Spock

Over the years I've found this line to be even simpler: From DOS boot: Scanreg /restore Often by returning the registry to a previous day or even a couple of days a proper boot takes place, et voila, no need for complicated system restore. At the very least it's worth trying first i'd say.

Many thanks for this info. Selected a Hanns-G monitor. Detected straightaway without any software install on win98. (supplied software only supported by win7). Configuration with graphics card control was simple. Excellent results at 1280 x 1024.

Yes using NVidia GeForce 6200 graphics card, which does have "Custom Resolution" - not ever used it mind. Seems a bit odd this 1366 figure. Wonder if it's a typo in Samsung's manual for 1360? I mention this because another monitor (not Samsung) also has 1360 x 768 which agrees with the standard in the GeForce 6200.

That monitor "native" resolution is 1366 x 768@60Hz, check your video card (and it's drivers) to see if it is available. Since it is an *almost* 16:9 display, the only other "common in the old times" resolution that might provide an acceptable quality is the WXGA 1280x720 ("pure" 16:9). jaclaz Seems as if it'll be ok...Graphics card, GeForce 6200, supports 1360 (sic) x 768 at 60Hz. But not 1366. Is that a difference that matters?

That monitor "native" resolution is 1366 x 768@60Hz, check your video card (and it's drivers) to see if it is available. Since it is an *almost* 16:9 display, the only other "common in the old times" resolution that might provide an acceptable quality is the WXGA 1280x720 ("pure" 16:9). jaclaz Seems as if it'll be ok...Graphics card, GeForce 6200, supports 1360 (sic) x 768 at 60Hz. But not 1366. Is that a difference that matters?

Thanks for helpful info, esp. on checking display rate capability. Am thinking of Samsung S19B150N. Interestingly they do provide Device Driver, but for Win 7 (for some reason Win 7 may need it evidently; see. See: http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/LS19B150NS/ZA#). Guess it's not an issue for win98. Strange behaviour here, though. Have temporarily replaced old Samsung monitor with another oldie SynchMaster 700IFT. Picure is ok, but every browswer page of any complexity gets refreshed; i.e. screen blanks and then refreshes - just once. . Not an issue because i don't intend using the monitor, but curious.... Thanks again.

My old trusty Samsung (CRT type) 17 inch monitor used daily since 1996 packed up yesterday with dramatic flashing and a burning smell occurring on on boot up. Humm...Wondering if just any 19 inch LCD type monitor would do as a replacement? Preliminary look around suggests finding a win98SE driver could be a problem though? Any recommendations or thoughts on this? TIA

There's a slide show on this topic - not for the technically challenged http://www.cypherpunks.to/~peter/vista.pdf

Thanks to all for advice! Unplugged USB/FW card, freed-up one IRQ (IRQ 04, was analog modem) and got Connexant chipset PCI ADSL card working. (BTW I'd recommend it, can buy it v. cheaply on ebay). Then connected USB/FW card. U could be right about the IRQ... Here is what I've got: 04 USB and Firewire 09 USB 10 USB2 and PCI ADSL Didn't know that win98SE could accept two devices on same IRQ (?) aka IRQ 10. Also, the person who mentioned possibility of disabling Firewire on the USB/FW card is probably right. There's a 3-pin connector which often is enable/disable something. But as I've no spec and no manufacturer, except it's VIA chipset...humm. 98SE2ME + most upgrades Sempron 3.1G+ 1GB memory

Will try and check. Only no manufacturer is on the box or the card...It just says "HI SPEED INTERFACE CARD" (Made in China) One thing: The PCI-USB card has VIA Tech 3038 pci to USB chipset and VIA VT 6212 USB2.0 chipset. ANYWAY, one question: how do I know which USB port is the USB 2.0 one? If all else fails...I've more or less decided that the simplest solution is to BIOS switch off COM1 ditch my old analog modem and freeup IRQ 4. (BTW Installed a treat on win98SE, and the NUSB drivers on this forum worked well also.)

Yes, it's switched off in BIOS. I'm almost certain that the ADSL card will want its own IRQ (still awaiting delivery).

I installed a PCI - firewire/USB card. Works fine. Problem is that it has used three IRQs. It's a problem because I need also to install a PCI-ADSL modem card and now there are no IRQs left. The PCI - firewire/USB card uses: IRQ 03 - PCI to firewire IEEE1394 & USB IRQ 09 PCI to USB2 IRQ 11 PCI to USB All I really need is one USB connection. SO i tried to freeup IRQ 11: 1. firstly i tried disabling the device of IRQ 11 (using device manager) but that didn't free it up. 2. secondly I tried removing it (using device manager) but on rebooting it was detected again :-( Anyone any ideas? Worse case, I could free up IRQ 04 which is COM1 in the BIOS, but i like to keep my modem just in case the ADSL goes down for some reason. Also i'm not sure whether IRQ 04 can be used for anything else? P.S. Background: A lightning strike zapped all internal motherboard USB functionality! Otherwise PC is ok. Hence need for installing these two cards.

Apart from SE ME killer upgrade there is at least one other upgrade on this forum thaat requires the user to have a Win ME CD. I'm trying to buy one, and have looked at bothe amazon.uk and ebay sites. Would an "upgrade ME CD" or an "OEM CD" do the job? Or do i need a full install ME CD? (Apologies if the question is a bit basic). (Hey, anyone here with a spare disc to sell?)

Could you tell me how to Update Unicode libraries (kernelXP)? TIA.

Same here. I also did the kernel update first (subsequently ghosted back to remove). v7 of acrobat reader just didn't want to know. "This version of the Windows OS is not supported. Setup will now terminate."

USB 2.0 drivers for DOS Might be handy for someone. See: http://www.computing.net/dos/wwwboard/forum/13447.html The caveat is that the system must support booting from CD. See above link first, actual downloads are here: http://www.stefan2000.com/darkehorse/PC/DOS/Drivers/USB/ Normal caveat applies -- use at your own risk. Let us know if it works!

You raise some interesting questions. I built a new PC in March this year and before i started I realised that it would probably be a bit tricky to get (1) a modern system with newish hardware and (2) capable of supporting win98SE. Anyway I succeeded :-) Lessons learned: MOBO is biggest decision and had to do a fair bit of research. Some manufacturers said "definitely would not support win98", others did. When I made the purchase i found not a reference to win98 but plenty of reference as "designed for XP". However, it works FINE under win98, and i'm very pleased with it. (Foxconn NF3250K8AA) Graphics card was equally difficult. Also i wanted a totally silent, i.e. fanless, one, so that was another limiting factor. As you rightly obseved, PCI Express seems a no go, but there again PCI Express is over-rated in any case. Equivalent performance AGP 8X is obtainable for all but highest-end specs. I settled for a low/mid priced solution: an XFX manufactured GeForce 6200. It works fine for the games i have, including Flight Sim 2004. Needless to say less demanding apps work ok as well. Had no problem getting high-speed USB though, and all my peripherals work fine. Of course, higher specs are also available STILL for win98SE. But time is running out. My recommendation is: -- if your PC is older than 4 years and you'd like to stay with win98SE a while, consider getting a new PC in the next six months; otherwise you might have real problems. -- for applications, it's a bit of a pain that next series Firefox apparently won't support win98Se. But I guess some guys here may be able to do something about that. As for longevity in general of the OS my guess is: next 3 years: no problem (providing you've got some modern hardware now) 3-5 years: isome problems in application and peripheral support, but not impossible to find solutions 5years+ Ahem!

Thanks for this detailed information. FWIW the mp3 files that will not play with Killer Replacement WMP are all fairly low bit rate encoded; e.g. 160 kbit/s. I agree with you that it is curious but a fact nonetheless that they will not play on latest media player but do on the old (v6.4) one. (A google search on "codec 55" proves that I'm not the only one getting the same error message). I've also found a codec upgrade package for the old v6.4 mp2. i installed it and found that I can now get video (.wmv), played using the old v.6.4 one - lack of that was the reason I went for the Killer Upgrade. So I'll probably Ghost back and forget about the upgrade which basically is not giving me, at any rate, any benefit. Upgrade codec package for MP2 v6.4 which I'd certainly recommend for win98SE users is a M$ executable: "wmp6codcs.exe" v8.0.0.4487

Thanks for the advice, especially for the fact that the last codec to be registered will be the functional one. If you could assist one last time I'd be right chuffed I have about 16 codecs in windows\system folder. Since ALL mp3s play fine under mplayer2 (v6.4), i guess if I knew which codec mplayer2 uses and registered that, then the Killer Upgrade player would similarly play ALL. Is that correct? If so, how do I determine which codec (apart from elimination)? TIA and many thanks for all your contributions.

What I don't understand, though, is why the older media player (v6.4) and a freeware mp3 player plays all the mp3s, but not the Killer Upgrade. Would there be a way to force WMP to use a different codec (say the one which the older media player (v6.4) uses?

Installed MDGx = 98SE2XP Killer Replacements which successfully upgraded to WMP 9. I also upgraded the pther files which MDGx lists under "Extremely Important". PROBLEM! some mp3 files won't play. Get message codec 55 missing. But it //IS// installed. I also tried: regsvr32.exe l3codeca.acm and got a 'success'. But some (not all) mp3s //still// won't play. They ALL play fine under the older mp2 (v6.4), but SOME of the mp3s will not play under the new WMP. Anyone any ideas? .wmv files play ok and it seems otherwise fine.

What random crashes? No problems here in over a year using win98se.

Did you try 98lite from a DOS prompt? Boot the PC into DOS, navigate to the folder where you placed 98lite, and run from there. Any joy?

Given that a 98SE upgrade via using some winME is possible, just wondering if any XP files could be used on a win98SE installation to give a benefit. Anyone any knowledge in this area? (I know it's a very different OS, but there might be some updated drivers that could be useful?)