ack-hh

To replace, let's say, Notepad by Metapad, simply do the following: o copy Metapad into the Win98 installation (source) folder o rename Metapad to Notepad All files in the Win98 installation (source) folder take precedence over the files which are packed in the .CAB files. That way all programs which do not require a setup or installation can easily be "installed". This also holds true for MS system and security updates. One can extract all files from these Qxxxxxx.exe files (simply run Qxxxxxx.exe /q:a /c /t:c:\updates\Q\xxxxxx), and then copy the relevant files to the Win98 installation folder. To find out the relevant files have a look at the [sourceDisksFiles] section in the Qxxxxxx.INF file. Other programs or drivers which come with an .inf file can (should) be installed via the INFINST program which can be found in the TOOLS folder on the W98 cd. INFINST creates a file named CUSTOM.INF, which will be processed by the win98 setup. Individual registry settings can be implemented through custom .REG files. To merge these .REG files into the registry add a RUNONCE entry in the "delayed.batch" section of the MSBATCH.INF. I don't remember the exact wording - search MSBATCH.INF for "runonce" or "delay". These RUNONCE entries are also useful to call setup programs for other applications. An unattended setup including the nVidia Detonator (graphics) driver, TweakUI, 3Com network driver, Q243199 NDIS update, RASPPPOE network driver, some personal registry tweaks and some additional utilities can be done within 15 minutes. The only thing which I still could not get rid off are 3 mouse clicks to confirm the PC name, the serial number, and a last confirmative click in the early stage of the setup process. Any idea for that?

strComputer = "." Set WshNetwork = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Network") Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _ & "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2") Set colSMBIOS = objWMIService.ExecQuery _ ("SELECT * FROM Win32_SystemEnclosure") For Each objSMBIOS in colSMBIOS Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") SourceFile="bios.cur" DestFile="bios.new" Set MyFile = fso.OpenTextFile(SourceFile, 1) Set NewFile = fso.OpenTextFile(DestFile, 2,True) status = 0 do while MyFile.AtEndOfStream <> True Zeile = MyFile.ReadLine Select Case vbTrue Case InStr(UCase(Zeile), "ASSET TRACKING NUMBER") <> 0 status = 1 Case status = 1 wrtstrg=Replace(Zeile, objSMBIOS.SMBIOSAssetTag, WshNetwork.ComputerName) status = 0 End Select NewFile.WriteLine wrtStrg loop Next When a line containing "asset tracking number" is found, status changes from "0" to "1", thus indicating the NEXT line has to be modified. After mod has taken place, status gets reset, so no other line will be changed. HTH Andreas

You are certainly welcome. Did you find anything that fits your needs (just in case someone else is asking for a recommendation)?

The win98 folder (approx. 70 MB) is the only one which is required.

Try and boot from a DOS boot disk.

You may wish to visit http://pricelessware.org/thelist/sys.htm#CD%20Burning

January 12th, 2000, 8:50 AM - Win98 SE ... and I did installing and testing a LOT. Even after my latest cleanup the program folder has 300+ entries.

You may wish to search google --> bootable cd

have you tried groups.google.com?

How does the output look like after the following sequence of commands: new thr01 new thr0002 new thr003 new thr4

It looks like you missed http://aumha.org/html/colorsb.htm

I'm using "layout" for five years or so, and I never have experienced the problems mentioned above. IF there should be a bug though, reinstalling isn't required IMHO. Deleting the following registry value should help: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Desktop\ViewView2

I recommend Microsoft's "layout.zip". You can find it for example here: http://www.preuss-home.de/downloads/Layout.zip Copy the DLL to windows\system, then right-click the .reg file and select "Merge". The desktop icon layout can then be saved/restored by a right-click on any system desktop icon (recycle bin, my computer, ...) It's very small, and it saves the icons' position to the registry (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\IconLayout) so a separate backup can easily be done.

Get PrcView from http://www.xmlsp.com/pview/prcview.htm Along with PrcView comes pv.exe which does what you want.

heads up: http://www.movsd.com/thegun.htm is online again

@ TheBlackMan & Yzöwl: There's no specific reason for THAT version. It's only because at some point I noticed that WA became bloated, so I decided to refuse any further updates.

Thank you all for the warm welcome. Regarding the link to MOVSD's TheGun: I've checked all links as I were writing my post. I even downloaded the latest version of TheGun from that site. Hopefully it will be online again soon. Regarding Attribute Changer: Yes, it IS a nice tool. Otherwise I would not have done the German localization in the previous version.

** Edit: I forgot to mention that all programs are TRUE freeware - no ads, no nags, no spyware. Most of the programs are "alive" - that means their authors are responsive, bugs will be fixed, and suggestions will be implemented. ** Hi @ll I think this is the right topic for my first post in this great forum. First of all, as a former regular in alt.comp.freeware I'd like to recommend http://pricelesswarehome.org/, "The best of the best in Freeware as determined by the readers of alt.comp.freeware" But now to my list of freeware in use ... VNC remote desktop access Karenware from http://www.karenware.com some nice utilities WinAmp version 2.79 SnIco from http://snidesoft.cjb.net/ icon editor BLA from http://www.woundedmoon.org/win32/bootloganalyzer123.html (mirror) boot log analyzer FileAsoc file association editor Active XCavator activeX controls browser DLL Archive from http://www.analogx.com scan for duplicate/unused DLLs (use with care!) AsciiDiff from http://www.homestead.com/adriancarter/Compare.html file comparison Dependency Walker from http://www.dependencywalker.com/ analyze executables, dlls, etc. RegMon, FileMon, Autoruns from http://sysinternals.com monitor registry access / monitor file access / list startup items some of the BEST freeware programs IMHO IconScan from http://www.freewarepage.de/download/31.shtml scan files/entire disk for icons (german version) jv16 Powertools (aka RegCleaner) last free version 1.3.0.195 Reptile from http://www.sausage.com/reptile-free.html graphics generator Miranda IM from http://www.miranda-im.org/ small non-bloated messenger; supports various protocols Netboot from http://www.backmagic.de/produkte/netboot.htm dos bootdisk with networking capabilities (german, registration required) IconEdit32 from Ziff Davis (gone commercial) icon editor WebReaper from http://www.webreaper.net/ website downloader - this one sucks CrackUp from Ziff Davis (gone commercial) filesystem fragmentation analysis UCU from http://www.jimwillsher.co.uk/Site/Software/UCU_Intro.html unit conversion utility PEsx from http://www.jps.at/pesx.html shell extension to analyze exe/dll files CDex CD ripper IrfanView picture viewer - a true must-have UPX from http://upx.sourceforge.net/ utility to compress executable files Catfish from http://www.equi4.com/catfish.html file catalog browser - one of my mostly used programs FileAnalyser, RegCool, HDCleaner from http://home.tiscali.de/zdata/mainpage_e.htm pretty useful utilities Treesize from http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml list folders sorted by size OpenExpert from http://www.baxbex.com/openexpert.html handle file extension associations TreeCopy from http://www.rjlsoftware.com/software/utilit...y/default.shtml copy folder structures without files SysIcon from http://www.filelibrary.com/Contents/Windows/130/53.html (mirror) free up/repair the ShellIconCache Registry Detective from Ziff Davis (gone commercial) search the registry FAST BIOS from http://www.geocities.com/mbockelkamp save/restore BIOS settings ExamDiff from http://www.prestosoft.com/ps.asp?page=edp_examdiff visual file comparison Blat from http://www.blat.net/194/ send mail from the command line TrayManager from Ziff Davis (gone commercial) "hide" icons in the systray TheGun (grown-up notepad) from http://www.movsd.com/thegun.htm notepad replacement; fast and small - 6144 bytes only! Attribute changer from http://webplaza.pt.lu/~rpetges/ edit file/folder attributes rjhExtensions from http://www.rjhsoftware.com/rjhextensions/ excellent context menu extension Belarc Advisor from http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html list of installed software/hardware Dirkey from http://www.protonfx.com/dirkey/ move to folders with a single keystroke Motherboard Monitor (MBM) from http://mbm.livewiredev.com/ monitors the status of the motherboard (fan speed, temperature, ...) Dir2Html from http://www.pc-tools.net/win32/dir2html/ create html page from directory structure Metapad from http://www.liquidninja.com/metapad/ even though it has some bugs (can't handle loooong lines correctly; GoTo line number larger 32766 doesn't work) I got used to it Registry Editor Plus from Ziff Davis (gone commercial) great REGEDIT enhancer - favorites, history, ... Regex Coach from http://www.weitz.de/regex-coach/ test (and learn) regular expressions interactively - a smart tool from a smart guy CabPack from http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer .cab compressor Chainsaw from http://www.schmeusser.siw.de/software/chainsaw.html file splitter Reshacker guess you know it Audacity audio editor Regshot (no homepage(?) - use google) make snapshots from the registry and compare them - FAST & small GRDB from http://www.members.tripod.com/~ladsoft/grdb.htm debugger - excellent "debug" replacement @icon sushi from http://www.towofu.net/soft/e-aicon.php icon editor/converter Iconoid from http://www.sillysot.com/ desktop icons manager; make icons transparent - EXCELLENT note: works (for me) even after closing Iconoid - so it uses 0% system resources MWSnap from http://www.mirekw.com/winfreeware/mwsnap.html excellent screenshot utility k9 from http://www.keir.net/k9.html e-mail spam filter (blacklist, whitelist, regular expressions, "learning") Ad-aware & SpybotSD no comment required mp3tag from http://www.mp3tag.de/ excellent mp3-tag editor mp3gain from http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/ mp3 volume normalizer Download Express from http://www.metaproducts.com excellent download manager OLEclean from http://www.geocities.com/drdole/ sort of registry analyzer/cleaner - use with care! ShellExView from http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shexview.html excellent shell extensions manager Instant Version Info from http://www.lorriman.com/software/verext/verext.htm Version info for files in explorer context menu DirHTML from http://home.pacbell.net/nitzsche/dirhtml/dirhtml.html create html pages from a directory structure - lot of features Enjoy! ** Edit: Some gems I forgot to mention ... xxcopy from http://www.xxcopy.com/index.htm EXCELLENT copy/xcopy replacement graburl from www.kiraly.com (website down) command line tool to download web pages (text only) Internet Explorer Text Archiver from http://www.pcnineoneone.com/tweaks/scripts9.html select some text from a web page - right click - select "Archive selected text" - very handy! The plugin saves the selected text in a predefined folder. The file will include a timestamp and the web site's address. OE-Quotefix from http://home.in.tum.de/~jain/software/oe-quotefix/ Add-on that modifies message composition windows on-the-fly to allow for 'correct' quoting, compressed indentation, and RFC-compliant signatures Desk Marker from http://www.deskmarker.com/ Draw on windows with different pensize and color to emphasize window areas. Aezay Registry Commander from http://aezay.dk/ EXCELLENT registry editor with features seen nowhere else more to come ...