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Wunderbar98

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Wunderbar98 last won the day on September 30 2021

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About Wunderbar98

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    98SE

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  1. --- Dave-H wrote: If 360Chrome is sending it to China and/or Russia, they can fill their boots as far as I'm concerned. I hope they choke on it! --- A detailed telemetry analysis would be more productive. In older browsers some IP addresses may no longer connect or redirect. On topic because you made it on topic: Racist hate speech from a moderator in an international forum, wishing harm on others, for shame. Hate begets more hate, stop the cycle to create an environment where we can all co-exist peacefully. This incident has not (yet) been reported, let your conscience be your guide. My posts may drift off topic but i'm not in the business of promoting hate. In most modern workplaces, including USA, your comment would promptly trigger a security escort out the door. If your lucky, maybe paid or unpaid leave until the incident is investigated. Background, both my parents and spouse's parents come from authoritarian countries (Asia and Europe). I can assure you there are good and evil people everywhere. Most citizens, for obvious reasons, do not choose to live in an authoritarian environment. Some were fortunate enough to leave (escape) but the hate and racism continues for them regardless where they live. Off-topic: Most Asian and Russian hackers would quickly make a mockery of our abilities. Post-script: Relevant screengrabs archived as current moderators have created an environment of mistrust by deleting undesirable posts.
  2. Thanks for getting back to me @Dave-H. I enjoyed this thread and it helped me very much but i probably won't post much anymore. Seems strange to lock an on-topic thread in a slow forum. Thread lock requests, closed door discussions, arbitrary post deletion and title renames without comment or consultation. Seems underhanded but nothing surprises me anymore. If this thread doesn't meet someone's needs, it's pretty easy to ignore. It's also pretty easy for another member to start a new topic catering exactly to what they require. Sad, leaves a sour taste. To the thread lock requester, shame on you, please learn to share space and co-habitate with fellow humans. Feel free to lock the thread it doesn't matter anymore, but please have the decency to keep this post. Thank-you to all who participated here in the last few years. I learned a lot and have some very good running Windows 98 systems.
  3. Thanks for responses @NotHereToPlayGames and @Gansangriff, nice to see you again. Good to limp along old hardware, proud of you both. After many repairs my 20+ year old IBM mouse scroll lever broke, it's still a good 3-click mouse, just no scroll. Got so used to using arrow and page up/down keys, doesn't matter anymore. The 19" CRT monitor that was soldered and tuned several months ago still works like new again. An old popcorn maker switch, datestamped 1984, continues to power on my older Windows 98 tower, gets more use now than it ever did as a popcorn maker. The broken headphones that were re-wired, both channels into one ear, still work fine. Bugged me, confirmed, some Microsoft Natural Keyboards may have already been manufactured in the late 1990s. Advertised on my Windows 98 SE install CD (1999 release) but not my Windows 95 install CD (1997 release): D:\cdsample\videos\keyboard.mpg Looking forward to checking out Armagetron later. Test to work in Windows 98 SE after feature discovery in a non-Windows file manager. Right-click on Windows Explorer whitespace in a directory and select Properties. A recursive file count and directory size is automatically displayed without having to tediously 'select all' first.
  4. Hi @D.Draker. Sorry you missed my post, my PM is disabled as i don't frequent here much. First third without cheats then with cheats i finished SpellForce: Order of Dawn, it was good fun. Level 26 character, two-handed weapons, more force than spells. All SpellForce related data was purged to effectively full-return the game to you. Thanks for lending it to me and your help and patience setting up the game. Take care.
  5. --- Quote: 6 hr Dave-H changed the title to Running Windows 98 in 2020 and beyond... --- Hi @Dave-H. What is the rationale to arbitrarily remove 'vanilla' from the thread title, it's been like this since November 2019. The relevant discussion to 'vanilla' is outlined between @siria -> @bphlpt -> @Wunderbar98 -> @bphlpt. https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-windows-98-in-2020-and-beyond/page/11/#comment-1173541 There are plenty of forum posts here pertaining to tweaked systems where the software versions discussed won't run on a fresh vanilla Windows 98 install. This thread is a safe-haven for those setting up a new system that don't want or require major OS manipulation to get some software running. There's a big difference between software that will run in vanilla Windows 98 FE or SE versus swappping DLLs, Kernel Extensions, major registry hacks, etc. When i got back into Windows 98 in about 2017 it took many hours, days actually, to find out exactly which softare versions were last supported by a vanilla installation. Maybe this thread can save other, now 'retro' users, the effort. If the thread just turns into another free-for-all then it's anyone's guess what will actually run on their particular system or how many modifications are required. PS. Since admins read these posts, could someone please restore or comment on my missing SpellForce post from ~3 weeks ago.
  6. Sorry been busy. @Dave-H. Yes i remember the natural keyboards, query very early 2000s. Some of my coworkers liked them, supposed to keep better wrist alignment. I worked in healthcare back then when RSDs (repetitive strain disorders) were trending. Personally i type well when needed but cross over fingers too much when gaming, never got used to the split layout. Good quality keyboard. @UCyborg. Thanks for your computer history and experiences. Since i use Windows 9x, 2000 and XP it can be confirmed that i resemble that (grumpy old dinosaur). Why not, there's lots to be grumpy about. Anyone who used good old hardware and software back in the day can see where things have led. Not to pick on you personally, Windows 10, for example, is not much more than an advertising and closed source spyware platform that happens to run hardware, requiring a multitude of additional CPU cycles to perform essentially the same tasks. @XPerceniol. Thanks for posting, i wish you well on your journey, thanks for supporting @Drugwash, we all need support these days. I read some of your posts and see how you struggle, you are not alone. @marco_a. Thank-you for taking the time to post a picture of your keyboard. Very nice, i've never seen one labelled specifically for Windows 98. @jumper. Dig up a 5 year old post and request a thread title change. My Windows 98 SE test systems are part of the Windows 98 family and i can't know what Windows 98 releases other contributors are running, the thread title is accurate. Safe to say 99% of the software versions and OS tweaks discussed also apply to Windows 98 FE. To make the thread title Windows 98 SE specific is equally misleading, sure enough the next poster will indicate 'hey software versions abc and xyz work on my Windows 98 FE too'. Impossible to keep everyone happy, as recent forum drama can attest. @Kiriko Takemura. Your posts have been moved by admin to it's own project page. Seems to have been well liked, all the best with your project. My rendition of the "Browservice" project https://msfn.org/board/topic/184179-my-rendition-of-the-browservice-project/ @Tommy. Thanks for creating a project thread for @Kiriko Takemura. The post indicates it may work with Windows 2000 too, if that matters for project page placement. To me a project that requires external hardware, OS, web browser and software to spoonfeed Windows 9x is not vanilla. @Tommy. Kindly restore my SpellForce post (about 2-3 weeks ago), query inadvertently deleted when you created the project page for @Kiriko Takemura. If not accidental deletion, please clarify rational for removal.
  7. Recent Distrowatch mention, Linux kernel developers may remove i486 support after ~30 years, arghh.
  8. Thanks for responses. No assistance was requested, just wanted to provide a quick command line fix for anyone that inadvertently disables DCOM and ends up with a broken system. There were all sorts of nonsense helps related to reinstalling OS, restore from backup, 3rd party registry tools. Simple command line fix, done. Yes odd @UCyborg, 'services.msc' just describes DCOM as 'Provides launch functionality for DCOM services'. No mention of critical, no warning, user beware. Microsoft must think it's critical, it temporarily broke my system, but @AstroSkipper's link seems it's mostly a security hole. Thanks for the information @AstroSkipper, hopefully it will help someone. Since i rarely use Windows XP i don't want to go too far down the rabbit hole, including 3rd party software to disable a Windows service. I will leave it alone for now, thanks again.
  9. Command line rules. The service guides used for reference do not mention DCOM so it was test disabled. https://www.blackviper.com/service-configurations/black-vipers-windows-xp-x86-32-bit-service-configurations/ https://www.overclockersclub.com/guides/windows_xp_services/2.htm Disabling DCOM Server Process Launcher via 'services.msc' causes the GUI to become non-functional ( without warning! ), not allowing the service to be re-started. Upon reboot the system has poor function (safe mode too) but it's still possible to Ctrl-Alt-Delete to access Task Manager and get a runbox to launch 'cmd'. Alternatively press F8 at boot and select 'Safe Mode with Command Prompt'. Reconfigure DCOM via command line, note space after 'start=': sc config dcomlaunch start= auto Very helpful including services reference: https://www.windows-commandline.com/start-stop-service-command-line/
  10. A switch to slower 3G USB tethered cellphone internet caused some issues. Network performance was good direct tethered to GNU/Linux system but not through Asus router. Biggest problem was outdated firmware on the router, now updated and fixed using a variation of 'plug and pray'. MTU tuning for packet fragmentation was completed. Windows 98 SE was boss for networking, seamlessly working with dial-up and ethernet, easy to set up, GUI assistance, lots of free helper software. Unfortunately a direct USB tether during a Windows 98 boot didn't work and, admittedly, not much time was spent trying. Packet fragmentation occured at a lower byte size when direct tethered to the computer (running GNU/Linux) vs the Asus router. To keep a consistent data pipe the lower MTU setting (of the cellphone) was configured throughout the network. Don't matter to others, the best MTU value for this 3G network is 1440. In Windows 98 free sofware like TCP Optimizer v3.0.8 can be used to test for best MTU. Old school command line also works to check for packet fragmentation. Start at 1500 and work down, example: ping yahoo.com -f -l 1492 GNU/Linux uses a similar command for fragmentation checks, example: ping -M do -c 2 -s 1492 yahoo.com Lots of MTU guides available, remember to adjust maximum non-fragmented packet size with headers (generally add 28) to get the MTU: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/how-to-find-the-proper-mtu-size-for-a-network/ In Windows 98 SE, TCP Optimizer was used to set the MTU. Query whether it can also be manually set through this registry entry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\NetTrans\0000\MaxMTU The Asus router has an MTU setting for a USB tethered connection. In GNU/Linux custom .bashrc alias' are used here to manually connect/disconnect and check network status from command line, adjust for your network's preferred MTU: alias netstart='sudo ifdown eth0 && sudo ifup eth0 && sudo ifconfig eth0 mtu 1440 && sudo ifconfig' alias netstop='sudo ifdown eth0 && sudo ifconfig' alias tetheron='sudo ifconfig usb0 up && sudo dhclient usb0 && sudo ifconfig usb0 mtu 1440 && sudo ifconfig' alias tetheroff='sudo ifconfig usb0 up && sudo dhclient -r usb0 && sudo ifconfig' alias ping2g='sudo ping -c 2 8.8.8.8' alias ping2y='sudo ping -c 2 yahoo.com'
  11. A used HP brand PS2 keyboard had a couple sticky keys causing occasional mis-types. Fortunately these old keyboards are simple to maintain. Pop off key and use a cotton tip with alcohol to remove debris and old grease from the male key and female keyboard components. Pop keys back on, smooth, good as new. I don't add new grease, the keyboard will outlive me.
  12. --- @Tripredacus wrote: This is some bug where some dirs became unresponsible/unusable when number of files in a single dir/subdir would number 1000+. --- Ha, ha, yes unresponsible and unresponsive MSFT. I can confirm this issue goes back at least to Windows 98 SE with FAT32, recently encountered during a large data management project. It seems related to hard coded directories, like My Documents. Creating and working from C:\DOCS\, for example, fixed everything. Problem handling 1000s of files in My Documents in Windows 98 SE: https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020-and-beyond/page/64/#comment-1219182 Exploring the issue: https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020-and-beyond/page/64/#comment-1219272 Fixed: https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020-and-beyond/page/65/#comment-1219323 Similar complaints: https://msfn.org/board/topic/45565-mydocuments-opening-slow/ http://web.archive.org/web/20030121213054/http://the-it-mercenary.com/forums/Help/posts/8929.html
  13. My preferences are similar, only in Windows C:\DOCS\ is created for files and in GNU/Linux encrypted USB sticks (triplicate backup) instead of an attached drive. This way a power surge, for example, isn't going to wipe out important files. Unless i misunderstand, GNU/Linux separates each user's files for a reason, security. Personally i don't keep many files in /home/user/, mostly configurations. Using your second hard drive example, the easiest way to replicate your desired Windows behaviour in GNU/Linux is to create a shared directory that is accessible to all, takes seconds to set up, example: mkdir /media/sdb1/shared_files chmod -R 777 /media/sdb1/shared_files All GNU/Linux users and multi-boot OS will then have access to 'shared_files' sub-directories. Choose whatever level of security you desire, 666 may be best (read/write for all, no execute). If a system multi-boots Windows and GNU/Linux set up a shared FAT32 partition, for example, to share files between the different OS (no permissions recognized) or use a dedicated GNU/Linux filesystem if the intent is to hide files from Windows. To me these are easy solutions to share files, get them out of a 'profile' (and abomination of 'My Documents') and avoid custom modification of each GNU/Linux /etc/fstab file.
  14. Windows 98 SE (Security-lax Edition). Maybe a Tweak UI glitch, encountered before, auto-logon option is activated. On rare occasion the login prompt fails to auto-populate at boot, leaving empty user name and password fields, then pauses. Simply pressing the Escape key, without entering credentials, allows bypassing the login pause. The system then boots and works as normal, no new PWL file created in C:\WINDOWS\. Watched a 2.5 minute YT video titled 'USA MICROSOFT LAUNCH WINDOWS 98'. A California retailer opening it's doors at midnight in June of 1998 to accommodate anxious Windows 98 customers running for purchases. One customer proudly mentions 'FAT 32' to the camera. Guess that was a thing back then. He may have been better off getting a decent night's sleep to stave off dementia, Windows 98 wasn't exactly a limited edition release. Watched another ~2 minute YT video titled 'Downgrading Windows 98 to 95!'. Though VMware, looks like it would work on real hardware. Interesting Microsoft provided the ability to remove Windows 98 using Add/Remove programs following a Windows 95 'upgrade'. Maybe a nice touch for those hesitant to upgrade or if catastrophic hardware or software issues were encountered. Seems much more respectful than a forced upgrade in the background approach.
  15. Hi @Tripredacus, good to know there's been improvment. Not sure a corrupt user profile was ever experienced personally in Windows 2000 or XP. If so, then it was either fixed without drama or a new one created. Unix-based, to my knowledge, this wouldn't happen. No profile to corrupt, just flat files in the user's home directory (eg. /home/user_one). So the primary issue will be either file system problem (run 'fsck' to repair) or someone messed with files or permissions in the home directory (manually remedy as needed). If desired adding a new user from command line is as simple as 'adduser' and copying over any favourite configuration files. Found these fixes for various Windows OS, can't vouch for them, maybe they help someone. Corrupt User Profile: Fix for Windows 10, 11, XP, Vista, 7, 8: https://neosmart.net/wiki/corrupt-user-profile/
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