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awkduck

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awkduck last won the day on March 15 2023

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  1. Flesh this out a little bit more. Is this a old Windows install (harddrive transfer, from different computer), or a new fresh install? Does fully updated mean unofficial service packs, or a personal collection of updates? Have you installed USB Drivers, prior to the chipset? LoneCrusader has a unofficial Intel chipset, for newer machines.
  2. I've never tried it, but the "PC-Dos Viewer" looks like Pc-Dos' version of a help/information tool. Maybe try it out.
  3. I have to apologize, jumper. On my part, the thread has become a little muddy. loblo was correct. The orphaned folder should have still been accessible (and was), to the application that created it. It just didn't appear to me that it was. I made a poor assumption, about why the application could not insert the key into the setting file (stored in the orphaned folder), or read the key from it. I used the WinME SHELL32.DLL and SHLWAPI.DLL (and a handful of other files) to test, if the folder "being created/accessed correctly" would solve the issue. But that was just a temporary experiment. I tested on WinME first, and the folder was not orphaned; but I couldn't get the application to run (no test of key file functionality). The application not being able to run, was probably just a problem of me having no real experience using/updating WinME with KernelEx (the Working KernelEx settings from Win98FE were not enough). I'm pretty sure the ME install was completely original, with no system updates. I didn't really want to update WinME, for this simple test. So, the WinME files where used, on Win98FE, to test what I could not test on WinME. The issue is the application failing to process the key, in or out of the setting file, even while having access to the proper CSIDL (provided by ME files). I didn't have an issue with the fact that ME files would be unstable, on Win98FE. I knew this from having played with Win98SE files, on Win98FE. I just needed the CSIDL functionality long enough, to see if it fixed the problem. It did fix the orphaned folder issue, but not the overall issue. While it would be nice to have extended CSIDL support, I can handle not having it. Again, I just wrongly assumed the missing CSIDL was the cause of the issue. Also, if I've misunderstood something, as I sometimes do, I'd gladly eat some words.
  4. I get it. We all have to problem solve, in a way that makes sense to us. I do apologize, that I couldn't help more. I know I have used the service pack 3, without the issue you've described. I wish I could remember more, about the one time I had ran into an issue. I suppose, I do things more in a revision history kinda way. For example, "what change broke things?". But it isn't a direct "fix this specific machine approach", but rather a "fix the cause approach". But the direct "fix this machine approach" will find the answer to the cause, just as well. I'll keep my eyes on the thread, and see if I can help in anyway. I don't think the following will help, but its just something I ran into, from the SP3 site. That's the option with the "(98lite Users Only)" tag. I didn't see your issue anywhere in the service pack forum, but I did not read it from cover to cover. It is possible you could find a clue there. You may have already looked. Also, there is a list (and links), for service pack releases, on the first post.
  5. This is good advice. But I don't actually want IE at all (it has been removed from the system). Just the files needed, to satisfy system and application dependencies. That is why I extracted the needed files. However, to concur with jumper, most people should probably always install.
  6. @ruthan I should add, if you are just looking to solve this a little faster and be done with it, you could look at some of the older service packs. As far as collected official updates, many older versions still contain them all. So if an older service pack did not cause this issue, you could use it and then cherry pick the things you wanted from SP3 (providing it is not the thing causing the issue). Then you would have a way to duplicate a successful update, without the issue.
  7. I'm still wondering which version of SP3. For example 3.65 or 3.66. But... I think I may have noticed something similar to this, once before. It almost seemed like the system needed to revert first (uninstall the updates), reconfigure the network with the needed change, and then re-install the updates. This was just a passing thought I had once, when dealing with a Win98SE system (post SP3.66 update). I can't remember the exact issue; but I vaguely remember it seeming like the files needed could not be installed (original cab files), because their reference had been lost. However, it could have very well been, that some new file(s) were preventing other components from functioning correctly. I didn't mess with Win98SE for very long, so my memory is fuzzy on it. If it was original files not being referenced, in the update's newer system and or .INF files, then one might be able to examine pre-update system INFs for the missing references. But I'm not entirely sure the INFs control everything. Sometimes, when installing a driver, it looks for files that the INF says it needs. However, depending on the version of that/those file, the following files called for (through out the rest of the installation) may be different. It must be detected linked dependencies that are being requested? So there is a chance that newer system files are not linked to older system files, needed for system reconfiguration. Or some near variation of that last sentence. It could just be some other trigger that doesn't get called. It would still help to know which update option was causing it. It's probably the "Main Updates/System Core Files" option. Another questions, do you get any errors or strange behavior, while installing the update? Are you saying you copy the "broken" install over to a new system and the issue is still present; or that you are overwriting the broken install, with a working install, and the issue is still present. I think you are saying the first, and that would make sense; since nothing, with the core system, has really changed. I can't remember, does SP3 have an uninstall option? If it does, can you test that? Can you back up one of your working VMs and test if just the "Main Updates/System Core Files" option causes your/the issue? It would be nice to know, if focusing on just that one update is enough.
  8. What version of the Unofficial SP3 are you using? What Update options are your selecting? I couldn't make out for sure, if you had ever had a machine with working networking after the update. It seemed like it was only some machines that had the issue. If that is true, of the machines that do have the issue, do they always have the issue (after the SP3 install); or is it erratic? You can copy the service pack to a temporary folder, and extract it with 7-zip. "INFEX.INI" is the core of the service pack. You can examine it to get a grasp of the over all process. But for individual updates, you need to examine the ".INF" file, that correlates to the update. Also, you may need to examine the correlating ".BAT" files. This will tell you what files are being replaced, and what registry settings are being added/changed. The file you probably want is "SPUPDATE.INF", unless you are also installing Internet Connection Sharing "ICS.INF". You could try a fresh install, just installing "Main Updates/System Core Files (SPUPDATE.INF)". If you end up with the same networking issue as before, you could then eliminate, for certain, all the other "less likely" causes. If "Main Updates/System Core Files" isn't causing the issue, then you can "one by one" install each update (that you normally use from the service pack) until you find the one that creates the error. Unfortunately, you are the only one that can debug this, unless it is duplicated somewhere else. After each change you make, to the new install, restart and test the network. The you can at least isolate, to some degree of certainty, that it is the service pack (and a specific update) causing your issue.
  9. Yes, I've extracted it from both explorer versions (5.5 and 6.0). Shell32.dll, from ME, isn't happy with either. You get the nice white box message and grey ok button, about needing to reinstall Windows. There are two Shlwapi.dll files included with both IE versions. I've never gotten the one intended for Win98SE (and ME) to work for me (without errors). The other one, I think, is meant for Win95 and Win98FE. It's the one dependency walker says I support. Likewise, I can't use the one that comes stock from Win98SE (without errors). So when I say Shell32.dll (from ME) isn't happy with either, I means that it isn't happy unless it is a Shlwapi.dll version that isn't fully compatible with my system.
  10. So with Tracktion 3, the issue goes beyond shell32. Oh, well. But, the orphaned "Application Data/Program Data" was fixed. For Win98SE, a person can just use the shell update, from 98SE2ME. I'm on Win98FE, so I only did this temporarily. The most updated Win98FE shlwapi.dll isn't new enough for ME's shell32.dll. But I can used ME's shlwapi.dll, just long enough to test things (it would eventually cause errors). I admit, I don't know 100% what you can get away with here. On Win98SE, you may have to update beyond just ME's shell, for stable operation. Sadly, Tracktion 3 did not accept or reject it's key file. I manually edited the settings file, with the key file data. The application recognized the registration name/email, but it cannot process the key string. I may end up looking at things in Olly or something. I have Tracktion 2 to cross examine with; it has a similar "key string/key file" activation and works fine. That's a different topic, for a different forum.
  11. With no alterations, WinME installation places the "settings" file in "C:\Windows\All Users\Application Data\Tracktion 3". There was no orphaned folder in root "C:\". It found no need to seek out a ProgramData folder. I was unable to test functionality further, as I couldn't get Tracktion to run. I imagine that the install, of WinMe, needs updated files. It only had KernelEx installed, with basically original system files. I'm using Win98FE, updated as far as it can be, and Tracktion 3 runs great (activation aside); so an updated ME should run it. Yes, Tracktion was not meant to run on any Win9x.
  12. The only thing that has remotely worked, is setting the key "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\User Shell Folders\Common AppData". But that only fools the installer. The application will access the orphaned ProgramData\Tracktion 3 folder (in this case F:\Tracktion 3), but only for certain things. It never finds what has been installed to "C:\Windows\All Users\Application Data"; or where ever I have redirected it to, with the registry entry above. Sounds like my best attempt would be to patch the appliction to use a different CSIDL, if that is even possible.
  13. Well, I was wrong again. It is accessing the folder, it drops at the root directory. The issue is specific to Tracktion 3's activation code and being used on Win98. Note: Earlier I deleted two images, attached to my original post, in this thread. I did not attach those images; so have no idea how they got there. They were images of a LCD monitor, with Win98 running on it.
  14. Well, I was wrong. The issue is with the ProgramData folder, not a user profile folder. I edited the thread title, as best I could. If your machine code is the same (same machine), between different Windows installs, your old key will work. Ever since the Mackie service went down, I haven't been able to generate new keys (for a different machine). There is a way, but that should not be discussed here. When a key is invalid (from different machine), a "Invalid Key" notice will pop up. When a key is valid, a notice will inform you that the application in unlocked. In this case, no access to Tracktion settings file, nothing happens. The key is examined, but cannot be stored in the settings file; typically found in "C:\ProgramData\Tracktion 3". So you do not get the "Invalid Key" notice; but instead get no notice at all.
  15. Dxirc (as an example) had an issue, but could be easily patched. Mackie Tracktion 3, as a better example, is not so easily patched; and it has not responded to environmental variables. It is also the last version to work well, with a single core. It is a great example of Shareware, without the user profile folder to save the key. And of course, it cannot save any settings either. Did you have to set registry key values, as well?
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