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Running Windows 98 in 2020 and beyond...


Wunderbar98

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Yes correction I have copied over 1st torrent files. Glad you have point all things out. On WinME the files were laid out different to Win7 there was Public; Public-1; Public-2; with same files inside. I better not ramble on anymore & new thread sounds a good idea.

Edited by Goodmaneuver
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The contents of both torrents and the DropBox are all essentially identical. The DropBox and the "second" torrent ARE identical, and the "first" torrent is just the second one expanded. I have been continuously seeding both torrents since I began. There have never been any trackers for either torrent. @Goodmaneuver is currently the only peer listed for either torrent, and shows as being was showing as 92% and 94% complete for the two torrents, but is now only showing as 15% and 20%.

Cheers and Regards

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For the "1st", expanded torrent I have transmitted 132MB and for the "2nd", 7-zipped one I have transmitted 125MB, I believe all to @Goodmaneuver

EDIT: I would suggest he just pick whichever one he wants and download it, or just use the DropBox, but it's up to him. Doesn't matter to me. It looks like he is rebuilding or Force Checking his files because they are now at about 50% each with nothing currently being transmitted.

Cheers and Regards

Edited by bphlpt
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Thank you bphlpt I was seeding until not long after Drugwash said the DropBox will be OK for now. I am back seeding again. There were 3 trackers showing with qBittorrent when I posted about it. The peers that are showing 15 & 20% perhaps they are still trying to download but I was finished downloading, no force rechecking at that time but have just done so now as I have changed to Vuze. (when I was downloading & download stopped I did force restart) Some bittorent programs did not upload too well especially when seeding several torrents. I found timed rotation to be fairer to peers who do not have a good P2P connection ie like I could not even connect to Drugwash but it had to be set long enough to get them connected again.

I found a download unrestricted speed test http://speedcheck.cdn.on.net/1000meg.test ,hosted in Australia though. If the latter part of my statement is true then it can be a check on how well your internet is connect to OZ. Media thugs, we call them shock jocks, same talk about it here. ThePirateBay.org was unreachable for a while but then OK again. Hopefully just a warning for any downloads that have Media Rights. Some sites that were affected have proxies.

bphlpt, the second torrent, did you repack DropBox to 7z & then start or recheck the torrent?

LAN, Vuze seems not to be talking between ME & Win7 it used to with Vista, so If I am hosting same torrent on both OSs then allow multiple connections from the same IP should be ticked under transfer option. Also I found this setting which might be significant, 'Enable incremental file creation [Required for FAT32 under Linux]'

Edited by Goodmaneuver
more talk
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[ I was offline for awhile, now I'm back. :) ]

@Goodmaneuver: When I first downloaded both torrent files they loaded fine but wouldn't connect with @Drugwash, so I wasn't getting anything downloaded at all.  When he put the file in his DropBox, I downloaded that, then copied it over on top of where my torrent client was trying to download the second torrent, ( I didn't have to repack (*) it to 7z, because it was already in that format when I downloaded it ), then had my torrent client Force Check the file. Since the second torrent and the DropBox contents are identical, it matched, the torrent client thought it had downloaded the file so it was happy, and it began seeding, which is when you began downloading from me. Since the second torrent and the DropBox was just the first torrent contents zipped up by 7-Zip, I then expanded what I had downloaded from the DropBox, copied the expanded contents over on top of where my torrent client was trying to download the first torrent, then had my torrent client Force Check the files. It matched, the torrent client thought it had downloaded the files so it was happy, and it began seeding, which again you eventually began downloading from me. I could occasionally see whom I assumed was @Drugwash through my torrent client, but as far as I know I never saw him able to connect. I don't know what the issue was. My torrent client also never saw any trackers associated with either torrent, which makes sense, since @Drugwash says he didn't assign any when he created the torrent.

Bottom line, the DropBox and the two torrents are just three different ways to get the exact same files, which was essentially proven by the way I loaded the two torrents to be able to upload them to you.

Since @Drugwash is keeping his DropBox link published and active, and because AFAIK you are the only one who downloaded any of either of the torrents from me and you eventually got all of the files, I'm ready to stop seeding both of the torrents. If either you or @Drugwash want me to keep seeding so that you can experiment to see what the best torrent client and settings are for your use in case you need to use that method of file transfer in the future, (which is probably a good idea), I'm glad to do so, at least for a few days, but for the access of the AHK scripts, the DropBox has done that job.

Let me know how I can help you further.

(*): I think I remember reading that you had your torrent client automatically expand anything that it downloaded? If so, then since @Drugwash's files were all 7-Zipped inside folders, inside another folder, then 7-Zipped again, could that explain why it was bogging down for you? Just a thought, and I might have not have remembered correctly.

Cheers and Regards

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I made a mistake again, I should said did you extract torrent 2 & then restart/recheck torrent 1, of which you did. I just did not understand how you got torrent 1 started when I did not realize they were the same, just No.2 was 7zipped. Vuze at the moment does not have any trackers as I am not downloading or uploading any data/pieces. Last night with qBittorent I was downloading so I think this is why the trackers were working. Within the torrent, the tracker can be stipulated but Drugwash had none specified in his torrent as you said. I have done full experimenting several years ago & if you want to stop seeding than that is fine. I will probably stop again soon while ever DropBox is available.

>>(*): I think I remember reading that you had your torrent client automatically expand anything that it downloaded?

No not really. Once torrent is open the files are allocated in the save location & with my WinME it did not allocate correctly (as I mentioned here first post this page) and error said that the hash number was already in use by the hash number at certain lines in the torrent. (I assume it was referring to the line numbers inside the brackets after the hash number). The line numbers changed when I unticked some files but also seemed to be at random when reloading the torrent. The 7zipped one works fine on WinME.
 

Edited by Goodmaneuver
typo
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Phew, torrented out. Great to see all the sharing. Thanks again Drugwash, you put a lot of work into this software, even just a few years back. Your old PC pics were fun to review.

I too have a small collection of stuff, late 1990s to early 2000 era. My daily drivers are ~2000-2001 spec, 800 MHz, 384-512 MB RAM, CRT monitor. Party like its 1999, it's all i need. I plan to run Windows 98 on real hardware for a long time and Linux makes it easy to run lean.

Still regret getting rid of stuff a few years back before a move. Eco station will not fully recycle it, mostly a feel good drop off. IMO best to keep alive and enjoy as long as possible. Regrets include floppy drives, box of new floppies, 30 pin RAM, many <800 MHz CPUs and motherboards, etc.

 

Still exploring the net for useful, to me anyway, Windows 98 software. Quite a few goodies here others may be interested in:

https://www.terabyteunlimited.com/downloads-free-software.htm

The software i kept from the site is Drop to DOS. Lightweight install, right-click on a folder in Windows Explorer, click Drop to DOS to open COMMAND.COM popup to the folder's pathway. Standard in most Linux file managers now, missed not having this in Windows.

If only there was a refresh button on the main Windows Explorer menubar (not dropdown or right-click), believe Windows XP has this functionality. Doesn't matter, aka don't bother trying to help, i'm okay, really :)

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On 10/23/2019 at 3:44 PM, Wunderbar98 said:

The thread title should be renamed 'Running Windows 98 in 2019...'.


You know that, as thread creator,  you can edit the thread title any time you want, right?  At least I think so.

 

Cheers and Regards

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5 hours ago, Goodmaneuver said:

I found a download unrestricted speed test

I got 600+ kB/s with that test. My 3G modem can only go up to ~1.03 MB/s anyway. Not sure about the max upload speed but I've seen 400-500 kB/s in the connection meter.

1 hour ago, bphlpt said:

If either you or @Drugwash want me to keep seeding

I'm not going to experiment anytime soon - too many variables. As long as Dropbox works I'll use it when/if needed. So seeding or not is your choice.

58 minutes ago, Wunderbar98 said:

Thanks again Drugwash, you put a lot of work into this software, even just a few years back. Your old PC pics were fun to review.

You're welcome. It's been just a hobby to me. Started learning AHK by myself after finding One hour software by Skrommel, years ago. I thought "better build your own software than hunt for [crippled] freeware or cr4cks for commercial software". And it was fun, regardless of the amount of work involved. :)

I left those pictures there as a reminder to me and anyone else. I still have all the hardware captured there, just lost the will to play with it, for various reasons.

1 hour ago, Wunderbar98 said:

My daily drivers are ~2000-2001 spec, 800 MHz, 384-512 MB RAM, CRT monitor.

My 98SE machine is a Soyo SY-6VBA133 with a 667MHz CPU, 512MB PC133 SDRAM, GeForce4 Ti4200-AGP8x. Back in 2007-2009 I had two 14" CRT monitors hooked to it; here at house there's only a 17" TFT. This machine has been extremely faithful to me and it still works after a ~2 year break when its PSU was broken. Unfortunately all standards - especially network-related - have changed and there would be way too much work involved only to try to open a web page or connect to an IM service. Would still have value for offline tasks though.

1 hour ago, Wunderbar98 said:

right-click on a folder in Windows Explorer, click Drop to DOS to open COMMAND.COM popup to the folder's pathway.

Such feature was present in Total Commander like forever (menu > Commands > Run DOS). The only time I was ever using Explorer was when copying/unpacking TotCmd after a fresh OS installation. ;) With the right assortment of plug-ins one can safely ditch quite a bunch of external software. :) Oh and yeah, it does sport a Refresh button too. ;)

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Hi @Goodmaneuver, my desktop refreshes fine, just wanted a refresh button for folders in Windows Explorer.

Thanks for the feedback @bphlpt, title updated, if still around will update again in a few weeks.

Hi @Drugwash, i tried several variations of *commanders* over the years and it never stuck. It is good, powerful software, probably why variations have been ported everywhere. On Linux i forked my own file manager that has similar swiss army knife abilities. In Windows 98 i actually like Windows Explorer, part of the nostalgia maybe.

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Wunderbar98, I still am not sure what you mean. Do you mean reload explorer, would terminating then relaunching explorer do what you want? The folders should be refreshing all the time when active with explorer running. See I don't understand.

>> Drop to DOS to open COMMAND.COM popup to the folder's pathway

If you have the folder open & active then run Command from the run launcher will set dos terminal at  the folders address. Is that the same thing? I put different color boarder around active window compared to inactive & different title bar colors.

Do you only want posts that talk about vanilla 98 without KEX then perhaps thread title should reflect this too.
 

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Hi @Goodmaneuver, you're so smart. Didn't know opening COMMAND.COM through a run box would open it to the pathway in an active Windows Explorer window. Thanks for this tip, i may remove Drop to DOS.

Regarding a refresh button for Windows Explorer. When creating a new text file, for example apples.txt, Windows Explorer automatically places the new file at the bottom of the list, not alphabetically or whatever your sort preference.

Right-click and refresh or F5 is needed to properly re-sort the directory. Since i'm too lazy to hit F5 key, a menubar refresh button beside Cut, Copy, Paste would be nice. Almost every conceivable button has already been placed on the menu bar, except refresh. As mentioned it's not a big deal, don't really need a fix, just picky and lazy.

That's it exactly, thread title updated to reflect vanilla status. Also added an addendum to the first post of this thread, thank-you again.

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There is a refresh button in WinME available just open a folder right click the button menu and select customize there should be a refresh available. Then in Tools/Folder Options/View set like current folder this should make all folder views the same.

Program Files.png

I had an idea to dual boot years ago so I created %ProgramFiles% as %COMMON%

Edited by Goodmaneuver
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Hi Goodmaneuver. Thanks for trying to help, it's okay, no refresh button in Windows 98 SE. I know it was available in later releases, Windows XP too. Thought there might be a simple solution, such as a registry setting, but couldn't find anything online. Your screen colours are crazy dude, your eyes must be much better than mine.

For anyone getting back into using this awesome retro OS, the internet was already popular by the time Windows 98 launched, and an amazing amount of information remains available. Couple examples from today's adventure. Some information is outdated, most still applies.

148 Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows 98 (no JavaScript needed):
http://keyxl.com/aaa289e/44/Microsoft-Windows-98-keyboard-shortcuts.htm

Windows 98 Tips and Tricks (no JavaScript needed):
http://www.helpwithwindows.com/windows98/all-tips.html

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