audio, I do recommend treating it as spyware and removing it).

Thank you all, the problem is fixed now. The disc that came with the capture card (ATI 9200) only supports later versions of the capture hardware (9600, 9800). This makes ATI look like a company that does not care. I downloaded an older version of the software from their website that promised to work with my 9200 chip. The website says that the WDM drivers are a package that supports the capture chip and the various other resources where XP showed yellow question marks earlier. Installing the WDM package before the display driver prevented the yellow question marks. The tuner was never very sensitive (need BIG antenna), but I can play back tapes and convert to digital just fine, so it works pretty well for me. THANK YOU!!! REMEMBER: 1. Preserve Nature. 2. Always wear a helmet. 3. Ride safely. 4. Read owners manual carefully before riding.

THANK YOU!!! I checked the CD that came with my All-In-Wonder. There is a PDF called "notes.pdf". It says the disc has software for Radeon 9800XT, 9600XT and 9600SE. It came in the box with my 9200 but is not meant for my 9200. I looked at older versions like you said (Catalyst 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4). When the WDM install program sees my 9200, it will install an older WDM driver. The latest version of the software does not work with the 9200 chip. The notes on the web say if you install the WDM driver before the video driver, you can prevent the "unknown devices" with the yellow question marks. I will print the instructions now before I start, and I will use the same version of WDM and display driver. If I get it to work, I might reinstall XP over again if XP is bothered by installing and removing so much software this week. But I will write down what I do so I can get it to work again. I will let you know how it works. Thank you!

> Do you have DirectX 9+ installed? Oh, yes. Definitely. Putting 9.0c on the machine was about the second or third thing I did (I know a man who has had both CoolWebSearch and the ByteVerify trojan on the same box [same vuln.], so getting rid of Uncle Bill's BILT-BROKEN [tm] Java was JOB ONE). But after that, patching and DirectX. Even before installing Mozilla, Flash, Acrobat Reader and so forth. When I put XP on 20 gigs of a blank 160 GB drive, I may have used a different video driver (came with a PCI 9200 I have, also genuine made-by-ATI). I don't know whether that disc put DirectX on or not. I think I installed DirectX on before any manufacturer video drivers. The All-In-Wonder CD (untouched until yesterday, IIRC) contained DirectX 9.0A. The install routine did not install 9.0A over the top of 9.0C. It would be nice if Windows installs would use a script instead of a compiled executable. This can aid in troubleshooting in some situations (will it install older libraries over the top of newer ones?). Although I've seen the 40K script that WordPerfect 8 for Linux* uses for installation, scripts can be harder than you think. *AFAIK, WP 8/Linux is just WP 7/Windows, re-worked to run under *nix. Scripts wouldn't help me here, I still don't know what unknown resources Windows is looking for, the items with the yellow question marks. The latest video driver required DotNet 2.0, got it, no problems. Thank you for your interest. They say the mind never sleeps, and I'm not in a hurry. Take your time. Please let me know if you can think of anything! Thanks again, REMEMBER: 1. Preserve Nature. 2. Always wear a helmet. 3. Ride safely. 4. Read owners manual carefully before riding.

Hello, I have an AGP All-in-Wonder 9200. I have been running XP just fine for a year or so with an older video driver. Recently I logged in as administrator, set a restore point and then tried to get it working as a TV capture card as well. Problems happened. When I install the newer driver, I now have DirectDraw and Direct3d, needed for TV to work (ATI has a few troubleshooting tips on their website, that's how I know this.) Their toll-free number automatically hangs up on me after just 2 or 3 choices in the voice mail tree. But the newer driver leaves 6 devices in Device Manager showing yellow question marks. Four are code 28 (driver for this device not installed), two are code 1 (this device is not configured correctly). When I look at Device Manager --> Properties --> Details tab, here is some of what I saw for each device: For each of the 6 devices, we find this (so I don't have to type this 6 times): Enumerator: DISPLAY Devnode Flags: DN_HAS_PROBLEM DN_DISABLEABLE DN_NT_ENUMERATOR DN_NT_DRIVER Device Instance ID DISPLAY\NTATIVMD35\5&A81693A&2&80000007&01&00 Hardware ID: DISPLAY\NTativmd35 Compatible Ids: DISPLAY\NTativmd35 Config Flags: CONFIGFLAG_FAILEDINSTALL Device Instance Id: DISPLAY|NTATIVPD35\5&a81693A&2&8000000C&01&00 Hardware Ids: DISPLAY\NTativpd35 Compatible Ids: DISPLAY\NTativpd35 Config Flags: CONFIGFLAG_FAILEDINSTALL Device Instance Id: DISPLAY\NTATIVRA35\5&A81693A&2&80000009&01&00 Hardware Ids: DISPLAY\NTativra35 Compatible Ids: DISPLAY\NTativra35 Config Flags: CONFIGFLAG_FAILEDINSTALL Device Instance Id: DISPLAY\NTATIVRA35\5&A81693A&2&80000008&01&00 Hardware Ids: DISPLAY\NTativrv35 Compatible Ids: DISPLAY\NTativrv35 Config Flags: CONFIGFLAG_FAILEDINSTALL This device is not configured correctly. (Code 1) Device Instance Id: DISPLAY\NTATIVTU35\5&A81693A&2&80000003&01&00 Hardware Ids: DISPLAY\NTativtu35 Compatible Ids: DISPLAY\NTativtu35 Note: ConfigFlags has no data listed -- CONFIGFLAG_FAILEDINSTALL is absent! This device is not configured correctly. (Code 1) Device Instance Id: DISPLAY\NTATIVXS35\5&A81693A&2&80000005&01&00 Hardware Ids: DISPLAY\NTativxs35 Compatible Ids: DISPLAY\NTativxs35 Note: The ConfigFlags is blank for this device too! Fields like "ejection relations" (important for USB devices, no doubt) didn't seem important to list so I omitted them. I suspect the CONFIGFLAG_FAILEDINSTALL is the reason the "Add New Hardware" wizard comes up at each boot. It can be dismissed by pressing "cancel" 3 or 4 times, but the underlying problem remains. I believe the "Add New Hardware" wizard will be satisfied by finding a suitable *.inf file, but the only suitable *.inf file is the outdated video driver on the CD-ROM supplied with the capture card (no DirectDraw or Direct3d). The latest video driver (released on ati.amd.com) is only available as an *.exe file (Catalyst Software Suite, 48,952,672 bytes, version 6.11, release date 11-15-06). AFAIK, the 6 devices (with yellow question marks in Device Manager) were not listed before. Now they are listed, but I can't set them up correctly. So I guess I am making progress. Maybe the Device Instance IDs above will help, but for now, the new hardware wizard still comes up on each boot. When I set this capture card up under Win98 two years ago, I had similar difficulties ("add new hardware" doesn't like EXE, vendor doesn't like INF, probably for technical reasons). But I did eventually get it working. Also, I watched a DVD last night under XP, so I know it can work. But when I try to watch TV under XP, I get the message "The TV Player failed to initialize the video". My equipment: ABIT FV7, Athlon 2900 (TigerDirect), 1.5 GB RAM, onboard sound Toshiba/Samsung TS-H 552U CD/DVD burner ATI All-In-Wonder 9200 AGP (128 RAM I believe) (MADE BY ATI, NOT AN OEM) Primary Master = 160 GB (about 20 Gigs NTFS for XP, then about 20 Gigs for linux, then about 100 GB FAT32 for data files accessible by both OSes) I thought XP would handle difficult hardware more smoothly, but I guess any OS/software can have problems. I wait for the vendor's e-mail response, but the EXE/INF issue is a Windows one, so I thought I should ask here. Can anyone tell me a good idea to solve this? EDIT: so I guess what I am asking is: First, How can I satisfy Windows New Hardware Detection with an EXE file? (not an INF) and Second, Where do I find out more about what these devices require so I can know what Windows wants (files, registry entries and the like)? I have a little experience with Device Instance ID and CLSID and chipset revisions, but I'm hoping it won't be that hard. Thanks in advance for all your help, My 2005 stats: Miles on 2001 Saturn SL2: 4,500 Miles on 1981 Honda CM400T: 5,197 Bone marrow transplants: one Not needing to borrow my neighbor's digital camera anymore:PRICELESS (okay, $700 so far)

THANK YOU! I've worked with regedit before, but the process of changing registry keys microsoft described was a bit confusing. And because of a quirk at install time, I have two administrator accounts. Admin and Administrator. I don't know if it is possible to delete one of them. So I was not sure whether the changes made under one of them would be respected. XP can be intimidating. But I logged in as Mike and verified it works. (I can't help wondering -- if I log in as "regular user" 99 percent of the time, like I am supposed to, how many more of this kind of "surprises" am I going to find?) Thanks!

Hi all, I'm relatively new to XP (XP SP2, Sun Java, AMD 2900 from Tiger Direct, 1 GB RAM), and I'm careful about installing new software. When I go into "my computer", I can view directories as a list, icons, etc. When I click on the icons / thumbnails of .jpeg files (just got digital camera), I get a dialog that says something like "no file information was found in the registry." Because of file associations, MS Photo Editor starts up. It stands there in kind of a blank state, kind of like MS Paint before you create or open a drawing. Can I build a .reg file and merge needed info into the registry, or will photo software add the entries (Canon ZoomBrowser bundled w/camera did not)? I can delete dupes okay (recent problems w/hard drive) with the thumbnails in 'my computer', but I'd like to put the registry info in there if possible. Any ideas how/where I can get the info?

Something I learned about the Acronis Disk Director demo: If you choose the primary slave drive to "recover partitions" from, it will also search the unused space of the primary master. The partitions between 650 MB and 2 Gigs, and the one possibly up to 10 Gigs that I found earlier were on my primary master. Acronis didn't find anything on that 120 gig USB that was taken out of the enclosure and made into an IDE. Still more work to do..... saturndude

Thanks for the suggestion of R-studio. I went to their web site, they looked like more of a service-oriented company. Also I did not see this software easily (I know, 'lazy American'. I admit it). Website gave me the impression that the software would be difficult to use (I know, Linux user since July 1998, I should be used to obtuse commands and fetching documentation myself). I tried the GetDataBack. I'm not sure how many Gigs were lost, but I got 12.4 GB back. I'm satisfied. Everything I remember, including some web pages I saved (newspaper -- man cleared by DNA, etc. -- my heart goes out to those guys) was even saved! Worth the money! (backing up would have been smarter -- I will, believe me). I got an e-mail from Gibson Research. Yes, they are more geared toward platters that are going bad. I'll ask for a refund in a couple of days (website says 30). Concerning the other disk (the 160 where I over-wrote the partition table but nothing else was done to it) I have pretty good confidence in the Acronis product. If the demo shows the boundaries but won't restore unless I pay, I'll use GetDataBack. The 160 had some multimedia files (convert VHS --> digital, ATI All In Wonder 9200), where I just want a big, big partition, doesn't exactly matter what size. You might say "If the election were held today, I'd vote GET DATA BACK". If anything bad happens, I'll post again. THANKS GUYS !!! Saturndude

Okay, SpinRite 6 didn't appear to do anything. I used Linux fdisk to put one giant FAT32 partition in the table (without formatting!) so SpinRite would know where to look (whole drive, duh! I could have left a blank table in there). I suspect SpinRite is more geared toward disks with physical platters that are deteriorating magnetically. I say this because it did not rescue anything (SpinRite's level 2 rescue mode). I could re-run SpinRite with a blank partition table, but I don't think it's going to do anything. I tried putting in one giant FAT 32 partition with Mandrake 8.0 disk 1. That was the last Linux fdisk that can only knows how to write the "old school" partition table entries (one cylinder = 8,257,536). The 120 GB drive is old enough that the "old school" partition table might have been used at original set-up. No. I'm still looking at about 5165 unallocated sectors. Forgot to check whether partitions ended on cylinder boundaries with "old school" though. Sorry guys. Acronis Disk Director Demo said there were 5 or 6 possible partitions that could be recovered, some linux and some Windows, anywhere from 650 MB to 2 GB, and one possibly as large as 10 GB. So it's quite possible that both original FATs got overwritten, and maybe some files as well. Next I am leaning toward using the "GetDataBack" product. If not, I'll likely have to try Ontrack. They were expensive last time (10 years ago, $1,500, 2.5 Gig Seagate, head crash). If the GetDataBack cannot handle it, I'll do the Ontrack software, and send it in if necessary I guess. I don't like it. I really don't. I'm in-between jobs (seems like 70 percent of my life!) and I just bought a nice camera (Canon S3, no less). Don't worry. I've got a little money coming in. Perhaps I'll take several unaffected drives and burn documents, spreadsheets, photos, etc. onto DVD-Rs RIGHT NOW (K3B for Linux = just as nice as NeroLinux, IMNSHO -- I've got both). Just like my old Travan-4, backup only works if you use it. Thank you. I'll keep everybody posted. P.S. Early this morning, before I resumed work on the 120 Gig, I accidentally blew away partition table entries on a 160 Gigger. Thanks LLXX! After I fix the 120, I can do the 160. If Acronis Demo doesn't help me much, your tutorials will (they're a little overwhelming when my brain is tired from this work).

You say "fdisk /MBR"? I think I can do the same thing inside Linux. When I moved to the 2.6 kernel, Linux fdisk was able to tell me that partitions did not end on the cylinder boundaries. Because cylinders were no longer 512 * 63 * 256 = 8,257,536 bytes but suddenly they became 16065 * 512 = 8,225,280 bytes (yes, I lost data that time too). And yes, I have worked on friends' Intel boxes (THEY ARE NOT BOXEN!!!!!) with 240 heads per cylinder (a couple of P-3 1200 MHz, IIRC). Thanks for the thread. I'll surf over to the various sites on a good machine. I am really afraid that (a) some "housekeeping" info was recorded after the partition table was reset, even if I didn't think writing was done outside the partition table or (B) there was an "offset" for DOS compatibility that was not restored correctly, and part of the first FAT copy may be gone. At one point, Linux fdisk complained of approximately "5615 unallocated sectors". Also, Norton Utils 2001 Emergency Disk programs (boot from CD-ROM) said that the FAT was 13 sectors (or clusters) longer or shorter than it was "supposed" to be. I also found this this MSFN thread which should help me. I'll pay the $69 or whatever for commercial proggies if it's convenient. Honestly, I like the USB enclosure drives, but I think I'm going to write the partition tables out in hex, on paper, in case this happens again. And burn to DVD-R in case the drives go bad. I don't have to worry about file permissions, I'm the only user (98 / XP / Linux). K3b (linux) is a good burning program, I've used it before, it works. Thanks again. I've got a lot of work ahead of me.

Okay, it looks like I've hurt my system. A 120 Gig IDE drive in a USB enclosure got messed up. The drive and USB board are fine. So I took this drive out of the USB enclosure and put it in the PC (slave). I used Linux fdisk, Partition Magic 8.01, etc. to re-write the partition table (but not format any partitions). This drive used to be one giant FAT32 partition, I think most people do this when they use USB enclosures. Now, the latest information I have on this disk is: (1) When writing one giant FAT32 into partition table, the two copies of the FAT are not the same. (2) The FAT might be 12 sectors or clusters longer or shorter than the length that is recorded elsewhere (does this make sense?) Any suggestions on brute-force bulk recovery of FAT32 files and directories with long file names? I have not reformatted any partitions on this 120 GB disk, but still, I don't know if Acronis Demo or any other tool I have is going to get to the bottom of this. BTW: the cause of this? Norton Utilities 2001 decided to mess with the partition table or boot record while it was still in the USB enclosure. I forgot to uncheck the "fix errors automatically" checkbox. Any help, as always, is greatly appreciated.

I think I fixed it. On my old 20 GB "Win98/Linux/FAT32 Data Area" drive, there was a problem with the directory structure in "My Pictures". Linux did not use whatever was broken, and had no problems viewing or adding files/directories to "My Pictures" and any child directories. Windows 98 (both "My Computer" and at the comman prompt) and ZoomBrowser EX 5.6 can read things just fine now. Backing up "My Pictures" (with all child dirs), deleting, and restoring fixed me up just right. Most of the important photos were on the 160 GB drive (XP/Linux/FAT32 Docs, Spreadsheets, Pictures,etc). Thanks for all of your kind thoughts. Saturndude/Mike

I rebooted to Win98, and basically I got an error message that said "log file initialization error" on the 100 Gig FAT32 drive even before the prompt for MS Networking. Is this a message from Norton Utilities 2001's protected recycle bin, or is it something that Windows 98 "find files" was running. Windows 98 doesn't have deamons (Windows calls them services) where I can go to the Wayback Machine and look at Black Viper's pages. I'll boot into XP and see if I can re-create some directory structure that XP can see without wiping more JPEGs. After that, I guess I'll have to use Linux to back up the entire "My Pictures" directory from the 100 Gig FAT drive (could be a couple of Gigs!) to the USB drive then boot to Windows XP and restore. Any suggestions welcome, indeed!

Hello, Recently I bought a digital camera. I'm very careful installing software, and didn't want to mess up my XP drive, so I installed Canon ZoomBrowser 5.6 on my Win98 drive (removable drive "sleds" from www.startech.com let me shut down the computer, insert/remove drives, devote drives to multimedia files, different OSes, etc). I'm organizing the photos from this camera and several others I've had/borrowed for the past 5 years (it cost $$$, but I finally have my own!). Using XP SP2, I copied photos from my secure digital cards to a FAT 32 partition roughly 100 GB in size. it was convenient to use XP rather than install drivers for my USB card reader on my 98 drive. Windows XP cannot see any files in the directory "\My Pictures\corn maze\wendelfarms-10-13-06" (whether using "My Computer" or a command window). Windows 98SE cannot see the files either (whether in "My Computer" or at a command window). Linux (Mandriva 2006, 2.6.x kernel) can see the files, though. Haven't tried Picasa for Linux, but if the OS can see the files, apps should be able to as well. I could understand if the Canon software was "crippleware", if it looked at the EXIF header (camera shooting info) inside JPEGs and ignored photos made by other camera makes. But: 1. It ignores photos taken with another Canon that had the same software bundle. 2. TWO DIFFERENT Windows OSes cannot see the files. 3. Win XP displayed the files in "My Computer" long enough to copy from SD card (drive letter H, IIRC) and paste to the 100 Gig FAT32 partition. I think if I close "My Computer" and reopen it, the files will vanish. I'll try it soon. What is going on here? Since Windows or ZoomBrowser did not create any "thumbs.db" file yet (probably attrib +h, have not checked), the Windows command prompt should have at least listed the JPEGs. Should I run 98 or XP "Find Files" and search for *.jpg to get this file created? I could not post this in "Windows 98", "Windows XP", etc. because this clearly spans Win-versions and is probably FAT32-related. Hope people will see it. Should I boot Linux and copy the files to a USB external hard drive, reboot to 98 and copy the files back to the 100 Gig partition? If Linux can see my card reader, maybe do the initial transfer from SD to FAT32 partition under Linux? P.S. Thanks in advance for all your kind help and consideration. saturndude

Hi everyone, The largest file I've ever downloaded is 57 megs. Star Office 5.1. Six hours and 45 minutes with a 33.6 modem. It was broken up in 6 or 7 parts by the site offering it. You guys (and ladies) that downloaded larger files than that truly have the patience of a saint! I am impressed! REMEMBER: 1. Preserve Nature. 2. Always wear a helmet. 3. Ride safely. 4. Read owners manual carefully before riding.

Silly Me! I forgot to mention -- it is XP Home.

Thanks guys! I reinstalled XP. When I boot normally, I have: One administrator account called "admin". I'll password protect it soon. One limited account called "Mike". When I boot into safe mode, I have an administrative account called "Administrator", and I can probably see the ones I created outside of safe mode (during the initial install). I don't remember *_exactly_* what I was asked during intall, unfortunately. This is not too bad, and is probably as simple and straightforward as it gets. As for pressing <ctrl> - <alt> - <del> twice, I'll have to try it. So far I've only done a few things (SP2, activate, turn on Windows Update, CD autorun=off, Sun Java, mobo and video drivers). Much remains to be done (Office 97, alternative browser, add Eudora, Acrobat Reader, flash plugin). So far, XP is turning out to be pretty nice. And MS isn't half as evil as some say it is. Thanks for the help!!!

Hi all, The pamphlet I got with XP (it did come w/hardware, COA and license key) told me how to set up limited accounts, and not to run as Admin unless you need to (good for security). Just like I've been doing in Linux for some time now. I think I created an account ("mike") during XP setup, which apparently is an Admin account by default. In order to manage accounts, the pamphlet tells me to boot into safe mode, then choose Control Panel, and click on "user accounts" to create admin and limited accounts. Next time I reboot, I won't be in safe mode, and the accounts should appear correctly, but they don't. Accounts I create in safe mode aren't always visible when I boot normally. And when I boot normally, the account(s) I created in safe mode are not visible. I would like to have one Admin account, instead of two (one created during install and one created after, while I was in safe mode). I would also like only one set of user accounts for other family members. So when I boot into safe mode, I have one Admin account, and Windows won't let me delete it. When I boot normally, I have a different Admin account (not the same name) and cannot get rid of it. I think I also have users created in safe mode that aren't visible when booting regularly. Please don't flame me. I'm sorry if this is well-documented elsewhere. I really did try to research this myself, I just didn't find anything. How can I reduce these unwanted accounts? Do I reinstall XP and create all accounts in safe mode afterwards? Any advice?

Cartel, I may have some insight on this. I'll try to get back to you soon.

Thanks dman! Got it!

Hi all, Some time ago, I thought Microsoft had a bug-fix to artificially insert an extra 2 seconds before 98 shut down. With today's fast processors and large hard disks, info was not being written to disk before shutdown. Due to general decay, I recently reinstalled 98, then Second Edition. My new installation was corrupted almost immediately. I re-copied from a backup image (MaxBlast, Partition Magic) and disabled "fast shutdown". I would also like to re-install the 2-second delay patch, but I can't find it. Does anybody remember this patch? Is it still around? P.S. While I may have to upgrade to XP eventually, my heart will always be with 98.

Hi all, Love the site! I saw the unofficial 98 Service Pack on slashdot in the spring of 2004, I can't believe I did not look you up sooner. My favorite version of Windows is 98. Not *_just_* because that is all I know, but because it works well for me. I have a dual-boot 98/Linux system. Linux can read the VFAT file system that 98 uses, but cannot read NTFS (most later Windows versions) without add-on utilities. I can work with my resume (VFAT partition) from inside Linux. No file synchronization hassles. If I want to "try something out", I can move critical Windows files to the Linux partition and put them back easily. Win98 doesn't have a "rollback" feature like later Windows versions, but I have Norton Clean Sweep, which does the same job. A router stops unsolicited bits (Sasser?) from coming in, and Zone Alarm tells me if Windows Media Player tries to "phone home" to Redmond. Yes, USB support can be disappointing, even with 98SE, and many video cards don't have drivers for 98 anymore. And I couldn't make an AGP card work under 98 if my life depended on it. Don't say I didn't warn you. Also, "security updates" for IE have tried to force Outlook Express on me, but I used Clean Sweep to remove it. (Windows 98 is the last version where you were allowed to "just say no" to Outbreak Express, Uncle Bill G's mail program.) I have to believe 98 is simpler, more is known about it, and uses fewer "services", (daemons in the Linux/Unix world) which could represent security vulnerabilities. After raising IE security settings and switching to Mozilla and Eudora Mail, installing anti-virus, HOSTS file, router, battery back-up, tape drive, etc., I've got a good, stable foundation on which to build (Office 97, drawing programs, photo editors, typical home user stuff).