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Browsing the web on 98/ME in 2019 and beyond


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On 10/5/2020 at 4:58 PM, schwups said:

After update to latest "curl-7.72.0-mbedtls-zlib-win32-static-xpmod-sse.7z" I get an error: Error starting Program: The Curl.exe is linked to missing export msvcr70.dll: _vsnprintf_s. Curl 7.69.1 is OK.

I don't know how, but somehow that one got corrupted. I've recompiled curl 7.72.0 (with mbedtls) and at least for me on WinXP it doesn't crash anymore.
You can use the same url to download the updated binary.

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On 11/1/2020 at 2:14 PM, Reino said:

I don't know how, but somehow that one got corrupted. I've recompiled curl 7.72.0 (with mbedtls) and at least for me on WinXP it doesn't crash anymore.
You can use the same url to download the updated binary.

Thanks for your work and the hint.

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  • 3 months later...
On 8/26/2020 at 6:06 AM, loblo said:

I was fed up with Burp systematically corrupting the registry

You can use Tweak UI to delay the shutdown of the system to allow more time for the registry contents to be written back to the hard drive. Also turning off the registry optimizer with X-setup Pro is worth a try . A download manager like Download Express 1.6 can use a proxy and many threads so that download speeds can be multiplied by the number of threads / connections.

Edited by Goodmaneuver
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  • Dave-H changed the title to How you really browse the web on 98/ME in 2019-2021
  • 5 months later...
On 7/21/2020 at 11:36 AM, loblo said:
On 7/21/2020 at 2:01 AM, cc333 said:

@loblo How'd you accomplish this?!

c

In short, by using Burp Suite Community Edition as an HTTPS proxy for Opera running on Azul OpenJDK 8 Update 262.

Azul OpenJDK 8 Update 292 (zulu8.54.0.21-ca-jre8.0.292-win_i686.zip) is the last that works. Latest update 302 doesn't. Error: Jawaw caused an error in Jawaw.exe. The MS VC runtimes 2010 were replaced by 2017.

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  • 8 months later...

IMO the best way to browse the web on 98/ME or other ancient OS as of today is to do the same as the PowerPC folks have been doing these days on other forum:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/web-1-1-building-the-new-old-web.2290616/

Instead of fighting to make old systems work with modern internet, just build mirrors and a network of pages compatible with Web 1.0 for these old systems. There's even a mirror for Youtube.

Simply build a community network of classic WIndows related stuff to browse and a mirror to news/videos sites. Practically, in small terms, "downgrade" the internet for such systems to work on it and not choke because of modern JS. I'm a strong advocate of that solution not only because it's an easy one, but also because it is what I believe how the Web should be shaped, instead of a Web 2.0 based on JS frameworks and Web Apps.

Edited by Bruninho
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  • Dave-H changed the title to How you really browse the web on 98/ME in 2019 and beyond
On 4/7/2022 at 1:52 PM, Bruninho said:

Practically, in small terms, "downgrade" the internet for such systems to work on it and not choke because of modern JS. I'm a strong advocate of that solution not only because it's an easy one, but also because it is what I believe how the Web should be shaped, instead of a Web 2.0 based on JS frameworks and Web Apps.

I second Bruninho.

I ran into something similar back when checking out the Lynx web browser. The homepage had a small graphic icon "Viewable by any browser". After looking around it turned up this Campaign. The link provided by Bruninho is more progressive and Retro targeted. But retro business aside, its an example of people creating the web they want. Rather than just complaining about JS.

What would be really cool is a resurgence of Hotline or things like it. There was a small moment when people were integrating homepages into things like gnutella. Fear of exposing your real IP and the explosion of piracy's immediate gratification gave rise to bittorrent/filelockers and server based social networking. Now some really cool networks are gone or held up by dedicated grey beards, aided by a curious few. Modern devices all but put the final nails in the coffin.

B.B.S. is dead, long live B.B.S.

But back to Web 1.0, it would mostly support even dos webbrowsers. You could likely even use Amiga and a couple of 8bit systems, to view some content.

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  • 1 month later...

@roytam1

Some time ago, IIRC you created experimentally a couple of builds of old browsers which would work on Windows 98SE with updated security protocols.
I've been using your builds of Firefox 3.6 Community Edition and K-Meleon 74 for quite some time now on Windows 98SE, and they have both worked fine, although there are some stability issues with K-Meleon.

The only thing I regularly use Firefox 3.6 for is downloading weekly virus pattern updates from Trend Micro to keep my ancient installation of PC-cillin 2002 up to date.
This has always worked fine until recently, but now although I can access the download page fine, when i try to actually download the file, I'm getting this -

Image1.thumb.jpg.2d4a443e56e07bb6fff646ef25b1698a.jpg

I have tried with K-Meleon, but that just freezes on the download page.
However, if I copy the location of the pattern file from Firefox 3.6, and paste that into K-Meleon, I can then download the file!
A workaround, but a bit awkward.
Can anything be now done about the security error in Firefox 3.6, or is it now a lost cause?
Strange that I can still access the download page itself, but not the file I need to download.
Cheers, Dave.
:)

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10 minutes ago, Dave-H said:

@roytam1

Hi Roy. This query is actually Windows 98 related, so perhaps shouldn't be here, but I didn't think it was worth starting another thread in the Windows 98 section.

Some time ago, IIRC you created experimentally a couple of builds of old browsers which would work on Windows 98SE with updated security protocols.
I've been using your builds of Firefox 3.6 Community Edition and K-Meleon 74 for quite some time now on Windows 98SE, and they have both worked fine, although there are some stability issues with K-Meleon.

The only thing I regularly use Firefox 3.6 for is downloading weekly virus pattern updates from Trend Micro to keep my ancient installation of PC-cillin 2002 up to date.
This has always worked fine until recently, but now although I can access the download page fine, when i try to actually download the file, I'm getting this -

Image1.thumb.jpg.2d4a443e56e07bb6fff646ef25b1698a.jpg

I have tried with K-Meleon, but that just freezes on the download page.
However, if I copy the location of the pattern file from Firefox 3.6, and paste that into K-Meleon, I can then download the file!
A workaround, but a bit awkward.
Can anything be now done about the security error in Firefox 3.6, or is it now a lost cause?
Strange that I can still access the download page itself, but not the file I need to download.
Cheers, Dave.
:)

my 3.6 build is somewhat unmaintained and its security cypher suites may not suit what websites want:

https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=www.trendmicro.com#hidecipher1

but it seems that my fx3.6 build may be able to connect this site.

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No I don't think so, all the files packed in the version I've got are from 2017 or earlier.
That one has quite a few from 2020.
Thanks, I'll give that version a try!
I assume I can keep the same profile folder?
:dubbio:

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Backup the profile folder and keep it. The trend micro page loads here, but I get an error / crash (firefox caused an error in JS3250.DLL ) on download. Maybe I could fix that with special KernelEx settings. I use neither Firefox 3.6 nor K_meleon 74 on ME. The page doesn't freeze on K-M74 here. I set Msvcr80.dll in the K-Meleon program folder to Base (Kexbases,Kexbasen). Latest http://o.rthost.win/gpc/files1.rt/KM74-g22-20210814.win2000.7z

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@schwups

I didn't have any luck with the later version of Firefox 3.6.
For some reason, it won't run at all. When I run it, nothing happens.
I tried it on Windows XP, and nothing happens when I run it there either.
I have firefox.exe set to Windows 2000 SP4 mode in KernelEx, I assume that's correct.

I had better luck with K-Meleon 74. The newer version definitely seems to be more stable.
It still freezes on the Trend Micro page though.
If I run it in XP, it loads the page fine.
Again, I have kmeleion.exe set to Windows 2000 SP4 in KernelEx.

I've moved this conversation here from the original thread which is intended to be about browsers on XP, Vista, and 2000, not Windows 98, so we can carry on with it here if you're happy to do so.
Cheers,
Dave.
:)

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