soporific

hey there, i'm making a new version of the UBCD and i want to include updated driverpacks. If you have any suggestions as to what to add, please say something. Obviously suggest the drivers your Win98 machine uses so maybe you'll want to use the project! Please see the first post for the current list and contents.

Dave-H, if you installed Revolutions Pack 7.11 AND the AP environment space fix, you will find AP doesn't load. The problem is due to the SHELL command in CONFIG.SYS -- click START then RUN and type in SYSEDIT in the run dialog box and hit enter. Your system files will come up -- in CONFIG.SYS find this line: SHELL=COMMAND.COM /E:4096 /P and delete it. If you subsequently find that you needed the fix in order for AP to work properly then we will need to make a special AUTOEXEC.BAT file for you to use. Let me know if this is the case. Sop.

re: SCR579X.EXE -- I'll go one further than than just including it in the new release, i'm releasing the January version of AP as soon as possible. If you have suggestions for it, please say something soon.

the only thing i can add to the discussion that hasn't been mentioned is that in terms of Windows 98 and the internet, there's only purpose you simply cannot use a Windows 98 machine for and that is file sharing. Win98 may not be the best when it comes to serving up web pages but it does the job, just a little slower and clunkier than you'd like. But when it comes to communicating with multiple P2P clients Win98 can only do so many at a time and it can't keep up at all and you get all sorts of mini crashes and you may as well just forget it. Or upgrade to XP. Seriously, this was the trigger for me.

Hey, no worries, thanks for clearing up what was happening... ... with regard to your probs with scandisk, one way to check out what's going on is to try to fill up the space. Get yourself a 700 MB avi movie of some sort, and make a bunch of directories and fill them up with copies of the file ... save some time by making a number of copies of the file with different file names ... at various points while doing this, run the last avi file you copied to make sure you can see it work for a few seconds, and then continue. Once the disk is full, see if the total data size is what you would expect and also make sure you can view the last file you copied. This sounds laborious but its done with only a few commands and it means you don't have to reply on a 3rd party program to tell you, you can tell yourself if your data is doing the right thing.

Hey there Fishindude, sorry to hear you've been having issues, but we'll get to the bottom of this quick smart. First, can you summarize what exactly it is that's wrong? It seems to be that scandisk doesn't work as intended with your drive that is larger than 137 GB, correct? Secondly, you say that "it again identified 147 patches for my system - the same ones that it said it had already patched" --- Now, i find this hard to believe. One or two maybe but what you are saying is that AP installed 147 updates and now thinks it needs to do them ALL again. Simply not possible. My guess is that you aren't reading your logs and reports properly (my deepest apologies if i'm wrong about this). New logs and reports are APPENDED to the end of the text file, so you must remember to scroll down to the LAST report in order to be reading it correctly. There are warnings regarding this so i have tried to help you avoid making this mistake ... Sorry if i'm being patronising but this is the only thing i can think of that explains whats happening with regard to 147 updates mysteriously not installing. Also, if you post me your log (and/or report) files then i can also help you see what's going on. Sop. ps - cheers to Dencorso who pointed this thread out to me.

If you don't include "win51ip.sp2" in the root directory, setup will ask you for the SP2 disk.

Hey Boooggy, Just wanted to say thanks for this, it worked as intended first time, no hassles whatsoever. Cheers! Soporific.

Hi FirstOff, Welcome to MSFN. I'm sorry to hear you have developed a little problem since using AutoPatcher, but i'm sure we can fix it up. I would try to get you machine back to the state it was in when it worked as intended. Not by uninstalling the hotfixes you've already installed, but by re-installing Flight Simulator again (or do a repair install). If this doesn't work, we could try uninstalling some of the hotfixes you installed when using the stability hotfix module.

That's naughty that is! I'm happy to discuss RC2 and Final related issues with anyone who has installed RC2 or Final. RC1 people can talk to the hand.

yeah, i've noticed this too but i never did enough testing to see that it always asks you if you want to download 0 bytes in order to use scripting. I just assumed you said yes once and then that was it. A wild guess from me would point the finger at Java 6 Update 4 as i started to notice the issue around the time i decided to go with Java 6 instead of 5. But i haven't confirmed this theory yet. The other suspect would be the unofficial scripting update.

NEWS: firstly, 2 files were left out of the Final Upgrade installer -- NDP11sp1.exe and DCOM98Up.exe -- for those who wanted to install .NET Framework 1.1 or the Unofficial DCOM98 update should re-download the Upgrade package again. Sorry about this, i gotta lay off the cough syrup obviously. The link will be available as soon as 30 MB uploads, should be only a few more minutes at time of typing. barbarien, could you run AP again using the same module options as before but use the VERBOSE mode (ie use START_DEBUG.bat instead of START_ME.bat to start AP) and PM me the debug text file. Also, give me your log file as well. Loops usually happen on a system that has been in use for a while, i'm quite surprised that you are getting so many on a new installed Win98 se.

Just to let everyone know, i tried installing SESP 3.03a after using AP with most options installed. To my relief, hardly any new system files were installed meaning AP has most if not all of the updates Gape has included. But there is still a point in installing SESP 3.03a after AP in that you get some extra eye candy (boot screens) and there are some performance tweaks you will benefit from. Most importantly, the 2 projects seem to work well together. SESP 3.03a could also be considered a replacement from using AP at all as it will bring your Win98 machine up-to-date much like AP will. But AP has the benefit of containing EVERYTHING which means you can use it no matter what the state of your system is. SESP 3.03a can't do this, you need some stuff installed first. But, SESP 3.03a is looking really really good. Congrats to Gape.

Hey there Bootless, I'm glad you're still getting lots of mileage out of Win98 ... well, that's because you found MSFN re your problem: i think you'll need to provide more info on exactly what you did when you installed the OS, in particular, what hard disk was where and what drive letter it was assigned to each drive. And what exactly did you do with the drive swap, more info please. All the other info you provided was interesting but not as relevant as us needing to know the installation structure of your setup. Without knowing more, the only thing i can think of at present is that the boot info that the OS needs to boot with was on the other drive that you took out. It doesn't matter if the drive you took out didn't have the Windows directory on it, it is still possible that the drive was being used to hold the boot info. Sop. PS -- if we fix your problem, your user name will be misleading!

re: the version name of Auto-Patcher -- my reasoning is thus: I want the name to reflect the date AP will get you up-to-date to. So, for those not following the progress on MSFN, i want them to be sure they know where they're up to with regard to updates. Right now, there's no way i can call it February 2008 because any updates released this month won't be a part of February and may give the wrong impression. I could call it January 2008, that satisfies my criteria - but December 2007 still is my preferred name because it gives a better impression of where you will be updated to. re: the number of reboots -- i can't give an exact figure because its determined by the selection but generally its one reboot per module whatever that works out to be.

Short answer: no. I am aware of this ToolTip Fixer, i use it in the unattended Windows XP DVDs that i make and release. Due to the need to have .NET 2.0 installed, this isn't going to be included in Auto-Patcher any time soon, but you are welcome to install it yourself. It will not work without .NET 2.0.

Well, in lieu of specific alternate suggestions i'm going with what i've got so far. And where i previously referred to a 'higher' file version number i was referring to the versioning quirk you mentioned, i should have used more that just quotes to explain what i meant, sorry ... you previously mentioned that AP thought that the latest update was already installed when in fact it wasn't, i think this issue should now be fixed. So, people, i want to finally release December 2007 Final ... so if you still think i have work to do, please speak up now or forever hold your peace! For issues in particular, the 48BitLBA loop is still outstanding from RC1, i haven't got any feedback if RC2 fixed this (i was never able to replicate the problem) Cheers. EDIT: change log as it currently stands ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ December 2007 Final (unreleased) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ change: the check for OLEUP now uses 2 file version checks ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ December 2007 RC3 (unreleased) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ rolled back the Unofficial Cumulative Update for Internet Explorer 6 sp1 to the previous one (replaced kb942615 with kb939653) updated: Sun Java 2 Runtime Environment 6 update 4 added: Windows 2000 style theme to schemes list fixed: small bug with Unofficial Microsoft Scripting Engines v5.6, the wrong file version check value was being used EDIT 2: oops, forgot about the problems in AutoSystemINI --- will fix pronto.

Thanks for finding this, ive made a new function called 'FILK' (not that you needed to know that) and this little guy checks 2 files for their versions, if either are lower than what i coded for then the update goes ahead. So, those who had the latest version of OLEPRO32.DLL but not the latest OLEAUT32.DLL will get the install going ahead. The only problem here is if the user has one of those 'higher' versions of OLEAUT32.DLL AND they have the latest OLEPRO32.DLL -- AP will think its installed. Is this likely to happen?

The problem is that ASPI 4.71.2 doesn't work for all models of CD and DVD drives. Don't ask me why, it just doesn't. If your drive works fine, then you won't find a problem with 4.71.2

Oooh goody, a new Java 6 update! I'd been checking regularly but still the Updates Guy bet me to it! RetroOS, don't feel bad that i rebuffed all your advances as to including Java 6 update 4 in AP but as soon as MDGx lists it as a bonafide Win98SE update, wham, its in AP faster than you can say "what would we do without MDGx", its because i'm so used to MDGx being the final word on these things ... then dencorso turned up, and now we've got you as an authority on what works and what doesn't. Yayus! But who do i trust?

re: GUI is coming long term. It involves me clearing the decks enough so i can concentrate on learning the syntax of C++, it won't be anytime soon though. If anyone knows of any crash course sites or the like, please PM me. Issues: * MSXML 4.0 -- this should be fixed, uninstall any version later than kb927978, and then install kb927978. RetroOS is the man to turn to for identifying which MSXML we should be using. * InfraRecorder update section gave an 'access denied' error when trying to remove the old version. - anyone else get this? - RetroOS, was the old version installed by AP? If not, that makes sense. * The Twain update looped - this should have been fixed in RC2. Can anyone see if they can get it to loop again? Cheers! * The 48BitLBA update looped - i can't replicate this problem - however i've changed the INF, hopefully this will fix the problem * SYSTEM.ini tweaks - "The SYSTEM.ini tweaks menu option gave me an 'out of environment space' error and went back to the main menu. When I freed up some environment space to work around the error, it correctly detected my RAM as 1.5GB, but used the wrong formula to calculate. It set MaxFileCache to 262144 which would have killed Windows! - my current (maximum) setting is 114688. Probably because of this the Chunksize was set as 2048. I use 1024. When I selected current SYSTEM.INI settings, the Chunksize, MinFileCache, and MaxFileCache did not match my current settings" - i will investigate this * There is something wrong with the Visual Basic menu... There is no official VB6 entry and yet I get this in the log - I moved the official VB6 to the Stability Hotfixes module for 2 reasons: -- 1, It's not optional anymore as virtually everyone will get the superseded message. The only reason it will get installed is if you are using AP on a newly installed OS, or you actually don't have VB6 on your system. Who doesn't need VB6? Is there any good reason not to install it? -- 2, by moving it out of the VB module we save having to reboot twice when using this module. * BROWSEUI.DLL 6.0.2800.1915 from kb942615 kills my Windows Explorer (failure in EXPLORER.EXE), the catch is that I have EXPLORER.EXE 5.50.4134.100 from Revolutions Pack 7.11. - i will revert back to kb939653, problem solved. I'll put a note on my updates list about this. Thanks for being such a useful beta tester. * (wouldn't it be good to include the) "windows 2000 color scheme" ... I am soo sick of this default gray scheme that 98SE comes with - i'll add it to the tweaks * have you looked at ASPI Layer 4.71.2? - yes i have and it sucks big time. 4.6 has never failed me yet, 4.71.2 has failed me twice. And others have reported similar, so its a def no. Still, thanks for the suggestion! * How to toggle off the Windows Explorer update - you disable the entire module, you can't individually disable the Windows Explorer update. I thought this was obvious! * Incompatibilities with RP and 98SE2ME - i really don't know what to do about this. I must admit to not testing very extensively with RP (but i do to some degree) but not at all with 98SE2ME. I suppose i should get around to it, but i can see that its going to be lots of work getting stuff to not blue screen on me. Maybe i'll make the next major release more 98SE2ME compatible, but until then i suppose that you 98SE2ME users gotta be careful using AP. * DCOM 98 1.3 is on thy system in c:\windows \system ;yet Auto-patcher rc2 does not recogize as so - i will look into this * DCOM 98 1.3 ...... loops once then skips and moves on to next updates - this is expected behaviour, i designed the program to do this. The 'looping' message is a result of AP thinking that an update hasn't yet been installed when in fact it has. Its the down-side of my system of independently checking if the update is installed. It usually means i've got the code wrong, but sometimes its because i've got a weird situation to deal with That's it. If i've missed anything, don't by shy, say something. Thanks for all the feedback. EDIT: regarding the groups, i've been slowly adding these over the various releases and i haven't had that much feedback, these groups are pretty much arbitrary. If anyone cares to make suggestions as to what goes in each group, they will most likely get their wish. Assuming the suggestion isn't a lunatic one, that is. Even the group names were pulled out from somewhere dark on the spur of the moment, so they're fair game as well. The groups i'm talking about are: MOST, SAFE, and ESSENTIAL. The ALL and NONE groups pretty much speak for themselves.

Please keep the discussion going, i am taking note of it all ... RetroOS, i will answer your queries in the next few days, i'm not so productive on the weekend -- i will post a list of issues soon, everyone please ensure it is correct when you see it.

The short answer is, go grab the latest tweaks pack, by a happy accident, it contains exactly what you are after. I will add it to the next release.

aw shucks ... there's nothing like a bit of flattery to get me to shift my ar*e on the new pack. So here it is! Change Log: v1.30 - added 4 new tweaks: ADV_IE.REG, ADV_WE.REG, DMA_ON.INF, Win2k_scheme.reg - added new file "How to increase system resources in Windows 95/98" to info folder see the first post for the download link.

Jan 25: * December 2007 release candidate 2 is now available. Everyone is recommended to upgrade to the new version. December 2007 RC1 to December 2007 RC2 (UPGRADE): download link Size: 1.3 MB MD5: 7047D52532DE80FA3CD41BA0B1D6D1EE October 2007 to December 2007 RC2 (UPGRADE): download link Size: 84 MB MD5: 0B8FE05833F394E7B1094DD8B221563D