Steven W

Some of you may have already known this. Forgive me if its been brought up before. Today I discovered Office Live (They claim you must have at least XP) will work with Win98, KernelEx and Firefox 3.5.16 if you set up the extension UserAgentSwitcher properly: Uploaded with ImageShack.us I successfully created and modified a document and spreadsheet. I'm sure Microsoft will "fix" this if they get wind of it!

HoppaLong's problem brings a couple of questions to my mind. I have been in situations where a proper driver for a device (specifically printers or all-in-ones) wasn't available, but either a generic Windows driver or a driver for similar device would suffice. In these situations I had no internet connection and had to print. I'm not going to link to the article that I'm reading, but some guy is modifying an inf file that's part of a driver to match his camera's Hardware ID. He succeeds in getting it to function on Win2K when the manufacturer says it needs at least XP. My questions: 1. Is there any way to know for sure that drivers modified like this will work? 2. Could installing an improper driver actually damage a device? I suspect the answer to number 2 is yes. I'll also note that the HP D4160 has Win98 drivers.

Not USB Internet Phone, but it shows up as USB Audio Device...working properly. Using Windows sound recorder (sndrec32.exe) and as you suggested, opening sndvol32.exe, the device Handset came up in the control. Ticking record shows an entry named Unknown, selected it and turned the volume up - hit record and the dial tone stopped, so I said "Watson come here" in the handset and could see it recording. Pushed play expecting to hear it through the comps speakers, duh...yes, it played back fine in the handset. So it would appear the drivers can handle it, but (as you probably know) without the program you can't dial. Hmm, in addition to using the MJ software on XP I have been using the device to talk on Skype and X-lite. It's kind of convuluted, but I have set up X-lite with an free account from iptel.org and I've got a number from Ipkall.com. Sometimes, when I go to a friend's house, I forward the MJ to my IPKall number (which is set up with iptel) and can dial out using Google Voice. At my friend's house I just fire up X-lite and can get my calls. It doesn't always work perfectly, but usually does well. Of course the MJ isn't necessary for X-lite, but it is a convenience to use the cordless. So, if you can figure it out you might be able to do a similar setup on 98. If you want help send me a private message. X-lite 4 has pretty heavy system requirements 2 or 3 would probably be better and, of course, there may be other IP phone software out there. EDIT: I'm going to another friend's house who has my old 98 box. I'll take the MJ with me and see if I can get it to work with X-lite. I'll let you know. Further EDIT: I plugged the device in and got some of the necessary drivers to install, enough that the audio functions. I did not get anything else to show up in explorer. I installed X-lite 3 and called a time and temperature number, smashing success. I also called my MJ left a voice-mail, and then retrieved it, again success. I have a couple of minor issues, USB Phone by TigerJet is showing up under Network Devices as not installed properly. I have to use the device to listen to all audio, I'm trying to remember how to switch the default device under 98. I'll try to find a good driver and switch the default device, but at least we know this can be done. Even further edit: Duh, change the default device under Multimedia in the Control Panel. I give up on the driver, maybe some other day!

I'm curious quist, In the Device Manager (Under Sound Devices), does USB Internet Phone show up as installed properly? If so, can you open a sound recording program, like Soundrec or Audacity and record your voice from the phone? If you try this, you may have to select the device in the Volume Control.

Tihiy, this is so minor I'm almost embarrassed to report it: Unfortunately, I have one of those cheap Intel 82810 graphic cards built-in to the motherboard. It's max setting is 24-bit, but I have to keep it at 16-bit or some problems occur with VLC (version 1.02) and some old DOS proggies. Under RPConfig I have icon-quality set at 16-bit. That's really the only "problem" I've noticed. Obviously, I've blacked out the name.

My Firefox 3.6.12 lacks it too. (KernelEx 4.5 RC5) Well, it must be a super-serious bug, my XP system lacks it too. Edit: Try installing Bookmark Backup and see if that's what you're looking for. Here's a link: http://www.pikey.me.uk/mozilla/?addon=bb&page=16

And it's a Thunderbird, no way to enable SSE.

Here's a screenshot from CPU-Z: Note the arrow. I can't get the latest version of version of WCPUID to work on my system. I had an old version that would work on an older system. As you can see, I have SSE 1,2 and 3, but alas I have a Pentium 4. Try CPU-Z and at least see if SSE is listed.

While the above post was intended for Frogman, this one is more general. Someone attempted to do what rloew is doing for the Transmeta Crusoe CPU, but did include this note on the site: The link is to the archive.org as Geocities is now dead: http://web.archive.org/web/20091027011611/http://geocities.com/dalex_257/ The downloads for the binary and the source function. The source code seems to be licensed under "GPL V 2, or, at your option, later". I have not used it and have no opinion of it. Just thought someone might like to see it or try it. Edit: I may have spoke to soon as you can read it was designed for a specific product and doesn't emulate instructions, simply skips them. I guess it could still be of some interest.

Frogman, over in the KernelEx forum, WIN98SE said: Did you ever try that? I actually recommend something different, although it does essentially the same thing called WCPUID: http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA002374/src/download.html Don't ask me if the latest version of these things will run in 98 or not, I simply don't know. If not, try to find older versions. You might, and I emphasize ***might***, be able to enable SSE, if it's not already, read here: http://www.myplc.com/sony/sse_enabling_and_wcpuid.htm I would not bet that your processor is one of those. If I were you, first I'd find out if I have SSE support, if not I'd try to see if there were any BIOS updates available. You have to be careful and make sure you're getting the right one and do it properly or else you'll end up turning your PC into a nice paperweight. Then I'd try to follow the advice in the link above (http://www.myplc.com/sony/sse_enabling_and_wcpuid.htm) and see if under the WCPUID's Tweaks menu if the SSE option is there and ,of course, not grayed out try it, read that article all the way through. If it's not there or is grayed out, then you're simply out of luck as far as I know. As for updating your BIOS, the only help I'm going to provide is the following link: http://www.wikihow.com/Update-Your-Computer%27s-BIOS Best of luck.

You could try http://www.megaupload.com or some similar site a just place a link here at the forum.

I'm not trying to bash you over the head, frogman. Have you tried installing FF 3.5.15, and disabling the Next-gen Java plugin? You should be able to disable it through the Java in the Control Panel, but it was broken it Java 6_21. I am assuming that it's still broken in 6_22. If it is still broken following the advice I'm pointing to above about renaming the folder. If that doesn't work then try an older version of Java with FF 3.5.15. The newest version is not completely broken, it functions well enough for my purposes (mostly a few chat apps using Java). Just pointing this out for the benefit of anyone else looking into KernelEx/ newer versions of Java. The larger point I'm trying to make is you have options.

Let me explain this little bit, FF 3.6.X *requires* the Next gen Java Plugin to work. If you absolutely can't get it to function you'll probably want to consider installing FF 3.5.15: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-older.html (It's still being updated despite what that page says, I believe this is due to a delay in FF 4 being released) FF 3.5.X does not require that next-gen plugin, so to disable it (for Java 6_21 and above) follow the advice here: Of course you could pick another name for the folder/directory. BTW, labeling this a KernelEx problem isn't exactly fair, neither Xeno86 nor Tihiy promised everything would function perfectly.

That version checking site won't work, along with a few others. Try a site that you normally use Java for, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Edit: I don't know about Yahoo Pool, but it works for all the sites I use Java for.

Do the same thing again, but before checking the temp folder, check the Application Data\Sun\Java\jre1.6.0_22 folder and see if Data1.cab is there, if it is ***COPY*** (don't cut) it to the temp folder and run the msi. If it's not there, download this and copy it to the TEMP folder, then launch the MSI: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JWS5GD9Z

frogman, unfortunately I'm not near a PC running Win98 now, but I believe to install it you have to download the off-line installer, double click it, leave the error message on the screen, go find the files it extracted in the Windows/Temp folder and run it from there. If you can't figure it out, I'm sure someone will give you more detail. I recommend emptying your temp folder first, to make sure you can easily find the contents extracted from the setup file.

Tihiy, I'm not sure if these would be helpful or not, the folks with the OpenXML/ODF Translator Add-in for Office have a collection of sample documents. I'll post the links for the DOCX files that I'm aware of. http://sourceforge.net/projects/odf-converter/files/Sample%20Files%20for%20Open%20XML/Release%204.0/DOCX_Files_4.0.zip/download http://sourceforge.net/projects/odf-converter/files/Sample%20Files%20for%20Open%20XML/Release%203.0/DOCX_Files_3.0.zip/download I hope that'll be a good start for you. By the way, that converter isn't always perfect.

I should have mention this... When I had just installed the converter and had the Word Viewer 97/2000 installed, I could not open DOCX files within the viewer, Double clicking them was the only way the converter seemed to work. If I chose File -- Open within the viewer, it displayed garbage.

Indeed! It installed, but has a few minor issues. I'll put some screenshots to explain: When I click File -- Open and click on Desktop in the dialog box, I see this: Folders seem to be missing, like the Windows Folder, Program Files(Seems like all it sees is 'My Documents'): Still no encrypted docx support. Double-clicking files works fine. Congrats, quite an achievement.

First test, Office 07 Converter Pack: It works well (with DOCX only). I just left the old Word Viewer 97/2000 on here, no encrypted/passworded files open, but I will try with the Word Viewer 2003 next. Second test, trying the Word Viewer 03: I must be forgetting something in Orca...I have the installation going but it reaches a point (I think writing registry values) and starts to go backwards and eventually reads "installation ended prematurely because of an error". Partial success, I give up for now.

How hard would it be to make a "clone" of the Royale Remixed theme? IMO, this with the Royale Noir color scheme is near perfection for XP. http://oddbasket.deviantart.com/art/Royale-Remixed-44294818

I know that from time-to-time folks ask how to open MS Office 2007/2010 files (particularly DOCX files) on Win98/ME systems. With KernelEx we're getting more and more options (Thank you Xeno86 and Tihiy). OpenOffice.org 3.21 can open them (although its import filters are not great). I see The Document Foundation's LibreOffice has merged "enhancements produced by RedHat and the Go-OOo team". So, I figure its import abilities probably exceed OOo's. It's currently in Beta and comes with the warning: And there's a few small known issues: I'd test it myself, but I'm currently only supporting Win98 for a friend and his computer is several miles away http://www.documentfoundation.org/download/ P.S I've read a non-beta will be available soon.

Andrew, I've read at another forum that someone got Firefox 2.0.0.20 running on Win95. I'm curious if you've tried it? If I recall correctly you run a version without the Active Desktop update, right? I'm not sure posting a link to another forum here is kosher, so I'll put the info below (first the original post, then some notes for another user: Someone else said changing Windows version is unnecessary: Someone else mentions Firefox2/Bon Echo 2.0.0.22pre nightly build works too, not sure if there'd be any advantage to it over the final release

I know it's kind of a long shot, but check to see if the file Bmpimp32.flt is in the Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\GrphFlt\ folder. If it's there and your comfortable using Regedit open it and check HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Graphics Filters\ Look under Import and Export and see if there are entries for BMP are there. Let us know what version of Bmpimp32.flt you have.

I've always needed to do this - are you sure you were able to do without, using 4.5RC1? I thought about that after I posted...You're probably right I think I set up the older version just to work with Firefox. I can't recall at the moment. Either way, it would be nice if we didn't have to do that.