Eck

No Microsoft Windows Updates change the version number of Windows with the exception of the long discontinued Microsoft Security Updates Cd. That did play havoc with some programs and some updates. None of the unofficial updates included in the auto-patcher or the major unofficial update packages on this site such as 98SE2ME and 98MP10 change the Windows version either. Now, dll file versions are something else entirely. Nearly ALL are changed when you apply the updates. For details you would consult the readme's for the assorted unofficial updaters, and the Microsoft KB articles for the cooresponding updates. MDGx's website provides a wealth of information regarding all available updates, fixes, addons, etc. mdgx.com is his site. If you are having a problem with a certain program or process I would suggest accessing the website of the publisher of that software or process. Searching the net with Yahoo, Google, etc can also at times yield answers from users who have experienced similar problems to yours. I would suggest that it is more important to have Windows updated and patched than to run any one software program, so if it becomes impossible for it to get along with an updated Windows then perhaps it is time to upgrade the software or choose a different vendor's program. But first see if it can be fixed. First step would be consulting the support sections of the manufacturers website, I would think.

Well, all the official updates included should be installed anyway. Obsolete updates that Windows Update might install have been eliminated. In other words, nearly all the guess work has been eliminated. The updates are listed in the first post of this thread. The choices available to toggle on/off are within each module of the auto-patcher program. Er, it would be advantageous to you to ensure none of your not updated yet machines are connected to the internet! Make sure you download 1.5 AND 1.7 and run both (closing the first one without starting the patching), then go ahead and run it. If you get out of environment space error messages at the beginning you can stop it and right click all the batch files on the desktop and in the root auto-patcher folder in the Windows\Temp directory and on the memory tabs just select the largest choice for Initial Environment. I still got the first screen warning of using too much, but when I told it to go ahead and run anyway there were no more errors. The log showed all the environment spaces to be within normal parameters.

If you use the auto-patcher instead, you'll get that update. Still, make sure you download and install the latest Sun JavaVM from java.sun.com. That'll give you the latest Java as default, but leave the older Microsoft one there for older programs (like Brittanica 2004) that require it on the system. Don't install the Sun Java until you have updated the Microsoft Java. Learned that one long ago! Don't be afraid of the Alpha designation of the auto-patcher. The updates it includes are NOT alpha, only the auto-patcher itself. Just toggle on/off the stuff you do/do not want, rather than automatically running the whole thing. Turn on toggle for each module that has sub catagories and check each one to see that you get what you want. It'll prompt you to install Dialup Networking the first time. Let it do that, then after restart run the auto-patcher again and select what you want. The rest is automatic. The other non-automatic stuff you can do yourself afterwards from the manual updates folder it creates. The Unofficial SP is old now. A new version is being worked on, but the auto-patcher is fully up to date so at this time, in my opinion, is the best choice.

I'm surprised the auto-patcher runs at all on 4.10.1998. That's Windows 98 First Edition or Windows 98 Gold, the initial release of Windows 98. Can't use 98SE updaters on that. You need the Unofficial W98 First Edition Service Pack instead. No wonder your system gets messed up. Lots of these updates don't work properly on 98 First Edition. No need to go into details, as it would be expected that everything got messed up. Gotta format and install the proper updates for your operating system.

You won't need an ESDI_506.PDR patch for SATA drives. They use their own driver, not the Microsoft driver. We could always use large hard drives of the SATA variety on 9x as long as the BIOS supports them. I ran a 250 GB Maxtor Sata hard drive with one big FAT32 partition and Windows 98SE. All that was needed was the Via Hyperion with the Via Sata/Raid driver (no Raid used but the driver includes it). Windows installs fine and puts the hard drive into Dos Compatibility Mode. After installing the Via Hyperion Pro drivers that changes to "Your system is configured for optimal performance." You do need to have your bios SATA setting set to Raid mode, not IDE mode and have the Sata/Raid Bios set to enabled (just don't setup a Raid configuration). On Windows XP I could set mine to IDE Mode and have the Sata Bios off, then install the newer Via IDE Sata Hot Plug driver (the Hyperion's install it too, only one version behind so after that's installed you update to the newer one). But 9x needs the Sata/Raid mode instead. Oh, and you can uncheck the configuration utility if you're not using a Raid setup. It just installs a systray icon and a TSR that sometimes errors on startup. Don't need it if you're not using Raid. I used Norton Utilities 2002 for its Disk Doctor and SpeedDisk to replace Scandisk and Disk Defragmentor as I didn't trust those to be compatible with the large hard drive. I have no idea whether this also pertains to chipsets other than Via though.

Ya know, when I installed McAfee 2006 security software the newer style My Computer icon appeared. So now it matches what it's supposed to be. Maybe their installer deleates that ShellIconCache file in order to refresh things. But thanks for that tip as I now know what to do myself to refresh things. Another way to refresh if the shortcut arrows look like they're there but they're not (look damaged) is to apply large icons then uncheck it and apply again. Shortcut arrows are then repaired. I had to do that after Nero 7 stuff got installed. I remember reading about the ShellIconCache refresh by deleating and rebooting but it got lost somewhere in my brain among the thousand Windows tips that exist there! Too bad there's no undelete for brain cells.

Okay, back in business. McAfee, with the exception of the firewall (can you say fatal exception in mpfbocks.vxd 3 times fast?), works fine. Eh. So I installed ZoneAlarm, no loss (except for a few $). Here's what Windows Update says isn't installed - KB916281 Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 6 SP1 KB891711 Security Update for Windows 98 Windows Share Level Password Update Q323172 Security Update (Windows 98) (Flaw in Digital Certificate Enrollment Component Allows Certificate Deletion) Security Update, May 19, 2000 (IP Fragment Reassembly) Security Update, March 17, 2000 (DOS Device in Path Name) Hmm, I guess they for some reason want the older IE Cumulative DLL update installed. No idea why since we have the newer one installed by auto-patcher. The KB891711 we know about. Don't need that since the unofficial one is installed and that would remove the Microsoft registry entries and files from this older one anyway. The other 4 I have no clue about. Do we need these? Or have thay been made obsolete by updates in the auto-patcher or been found to be troublesome in some way so purposely been left out? Other weirdness - As soon as I installed McAfee that My Computer icon became the newer, WinME, 2000 one. Well, at least it matches what Display Properties and Plus! Theme Manager say it is now. What the heck did McAfee software fix up there? And how do we do that without installing McAfee? Obviously something was out of whack when everything said the new icon was applied and the current one that was being used, but the old icon was really there.

There's also no problem with the latest (pretty old now as Symantec doesn't really push this product anymore) version of Symantec Norton GoBack 4.0. I do also own the Adaptec GoBack and Roxio GoBack versions, but the latest does include bug fixes that prevent some nasty problems in GoBack from occuring. I used it a while back and from the GoBack cd version, if you run LiveUpdate it will install one update to it. I saved the update, which Symantec's updater leaves in the Windows Temp folder, to a cdr so if they ever stop offering it I'll still be able to install it. There's no activation mechanism, only a cd key entered when installing from the GoBack cd is needed. Once installed it just works. The update is not the full version so the full cd version must be installed first. Then either run LiveUpdate which will disable GoBack and install it, or if you have the update saved you disable GoBack and run the setup for the update. GoBack poses problems for customized dual-boot setups. You really can't use it unless you only have one 9x system on the first partition and one Windows XP system on the second partition and only use the official Microsoft boot loader (no 3rd party boot loader or hidden partition type stuff). SecondChance is really the Microsoft SystemRestore with a few extra features, like the ability to run it from a Command Prompt Only startup, an MS-DOS boot floppy, or a SecondChance restore floppy. The floppy SecondChance creates simply runs SecondChance from the hard drive, same as booting to a Command Prompt and starting it yourself. You can also name your restore points and change which folders SecondChance doesn't log changes to (ignored folders). For those that run all the 3rd party 9x update packs such as 98SE2ME, Unofficial Service Pack's etc., don't install SecondChance until after running these things. SecondChance did not react well to some file changes made by these update packs and messed up Windows for me. Once all the updates are installed, SecondChance can be installed and will work perfectly. Disabling it to run these Service Packs doesn't help. Just don't have it installed until you are done. GoBack has no problem with that. It is seperate from the operating system whereas SecondChance runs using a dll. So GoBack could be installed immediately following a Windows setup. I wouldn't, only because of all the changes that go into updating an initial Windows installation and all the software installs. I'm just too impatient to wait for all the GoBack logging to finish. Both programs are excellent. SecondChance is the most flexable and most like SystemRestore.

Yeah, that would be okay. Just all the display support but none of the input items would not cause the language application to be running all the time. I've done that in the past but since I so rarely go to sites that need anything except English I've just been changing the IE setup from Typical to Full and not bothering to install languages until I need them. Since it's easier to just have auto-patcher install Internet Explorer my preference would be the regular full install with the install files, including the languages, placed on the hard drive and setup run from there. Then if a page needs a language it'll know where to get it from. Maybe once a year I see a Japanese web page and need to get that East Asian language pack installed. Sometimes I check some Israeli web sites and need the Hebrew language pack. Still, I never had a problem waiting for a minute for Internet Explorer to install it. But we do need it to be able to find the source files otherwise the install will fail. Either way is okay, as long as you don't set it to install the language input support.

Hmm, ScanFrag has a text readme linked to from the Accesories\System Tools Start Menu folder. I guess that is pretty cool as it installs a lot more than just the Me ScanDisk and Defrag. It has a whole list of stuff there. I don't know if this got installed by auto-patcher or by either 98SE2ME or 98MP10. I know I left it toggled on in auto-patcher. All good stuff. Leave it there. I just installed my Frankensteinish combo of WorksSuite 2005 and OfficeXP full. Then I updated Office to SP3 and Works to 8.5. All that went well. I left out support for fast searching and alternative user input to avoid the TSR's those run (ctfmon and mosearch). Then I unchecked enable debugging in Internet Explorer advanced options and deleated the mdm debugger from Run Services. As soon as I restarted after deleating that mdm registry key I got a Windows Protection Error, please restart Windows boot up error. I restarted and it went fine, then I restarted and got the Windows Protection Error again. So I went into the Windows folder and deleated all the ff...tmp files that stupid mdm.exe had left there when it was running and deleated all the .tmp files from the Windows\Temp folder. I then restarted twice successfully. Who knows? Maybe it was all the junk temp files that thing leaves on the system when running. Or maybe there's a problem. System File Checker showed only a few updated files (I had run it before the Works, Office stuff so I could check this very thing), so nothing but those and a few hundred new added files there. No hardware problems in Device Manager or problem devices in System Information. Everything looks fine. I checked out the IOSUBSYS folder and did see that all those Adaptec plugins are there. Those and the newer Roxio ones from WMP9. Any way you could deselect the Adaptec cd burning plugin from installing with your Windows Media Legacy files but leave the newer one (a full install) of WMP 9? I doubt that's the culprit in my case since removing them totally never helped me out when I had Windows startup problems in the past. It might not matter, but you never know. WMP 9 installs the newer, problem free version of the Roxio plugin anyway. But I think it leaves the older one there, but doesn't use it. Better off not having it in the first place. Maybe you can set WMP 7.1 (the legacy files) not to install just that item. (Or, maybe not. I don't know how you do it without the GUI install.) So maybe everything's okay after I deleated all those temp files, or maybe the good restarts are short lived. I have to break away temporarily from playing with the system. I'm awaiting retail boxed versions of the older McAfee VirusScan 2006 (VirusScan 10), Personal Firewall 2006, and I've already got AntiSpyware2006 and the last QuickClean. I'm going to experiment with using them on 98SE in VMWare. They are still supported and the last McAfee products that support Windows 98SE. I've heard that having VBRun6SP6 installed eliminates the problem McAfee had with wininit.ini when it restarts Windows after an update, but I'll check that file to see if it does type in only what it needs, and not a bunch of gibberish that caused Windows not to start. If it's there I can deleat all the gibberish and just leave the proper lines so it will work. Just gotta say no to reboot now and check that file. Hopefully VBRunSP6 IS the fix for that. Might be sometime next week before I get the McAfee products. So aloha until then! (Unless I chicken out and just install Avast and ZoneAlarm.) Edit - Ooh! You posted while I was typing! Well, we don't want the language packs to be installed. The Full install doesn't do that. If one does want any they need to check the ones they want and then it becomes a Custom install. We DO want the files copied to the source folder for potentally needy websites though. (Well, at least I do.) Yes, the Language auto-selection is normal. But not all those language packs. Like I said, they include input support that causes the keyboard language applet to run at all times in the system tray and startup with Windows. So, no need to install them but do include them in the source folder so they can be installed when needed.

NativeTexan, Please DO NOT install the Microsoft Security Updates Cd. That thing installs some outdated stuff and changes the version of 98SE so some newer updates (and programs) won't recognize the proper version of Windows so will refuse to install. That was one of the reasons it was discontinued a long time ago. The auto-patcher gives you the working updates without the obsolete stuff. And all the latest available security fixes as well.

Hmm. Not sure what happens. I suppose ScanFrag installs the Windows Me versions then a seperate install of 98SE2ME would just replace them with the same files. However the backup created by 98SE2ME would have the Windows Me files there instead of the 98SE ones. Not that we'd ever want to reinstall the 98SE versions! Yeah, I suppose this one shouldn't matter much but it is an overlap of features. Everyone should get the Windows Me versions but it's just a question of when they get it, or in this case get it twice.

Now, if I want the improvements of the newer version of 98MP10 do I just install this new one even though the last one was already installed? Or would I need to restore the original backed up files first? It would be nice if just installing the new one took care of things. Does the backup process let me toggle it off if the original 98SE, WMP files have already been backed up so I wouldn't want this install to overwrite them? I know 98SE2ME has that option.

Wow! Your PM appeared on my screen as soon as I returned to the forum. Never saw that before, but it sure made things fast. Anyway, I wish I knew about the Internet Explorer source files secret. I know where the 98 OS source file registry entry is, the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Setup place. But no idea where IE looks for its stuff. This could get dangerous if we find it. I remember that the error box pops up when I choose to install the particular language a website needs saying something like, "couldn't locate Windows Update." I insert the Internet Explorer cd and the thing takes off and installs the language stuff it needs. I would hate to change the Windows Update source location only to find that the real Windows Update would be fubar'd by that! Maybe if your Internet Explorer installer would include the whole full version it could be set to extract all its files permanentely to a particular folder and setup from that folder. Then if one needs language files or an Intenet Explorer repair it would know that's where it gets the files from. Perhaps it will know automatically? It finds the cd automatically (no need to browse to it) if I have it in the tray when having it install a language. But maybe that's just because Windows is checking the cd drive first for any installation files. In XP you can add to a list in the registry entry for installation sources, but I don't think 98 has that. Is your IE install set to install Full or Typical? When running the cd version I always change it to full. That way I get all but the language stuff. I don't want all those languages installed, especially not the input stuff. I hate the language systray stuff that eats up resources if the input items are installed. I see your point about the USB updaters. Nearly all the updaters for this stuff will install what's included no matter what had been already installed on the system. I think your installer is nearly unique in that it checks to see what's there and then skips things if they've already been installed. Microsoft installers for their software packages such as Office will install everything it's been designed to install. The only things prevented are built in Windows protections regarding dll's. Windows (even 98SE) is supposed to check the version being replaced and not do it if it's newer than what the software installer is trying to put there. Of course, often times this breaks stuff as the setup program installed a whole bunch of related files that depend upon the version Windows balked at. Windows is supposed to put the older file in the program folder where the software will look first. But this doesn't work when there's a lot of sharing of dll's, files being used, etc. Ha! Dll hell caused paragraph hell! I forsee a lot of obsolete updates wrecking havoc on my system when I install my Works/Office stuff now, after having used the auto-patcher and 98SE2ME/98MP10 with all the latest updates. Well, it's VMWare. Let's see what happens. That's kind of why I like XP's System File Protection. "Usually" that will prevent Windows from breaking.

Went through what I toggled off in posts in 98MP10 and 98SE2ME threads. I just didn't want to type all that again. Mostly it was just toggling off 98SE2ME and 98MP10 in auto-patcher and installing them myself afterwards. I mentioned the rest in those other threads. Just real happy with the result being a fully patched. working system and not one with weird malfunctioning like last time. It's a riot watching this thing work. It zips through everything it used to take me hours and hours to install.

Well, Gape's pack plus a visit to Windows Update or even just going to Windows Update and letting it install everything would do that. Or, download that Upgrade Pack 98 or the auto-patcher and extract them and install all the official updates yourself. Or, use the auto-patcher and toggle off all the things you don't want (best and quickest choice). All tweaks and unofficial stuff can be toggled on or off when using the auto-patcher. The auto-patcher has nearly every update available, so you can either do them yourself or let it do them for you. I just ran it. It was a pleasure to save all that time and have everything I want and not the things I don't want. I'm starting to feel that there really isn't a need for everyone's different packs (at least the 98SE Windows Update packs) anymore. I do recommend that folks toggle off the 98SE2ME and 98MP10 modules and instead install them after the auto-patcher. Unless you don't have a Windows Me cd. Then go ahead and leave 98SE2ME on in the auto-patcher as you'll get a few important replacements for buggy 98SE versions of explorer, user, etc.

After testing on a VMWare 98SE install and toggling off the 98SE2ME and 98MP10 in auto-patcher then installing them afterwards, all is well. The only strange thing is that the My Computer desktop icon remains the original default 98SE one even though Explorer.exe's icon in the Windows folder is the newer one and that newer one also appears in Display Properties as the default one. Don't mind the old one though, since the rest of the icons haven't changed either. If I want the 2000/Me style I can get them from a Windows Me theme I have. Nice color scheme. I like that it doesn't change the font like Gape's Service Pack does. I like the normal font but enjoy the prettier colors on the title menu's, desktop, etc. Now let's see what happens when I try installing my USB printer and Microsoft Works/Office stuff. I normally do those earlier but didn't want to spend the time until I saw whether these operating system updates went well.

Good news. I successfully installed 98SE2ME and 98MP10 without any weird errors or toolbar antics. So whatever I deactivated in auto-patcher to avoid duplication worked. Windows Media Player 9 runs fine and has the mp3 codec from WMP10. I notice that 98SE2ME installs the nice Windows 2000/Me color scheme without the font style change that Gape's Unofficial 98SE Service pack has. That's nice. I disliked the unusual looking font the last time I tried it. So I'm happy there too. One strange thing is back though. The My Computer desktop icon is the normal default 98SE icon but once again Display Properties and the Theme Manager both show the newer icon that Explorer.exe uses. Instead of messing around to change it I'm going to leave the old icon there. As long as they are all old, it looks proper. So I don't mind that. If I want to change them all to the Windows 2000/Me style I have a Windows Me theme that has those, so I could change to them with the Theme Manager. Now lets see what happens when I install my printer and Microsoft Works/Office stuff. I used to do that first but didn't want to take the time until I saw how the auto-patcher and MDGx updates worked out.

winxpi's is a very good pack there! I've used it. I only didn't like the registry tweaks it installs automatically, but didn't get mad since his explanation made me laugh. "If you don't like it, I don't care." He, he. One of the reasons I like auto-patcher for Windows 98SE better is the abitlity to select/deselect stuff and that I like his registry tweaks better. Also, the auto-patcher is more up to date at this point and also installs some of the unofficial, improved by 3rd party Windows Updates rather than all the official Microsoft ones, some of which don't work right the way Microsoft's installer does them. And with auto-patcher one doesn't need to install a bunch of things manually (Internet Explorer, WMP, Direct X, etc). Native Texan, Please choose ONE massive updates pack, either Gape's Unofficial, Maximus-Decim, auto-patcher, or wupgrade pack. I know I used to do Gape's pack first then another one, but I don't see that as necessary anymore with the improvements to auto-patcher. Just don't install a bunch of them. Too much duplication and different install methods. Can wreck the system doing that. Then AFTER installing ONE such pack, then you may install 98SE2ME and 982MP10. When using auto-patcher, try toggling off the 98SE2ME and 982MP10 as you'll be installing them yourself afterwards. Duplication is bad.

Hey, I make a folder C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS and then a CABS folder within the OPTIONS folder. Then I copy the contents of the 98SE cd's Win98 folder into it and in regedit change the source locations of OLS to C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS\OLS and the source directory to C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS. So I install from the cd but then copy the files to the hard drive so I needn't be bothered inserting it again. But this doesn't do the trick for Internet Explorer updates. Those look for the location of Windows Update, which becomes the Internet Explorer cd if I install IE6 SP1 from that cd. I just installed 98SE into VMWare and just installed the 98 Plus! pack, the Windows 98 Resouce Kit Full, the System Policy Editor, WinZip 10 and WinRAR 3.62 (so I could extract the auto-patcher Alpha 7 update), and the Creative SBPCI VXD drivers and software. Then I ran auto-patcher and this time turned off/on the stuff I wanted from it. I turned off the 98SE2ME and 98MP10 as I will be installing those myself. I installed Dialup Networking 1.4 when prompted by auto-patcher and installed WebFolders update after auto-patcher was finished. I had activated the WMEncoder, Explorer slowdown copy big files fixes and VBRun stuff and deactivated the 137GB fix, Command Prompt Here, CopyTo/SendTo, and Add/Remove tweaks. What is that Add/Remove control panel applet tweak? I didn't want to install it without knowing what it did. One overlap you should be made aware of is the Windows Me ScanFrag installation. When a user installs 98SE2ME full version, that program installs the Windows Me versions for ScanDisc and Defrag. You might want to make ScanFrag an option you can toggle on or off in auto-patcher. Those who want to install the full version of 98SE2ME after auto-patcher would then get the Windows Me versions. I'm going to install DotNET 1.1, 1.1SP1 and DotNET 2.0, then install 98SE2ME and 98MP10. Let's see whether I experience powrprof.dll errors or weird XP style explorer toolbars and icons or device/startup item problems. I don't mind so much since it's in VMWare and I didn't spend a lot of time installing things before auto-patcher. I CAN tell you that WMP 9 opens and runs fine at this point. As far as the Internet Explorer cabs go, I'm not certain where you could put them where Windows Update would find them. I'm not certain exactly how that works, but I wouldn't mind them being on the hard drive. Even in VMWare, I made the virtual hard drive 32GB with all allocated initially. That's plenty of room for stuff if I don't copy my mp3 music collection into it. In a real system, I would use a minimum of 80GB for 98SE (sometimes giving it 120GB) and then I do copy my 17GB music collection to the My Music folder. No need to in VMWare. I'll probably use XP to listen to music mostly in this case. But if this works without errors I will be wiping everything and installing 98SE to a real hard drive. I think. Still squeemish about that IOS bootup error I got a lot of times. That never happens in VMWare.

I haven't had Vista installed for about a month now (waiting for the retail release), but isn't there still an "Open With..." when you right click a file? If so you could check "always open with this program." Yeah, I did notice that the huge list of file types and the folder options wasn't apparent. I only saw that Control Panel applet which certainly didn't list all the file types or programs.

soperific, I'm still concerned about the powrprof.dll errors, the inablility of my USB device drivers (printer, scanner), and most of my startup items to start after loading your pack then installing 98MP10. As well as the normal dropdown explorer window menu bar not appearing, just the Internet Explorer style icon menu with the back, forward stuff and the icons being XP style. Next time I'll try deactivating 98SE2ME and 98MP10 in your auto-patcher and just installing them myself afterwards. That should at least eliminate that strange duplicate Explorer.exe and desktop icon problem I had last time. But is something in your pack installing perhaps a laptop version of powrprof.dll? I'm on a desktop pc. I noticed that by default you have the laptop updates turned off, so that shouldn't have happened I guess. So it wasn't just the WMP version errors I was getting. I've posted similar in the 98MP10 thread as I have no idea where the fault lies.

Yeah, I'm not even the creator or anything but I got all defensive. Sorry about that, and the bad language. I see your point. Although modeled after and mean't to do the same sort of thing, it's probably not using the same process as this one's designed exclusively to make these updates work on 98SE. No one wants users to be confused or folks asked questions that don't pertain to their program. This naming thing just reminded me of the old flame wars between the 3rd party 3dfx driver modders. I always thought those arguments were ludicrous as they all were just trying to help out in different ways. Just had an emotional, protective reaction. Oops. In the sage words of Emily Littela, "Never mind." Previous post edited to remove my nonsense.

MDGx, I wanted to let you know that for some crazy reason the McAfee SiteAdvisor Plus flags your mdgx.com website. To go there or download anything from there I need to disable SiteAdvisor's Protected Mode and also respond to downloads in their warning box about your site that it's okay to allow the download. No problem when using Windows 98 since their SiteAdvisor 98 plugin is buggy and will crash Internet Explorer if installed. But of course that's a crappy work-around (use 98 and don't install SiteAdvisor)! Anyway to communicate with McAfee to let them know your's is a good site, not dangerous at all? Maybe they're reacting to some of the 3rd party sites linked to from your site. Perhaps if any link on a site leads to where even a popup exists then SiteAdvisor flags the whole site as dangerous. Seems a bit paranoid if you ask me.

A question - what about that inclusion of MDGx's Media Player/XP pack? Doesn't that include the mp3 codec? So if we choose to have the auto-patcher install the MDGx pack we get the encoder, right? That's without activating your seperate installer of the encoder. Do I understand that correctly? Another thing is the Internet Explorer 6 SP1 install. I have a Microsoft cd version of that, which I've used mostly. Once Internet Explorer is installed with that cd, it becomes the installation source called for as far as stuff like the browser needing different language display capabilities, etc. I'd rather be able to just run your auto-patcher as a one step update for 98SE, but I'm wondering whether that's really a good idea for some of the items. As far as the Internet Explorer example goes for instance, wouldn't I have a problem where Windows will pop up an error saying the Windows Update source isn't available? Or would it automatically use the Windows Update internet site instead of calling for a local cd or hard drive location for the needed files? With the cd install, the Windows Update file location for Internet Explorer files is the cd I can insert into the drive. Sometimes things like this get complicated, eh? Any suggestions?