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What software do you have installed on Win9x?


ScrewUpgrading

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I may have to start a feasibility study on the maintenance requirements and level of organization necessary to handle this many programs in case I ever turn out like this. And I'm the kind that formats from scratch every year.

I just searched my C drive for exe files and I got 11250 hits exactly. :w00t:

What I can say is that maintenance requirements are low but organizational skill level has to be rather high to manage such an amount of programs. I haven't installed/reinstalled the OS since I think 2005.

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And I'm the kind that formats from scratch every year.

I'm exactly the opposite kind :)

Since 1997 when I got my first computer, I have made a clean install 4 times. Plus one on my secondary PC with Windows 98. Other times I installed OS over the previous instance. My Windows 7 was installed over the Vista (keeping previously installed applications) that was cleanly installed in early 2007, and my Windows 98 was installed approximately in the same time. On my main PC I have much longer list of installed applications, as I install almost everything from giveawayoftheday and rarely delete installed applications. Of course I'm trying to keep only really necessary apps in autorun. On my Windows 98 PC the list is so short because of lack of HDD space. However I'm going to buy another 1,5 - 2 TB HDD and place it instead of my 200 GB HDD, that will go to my Windows 98 PC.

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Well I think you only should install the software you need. I have installed this list over a long period of time. It is only an example. I would like to remove much of

this list, because most of this software I do not really need at this time, and probably also not in the future. Some questions to discuss about. How do we keep

the registry clean ? How do we remove all these shortcuts ? How do we optimize the system with so much applications installed ? And how long can we keep the

same operating system running ?

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And how long can we keep the same operating system running ?

Actually, I think the same operating system can be running for a very long time without reinstalling it. I could live without reinstalling over 5 years with XP. And my current 98 system is getting close to it (I reinstalled it over the previous after putting my HDD into another PC). You just should be careful and not to screw up your system yourself as I did with my first Windows 95 system :) Since that time I was careful enough :)

Though, I should say that my current Windows 7 system is slow. It takes up to 7 minutes to boot completely, though running applications after that is not so sluggish (in first several days after reboot).

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Many people have said most programs were tested for win9x and not for ME. Which can increase instatability? Well I believe its true just from running ME and using programs. It can BSOD, or it can just freeze completly with no way out unless you hold your power button down and kill the pc or unplug it (whatever).

I like the idea of having a system restore but not one that would cause problems. I used Nlite a couple of days ago with XP pro sp2. And now I have a good XP system thats good and lean, I chose to keep the restore service and defragmentor because I like the extra tools I need.

I'm sorry to those working on win9x because recently I had to go back to XP. I had crashes and freezes which just plain ticked me off. But still I will be a tester for packs and updates because 98SE was fast as hell but still unstable.

Stable OS rating

1. Xp

2.WIN2000

3.98se

4.98

5.95/ME

98se is third in the list and has pretty much stayed there for some time. ME is alike 95 with being instable. Since most of us agree ME had more issues then 98. XP/win2k are in the lead in being stable, Many things could be taken from these OS's to make win9x better. Because Hybrid 9x + Stable = New windows 9x hybrid with speed, power, and performance. I think from what i've seen is that we are all wanting to go this way and thats cool because it shows we all have the same passions for computers which is making them better for us the user, not microsoft. :)

Edited by mrsk565
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As I had only 1,7 Gb HDD

However I'm going to buy another 1,5 - 2 TB HDD and place it instead of my 200 GB HDD, that will go to my Windows 98 PC.

You have a 1.7 GB HDD installed? Are you sure your Windows 98 PC's motherboard will recognize a 200 GB HDD? If it doesn't you can probably get a used 20 GB or 40 GB drive for nothing. At least you would have more elbow room.

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My old HP with 98FE has a list similar to Giant 2011's but not quite that bad. It hasn't seen a reformat in a very long time. I have no idea where some of those apps and files even came from. It was built over a very long time period. When the HP was my only PC, I wanted it to be able to do everything, open anything, etc. Quite naive considering it has a 366mhz Celeron. Since then, my approach to equipping a PC has changed. Now I equip a PC to do what I need. It not only cuts down the overhead, it reduces the attack surface. I don't have to worry about NetFramework or WMP exploits. I don't have them. I can't remember the last time I had an app that needed them. GIMP is another example. Nice program that does just about anything you could want with image files. Except for playing with it, I never used it. My system.dat is 2117KB and the user.dat is 401KB.

Regarding:

How do we keep the registry clean ?

The link in my signature shows an easy way that requires no additional tools.

How do we remove all these shortcuts ?

I make a backup of my system before installing anything. Instead of uninstalling, I just restore the system. An install monitor like Inctrl5 will show you every file, shortcut and registry change and install creates. Clean as you go and don't let it become a mess to start with.

How do we optimize the system with so much applications installed ?

I separate the users data from the OS, each on its own partition. The swap file is on a dedicated partition. The browser cache and temp locations are moved to a ramdrive. This makes the system drive quite small and fairly static, save for new installs. This really cuts down on the maintenance.

And how long can we keep the

same operating system running ?

In theory, indefinitely. We might be able to run the very latest apps but then we don't really need to either. As long as the OS runs the software and interfaces between the hardware and the user, it's viable. The rest is bloat and not needed.

M()zart,

Do you have room for 1 or 2 more drives in that case? My old HP came with a 5.1GB and wouldn't recognize a 10GB drive. I added drives stripped from older units, varying from 2 to 4GB, which gave me room for a dualboot system. What helped the most was the addition of a USB 2.0 card. Originally, all I wanted was more USB ports. Everything I'd seen said 98FE wouldn't handle USB 2.0, which proved to be totally false. With the Orangeware drivers the card used plus NUSB, it was completely USB 2.0 capable and allowed me to hook up a much larger external drive. The USB was fast enough that I could run apps from the external drive. The built in USB wasn't 2.0 capable enough but the card made all the difference.

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Been reading through all the posts about the various software that people are using. Several programs are new to me and I have tried some of them. In 2006 I decided I had better start hunting around for all the Windows 98SE software I could find and get it all downloaded and burned to cds/dvds since some programs were already starting to disappear ... with links that didn't work anymore or had plain just disappeared off the radar. I already had a nice collection of software archived but I found many new programs that might be worth saving over the next few years ... maybe to use at a later date. I tried most all the newer software I found and most of the time decided I really didn't need it on my computer ... but I still kept it in the software archive. I have to agree with herbalist about liking a "slim running" PC. I use Memload to check one program with another. For instance, I use RAMpage v1.6 to keep track of RAM and free up RAM, if I should need to do so. I tried FreeRAM XP Pro that was mentioned in one of the posts. It's a nice program but RAMpage does exactly the same thing and just looks a bit nicer ( my opinion only) ... but when I check both programs in Memload for memory usage, these are the figures: FreeRAM XP Pro uses 1.5 M and RAMpage uses only 29.1 K ... a really big difference to someone with an older computer with perhaps not much memory and such. As for myself, I have plenty of memory these days but I still like to find the the best programs (that I like) with the lowest memory usage. I really don't have many multiple programs on my computer except for a few registry cleaners. I have used RegSeeker v1.55 for many years as my main registry cleaner, I have the others as "backup" cleaners but usually RegSeeker does the job complete so I really have no need to run the other cleaners. I didn't see any mention of anyone using RegSeeker ... I could have missed it, so many programs listed ... so I mention it, it also has a "Tweaks" tab with some nice extras it can do.

RegSeeker v1.55

http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm

RegSeeker is a perfect companion for your Windows registry !

RegSeeker includes a powerful registry cleaner and can display various information like your startup entries, several histories (even index.dat files), installed applications and much more ! With RegSeeker you can search for any item inside your registry, export/delete the results, open them in the registry. RegSeeker also includes a tweaks panel to optimize your OS ! Now RegSeeker includes a file tool to search for duplicate files, bad shortcuts and more !

RegSeeker is FREE for personal use only !

...

Edited by duffy98
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You have a 1.7 GB HDD installed? Are you sure your Windows 98 PC's motherboard will recognize a 200 GB HDD? If it doesn't you can probably get a used 20 GB or 40 GB drive for nothing. At least you would have more elbow room.

M()zart,

Do you have room for 1 or 2 more drives in that case? My old HP came with a 5.1GB and wouldn't recognize a 10GB drive. I added drives stripped from older units, varying from 2 to 4GB, which gave me room for a dualboot system. What helped the most was the addition of a USB 2.0 card. Originally, all I wanted was more USB ports. Everything I'd seen said 98FE wouldn't handle USB 2.0, which proved to be totally false. With the Orangeware drivers the card used plus NUSB, it was completely USB 2.0 capable and allowed me to hook up a much larger external drive. The USB was fast enough that I could run apps from the external drive. The built in USB wasn't 2.0 capable enough but the card made all the difference.

My main Windows 7 PC has three HDDs - 40 Gb, 200 Gb and 2 Tb, and there are no more place in the case for them, though there are free SATA slots.

My Windows 98 PC has two HDDs - 1,7 Gb and 4,7 Gb (which I recently got for free). Its motherboard is not that old - before I bought my current main PC in 2007, the 200 Gb HDD was used with it and everything was OK.

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Have a couple of software programs that might be of interest to someone. For a year or so I searched for a good calculator with a tape ... after trying several, I decided that Moffsoft FreeCalc was the one. Works on 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/Vista/7. Tape can also be hidden if you just want a calculator.

Moffsoft FreeCalc

http://www.moffsoft.com/freecalc.htm

Moffsoft FreeCalc is a great replacement for your existing Windows calculator. We took the standard Windows calculator functionality and added the following features:

Adjustable calculator size - Make it any size you want and Moffsoft FreeCalc will remember the size and position next time you use it. (see example)

Tape - Save, print, or clear the simulated paper history tape.

Color schemes - Select a color combination or use your Windows color settings. (see example).

New keys - Clear Tape {CT}, double zero {00}, triple zero {000}, and memory subtract {M-} keys have been added.

Visible memory value - You'll always know what's in memory because it's displayed on the calculator status bar.

Also, a good dual-pane replacement for explorer is 2xExplorer ... which is "officially" dead and has been replaced by xplorer2. However, I happen to like that "old" 2xExplorer" program and so I mention it for anyone also interested. There is a link to the newer replacement program if you want to also check that one out. I found the "newer" program too complicated to use and liked the "old" 2xExplorer better. Download link on lower right side, still works.

2xExplorer v1.4.1.12

http://netez.com/2xExplorer/

Lightweight and powerful, fully shell integrated and extremely usable for increased everyday productivity, 2xExplorer is an ideal dual-pane replacement for explorer, compatible with all 32-bit windows platforms.

Note: 2xExplorer is officially pronounced dead. You can still download it for free, but that's about it. xplorer² is the way to the future. It comes with a "pro" and a "lite" version. The lite version is free and much more powerful than 2xExplorer, and you should really give it a try!

...

Edited by duffy98
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Cool, I'v been wondering about the 98se shell, 98lite says they use a 95 explorer to replace the orig. and its more stable. If anyone knows about if these explorers improve stability let us know. I'll try them out on my 98se next time i can. Thanks Duffy

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