noguru

But the free available AV's that I know of are not open source. They are trimmed versions of commercial products without any support offered. But they use the same av-definitions like their commercial counterfits, made by the same people. Not a guy here and there (when they have time!). That paid software has it benefits is something I won't deny. If it did not it would probably not exist.

But he tried videolan and that should work without external codecs or software. Just like MPC (which is my favorite ). I'm more thinking in the direction videocard/directx. Check (overlay) videosettings and run dxdiag to see if all is ok.

You won't be able to watch some streaming content on the web because it requires WMP9 or higher. It's up to you if that's a problem or not. Under Win98 WMP9 is not fully functional. No DVD play and lousy fullscreen control

Also in MPclassic, try choosing a different renderer in options--> playback--> output.

Erpdude8, Minor correction: It's not WMP9 KB915565 but KB911565 I have version 5.50.4134.600 only in c:/programfiles/commonfiles/microsoftshared/. The one in my systemdirectory is 6.00.2900.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)? Should it be replaced?

1) Works, but more complicated than DVD-RAM. DVD+- RW is faster and cheaper. Personal preference I think.2) Hard to say, DVD-RAM always verifies written data but if you mainly use them for multimedia files than you can do without that. Using a cartridge keeps your disc's save from scratches and dust. But most "multiwriters", drives that support DVD-RAM and other DVD formats as well, cannot use cartridges. Sorry,no recommendations. I have used Panasonic, Maxell and Fuji. All worked fine. It's only mainstream producers that have them anyway. You need a tool for formatting the disc's. These tools also install UDF drivers. (Windows native UDF support is readonly). When you purchase a retail version this software will be included. (but if you only use fat32 you don't need software at all in WinXP)

Producers claim a lifespan of 30 years (Fuji). But they do that for CD-RW as well. No real difference here between the different types of disc's. I believe that the quality from writable media has become better since the first CD-R's, but 30 years?

Good that you post the other view. But I am confused about one thing. If all Firefox users know that IE is not the best browser why do they use Firefox which is clearly not the best as well? When I read the article you provided and the Firefox myths page, Opera is just better. Personally I don't like the look and feel of Opera but this is what I conclude from the facts given. A few statements on the site you link to are quite bold. How about this one about IE users: "In fact, you probably already have malicious software on your system in connection with Internet Explorer." That certainly does not convince me to stop using IE. It's not true...

The cartridge is the extra case that LLXX is talking about. Just a plastic cover around the disk for protection. Compare it with a floppy and you get the idea. There is a type I and type II (I'm sorry can't help it, all those types...). Type II can be opened to take the disc out. If you really need you can open a type I too but that will destroy the cartridge forever. I need to mention a disadvantage of DVD-RAM (cos I forgot before). The disc are usually difficult to get. Don't expect your local store around the corner to have them. Hope this helps

This mediacoder looks the best specially that it converts .vob files too,but there is always only sound but no video in the output file,if only it worked Having the same here or the other way around as well, only video no sound. It looks ok true, but for me the GUI is not very clear, perhaps I'm just doing something wrong. Also, it's still a beta if I am right. Future improvement is possible. Another alternative not mentioned here is: http://www.stoik.com/products/svc/index.html. Stoik Video Converter, handles all common formats (no .vob, but there are lots of dvd rippers). Lots of settings but still easy to use. It's really free but they ask for a E-mail adress when you want to download from their site. Google is your friend. You might want to start the videopak2.exe directly instead of the default starter.exe to avoid "calling home".

You are certainly not mistaken. You can even choose between FAT or UDF fileformat. Because DVD-RAM behaves like a removable drive it's much more efficient for backups. Other advantage is that DVD-RAM has error correction. The cartridge type disc is the most reliable offcourse. Outside the cartridge DVD-RAM is just as vulnerable as any DVD-/+RW. But drives that support cartridges are DVD-RAM only as far as I know. Some don't even accept disc's without cartridge. (Panasonic, my own experience) I use cartridge DVD-RAM for professional reasons for many years now. This archive needs to be accessed a lot by everybody, people carry the disc's around..... We never lost a bit! There is a second copy of every disc but that's more in case the whole building burns down or something. So if you want to make easy AND reliable archives and your drive supports it, go for DVD-RAM.

Thanks guy. This didn't work for me. The error I received said: A device attached to the system is not functioning. I have no idea to what this refers. I'll wait for MDGx to (hopefully) post the corrected patch. Strange, the rightclick method worked fine for me. I don't know if this is helpful at all, but I recognise the error. Sometimes when I reboot (never on a cold start) I don't have sound. Rebooting again or logoff/login makes it work again. But if I haven't noticed that I don't have sound and I start WMP9 (or XMplayer or whatever) than I get this error too. I never figured out what's behind this (suggestions are welcome), but it is not WMP itself that causes it.

sorry for this late reply, Like eidenk mentioned you might have some multmedia probs without a decent directX. It's up to you to wait with installing, your system wil run without it too.

worked, or he put the HDD in another computer with a CD-ROM drive and copied the files there. Dear LLXX, Could it be that you are overlooking something? I think that the question is whether the drive is recognized in DOS 7.1. Because TS wants to install Win98 so that is what he needs to start. My 5 years old BIOS recognizes (IDE) CD rom drives as well, can also boot from them. However, when I want to read a CD in DOS, I still need a driver and MSCDEX.exe loaded. The BIOS recognizes the hardware only, not the filesystem. When you do it "your" way you will need some special bootable Win98 cd. Also, TS tried to install directly from CD, so no other computers have been involved! (unless he could use exactly the same model laptop, I guess not)

I use AVG free, but I can't really recommend it. It's very light and very cheap (free). But as far as you should believe in AV software tests it doesn't come out very good anymore. This used to be better before! Antivir seems to be a better candidate when you look at freebies, but latest version 7 still has problems. At least a lot with me and visiting their support forum showed that I am not alone. But I haven't seen a virus or any malware in years just like many here. And I am still on Win98se! Afterall, it's mostly behaviour that is secure or not. Having the best AV software will just make you careless

Good for you! But now you make me curious because you don't tell how you did it. Installing from harddrive ok, that's all the same, but how did you access the files from the CD? Did you use the USB cdrom drive? And if yes, just by plugging in or did you need DOS drivers? These drivers are loaded in conventional memory, could be a reason for setup not having enough to start.

About IE6 (or5), this is integrated into Windows. So even if you use another browser you will still have it on your system. I would always keep it up to date just because of that. Some sites like Ms update or electronic banking don't work with firefox so in those cases you still need IE anyway. DirectX is a only a must when you play games but is basically a collection of API's that are a sort of bridge between your multimedia related hardware and software. A later version of DirectX than 6.0 that comes with Win98 might improve things like soundquality and 2d grafics as well. But indeed it can be a big download on dialup. .. Perhaps you can find/borrow some (older) game-CD with a later version of directX. Win98 has a wizard to set up dial-up connections. Leads itself. Your E-mail account is set up in your E-mail program. (or the wizard takes care off that too? I don't remember, but in your E-mail program is always possible) Good luck again, you have done this before so I'm sure that you can work it out. Trial and error is the best way to learn, believe me Just be sure that you have a back-up from ALL the data you want to keep, forgetting some is the only thing that can really go wrong.

To be honest I don't have any clue what is wrong here. The only thing I am sure about is that Sandra is running fine on the original 4.10.2222 kernel32.dll. I just run the program, not trying to run nul buffers or anything??? It's only the modules I mentioned that cause problems, rest of Sandra functions normal.

Thanks for posting this MDGX, I have a problem with the MP912452.EXE update for WMP9 When I try to run it, it says that I have to install WMP9.0 first?? Offcourse I already have WMP9 installed. I am also wondering if this update has to be installed in a certain order together with MP832353.EXE They both update wmp.dll

I found a problem with the last version in Sisoft Sandra Standard version ANSI [win32 x86] 2004.10.9.133. I know this is obsolete software but perhaps the problem is also there in other software. The program chrashes when I want to open the drive-info module. it says " This application has requested the Runtime to terminate in a unusual way ". It also chrashes when opening the summary module and mainboard info: SANDRA heeft een fout met betrekking tot een ongeldige pagina veroorzaakt in module <onbekend> op0000:0000e3d2. Registers: EAX=00000001 CS=017f EIP=0000e3d2 EFLGS=00210206 EBX=000f0892 SS=0187 ESP=0082b828 EBP=0083fa64 ECX=0082b7d4 DS=0187 ESI=0082ba00 FS=42ef EDX=000124b8 ES=0187 EDI=00000000 GS=0000 Bytes in CS:EIP: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 Stackdump: 0048d7f9 0082ba00 00000001 01b61820 00000000 00000000 00000000 000000ff 01b602a0 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 I hope this info wil be of help with improving. I stay tuned!

Hi Unof, There is a special subforum for the USP2, you might want to look around there. The most recommended install order you will find is: - Win98se - IE6 SP1 - DirectX9.0c - Hardware drivers (motherboard, sound, video) - Ms. Office (if you want) - Unofficial Service Pack 2.1a - Visit Ms. update for what is missing (IE6 updates mostly) good luck! BTW, consider yourself lucky that you don't have a broadband connection. On Win98+IE 5.0 that has never been updated, broadband would be a bit suicidal I think...

Thanks for doing this Xeno86, Overhere OK too with 4.10.2222A. My problems with version 0001 (.net, GetVersionEx) are fixed! I hope you keep improving wat LLXX??? started. I think it will make many happy if they can install Doom3 on Win98 without using a hexeditor. And that is just one example.

Just to point something out, you dont actually NEED the win98 CD or a CDROM drive to do an installation. You can do it just by having the win98 directory and all of its contents (from the win98 CD) on the hard drive, then just boot to DOS from floppy and run C:\win98\setup.exe from the laptops hard drive. True, but how is TS going to get those files on his hard drive?

No ,I am saying that you can't buy a machine with specs like this for the price of the Xbox. But I would like to have this IBM processor, wouldn't you? To bad IBM stopped producing CPU's for the PC. I long time ago I had this IBM 486SLC2-50 that ran Win95 like a Pentium.

Off course it is a computer, it has a CPU, memory and input and output. That's a computer for me. The question you are asking is why can't I buy such a wonder PC for that price? Well, because the Xbox is sold for less than half of its production price. The expensive games make the money. Also, this wondermachine still needs to be competitive in a few years time when your PC will be a lot faster than today. But I totally agree, I wish I had a machine with those specs that you sum up so nicely.