pcalvert

Thanks for the help, guys. I did a clean reinstallation of Windows (I needed to), and the problem is gone. Most likely, the problem had nothing to do with with installing the unofficial SP 2.1a. Phil

Anyone use the performance tweaks option in the unofficial SP 2.1a? If so, how are they working for you? And does anyone know what those tweaks are? Are they just the tweaks that are listed here: http://exuberant.ms11.net/setweaks.html ? And would those tweaks be helpful on a system that only has 128 MB of RAM? Phil

I am surprised that there isn't more discussion of this on here. Are people testing and/or using this cumulative update? Or have most people settled on Gape's unofficial service pack at this point? Phil

I just tried to save a file in Metapad to the "My Documents" folder but couldn't because it wasn't showing in the file dialog box. I then checked to make sure that the folder still exists using Windows Explorer. It's still there. BTW, I also checked using several other programs, and the problem is not exclusive to Metapad. Last night I installed the unofficial SP2.1a. I don't know if that's what caused this problem, but it seems likely. Anyone else run into this, or know what the cause might be and how to fix it? Phil

Fortunately, it is totally unnecessary to use that guy's legally-questionable software to set up a MS-DOS 7.1 system using a Windows 98 SE installation CD, or an already installed Windows 98 SE. It has been thoroughly discussed before: Stripped down 98 DOS? Just thought I'd let people know that there are alternate solutions available... Phil

It sounds to me like you'd be better off formatting the HDD and reinstalling Windows. However, you may want to try this first: General Cleaning Instructions Also, if you're unable to get rid of something by deleting it in Safe Mode, I would try booting into DOS instead. And while you're in DOS, scan with F-Prot for DOS. Good luck! Phil

Yes, bbLean is very minimalistic as is, and takes some getting use to. Fortunately, it can be customized to make it more user-friendly. Here are two more articles: Blackbox Tutorial - Part I: The Shell Blackbox Tutorial - Part II: The Plugins Also, go here to see what can be done with bblean (and other blackbox clones), how other people have set it up: *box News & Screenshot Repository Anyway, I suspect that the plugins are the key to making bbLean into something you will really like. Of course, it will take some initial time and effort. Phil

Think beyond Explorer. In other words, try other shells. Here's one that many people like a lot: bbLean And here's an article that explains it fairly well: Review: *box Shells, BB4Win, and bbLean Phil

I just thought of something that could be important. In addition to installing IE6.0SP1 and the unofficial service pack, make sure that you also install the latest version of DirectX. Since it's mentioned in the order of installation thread, you probably already realized that you should get and install it as well. But in case you didn't... Phil

Did somebody say Linux? Look what I just found: GnuCash Phil

Hey folks, StorageCraft is currently offering a free license for their ShadowSurfer software. You can get it here: http://www.shadowstor.com/download.html I downloaded my copy a few days ago and plan to try it the next time I boot into Win2K. I learned about it over on the Wilders Security Forums. Important: Do not enter your credit card information on the final order page or it will fail. Check the "Phone Me" option instead. And for those who don't pay attention, make sure you enter the coupon code or you won't get it for free. Phil

Hi minhgi, Do what Andromeda43 said; it's good advice. For a firewall, this is the one I would use on Win9x/ME: NetVeda Safety.Net I have used Sygate Personal Firewall, and it's decent. However, its default behavior is to automatically give server rights to all applications that you allow. It's a bad practice, and it's why I've decided not to use that firewall any longer. Sure, you can always can go in later and disable it, but it's a bit of a nuisance. The worst thing about this behavior is that the average user won't bother (or won't know) to go in and disable server rights for things that don't need it. Phil

98lite is a kind of removal/customization utility. See http://litepc.com/ for more info. Don't worry about it now, though, since it probably won't help. I would download IE6SP1 (the whole thing, not the net installer) and the unofficial service pack and burn them onto a CD using another computer. Then boot the problem PC into Safe Mode and try to install them. Phil

Some other things to consider... Did you install IE 6? If not, then try it. Then try reinstalling the drivers-- it might help with any drivers that have been giving you trouble. I'm not sure if IE 6 will install in Safe Mode, but go ahead and give it a try; you have nothing to lose. Regarding 98lite, I should have added that some people prefer to install Windows first and then install 98lite later. For more on that, and other ideas about the best way to set up a Windows 98 SE system, be sure to study this message thread: install order of win98 system Good luck. Phil

You could probably install NetBSD on it since it has the reputation of being able to run on the widest variety of hardware. You might even be able to get Debian GNU/Linux running on it since Debian supports a lot of different architectures. Of course, they're not the same as Win98, but it's better than nothing. On the other hand, those other operating systems have their own advantages. Another advantage is that for those folks who link to tinker, it gives them the opportunity to do so. Phil

It's 120GB HD but I created a 2 GB partition for Windows 98SE (or was it 1GB?) Okay, that seems reasonable. If there are any other problems with Win98SE and a 120 GB HDD, I'm sure someone will speak up. Also, exactly how did you create the partition for Windows 98 SE? I had an idea a few days ago that might work for you (or it might not). It is based on the idea that the problem may be due to a conflict between different programs or components of the OS, so getting rid of any extra, unessential crap that gets installed with Win98SE may be helpful. Here's a suggested plan of attack: Download the demo of 98lite and copy it to a floppy disk or CD. Boot from the Win98SE CD, select "Boot from CD-ROM," and then select "Start computer with CD-ROM support." Format the partition-- Z:\win98\format C: (Substitute drive letter for CD-ROM for Z.) Insert floppy disk and copy 98lite45.exe to HDD. Run 98lite45.exe to install 98Lite. Run 98Lite-- C:\98lite\98lite.exe When it is time to install Windows, choose the "chubby" option. However, if you have a CD of Win95b, then I would choose the "sleek" option to begin with (you can always switch back to "chubby" later, if necessary). Phil

I noticed that you said that the HDD is IDE, but you didn't say how big it is. That's a rather important detail that you omitted. Phil

Is there a specific reason why you chose Windows 98 SE? If you can't get Win98SE running on that hardware, then I think you should consider trying Windows 2000 Professional. Another possibility is to install Linux and use that as the host OS. Then install Win98SE into a virtual machine using a program like qemu. Since that computer of yours is fast and has lots of RAM, Win98SE should run well even if it's running inside a virtual machine. Phil

If you posted copies of spam containing links to the spammers' web sites, please edit your post(s) and remove them (the links). It makes no sense to promote the spammers web sites for them. In addition, it would help if you would report the spam as soon as you get it. Go to spamcop.net and open a free account. But don't bother reporting any spam that is more than two days old, as it will be rejected. Reporting the spam will make it harder for the spam to get through because the IP addresses that it is being sent from will be put on a blacklist. It will also let the ISPs know that there are customers on their networks with compromised computers-- you will be helping the unfortunate people whose computers have been infested and hijacked by these parasites. Phil

Yes, that is true, and it's why I said that most people should not waste their time with "Mindows." I think that its best use is for special purposes. For example, some people want to put a small computer in their automobile and use it to play music. Mindows might be a good choice for that since they will probably use only one program (e.g., MP3 player). Phil

Did you find a solution to your problem? Phil

There's no download or other free way to do it. I paid $20 for an upgrade CD a few years ago, but I don't know if Microsoft still sells it. But if you installed the service pack for Win98-- the one that has been available from Microsoft for years now-- your system is supposedly already very close to Win98SE. However, I read that a long time ago, and I am not sure how true that is. How fast-- how many MHz? How much RAM? How big is the hard disk drive? Phil

Copy explorer.exe,comdlg32.dll and shell32.dll from your windows95 into your mindows folder, seems like they have not been copied over, or were not in the setup folder. I have been using Mikes software for a long time with no problems. Has anybody got a trial copy of Tinywin98 from the defunct Embedded Ware Technologies company, seems something also worth playing with. Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, it won't help because they were definitely copied to the set-up directory. I played around with it some and got things into a semi-working state, though. I edited system.ini and changed this line: shell=Explorer.exe Actually, I commented it out and added a new line, like this: ; shell=Explorer.exe shell=progman.exe That tells Win98 to use the Program Manager from Win3.1x/WFW instead of Explorer (which is the default). BTW, the file manager from Win3.1x/WFW is available, too. Just launch winfile.exe. I'd bet that most Win98 users are totally oblivious to the fact that those programs are there. You said that you've been using this without any problems. What do you use it for? To me, this is not good as a desktop system. At least, not in its current form. It's more for special purposes. Most people should just go straight to 98lite and not even bother with this. Having said that, I think that "Mindows" could eventually, with some work, turn into the equivalent of an nLite for Windows 98. I am definitely going to play with this some more. My idea to use progman.exe as the shell instead of explorer.exe has given me a few additional ideas. Phil

I just finished installing the latest version of "Mindows." The installation went okay, for the most part. However, there was an error message that ".INF" couldn't be found during set up. Worst of all, though, the installation is unusable because explorer.exe performs an illegal operation and crashes during the boot process. Phil

I don't know about a dayplanner, but this e-mail client is really good: Courier I think you'll be pleased at how snappy the program is. I've found that many modern email client programs are bloated and a bit sluggish (especially on older hardware). Fortunately, Courier is not one of them. Phil