RetroZilla Community Edition

[Wunderbar98]

== RetroZilla Community Edition ==

= Overview =

RetroZilla v2.2 is one of the only open source web browsers that connect to modern HTTPS websites in vanilla Windows 98.[1] Below is a compilation of the most relevant information needed to download, install, tweak and run the browser. To keep the thread clean, please avoid posting information unrelated to RetroZilla.

Forum member rn10950's official RetroZilla v2.2 page (no JavaScript required):
https://github.com/rn10950/RetroZilla/releases/tag/2.2

= Prerequisites =

A basic Windows 9x installation is required. RetroZilla was extensively tested in vanilla Windows 98 SE and should work on all Windows 9x systems. A working network connection is needed to download RetroZilla and browse the internet. As the official RetroZilla download is from an HTTPS site, a different operating system and browser may be required for the initial download, plus a mechanism to get the installation file on to the Windows 98 system (USB stick, CD burn, multi-boot). Note a forked release of RetroZilla, compiled by forum member roytam1, is also available on an HTTP server, especially useful for Windows 9x systems not yet able to access most HTTPS sites, review footnote link for more information.[2] Note some download links below require an MSFN forum member login.

= Download =

RetroZilla v2.2 direct download (~12 MB, no JavaScript required):[3]
https://github.com/rn10950/RetroZilla/releases/download/2.2/retrozilla-2.2.en-US.win32.installer.exe

= Install =

Install RetroZilla [3], default pathway C:\Program Files\RetroZilla.

= Run =

Run RetroZilla, first run creates a user profile, default pathway C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\RetroZilla\Profiles\default\your_profile

= TLS Tweaks =

The about:config modifications outlined in the link below improve security and allow RetroZilla to connect to virtually all HTTPS sites.[3]
https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020/page/15/?tab=comments#comment-1174993

Note TLS v1.2 (Transport Layer Security) support is not evident from browser preferences or about:config. To confirm browser capabilities restart RetroZilla and load the site below.
https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/viewMyClient.html

= Rendering Issues =

Most web pages will not render properly due to the age of RetroZilla's code base and the ever changing internet. If this is not acceptable install kernel extensions and try a newer web browser or upgrade to a newer operating system. One tip that often helps when viewing a web page that does not format well, or if links are missing, is to toggle View dropdown -> Use Style -> 'Default Style' to 'None'. Also experiment with different font and color preferences, select Edit dropdown -> Preferences -> Appearance and modify as desired.

Web page content sometimes hides between code tags, especially with JavaScript disabled. This may cause some web pages to render incompletely or not at all. If a userContent.css file is not yet set up, copy userContent-example.css to userContent.css in the user profile chrome directory, default pathway C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\RetroZilla\Profiles\default\your_profile\chrome. Paste the code snippet below into userContent.css, save the file, restart browser. Thank-you @siria, the detailed explanation is linked below.
https://msfn.org/board/topic/181416-retrozilla-community-edition/page/3/?tab=comments#comment-1186324

svg[style*="display: none"] , svg[style*="visibility: hidden"] {
display: block !important;
visibility: visible !important;
position: relative !important;
width: auto !important;
height: auto !important;
pointer-events: auto !important;
border: 4px dashed red !important;
}

= JavaScript Issues =

Almost all web browsing needs to be performed with JavaScript disabled as the CPU will become overwhelmed and/or RetroZilla may crash. This old browser is not capable of properly processing most modern JavaScript code. For safer browsing, disabling JavaScript is recommended anyway to prevent unauthorized code execution. Most sites are still fairly functional without JavaScript, otherwise find alternative sites.

The two options for JavaScript control are to either disable JavaScript entirely or selectively.

To disable JavaScript entirely, load 'about:config' (no quotes) in RetroZilla's URL bar and change 'javascript.enabled' to 'false'.

Alternatively leave 'javascript.enabled' to 'true', install and configure the NoScript extension, modified to work in RetroZilla, direct download at bottom of the post linked below.
https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020/page/15/?tab=comments#comment-1174709

Review the RetroZilla Extensions Collection link below for information on installing extensions.

= RetroZilla Search Engine Collection =

https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020/page/15/?tab=comments#comment-1175158

= RetroZilla Extensions Collection =

https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020/page/16/?tab=comments#comment-1175386

= RetroZilla Extensions Other =

Additional extensions, most untested, that may/not work in RetroZilla. Install at own risk, recommend backing up profile beforehand. Feel free to report extensions found to be useful, not already included in the RetroZilla Extensions Collection above.

http://web.archive.org/web/20191225070534/http://users.skynet.be/fa258499/extensions.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20191228112850/http://xsidebar.mozdev.org/modifiedmisc.html

= Extension Hacking =

The link below provides information on hacking browser extensions for SeaMonkey based browsers, most applicable to RetroZilla.
http://users.skynet.be/fa258499/hackexttutorial.html

Depending on licensing restrictions, consider posting hacked extensions that have been modified to work in RetroZilla.

= Extension Removal Tips =

The post mentions SeaMonkey but RetroZilla works the same way.
https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020/page/12/?tab=comments#comment-1174068

= Cleanup Script =

A simple batch file can be created to cleanse unwanted files from a profile directory. Create a file named 'RZ_CLEAN.BAT' or similar on the desktop similar to below, substitute your RetroZilla profile pathway. After closing RetroZilla, click RZ_CLEAN.BAT to clean up the profile. This is extra cleansing than the 'Clear Private Data' extension (cleardata.xpi) from the RetroZilla Extensions Collection mentioned above.

: RZ_CLEAN.BAT
DELTREE /Y "C:\WINDOWS\RetroZilla\Profiles\default\Cache\*"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\RetroZilla\Profiles\default\hs621mwy.slt\cookies.txt"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\RetroZilla\Profiles\default\hs621mwy.slt\downloads.rdf"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\RetroZilla\Profiles\default\hs621mwy.slt\history.dat"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\RetroZilla\Profiles\default\hs621mwy.slt\webappsstore.sqlite"

= Tabs =

If the active browser tab is difficult to see, create a custom 'userChrome.css' file in the RetroZilla profile's 'chrome' directory.
https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020/page/15/?tab=comments#comment-1174872

= Links =

Official RetroZilla forum thread.
https://msfn.org/board/topic/174987-retrozilla-an-updated-version-of-mozilla-for-windows-95-and-nt4-22-released/#comments

Running vanilla Windows 98 thread, miscellaneous RetroZilla discussion starts at post below, continues for several pages.
https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020/page/13/?tab=comments#comment-1174444

END

[1] K-Meleon v1.5.4 is another option.
https://msfn.org/board/topic/181726-k-meleon-tls-v12-in-vanilla-windows-98-se/


[2] HTTP download and installation information.
https://msfn.org/board/topic/181416-retrozilla-community-edition/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-1184970

[3] RetroZilla build from forum member roytam1, discussion initiated by forum member loblolly986 and a few posts afterward. Useful information to determine which RetroZilla browser to download and how to install. Note the build from roytam1 should not require manually modifying about:config settings to enable TLS v1.2 (ie. ignore the TLS Tweaks section).
https://msfn.org/board/topic/181416-retrozilla-community-edition/?tab=comments#comment-1182273

Forum member @loblolly986 clarified the install process when extracting the RetroZilla build from @roytam1 into an existing RetroZilla installation.
https://msfn.org/board/topic/181416-retrozilla-community-edition/page/4/?tab=comments#comment-1199080

Direct download link for @roytam1's build:
http://o.rthost.win/gpc/files1.rt/retrozilla-suite-tls12-20200131.7z
Edited October 22, 2021 by Wunderbar98

[ZaPbUzZ]

it runs ok on windows 98se but some encryption don't work I'd try download something it'd pop up saying encryption not enabled i don't see the appropriate encryption option in settings. Modern websites have issues loading its great to at least connect with dos windows but there really needs to be script compatibility engine development for modern script languages that there is little old school sites left to visit these days and most have encrypted downloads.

Can someone come up with a list of retro sites that retrozilla can take us for our retro stuff plz perhaps a retrozilla friendly site thread keep us busy

Edited May 11, 2020 by ZaPbUzZ

[Wunderbar98]

Hi ZaPbUzZ. Only encryption up to TLS v1.2 will work, the world is moving on. All search engines in the search engine collection connect and during general browsing >95% of sites connect. Please provide an example of a URL that does not connect. There are no encryption settings in preferences, modify and add the about:config entries noted in the 'TLS Tweaks' section. If these tweaks are not applied browsing will suck.

From spending probably too much time on this forum, JavaScript processing is an issue with all current Windows 98 capable browsers, even using kernel extensions, hence the NoScript recommendation noted in the 'JavaScript Issues' section.

Almost all downloads work, as noted in the vanilla Windows 98 thread accessing various software on almost a daily basis. As noted in the 'Rendering Issues' section, if download links are missing toggle View dropdown -> Use Style -> 'Default Style' to 'None'. Of course if a download link is hiding behind JavaScript, then try selective JavaScript processing with NoScript or provide a link to a download that fails.

It goes without saying RetroZilla takes extra setup but the steps are all outlined and linked above. The browsing experience will not be the same as a modern browser on a modern system, we're talking basic browsing here on a 22 year old operating system, which in itself is pretty amazing. If routine browsing with JavaScript is desirable, then it's probably necessary to use a newer OS.

[ZaPbUzZ]

On 5/9/2020 at 2:15 PM, Wunderbar98 said:

Hi ZaPbUzZ. Only encryption up to TLS v1.2 will work, the world is moving on. All search engines in the search engine collection connect and during general browsing >95% of sites connect. Please provide an example of a URL that does not connect. There are no encryption settings in preferences, modify and add the about:config entries noted in the 'TLS Tweaks' section. If these tweaks are not applied browsing will suck.

From spending probably too much time on this forum, JavaScript processing is an issue with all current Windows 98 capable browsers, even using kernel extensions, hence the NoScript recommendation noted in the 'JavaScript Issues' section.

Almost all downloads work, as noted in the vanilla Windows 98 thread accessing various software on almost a daily basis. As noted in the 'Rendering Issues' section, if download links are missing toggle View dropdown -> Use Style -> 'Default Style' to 'None'. Of course if a download link is hiding behind JavaScript, then try selective JavaScript processing with NoScript or provide a link to a download that fails.

It goes without saying RetroZilla takes extra setup but the steps are all outlined and linked above. The browsing experience will not be the same as a modern browser on a modern system, we're talking basic browsing here on a 22 year old operating system, which in itself is pretty amazing. If routine browsing with JavaScript is desirable, then it's probably necessary to use a newer OS.

I apologize for delay in response have been juggling bad eBay retro sellers however I forgot what the site I was trying download from. Anyhow, its a astonishing to get as far as connecting to sites with a browser on windows 98se I know the world is moving on however people want to go back to the old windows machines as there are many things left behind that just isn't available anymore. The nostalgic aspect is there however being able to bridge the gap between software architectural generations builds a bridge of opportunity to revisit the golden days and inspire imagination of what could be in the future. Perhaps to see the patented works of Apple quicktime or even real media to invent a new video extension that obseletes mkv for example as AMD used to study Intel patents to find new ways to do what they do without patent violations. If we look at Discord we see it is similar to IRC Chat but more evolved. But bottom line its projects such as retrozilla that keep people using windows 9x for something useful than just old games.

The Environmental aspects such as the lighter 32bit base of DOS and NT this makes for lower power consumption and stops older hardware getting recycled releasing chemicals.

 

[Wunderbar98]

Hi ZaPbUzZ. Thanks for your response. Don't know about eBay, probably a very JavaScript heavy site. RetroZilla has limitations, there is no doubt. Personally the only login i use Windows 98 for is this forum. Still need to boot to another OS for email, banking, etc. The nostalgia is strong with me too, still enjoy using Windows 98 everyday, clicking on stuff, using old software :)

Fully agree with your remarks about keeping old hardware alive, the embodied energy has already been spent on production and old hardware rarely gets recycled properly. There was a time my plans were to move all computing to Raspberry Pi but it would immediately obsolete my entire hardware collection, so i stick with the old stuff. When Windows 98 is too old, the newer NT releases still work great (Windows XP, 2000) and for me there's always lightweight GNU/Linux, works fine on all this old hardware.

[loblolly986]

Regarding TLS in RetroZilla, note that Roytam1 released an unofficial build of RetroZilla with updated cipher support earlier this year:

http://o.rths.ml/gpc/files1.rt/retrozilla-suite-tls12-20200131.7z

You can extract the contents of this over an existing RetroZilla 2.2 installation to update it. This update appears to also make the about:config additions to manually enable certain ciphers unnecessary (those entries were no longer highlighted in bold after I installed the update).

Roy also released a copy of K-Meleon 1.5.4 with the same updated cipher support; you can also extract this over an existing K-Meleon 1.5.4 installation (and replace k-meleon.exe with k-meleonW9x.exe):

http://o.rths.ml/gpc/files1.rt/K-Meleon1.5.4en-US.tls12.7z

Edited May 24, 2020 by loblolly986

[Wunderbar98]

Thank-you loblolly986 for the information and links. The RetroZilla 7z file does not come with an installer, see why you say unzip into existing. Couldn't find any changelog information in the URL sub-directories or zip file, has anything else changed or just TLS? A changelog link would be helpful. Haven't had direct experience with this release, just the build from forum member @rn10950 linked on post #1, which runs stable and great. May test this zipped version in a future Windows 98 build. For now don't want to mess with my existing setup.

[cov3rt]

14 hours ago, loblolly986 said:

Regarding TLS in RetroZilla, note that Roytam1 released an unofficial build of RetroZilla with updated cipher support earlier this year:

http://o.rths.ml/gpc/files1.rt/retrozilla-suite-tls12-20200131.7z

You can extract the contents of this over an existing RetroZilla 2.2 installation to update it. This update appears to also make the about:config additions to manually enable certain ciphers unnecessary (those entries were no longer highlighted in bold after I installed the update).

Roy also released a copy of K-Meleon 1.5.4 with the same updated cipher support; you can also extract this over an existing K-Meleon 1.5.4 installation (and replace k-meleon.exe with k-meleonW9x.exe):

http://o.rths.ml/gpc/files1.rt/K-Meleon1.5.4en-US.tls12.7z

i was wondering, for the "retrozilla-suite-tls12-20200131" package, can we just replace use it as a standalone and remove / uninstall the older version as to save space? "retrozilla-suite-tls12-20200131" runs without any retrozilla version manually installed from before, making "retrozilla 2.2 tls 1.2 (20190223)" obsolete and / or not needed, the only reasons to be concerned is of any bugs / instability, due to it being a "unofficial" build. 

i would like to use the newer version as it's smaller in size (7.51 MB) vs (12.4 MB of "retrozilla 2.2 tls 1.2 (20190223)") on windows 95. is there anything i'm missing here. why is it that the newer build is a lot less space than the older one i currently have which uses the executable way to install? also, i noticed mentioning of the kmeleon package, what's the story with that? can that be run without any previous versions installed, and how does it compare to "retrozilla-suite-tls12-20200131" or "retrozilla 2.2 tls 1.2 (20190223)"? it is only 5.4 MB. 

[loblolly986]

I haven't tried the RetroZilla package on its own myself but would think it would run fine. The chief advantage I know of to just extracting it over an existing 2.2 installation is that, assuming you used the 2.2 EXE installer, you'd still have the desktop and Start Menu shortcuts provided by the installer. You'd have to ask Roy about the differences in which files are included versus the official 2.2 release. It doesn't appear that rn10950 has made any changes to the GitHub source repository since releasing 2.2, so any differences would more or less be Roy's fixes and updates. I extracted the package over the 2.2 installation on my NT 4.0 system and haven't regretted it.*

My understanding is the K-Meleon package is just an updated version of the official 1.5.4 7z package with components taken from RetroZilla, hence why it includes k-meleonW9x.exe (for NT 4 and 9x) in addition to k-meleon.exe (the official EXE installer only installs one or the other---renamed to k-meleon.exe if needed---depending on your OS). K-Meleon is a Gecko-based browser that uses native Win32 widgets for the "chrome" (dialogs and, sadly, scroll bars still use XUL apparently).

* For NT 4 I'd suggest checking out Roy's build of QtWeb 3.8.4 available here (this is a portable program; move it to a suitable installation folder, (optionally) rename it to QtWeb.exe, and launch it. Note: it requires SHLWAPI.DLL extracted from IE 3 or newer). This browser provides considerably better rendering abilities over the current RetroZilla, and the TLS 1.2 cipher support provided by OpenSSL 1.0.1e was still enough to get quite far on the web last I checked. I'm hoping to make and release my own build in the near future that builds upon Roy's patches with additional improvements, hopefully including updating OpenSSL to the latest 1.1.1 release to provide support for TLS 1.3 and the latest ciphers. Maybe I'll be able to update the QtWebKit engine to a slightly newer version as well. (Not sure if it could be easily ported to 9x; maybe with the UnicoWS library?)

 

Edited May 24, 2020 by loblolly986

[cov3rt]

10 hours ago, loblolly986 said:

I haven't tried the RetroZilla package on its own myself but would think it would run fine. The chief advantage I know of to just extracting it over an existing 2.2 installation is that, assuming you used the 2.2 EXE installer, you'd still have the desktop and Start Menu shortcuts provided by the installer. You'd have to ask Roy about the differences in which files are included versus the official 2.2 release. It doesn't appear that rn10950 has made any changes to the GitHub source repository since releasing 2.2, so any differences would more or less be Roy's fixes and updates. I extracted the package over the 2.2 installation on my NT 4.0 system and haven't regretted it.*

My understanding is the K-Meleon package is just an updated version of the official 1.5.4 7z package with components taken from RetroZilla, hence why it includes k-meleonW9x.exe (for NT 4 and 9x) in addition to k-meleon.exe (the official EXE installer only installs one or the other---renamed to k-meleon.exe if needed---depending on your OS). K-Meleon is a Gecko-based browser that uses native Win32 widgets for the "chrome" (dialogs and, sadly, scroll bars still use XUL apparently).

* For NT 4 I'd suggest checking out Roy's build of QtWeb 3.8.4 available here (this is a portable program; move it to a suitable installation folder, (optionally) rename it to QtWeb.exe, and launch it. Note: it requires SHLWAPI.DLL extracted from IE 3 or newer). This browser provides considerably better rendering abilities over the current RetroZilla, and the TLS 1.2 cipher support provided by OpenSSL 1.0.1e was still enough to get quite far on the web last I checked. I'm hoping to make and release my own build in the near future that builds upon Roy's patches with additional improvements, hopefully including updating OpenSSL to the latest 1.1.1 release to provide support for TLS 1.3 and the latest ciphers. Maybe I'll be able to update the QtWebKit engine to a slightly newer version as well. (Not sure if it could be easily ported to 9x; maybe with the UnicoWS library?)

 

ya but do you know why "retrozilla-suite-tls12-20200131" is only 7.51 MB vs ""retrozilla 2.2 tls 1.2 (20190223)" is 12.4 MB? it would seem that the bigger sized package has stuff that the smaller package doesn't that may be crucial for compatibility and functionality. at least in supporting this viewpoint, i noticed that the older kmeleon browsers i had tested ( 1.6 or older ) in comparison to retrozilla were not as functional and / or seemed more buggy, and i noticed their package sizes were smaller too, where i didn't seem to have these barriers / compatibility issues with retrozilla 2.2 tls 1.2 version, as a result, i scrapped the kmeleon ones and never used them again. 

i also prefer the executable ( installs in program files way ) of retrozilla, so hopefully later down the road, a more updated package can be made and i can use that for windows 95 and possibly for 98SE, although for 98SE, i have some things i left off without experimenting in relation to web browsers for one, firefox 9.01 and it's font issues, since i'd think it would be better than retrozilla if i can implement the font fix. people have mentioned up to kmeleon 74 for windows 98SE, i remember experimenting and getting it to work, at least partially, but there was some issues related to kernelex that causes buggy system functioning or corruption in some way, due to using newer than kernelex 4.5.2, and solutions mentioned on the forum were just all over the place and so i never managed to find a feasible or viable solution for that area, and instead, just opted for up to 4.5.2 of kernelex using maximum retrozilla and / or firefox 9.01 ( not fully tested ). 

[ZaPbUzZ]

On 4/15/2020 at 5:08 PM, Wunderbar98 said:

== RetroZilla Community Edition ==


= Overview =

RetroZilla v2.2 appears to be the only open source web browser that presently connects to modern HTTPS websites in vanilla Windows 98. Below is a compilation of the most relevant information needed to download, install, tweak and run the browser. To keep the thread clean, please avoid posting information unrelated to RetroZilla.

Forum member rn10950's RetroZilla v2.2 page (no JavaScript required):
https://github.com/rn10950/RetroZilla/releases/tag/2.2


= Prerequisites =

A basic Windows 9x installation is required. RetroZilla was extensively tested in vanilla Windows 98 SE and should work on all Windows 9x systems. A working network connection is needed to download RetroZilla and browse the internet. As the official RetroZilla download is from an HTTPS site, a different operating system and browser may be required for the initial download, plus a mechanism to get the installation file on to the Windows 98 system (USB stick, CD burn, multi-boot). Some download links below require an MSFN forum member login.


= Download =

RetroZilla v2.2 direct download (~12 MB, no JavaScript required):
https://github.com/rn10950/RetroZilla/releases/download/2.2/retrozilla-2.2.en-US.win32.installer.exe


= Install =

Install RetroZilla, default pathway C:\Program Files\RetroZilla.


= Run =

Run RetroZilla, first run creates a user profile, default pathway C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\RetroZilla\Profiles\default\your_profile

 

= TLS Tweaks =

The about:config modifications outlined in the link below improve security and allow RetroZilla to connect to virtually all HTTPS sites.
https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020/page/15/?tab=comments#comment-1174993

Note TLS v1.2 (Transport Layer Security) support is not evident from browser preferences or about:config. To confirm browser capabilities restart RetroZilla and load the site below.
https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/viewMyClient.html


= Rendering Issues =

Most web pages will not render properly due to the age of RetroZilla's code base and the ever changing internet. If this is not acceptable, install KernelEx (kernel extensions) and try a newer web browser or upgrade to a newer operating system and browser. One tip that often helps when viewing a web page that does not format well, or if links are missing, is to toggle View dropdown -> Use Style -> 'Default Style' to 'None'. Also experiment with different font and color preferences, select Edit dropdown -> Preferences -> Appearance and modify as desired.


= JavaScript Issues =

Almost all web browsing needs to be performed with JavaScript disabled as the CPU will become overwhelmed and/or RetroZilla may crash. This old browser is not capable of properly processing most modern JavaScript code. For safer browsing, disabling JavaScript is recommended anyway to prevent unauthorized code execution. Most sites are still fairly functional without JavaScript, otherwise find alternative sites.

The two options for JavaScript control are to either disable JavaScript entirely or selectively. Note some JavaScript code can still be processed properly and it is occasionally useful to selectively allow some JavaScripts to execute. For example, enabling dropdown menus. Personal preference is to install and use the NoScript extension linked below.

To disable JavaScript entirely, load 'about:config' (no quotes) in RetroZilla's URL bar and change 'javascript.enabled' to 'false'.

Alternatively leave 'javascript.enabled' to 'true', install and configure the NoScript extension, modified to work in RetroZilla, direct download at bottom of the post linked below.
https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020/page/15/?tab=comments#comment-1174709

Review the RetroZilla Extensions Collection link below for information on installing extensions.


= RetroZilla Search Engine Collection =

https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020/page/15/?tab=comments#comment-1175158


= RetroZilla Extensions Collection =

https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020/page/16/?tab=comments#comment-1175386


= RetroZilla Extensions Other =

Additional extensions, most untested, that may/not work in RetroZilla. Install at own risk, recommend backing up profile beforehand. Feel free to report extensions found to be useful, not already included in the RetroZilla Extensions Collection above.

http://users.skynet.be/fa258499/extensions.html

http://xsidebar.mozdev.org/modifiedmisc.html


= Extension Hacking =

The link below provides information on hacking browser extensions for SeaMonkey based browsers, most applicable to RetroZilla.
http://users.skynet.be/fa258499/hackexttutorial.html

Depending on licensing restrictions, consider posting hacked extensions that have been modified to work in RetroZilla.


= Extension Removal Tips =

The post mentions SeaMonkey but RetroZilla works the same way.
https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020/page/12/?tab=comments#comment-1174068


= Cleanup Script =

A simple batch file can be created to cleanse unwanted files from a profile directory. Create a file named 'RZ_CLEAN.BAT' or similar on the desktop similar to below, substitute your RetroZilla profile pathway. After closing RetroZilla, click RZ_CLEAN.BAT to clean up the profile. This is extra cleansing than the 'Clear Private Data' extension (cleardata.xpi) from the RetroZilla Extensions Collection mentioned above.

: RZ_CLEAN.BAT
DELTREE /Y "C:\WINDOWS\RetroZilla\Profiles\default\Cache\*"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\RetroZilla\Profiles\default\hs621mwy.slt\cookies.txt"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\RetroZilla\Profiles\default\hs621mwy.slt\downloads.rdf"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\RetroZilla\Profiles\default\hs621mwy.slt\history.dat"
DEL "C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\RetroZilla\Profiles\default\hs621mwy.slt\webappsstore.sqlite"


= Tabs =

If the active browser tab is difficult to see, create a custom 'userChrome.css' file in the RetroZilla profile's 'chrome' directory.
https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020/page/15/?tab=comments#comment-1174872


= Links =

Official RetroZilla forum thread.
https://msfn.org/board/topic/174987-retrozilla-an-updated-version-of-mozilla-for-windows-95-and-nt4-22-released/#comments

Running vanilla Windows 98 thread, miscellaneous RetroZilla discussion starts at post below, continues for several pages.
https://msfn.org/board/topic/177106-running-vanilla-windows-98-in-2020/page/13/?tab=comments#comment-1174444

If I had followed these direction i'd probably would had a better online experience. But being the kind of person who likes to install and go, wouldn't it be fair to ask for an edition with the additional steps included?

[loblolly986]

13 hours ago, cov3rt said:

ya but do you know why "retrozilla-suite-tls12-20200131" is only 7.51 MB vs ""retrozilla 2.2 tls 1.2 (20190223)" is 12.4 MB? it would seem that the bigger sized package has stuff that the smaller package doesn't that may be crucial for compatibility and functionality. at least in supporting this viewpoint, i noticed that the older kmeleon browsers i had tested ( 1.6 or older ) in comparison to retrozilla were not as functional and / or seemed more buggy, and i noticed their package sizes were smaller too, where i didn't seem to have these barriers / compatibility issues with retrozilla 2.2 tls 1.2 version, as a result, i scrapped the kmeleon ones and never used them again. 

i also prefer the executable ( installs in program files way ) of retrozilla, so hopefully later down the road, a more updated package can be made and i can use that for windows 95 and possibly for 98SE, although for 98SE, i have some things i left off without experimenting in relation to web browsers for one, firefox 9.01 and it's font issues, since i'd think it would be better than retrozilla if i can implement the font fix. people have mentioned up to kmeleon 74 for windows 98SE, i remember experimenting and getting it to work, at least partially, but there was some issues related to kernelex that causes buggy system functioning or corruption in some way, due to using newer than kernelex 4.5.2, and solutions mentioned on the forum were just all over the place and so i never managed to find a feasible or viable solution for that area, and instead, just opted for up to 4.5.2 of kernelex using maximum retrozilla and / or firefox 9.01 ( not fully tested ). 

The comparison is actually ~29.7 MiB vs. ~33.8 MiB looking at the uncompressed size of Roy's updated 7z package vs. the official 2.2 ZIP package, respectively. The official package includes some additional executables and DLLs compared to Roy's package. To at least some degree, this is evidently due to Roy's retrozilla.exe being statically linked with various libraries (~9 MiB in size) while the official 2.2 retrozilla.exe is dynamically linked (and is 156 KiB in size); note that Roy's package is missing most of the DLLs in the "components" folder. Static linking can carry less overall size overhead when the static libraries are only used by one executable, or when the linker omits parts of the libraries that aren't used by the program. Again, you'd have to ask Roy to be sure about the rest of the omissions. Some of them may have been unintentionally omitted, or they could simply be optional (but still may be worth having).

I should clarify that when I suggested extracting Roy's package over an existing 2.2 installation, I did not mean replace the 2.2 installation. I meant extract it on top of the existing installation; any 2.2 files not included in Roy's package will still remain.

I should also note that if one is concerned about messing up an existing RetroZilla installation, just make a backup copy of it (and perhaps your profile folder as well). I backed up my installation (and K-Meleon as well), but haven't yet had a need for the backup.

Edited May 25, 2020 by loblolly986
copy-editing

[Wunderbar98]

Hi @ZaPbUzZ. The intention is not to mess with @rn10950's build and installer, as well as to keep things modular. Then there is no need to provide diffs and changelogs, etc. The build from @rn10950 is truly open source with the build instructions and changed source code readily available on the github site. From what i can determine, this can not be said of the @roytam1 build, unless someone can provide links, everyone's just guessing what's changed.

The first post clearly delineates the steps required to set up the browser. If a forum member can't be bothered to read the instructions and click on a few links, not sure what to say about that. Not everyone will want every search engine or extension installed from the RetroZilla Search Engine and RetroZilla Extensions Collections, so the end-user can customize. The suggested RZ_CLEAN.BAT script is just a cut/paste and will need to be modified to accomodate the browser's user profile(s) anyway.

The TLS v1.2 about:config tweaks is just cut/paste, modify and add a few entries. If someone wants to create and attach a custom prefs.js file, think that's the file, just add it to a post to share with others.

Sorry for not being more direct @loblolly986, too much Canadian politeness, of course backing up the registry and install before tinkering is trivial. Personally, over-zipping another 7 MB download seems silly when the end-user just needs to modify a few about:config settings. Unless someone can provide evidence of change, not sure what else will be accomplished.

[loblolly986]

@Wunderbar98 - Roy's package adds support for additional ciphers such as ChaCha20-Poly1305 and a SHA384-based cipher; it doesn't just enable a couple existing about:config settings by default. A couple screenshots of the ciphers listed in my updated installation's about:config are below.

Roy's forked RetroZilla repo is here (different patches are stored as separate "branches"): https://github.com/roytam1/RetroZilla

"Pull requests" page for rn10950's repo with requests by Roy that haven't yet been merged: https://github.com/rn10950/RetroZilla/pulls

Edited May 26, 2020 by loblolly986

[Wunderbar98]

Thank-you @loblolly986 for the links, screenshots and information. For sure upgraded ciphers, [edit] default too. An addendum has been added to the first post, requesting members review and decide which browser they wish to use or meld together. Not having spent any time using @roytam1's build, can't personally comment on it's stability, you say it's good, members can choose. For now, the @rn10950 build is good enough for my needs and connects to all sites visited. These updated ciphers will undoubtedly become more important in the future.

Not sure where @ZaPbUzZ's installer post went, responding anyway. Glad you found something that works for you @ZaPbUzZ. Personally, still prefer members download the browser direct from source site. This provides additional confidence that members are getting the desired build from source and allows the developers, if inclined, to track download popularity. Hopefully RetroZilla will continue to receive periodic support to keep it viable.

Edited June 3, 2020 by Wunderbar98