soporific

Well, i'm sort of glad i checked this post out because, lo and behold, there's a message to 'lil old me! This question seems to relate to UBCD, so it would have been better posted there. Yeah, and AFAIK Virtual PC doesn't work on Win98, which OS are you trying to use it on? v2004: Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000 Service Pack 4; Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86); Windows XP Service Pack 2 v2007: Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86); Windows Server 2003, Standard x64 Edition; Windows Vista Business; Windows Vista Business 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Enterprise; Windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Ultimate; Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit edition; Windows XP Professional Edition ; Windows XP Professional x64 Edition ; Windows XP Tablet PC Edition

soporific, I have tested the other two new updates I mentioned with the XML 4.0 SP2 update 936181. So... 921503 (MS07-043) OLEAUT32.DLL does not work. It causes HTML script errors with library not found messages... 936021 (MS07-042 936227) MSXML3.DLL does not work. It causes application errors... And as mentioned earlier, 936181 (MS07-042 936227) MSXML4.DLL does not work. XML 4 simply does not do anything... Broken... I welcome others to test these updates. Thanks for this really important testing info ... i should send a note to MDGx about this as we're going to see more and more cases like these and we don't want to be breaking all the few remaining fully functioning Win98 systems out there! We want to do the opposite ... we need to maybe formalise a testing window where we ask for volunteers to test the new updates we want to release, maybe a fortnight, and then do the proper release. I better get started on the new section for this thread's first post! Thanks again RetroOS, you are a very welcome member of the unofficial Windows 98 SE support team!!

The problem was you need to use the correct working folder when starting WPI ... ie you navigate to the folder that contains WPI.HTA and then you start it. This means it can be found when its time to close down.

i'm just about to release a new version of the UBCD for Win98/SE as a sort of last hurrah for the ancient thing, and i'd dearly love to do up a custom billboard screen for this. I just don't know which file to edit and i've been searching for days and it seems lots of pages have been taken down since its now considered obsolete ... but maybe someone here know ... please please please say something, even if its to point me to the place i need to visit. Tons, literally tons of kudos to you for your help.

WPI v4.3.8b2

Kel, the problem is still there with the audio folder restored... More info: WPI runs on first boot, i can change this to run on subsequent reboots, but i don't think that is going to solve the problem. My version of UBCD installs all of the following BEFORE the first boot: WMP9 and codecs, Ie6 sp1, and a whole slew of updates (but none are for IE6sp1). So IE6 sp1 is already installed by the time WPI is run, so it shouldn't have anything to do with IE5 issues. If anything, the problem could be something to do with the version of Visual Basic that is there when WPI starts, but i'm clutching at straws here.

yeah, i did. If that is all it was, i feel like such a dill. I'll check ASAP and report back.

here they are, see attachment WPI_probs.zip

so kel, all i need to know now is how to get WPI to exit gracefully, as per the last screenshot i posted. Sorry for all the edits, maybe you missed some of them. Cheers dude.

it should be all the updates listed in the Windows Media Player module in the Auto-Patcher contents file. The incompatible section -- I think that's a good idea, and it looks like we need to wait a bit for some testing to occur on the new releases before we release into the wild. All the Win98se projects should take this approach me thinks.

thanks for this, see the codeboxes below Things to note: * LocateCD.386 is what i use to find the CD drive thru out all the code. So this replaces WPI.ico in generate.js Thanks again ! EDIT: my test VM is now installing fine ... !!!! If you still want to have a look, be my guest. What worked: the new generate.js file OR it was setting %wpipath% --- which one would it have been? or both? The generate.js file i used is the one i sent you. EDIT 2: my bet is the simple change in generate.js --- yeah, that must be it, i used my own method of finding the CD drive, so didn't need your .cmd file but then didn't think to see if WPI.ico was coded anywhere else. Got it. Please tell me if i'm wrong! EDIT 3: a long time ago i asked if it was possible to use the old style runonceex list of apps as the graphics display the user sees, well now i know the answer is to use any version of WPI prior to 5.0!! Would it be hard to integrate this style into v6.2 ?? I'm not fussed, its no biggie. I like the neatness of it is all. Oh, and thanks for all this prompt help! EDIT 4: Still got a problem at the end, just uploading the screenshot now ... to save you time, here's what is at line 240 in my generate.js var WshShell = new ActiveXObject("wscript.shell"); var fso = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject"); var WshEnv = WshShell.Environment("PROCESS"); var cddrv = new String(); cddrv=""; var foundCDdrv = false; var audioshell = new ActiveXObject("WScript.shell"); var runaudio = ""; var runaudioprogram = ""; runaudio=1; function SetScriptWaitTimeout(timeout) // max is 4294967295 { position="generate.js"; var val=0; var KeyBase = "HKCU\\Software\\Microsoft\\Internet Explorer\\Styles\\MaxScriptStatements"; try { if (timeout<0) { WshShell.regDelete(KeyBase); return; } try { val = WshShell.regRead(KeyBase); } catch (exc) { if (timeout==0 || !timeout) timeout = 0x7fffffff; WshShell.regWrite(KeyBase, timeout, "REG_DWORD"); } } catch (ex2) {} } function FileExists(filespec) { position = "generate.js"; return fso.FileExists(filespec); } function GetCDRomDriveLetters() { position = "generate.js"; var li, en; li = new Array(); en = new Enumerator(fso.Drives); for (; !en.atEnd(); en.moveNext()) { ite = en.item(); if (ite.DriveType == 4) { li[li.length++]=(ite.DriveLetter + ":"); } } return li; } function FindCDRom() { position = "generate.js"; var i, li; if (LaunchFromCD=="yes") FindFile="LocateCD.386"; else FindFile="LocateCD.386"; if (foundCDdrv) return cddrv; li = GetCDRomDriveLetters(); for (i=0; i<li.length; i++) { if (FileExists(li[i]+'\\'+FindFile)) { cddrv = li[i]; debug("Found CDROM as drive " + cddrv,1,2); } } if (cddrv=="") { a = fso.GetAbsolutePathName("."); while (a.length>=3) { //debug("Trying ... " + a, 1); if (FileExists(a+'\\'+FindFile)) { cddrv=a; debug("Found CDROM as folder " + cddrv,1,2); break; } if (a.length==3) break; a = a + "\\.."; a = fso.GetAbsolutePathName(a); } } if (cddrv=="") { cddrv = WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Setup\\SourcePath") + "\\"; cddrv = cddrv.substr(0,3); debug("Found CDROM as from registry " + cddrv,1,2); } foundCDdrv = true; return cddrv; } function replpath(u) { position = "generate.js"; cddrv = FindCDRom(); rs = new String(u); rs = rs.replace(/%cdrom%/gi, cddrv); rs = rs.replace(/%wpipath%/gi, WPIPath()); rs = WshShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings(rs); return rs; } function path(u) { position = "generate.js"; if((u[0] == "systemdrive") ||(u[0] == "programfiles") ||(u[0] == "windir") ||(u[0] == "cdrom") ||(u[0] == "")) { pth = new String(); pth = u[0]; u[0] = pth.toLowerCase(); if(u[0] == "systemdrive") return WshEnv("SYSTEMDRIVE") + "\\" + u[1] if(u[0] == "programfiles") return WshEnv("PROGRAMFILES") + "\\" + u[1] if(u[0] == "temp") return WshEnv("TEMP") + "\\" + u[1] if(u[0] == "windir") return WshEnv("WINDIR") + "\\" + u[1] if(u[0] == "cdrom"){ TempSource = new String(); TempSource = WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Setup\\SourcePath"); TempSource = TempSource + "\\"; if (discPath == 'root'){ TempSource = TempSource.substr(0,3) + u[1]; // return the drive letter of the CD/DVD drive. eg. D:\ | E:\ | F:\ etc. } else{ TempSource = TempSource + u[1]; } TempSource.replace("\\\\","\\"); return TempSource } if(u[0] == "") return u[1] } else { if (u[1]==null || u[1]=="") return replpath(u[0]); else alert("Drive not found."); } return ""; } function CreateFile(arg) { position = "generate.js"; var KeyBase = "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\RunOnceEx"; var j = 0; var msg; var programs = new Array(); if (arg==null || arg) window.alert(getText(msgStartInstall)); if (arg=='exit'){ // when pressing exit button, removes default checked checkboxes remChecks(); } for ( i = 1; prog[i]!=null; i++ ) { if (forc[i]!=null && forc[i] == "yes"){ // check the checkbox for an app if it is forced setChecked(i); } if (document.getElementById("chkbox"+i) && document.getElementById("chkbox"+i).checked) { programs[programs.length++] = new program(i); debug("Selecting: " + programs[programs.length-1].prog + " - " + programs[programs.length-1].ordr,1); } } if (sorting) { debug("Sort",1); if (installByCategory) programs.sort(SortByCat); else programs.sort(SortByOrdr); } for ( i = 0; i<programs.length && programs[i]!=null; i++ ) debug(i+1 + ".: " +programs[i].ordr + " - " + programs[i].prog,1); debug("Installing...",1); for ( i = 0; i<programs.length && programs[i]!=null; i++ ) { j++; if (sorting && !installByCategory) e = programs[i].ordr; else { e = '0' + i; while (e.length<4) e = "0" + e; } WshShell.regWrite(KeyBase + "\\"+e+"\\", programs[i].prog, "REG_SZ"); if (true) { // set to false, if you want just the display but no real installs if ((programs[i].regb != null)&&(path(programs[i].regb) != '')) WshShell.regWrite(KeyBase + "\\"+e+"\\1","REGEDIT /S "+path(programs[i].regb), "REG_SZ"); if ((programs[i].cmd1 != null)&&(path(programs[i].cmd1) != '')) WshShell.regWrite(KeyBase + "\\"+e+"\\2",substituteCommand(programs[i].cmd1), "REG_SZ"); if ((programs[i].cmd2 != null)&&(path(programs[i].cmd2) != '')) WshShell.regWrite(KeyBase + "\\"+e+"\\3",substituteCommand(programs[i].cmd2), "REG_SZ"); if ((programs[i].cmd3 != null)&&(path(programs[i].cmd3) != '')) WshShell.regWrite(KeyBase + "\\"+e+"\\4",substituteCommand(programs[i].cmd3), "REG_SZ"); if ((programs[i].cmd4 != null)&&(path(programs[i].cmd4) != '')) WshShell.regWrite(KeyBase + "\\"+e+"\\5",substituteCommand(programs[i].cmd4), "REG_SZ"); if ((programs[i].cmd5 != null)&&(path(programs[i].cmd5) != '')) WshShell.regWrite(KeyBase + "\\"+e+"\\6",substituteCommand(programs[i].cmd5), "REG_SZ"); if ((programs[i].cmd6 != null)&&(path(programs[i].cmd6) != '')) WshShell.regWrite(KeyBase + "\\"+e+"\\7",substituteCommand(programs[i].cmd6), "REG_SZ"); if ((programs[i].rega != null)&&(path(programs[i].rega) != '')) WshShell.regWrite(KeyBase + "\\"+e+"\\8","REGEDIT /S "+path(programs[i].rega), "REG_SZ"); } if (runaudio==1){ runaudio=0; if (showmpINSBtn == 1) { runaudioprogram = ".\\audio.exe" audioshell.run(runaudioprogram, 1, true); } } if (j==appsPerInstallWindow) // call RunOnceEx every 15 apps, so that the window doesn't grow too big { WshShell.regWrite(KeyBase + "\\TITLE", getText(txtRunOnceExTitle), "REG_SZ"); window.moveTo(10000,10000); if (!debugOn) WshShell.Run("rundll32.exe iernonce.dll,RunOnceExProcess", 10, true); j=0; } } //Launch the last RunOnceEx process we just wrote keys for and exit WshShell.regWrite(KeyBase + "\\TITLE", getText(txtRunOnceExTitle), "REG_SZ"); window.moveTo(10000,10000); if (!debugOn) WshShell.Run("rundll32.exe iernonce.dll,RunOnceExProcess", 10, true); window.moveTo(0,0); SetScriptWaitTimeout(-1); audioshell.run(".\\Audio\\CloseAudio.exe", 1, true); if (!debugOn) window.close(); programs = null; } function substituteCommand(cmd) { var prog = path(cmd); var firstToken = prog.substr(0,prog.indexOf(" ")); switch (firstToken.toUpperCase()) { case 'FILECOPY': prog = ("CMD /C " + prog.replace(/FILECOPY/gi,'copy')); break; case 'DIRCOPY': prog = ("CMD /C " + prog.replace(/DIRCOPY/gi,'xcopy') + "/I /E /Y"); break; case 'RENAME': prog = ("CMD /C " + prog.replace(/RENAME/gi,'ren')); break; } return prog; } and here's the start of my config.js pn=1; prog[pn]=['400 True Type Fonts'] uid[pn]=['400TRUETYPEFONTS'] picw[pn]=['128'] pich[pn]=['128'] desc[pn]=['The ones you get with Windows are pretty boring ... here\'s the first 400 fonts i would install if I were you.'] textl[pn]=['Bottom'] texti[pn]=['1'] cmd1[pn]=['%CDROM%\\install1\\WPI\\400fonts.exe'] dflt[pn]=['yes'] gcond[pn]=['FileExists(\'%programfiles%\')'] configs[pn]=['yes'] cat[pn]=['System'] pn++ prog[pn]=['7-Zip 4.53 beta'] uid[pn]=['7-Zip'] picw[pn]=['128'] pich[pn]=['128'] desc[pn]=['The freeware archiving utility with the best compression. Don\'t be alarmed that this is a beta version, it works fine!'] textl[pn]=['Bottom'] texti[pn]=['1'] cmd1[pn]=['%CDROM%\\install1\\WPI\\7-Zip_4.53.exe'] dflt[pn]=['yes'] gcond[pn]=['FileExists(\'%programfiles%\')'] configs[pn]=['yes'] cat[pn]=['Utilities'] pn++ prog[pn]=['ABI Word 2.51'] uid[pn]=['ABIWORD'] picw[pn]=['128'] pich[pn]=['128'] desc[pn]=['AbiWord is a free word processing program similar to MS Word. It is suitable for a wide variety of word processing tasks including import & export functions. Credit goes to LastXP for the extra plugins included in this pack.'] textl[pn]=['Bottom'] texti[pn]=['1'] cmd1[pn]=['%CDROM%\\install1\\WPI\\ABIWord_2.51.exe'] gcond[pn]=['FileExists(\'%programfiles%\')'] configs[pn]=['no'] cat[pn]=['Office'] pn++ prog[pn]=['AVG free Anti-Virus 7.6.1048'] uid[pn]=['AVGFREEANTIVIRUS'] picw[pn]=['128'] pich[pn]=['128'] desc[pn]=['Of the 2 major free anti-virus applications that i know about, AVG is the most trouble-free while still providing reasonable protection. Avast maybe a bit more secure but its more paranoid too and sometimes reports useful utilities like cmdow.exe as trojans. This is really annoying.'] textl[pn]=['Bottom'] texti[pn]=['1'] cmd1[pn]=['%CDROM%\\install1\\WPI\\AVGfreeAnti-Virus_7.6.1048.exe'] dflt[pn]=['no'] gcond[pn]=['FileExists(\'%programfiles%\')'] configs[pn]=['yes'] cat[pn]=['System'] pn++ prog[pn]=['CDCheck 3.0.1.43'] uid[pn]=['CDCHECK'] picw[pn]=['128'] pich[pn]=['128'] desc[pn]=['CDCheck is utility for prevention, detection and recovery of damaged files with emphasis on error detection. It can check each of your CDs and indicate which files are corrupted. CDCheck reporting features tell you exactly where the problems are. CDs can get damaged in a number of ways, so the program helps you determine whether your data is safe before it\'s too late. The program also provides a comparison option that lets you select a reference directory on your hard drive (or some other device). CDCheck ensures that the contents on a disc match those in the directory, and effectively alerts you of differences. Besides that CDCheck supports creation of CRC files which provide extra safety that files on your CDs are still exactly the same as they were. In addition to CD-ROMs, the program can be used with all other local or removable media (disk drives, floppy disks, ZIP drives...) visible by the operating system (Windows Explorer).'] textl[pn]=['Bottom'] texti[pn]=['1'] cmd1[pn]=['%CDROM%\\install1\\WPI\\CDCheck_3.0.1.43.exe'] dflt[pn]=['yes'] gcond[pn]=['FileExists(\'%programfiles%\')'] configs[pn]=['yes'] cat[pn]=['Utilities'] pn++

ooh, just got it but haven't tried it .. will do now. but also, i'm nearly there ... maybe you can get me over the last hurdle ... I just tried a run thru of WPI_v4.3.8b2 and it was all fine until the apps started to install. The path was being set to c:\\<file> instead of d:\<file> I hadn't set wpipath but is that the only problem? I noticed that in your startup .cmd file that you set wpipath --- is this variable crucial? Can't i just set cdrom ? Also, I have modified generate.js to make it more Win98 friendly but haven't tried it out yet. Maybe you know exactly what i have to do to get the path behaving properly. Thanks in advance!

Hi Kel, I just had a looksie in GENERATE.JS and its very Win2K/XP orientated ... the FindCDRom() function (in v5.3) is producing an error in Win98se ... you seem to have been improving it along WinXP lines thru all the different versions (nothing wrong with that) ... so i'm currently going back thru earlier versions to find a build that is entirely Win98 friendly. I only need the basic functions so these should be fine. I will post which version i end up using. This is for the new version of the Unattended Boot CD for Windows 98se which is here: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=88008 Needless to say, i'm using v6.2 for my XP projects, and for this you have my thanks and this over-rides any dismay that i can't use 6.2 for Win98se. Cheers man. I will give a credit to you in the documentation if i end up using WPI with a link to here as well.

Thanks for the feedback, i will investigate all this and get to the bottom of it before i release another version. Stay tuned for that one day...

The reason August 2007 doesn't install on a clean Win98se system is because the redistributable doesn't contain the DirectX core installation files for Win9x/Me systems, it only contains the NT and XP versions and also the monthly update files. I cut and pasted the following from my "Win98se list of Updates" thread ... Here's an unofficial installer for DirectX 9.0c August 2007, it was designed to be used with the UBCD project. You cannot use the standard redistributable file from MS to install DirectX 9.0c from scratch, you can only use it after installing any of the previous versions of DirectX 9.0c (ie December 2006 or before) ... this installer is in effect the regular DirectX 9.0c with the August 2007 files installed as an add-on and as such is 39 MB in size. I will also (hopefully) be releasing an update from December 2006 to August 2007 which will be much smaller in size, so wait for that if you already have December 2006 (and you can also just use the standard redistributable file from MS). So just repeating, this is useful for people wanting to include it on a UBCD or something similar. http://soporific.dsleague.com/downloads/DirectX9-Aug2007.exe it should work for all Windows 98se/Me systems although i haven't tested on a Me system.

here's an unofficial installer for DirectX 9.0c August 2007, it was designed to be used with the UBCD project. You cannot use the standard redistributable file from MS to install DirectX 9.0c from scratch, you can only use it after installing any of the previous versions of DirectX 9.0c (ie December 2006 or before) ... this installer is in effect the regular DirectX 9.0c with the August 2007 files installed as an add-on and as such is 39 MB in size. I will also (hopefully) be releasing an update from December 2006 to August 2007 which will be much smaller in size, so wait for that if you already have December 2006 (and you can also just use the standard redistributable file from MS). So just repeating, this is useful for people wanting to include it on a UBCD or something similar. http://soporific.dsleague.com/downloads/DirectX9-Aug2007.exe it should work for all Windows 98se/Me systems.

ah, but did you try to install August 2007 on a clean system? You can't ... i'll post a link to my version of August 2007 for Win98se systems. just a sec ...

It seems to work as expected after i choose to continue ... am i correct that it is supposed to work in Win98se? I have used it extensively in WinXP so i am quite familiar with WPI (my first version was 5.0 i think). This is using a totally new version of 6.2 with no option or config files yet created, so they can't be the source of the problem. I get the same error when i do use previously created CONFIG.JS & useroptions.js files. Thanks for any help. EDIT: currently going thru all the older versions, already found that WPIv4.3.7b loads without the previously reported error. EDIT2: it starts to break at v5.4 ... i've tested the following: WPIv4.3.7b, WPI_v5.0, WPI_5.2, WPI_5.3 and these all load fine. WPI_5.4 and higher all report the above error. So it looks like Win98se users should use v5.3. Hope this helps.

Jack, thanks for the feedback ... also for the log files ... there is one more thing you can do: can you run AP in verbose mode (debug mode) and after it all stops, send me the debug.txt file that you will find in the \logs directory of the program folder. Cheers man. I also have to ask: have you finally got good RAM sticks? Because if you don't there's no point reporting issues like these because for all we know its the RAM talking, not the program code. Last time i heard you were still dealing with less than perfect sticks ...

But wouldn't that take a lot of time? Matching what you have installed to what AP thinks you are missing ... and then settings all the options the right way ... wouldn't that take ages to set up? Have no fear!! Try it!! Just run AP again and set it to install everything you want installed. You should find that nothing installs. I always run AP twice to make sure NOTHING installs twice --- if it does, i have a problem somewhere. I'm a bit troubled that this wasn't clear... i've been crowing about this feature of AP from the very start! Maybe you can suggest how and where we tell people about his feature ...

Hi there, The ever reliable MDGx has the December 2006 as the latest version of DirectX for Win98 se users, but i just tried to install August 2007 and it installed fine, and lots of new files were added to the system. But is there any point? And i wish MS would stop playing silly buggers with the 'Supported OSes' info ... no mention of Windows 98, but others sites are advertising it as a Win9x installation. Can anyone shed some light?

Sept 6: * August 2007 UPGRADE is now available - 17.2 MB - MD5: 4711C8E25A63236AA9A397377864A4E8 Please Note: this upgrade installer requires you to have the July 2007 release already installed Sept 5: * August 2007 FULL is now available - 248 MB - MD5: 4AF21A04599C1ED6400A859CA394266D see the first post for more info.

that's a good question .. does anyone know the answer? i don't ...

@ MD i was getting really excited when i saw this in your _readme.txt file for MDDACU 1.3 For silent installation it is necessary to unpack archive (this cab-archve) in any directory and to run the "setup.exe /Q" but true silent doesn't automatically reboot, or it shouldn't because it's still not usable in Auto-Patcher without special code being written just for this title. It would be really good to include and i might go ahead and write that special code, but maybe its easy for you to correct this. So, is there a way to stop the automatic reboot if the user uses "setup.exe /Q" ? ... please let me know, and cheers for this package, it's heaps better than my offering in Auto-Patcher. My intention is just to put your file there and get rid of the rest. Saves on space too. This is why i'm letting you know how keen i am to put it in AP. Let me know!

Max, can you run the following code and send me the result? @echo off REGEDIT /e "C:\LapTop.txt" "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\PCMCIA" CLS EXIT It will produce a file called LapTop.txt in the root of the C drive. Or it may not. Please let me know! EDIT: this line "REGEDIT /e "C:\LapTop.txt" "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE ..." is one long line.