Jump to content

how to create a custom lighter version of unofficial service pack 3.64 for 98SE


cov3rt

Recommended Posts

i was wondering if there is a relatively straightforward way to modify the unofficial service pack, specifically version 3.64 for 98SE of that of "PROBLEMCHYLD". it's unclear whether he spends much time here on msfn anymore. i had sent a message to a little while back to see if he create a modified version, and although he did make me a customized version before that from a while before when i asked, it just wasn't what i was looking for / not what i asked for, because what i needed was for the package to work like it normally does, bringing options of what to install, but simply with a few programs / options removed to save some space, because i don't need the additional programs, but more importantly, they take a certain amount of space that i need to free in order to make room for other stuff so that the end result would allow some decent room to fully burn up to 700 MB discs with the actual max burn range being around 677 MB. if someone can possibly do the favor of doing this for me and uploading it possibly to easyupload, that would be nice, but i can do it on my own if i can be given the steps to and isn't too difficult. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Creating the installer package is pretty stright forward, you just need the files from the original and create your own package with "iexpress.exe":
http://www.mdgx.com/INF_web/index.htm

The installer will call the "infex.exe" file during unpacking the installation files and display the options that are entered in "infex.ini".
Each option triggers then one of the .inf files that reside inside the package, e.g. SPUPDATE.INF or ZIPFLDR.INF ans so on...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, creopard said:

Creating the installer package is pretty stright forward, you just need the files from the original and create your own package with "iexpress.exe":
http://www.mdgx.com/INF_web/index.htm

The installer will call the "infex.exe" file during unpacking the installation files and display the options that are entered in "infex.ini".
Each option triggers then one of the .inf files that reside inside the package, e.g. SPUPDATE.INF or ZIPFLDR.INF ans so on...

this is all too difficult and confusing for me, i have no idea what i have to do with iexpress.exe, what options to choose in the prompt windows, etc. maybe you can start with the first steps on what you mean by the files of the original. are you talking about just the .exe file of the unofficial service pack, or are we talking about the extracted package's files ( everything in it )? i don't wan't to end up going onto a wild goose chase here as i have done so various times in the computer field. if there is something practical i can do such as deleting a few files that i don't need and then a few prompt to bring the package into it's intended form, then please, explain this. i'm hoping to remove 40 MB or more of stuff from the usp 3.64. some of these are mentioned in my checklist below:

don't check word 97 if you previously installed any office versions or going to do so in the future, also, you do not need to install tweak ui 1.33, performance tweaks, ntfs drivers, animated boot up and shutdown logos, windows millenium / 2000 themes or  internet explorer 5.5 sp2 core files for 98 lite users, ntfs option should not be installed for general users due to buggy / partial support, also windows management instrumentation 1.50.1085.0005 can be unchecked as it's buggy, dma does not need to be checked, nor does windows script 5.7

Edited by cov3rt
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If your concern is about space and you don't want to mess around with "iexpress", you could also follow a more pragmatic approach:

  1. unzip the U98SESP3.EXE
  2. remove components you don't want physically (e.g. "fonts.cab" and "dx9c.cab" as they require the most space)
  3. also remove the corresponding entries from the "infex.ini" file (so they don't appear as install option any more)
  4. create a new executable ZIP file (with e.g. Winrar 32bit) with a SFX option, that would call the "infex.exe" upon file extraction (you will create your own installer this way)
     
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, creopard said:

If your concern is about space and you don't want to mess around with "iexpress", you could also follow a more pragmatic approach:

  1. unzip the U98SESP3.EXE
  2. remove components you don't want physically (e.g. "fonts.cab" and "dx9c.cab" as they require the most space)
  3. also remove the corresponding entries from the "infex.ini" file (so they don't appear as install option any more)
  4. create a new executable ZIP file (with e.g. Winrar 32bit) with a SFX option, that would call the "infex.exe" upon file extraction (you will create your own installer this way)
     

can you please do the last step for me, i was able to free about 56 MB of space, and i recreated the SUPP and SP3 portions into the .CAB format using cab maker 1.4. all it needs is the last step which i'm not able to make sense of. i have uploaded the package into easyupload via link below. if possible, it would be nice if you can re-upload it with the final package ready to be used:

https://easyupload.io/w0hg8v

below btw is the things i removed, in addition to the ones i mentioned in my second post:

-41=0,0,0,Zip Folders 5.0.531.0
-share dll 
-3=0,0,0,Desktop Icon Layout Shell Extension 1.0.0.1
-21=0,0,0,Microsoft RegClean 4.1.7364.1
-40=0,0,0,WinTop 0.95.0.0
-26=0,0,0,Oleviewer 2.1.0.60
-30=0,0,0,TrueType Fonts (254 Fonts)
-31=0,0,0,TrueType Shell Extension 2.1.0.0

ie5 folders were deleted too ( as IE 6 SP1 will be installed from beforehand )

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/8/2020 at 5:01 AM, creopard said:

If your concern is about space and you don't want to mess around with "iexpress", you could also follow a more pragmatic approach:

  1. unzip the U98SESP3.EXE
  2. remove components you don't want physically (e.g. "fonts.cab" and "dx9c.cab" as they require the most space)
  3. also remove the corresponding entries from the "infex.ini" file (so they don't appear as install option any more)
  4. create a new executable ZIP file (with e.g. Winrar 32bit) with a SFX option, that would call the "infex.exe" upon file extraction (you will create your own installer this way)
     

so i went ahead and tried to do the 4th step, but i'm not sure i'm doing it "correctly" or not. it creates an .exe which then i click install and manually select a directory, with a new folder on the desktop is where i put it. after that, it asks to load infex.exe, i proceed with yes, but then it gives an error of "list index out of bounds (3)", if selecting ok, it then loads the windows with which options to install but it only shows 2 options! why so? do note, this was tested on windows 7,  not windows 98SE. 

Edited by cov3rt
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry for the late reply. Unfortunately, the link https://easyupload.io/w0hg8v does not work any more.

The "list index out of bounds (3)" occurs if the infex.ini is malformed. Execute infex.exe to see if there are any errors (works also within Windows 10, but don't install anything) .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, creopard said:

Sorry for the late reply. Unfortunately, the link https://easyupload.io/w0hg8v does not work any more.

The "list index out of bounds (3)" occurs if the infex.ini is malformed. Execute infex.exe to see if there are any errors (works also within Windows 10, but don't install anything) .

instead of deleting the other entries in the infex.ini file, i just left them in the default manner and just referenced in my document to not install certain things. infex.exe now launches without errors and includes all necessary options ( tested on windows 10 ). now, it's unclear whether or not it will indeed install what i need and there isn't anything missing that i may have accidentally deleted or what have you, but very soon, i'll have my system to test 98SE, and hopefully all things work out the way i expect to. 

however, instead of using the sfx created exe file, i simply made the package into winrar / zipped ( at least for now to test ). the sfx route doesn't seem to have been necessary in the first place, because the infex.exe is basically what executes the entirety of the program. all one really would need to do in order to customize, is do what i did to reduce space, which was simply deleting certain files here and there, so i will be looking to test in this way first. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

so i tested the custom unofficial service pack 3.64 i made, and it works the way intended without sfx route. all that's needed is to extract the package if zipped, and run infex.exe. although i was only able to do light testing on the system and i didn't select most options in the installer, it installed mostly without any problems. there was a error related to possibly dma, complaining of missing tweaks.inf, and maybe another file or two, but as long as you skip these, there should be any other major issues. the wizard does bring up all options, but you'll be only selecting a few. make sure to select no for the message related to keeping files. also, directx 9.0c for some reason wouldn't run from infex.exe, so i ran dxsetup.exe from it's package. this package is definetely not a clean option, but at least it sheds over 30 MB of space for lighter builds. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...