Drugwash

To minimize the possibility of an infection and also to allow certain operations on the content (selective extraction, etc.), a simple archive would be preferred. Word goes that 7zip has (almost) the best compression around, so that would be the best choice, which is what I voted for. I agree, however, that a click'n'run installer would be preferrable for the not-so-advanced users, but I'm also unsure if this package (as in "its function") would be indicated for this category of users. If possible, you could try offering both 7zip and NSIS installer at the same time. An eD2k link could help spreading the package(s) and also cut on your bandwith usage, once other users get the complete file(s), although it might be a slower process. Good luck and thank you, whatever you choose.

I've been using 5.50.30.2002 for a while in Win98SE and had no problems with it. Please check the colors of the links in the other older versions. AFAIK, there was an issue with that and it's been fixed only in some of the latest builds. The link color on black (dark) background should become white automatically.

Some tools I've been using for years (and some I just discovered): Ad-Aware (very good) Spyware Blaster (very good) SlimBrowser (very good) CodeStuff Starter - the development version (useful) stupid board script! Replace f*rumer with f o r u m e r. AnalogX Capture (useful) FreeRAM XP Pro (useful) Imagine - available as standalone and Total Commander plug-in (useful) Lavalys Everest Home Edition - whoever has it; it's not freeware anymore (useful) NetMeter (useful) FlashGet (useful) Notepad++ TCP Optimizer TZ Connection Booster (just use Google to find it) VideoLAN Client (VLC) SysClean package + virus pattern file (useful) DM2 (useful) Miranda IM - multiprotocol instant messenger - wait for the 0.5 release (useful)

I've been relying on SlimBrowser since my Win95 days, years ago. I had a 486DX @ 66 MHz IBM desktop with a 12in. monitor (640x480 fixed resolution) and I was the happiest man in the world for having a tabbed browser with FlashGet bar integrated into its toolbar, plus a multiple search engine at hand. Added to the extremely handy translation system, that was love at first sight.

If you are allowed to access the site, download Damage Cleanup Engine/Template (Sysclean) and the latest virus pattern file from TrendMicro, unzip the virus pattern file (lpt$vpn.xxx) in the same folder as sysclean.com and run sysclean.com. Pay attention to the infected files it discovers (if any), and check if they really were deleted from the system. Write down their names and paths, prepare a Win98/ME boot disk, boot from it and manually delete the infected files. Safe mode or fake DOS mode in XP might not allow you to delete those files.

Don't take it so dramatically. Maybe they took some time off, a little vacation after the recent release. Maybe it takes some time to process the request and offer a documented answer. And maybe the forum registration data (your e-mail address) was not correct. These are all assumptions, I know, but if you won't get an answer in a few more days, I'll contact them myself and link to this thread. Deal?

I happen to be an old user of SlimBrowser and also the official Romanian translator of the project. My opinion is that you could send an e-mail stating your request to support (at) flashpeak (dot) com and if reasonable and possible, it may be implemented. A little trick to change the default search engine in the search bar: Go to %appdata%\SlimBrowser\QuickSearch (note: Win9x users will find this file in %windir%\SlimBrowser\QuickSearch) and open menuorder.ini in any text editor. It's a hidden file, so you may need to modify folder properties to view hidden files, first. Just cut and paste the different .qseg entries in the order you like, then save the file. On next start, SlimBrowser will show the first entry in the file's list as the default search engine and all others listed in the order you preferred. Another trick for Win98SE users: unfortunately, SlimBrowser has an old issue that cannot be fixed - according to the author - because of a bug in Windows Explorer, all versions after IE6. I'm talking about the fact that SlimBrowser's skins are incompatible with the autohidden function of the taskbar: if you enable skins in SB and set the taskbar to auto-hide, this one will not be available when hovering the margin of the screen, while SB is in full-screen mode. But, I found out that you can still have the two functions enabled at the same time, if - after installing/updating IE6 or any other component that upgrades Windows Explorer too - you put back the original explorer.exe from the Win98SE install CD to %windir%. Obviously this has to be done in pure DOS mode, after you copied the original explorer.exe from the CD to a temporary folder on the HDD (for example, C:\Temp) and you backed up the current explorer.exe to a folder of your choice, for safety.

How about the newer VC8 runtime library? It's available for Win9x, according to MS. I installed the package some time ago, as it was needed by a plug-in in an application I use (Miranda IM) and recently there's been another plug-in linked to it. Seems to work. Did anybody else test it? Any chance it would make it in beta 5? Now with this VS2005 being more and more used by the developers, I think there will be lots of applications linking to msvcr80.dll and the like.

[constructive criticism] The L in "Revolutions" is missing from the RP logo. A few other typos/spelling errors as well. I wonder why Killer Replacements section comes after Revolutions Pack... I've always installed it before that. Also, the size of the splash window might be too big, considering OS might be freshly installed and untweaked, which means desktop size would be 640x480, usually. It also has a lot of dependencies; did you try it on a fresh 98? I hope you don't mind me asking... kernel32.dll user32.dll advapi32.dll oleaut32.dll version.dll gdi32.dll ole32.dll comctl32.dll winspool.drv shell32.dll comdlg32.dll winmm.dll oledlg.dll [EDIT] I used the FileInfo plug-in in Total Commander to check for dependencies, as I find it much more handy, although not as thorough as Dependency Walker.

Thanks, MDGx, I got the part with sysdm.cpl. There's only one thing that's still bothering me: Well, if there's an update for any of those ~700 ME files that I copied from the CD to my system, how would I go around getting and installing it?That is why I thought that the ME Service Pack could have the ability to recognize and update such an installation with only the needed updates. AFAIR, I installed 98SE2ME with full option, so I should have (theoretically, now, unfortunately) all the said 700 files in my system; could the ME Service Pack upgrade any of them, if available? That was my initial question, and I apologyze if I haven't been clear from the very beginning. Ah and I almost forgot: my regional settings have been set to Romanian from the very beginning, in 98SE (at install time). After I installed 98SE2ME, I noticed that my fonts were back to the Western encoding, instead of the Central European one. Luckily, I had the Fonts folder backed up somewhere, so I copied all the contents back to the Fonts folder, and everything went back to normal. Now, is it possible to add such a 'fonts backup/restore' function to the 98SE2ME package, so the installation would work flawlessly for users with regional/font settings different than English? It would be very helpful, although - unfortunately - little people know or bother to install 98/ME with the correct regional settings around here.

Jinx: my 98SE-ME-RP4 HDD has just crashed yesterday, so I won't be able to test or report anything related to such installation. But on my primary machine (which is a 200MHz Pentium I) with 98SE + USP 1.x, I've been using for a while riched20.dll v5.50.30.2002 and I had no problems with it that I know of. It's a slightly newer build number than the one in the riched9x.exe (5.40.11.2218), but I suppose that one would work too (didn't have time to test it). The one I have misses a delayed import MSO.dll, but it doesn't seem to affect its normal usage. If more positive reports would come, it would be possible for you to leave the old version aside and only include the newest.

Well, I must admit it's getting pretty confusing having that many service packs, upgrades and whatnot installed. However, looking in Control Panel > System, I surprinsingly found that after all the upgrades, my system is now recognized as Windows ME 4.90.3001 A, instead of Windows 98 SE 4.10.2222. So - as long as I installed 98SE2ME with full option (including #3) - I thought that a ME Service Pack would (or could) upgrade some of the ME files that I already have. Wouldn't that be possible? I mean - I'd like to push this as far as possible, once I stepped to the ring. B) What would be your advice regarding this? Mulţumesc de urare. La fel şi vouă celor care menţineţi aceste proiecte: MDGx, Tihiy, Gape, jimmsta, etc.

One simple question - and I apologyze if it has been answered before, but the search on this site is not one of the best, and Google doesn't really help: would the ME Service Pack interfere or in any way damage a 98SE + 98SE2ME + Revolutions Pack 4 installation? I know RP4 has been discontinued, but I've had it installed on my system for about a year already and I wouldn't want to screw up my system by trying to uninstall it. Thank you in advance.

Hi, jimmsta. This all-in-one idea of yours is good, it saves a lot of headaches. I'm not sure though about adding all language versions to the same compilation. I mean, why would a german - for example - need the English, French, Polish and whatever other versions of the packages? Personally, I think language-oriented compilations would be preferrable, both in terms of bandwidth used on your host's side, and the downloaders' bandwidth, DL time and storage space. Just my personal opinion... Another thing is, which would the contents be, exactly - language diversity apart? Could you post a list of all (or at least major) applications/packages that would be included in the compilation? This way there may come suggestions for improvements, additions or replacements. For example, I've been using for quite a long time Spyware Blaster from Javacoolsoftware.com, instead of Spybot S&D, which I found to be blocking a wanted site some time ago and also had some other issues with it. Could there be an alternative here? I have to mention that I just got to know about your package so I didn't get a chance to download and try it. I'll wait until the next release, which would hopefully include the upcoming RPLite 5, Kernel Update and Unofficial SP, as well as the ME Service Pack, while 98SE2ME is already included. Keep up the good work and stay out of floods. B)