windows management instrumentation significance and which version to use on 95 / 98SE

[cov3rt]

a while back, i used to use windows management instrumentation 1.5.1085.5 ( wmi9x ) on my windows 95 / 98SE builds, however, due to certain issues, causing hanging of the computer or complete freezing and general slowness, i had to stop using it in the builds ( couldn't simply uninstall it ) and it was said by others apparently from at least one other source or two of it being buggy, however, i was just researching it through coincidence yesterday and thought that perhaps it come in handy, at least from what i researched, it seems to add some sort of functionality in the OS by allowing some kind of better connection of the bios with the operating system or allowing certain things to be monitored / shown that may not be shown if windows management instrumental isn't installed, such as specific temperatures ( gpu, hdd, etc ). 

the thing is, i have not done much testing to see if these temperature readings are a limitation of the motherboard / chipset, or if it's more of a software limitation, where that a program such as wmi9x, would allow for monitoring these things, when in other words, if it weren't to be installed, then these readings wouldn't appear. for example, you run speedfan 4.28 without wmi9x installed, and it only shows the cpu temperature, but with wmi9x installed, it may show other temperatures, helping you identify any possible issues such as overheating. so basically there are two questions in particular, whether or not it's absolutely necessary for the programs i use such as hwmonitor on 98SE, or speedfan on both windows 95 / 98SE, or hmonitor ( 2004 version ), so that these programs can detect other devices and show their temperatures, where as if not having wmi9x installed, then they wouldn't. but other than that, i was wondering what other uses it would have? i did read that it serves as some kind of way of remote connecting, etc, and for me, i'm not interested in those kind of stuff, i'm just interested in the program simply allowing certain programs to work better or add functionality for offline / general usage. 

up to this point, without wmi9x ( 1.5.1085.5 ), speedfan on 95 or 98SE usually would just show cpu temperature and / or just hdd, but rarely the gpu or other temps. and for hwmonitor, it was usually only the cpu for 98SE, hmonitor, i haven't tested it much, but i think it only showed cpu temp? 

another question is if wmi9x is buggy and there isn't anything to do about this or any unofficial fixes, etc, then is there any version perhaps older that isn't buggy, but runs fairly stable and can be used instead? it seems that windows 95 does not come shipped or installed with any version of windows management instrumentation at all, however, 98SE seems to ship with wmi version 1.10 from a source i read, however, it's unclear if this automatically gets installed or not, it seems that you may need to manually install through control panel to install. now the question is for one, is this 1.10 version stable? does it provide any benefit whatsoever to programs such as speedfan, etc ( not factoring in remote network connections ), also can this version be used on windows 95? if yes, where can i download this version? is there any other version in between 1.10 and 1.5 that may better? 

here are some relevant posts btw, the 1st one below mentions some additional steps for wmi9x, but it's unclear why this needs to be done? -

https://msfn.org/board/topic/67282-wmi9xexe/

how to enable remote connections for wmi9x ( not required for personal or home user pc's ):

http://www.wtcs.org/snmp4tpc/wmi.htm#WMI Downloads

wmi may be needed / used by some temperature monitoring software - 

https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/cpu-temperature-monitoring.html

Edited May 29, 2020 by cov3rt

[Goodmaneuver]

WinME has WBEM version 1.50.1164.0. It will work if you update Ole32.dll to that of Win98 vs 4.71.2900.0 will do. Place WBEM from from WinME in system folder or folder of choice then register all files that have DllRegisterServer as a function export. Check with Dependency Walker and also make sure there are no missing files or mismatches I have overlooked other than Ole32.

 Several games and several other programs as well as those you have mentioned use WBEM files.

If you already have WBEM folder in Win95 or had it before then do not change its location. Empty it and replace with WinME folders and files. Make sure you still register files and WinMgmt.exe ( Microsoft Web-Based Enterprise Management Common Information Model Object Manager ) should be set to run at runtime. Check with Process Explorer that it is running.

Edited May 30, 2020 by Goodmaneuver

[cov3rt]

56 minutes ago, Goodmaneuver said:

WinME has WBEM version 1.50.1164.0. It will work if you update Ole32.dll to that of Win98 vs 4.71.2900.0 will do. Place WBEM from from WinME in system folder or folder of choice then register all files that have DllRegisterServer as a function export. Check with Dependency Walker and also make sure there are no missing files or mismatches I have overlooked other than Ole32.

 Several games and several other programs as well as those you have mentioned use WBEM files.

If you already have WBEM folder in Win95 or had it before then do not change its location. Empty it and replace with WinME folders and files. Make sure you still register files and WinMgmt.exe ( Microsoft Web-Based Enterprise Management Common Information Model Object Manager ) should be set to run at runtime. Check with Process Explorer that it is running.

are you sure wbem 1.50.1164.0 works properly on windows 95 and 98SE? i mean for windows 95, i was just checking right now, and for 3 of the hotfix packages, "q289514", "q285895", and "q260710", they identify as 1.50.1085.59 in file versions, as if they are meant specifically for 1.50.1085.5x versions or older, but not for 1.50.1164.0? i do not have these specific hotfixes in 98SE, at least as separate updates, maybe they aren't for 98SE or maybe unofficial service pack might have it or something similar? 

i was trying to skim through my windows 95 archive, i came across ole32.dll version 4.71.3328.0 found in "Dc95inst.exe", is that version ok to be used with wbem 1.50.1164.0? 

i don't know if there are newer versions that get installed, but if there are, would there be any issues? reason why i ask, is because if i do implement this newer wbem version you suggested, i was thinking of implementing it right after install dc95inst. certainly, it would help if i had more information of the wbem package or file i need as to find out when i should install it. do you have a link of where i can get that the relevant wbem files. also i'm a bit confused on the instructions, for one, is wbem just the folder that contains a bunch of stuff or is wbem the actual executable file? also, i'm not sure if i can do the registering part or other parts, they seem a bit complex. 

 

[Goodmaneuver]

1.50.1164.0 should work in Win95 with the Ole32 update, yes 4.71.3328.0 will work as this is WinME's version. What version of WBEM you use will not matter much unless you are using specific Windows programs that rely on some updated files like Framedyn and Fastproxy but you can not mix and match much, it is a specific OS thing. Do not take notice of version numbers that much also as 1.50.1164 has a link time stamp of 09/06/2000 - WinME time stamp. Look for link time stamp in Dependency Walker. Although the majority of Win2K or early Whistler WBEM can be used, it has little or no advantage in normal operation with games and other 3rd party applications. So you can use what you like and just make sure there are no errors in Dependency Walker and that all appropriate files register OK and executables do what they are supposed to do. I think WinME's version is a good choice. If you install DCOM95 ( which is a part of the DSclient package ) make sure that the new Ole32 4.71.3328.0 is in the system folder or just copy over the files off line. To get pre-release versions of WinMe, Google WinWorldPC then select Library.

( Win2K uses 1.50.1085 version files, I am not familiar with Win98 WBEM version numbers )

BTW the VXD's in the DSclient package are for 95 and 98 and do not work in ME.

Some executables need registering first time. Create shortcut with space then /regserver suffix. These are the 2; WinMgmt.exe; unsecapp.exe. Or alternatively run the WBEM.inf.

Edited May 31, 2020 by Goodmaneuver