Question: regarding Plus!98 and XP

[snackwell]

I was wondering if anyone had update the dll's that come with the screensavers in Plus!98.

You cannot install in XP (at least I could not) in the conventional way.

I copied the required registry entries and I got the themes to work, except for the sysagent.exe (that allows the mouse corners, use one of the screensavers and click configure to see what I am talking about) which is supposed to run like a service and the dll's for the screensavers (which do not work in XP).

I just assumed it is some kind of hack to make them work in XP.

Has anyone gotten them to work?

Note: I wish Microsoft would release this Plus! Pack, updated for XP, etc.

[argon007]

Microsoft Plus! for Windows XP is already released.. Please go following link:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/plus/PlusHome.asp

[snackwell]

That is not what I asked.

I asked about the Plus! Pack that was sold an extra component for Windows 98/Me

Note: I wish Microsoft would release this Plus! Pack, updated for XP, etc.

this Plus! Pack refers to Plus!98, not Plus!XP which is why the update for XP is there.

[argon007]

That is not what I asked.

I asked about the Plus! Pack that was sold an extra component for Windows 98/Me

Note: I wish Microsoft would release this Plus! Pack, updated for XP, etc.

this Plus! Pack refers to Plus!98, not Plus!XP which is why the update for XP is there.

There is no Plus! Pack update for XP in Microsoft Product.

Only Microsoft Plus! for Windows XP.

[Skyfrog]

I seem to remember that you could trick Plus! 98 into installing on Windows Me by copying the CD to the hard drive and renaming setup.exe to something else. I have never tried this with XP however so I don't know if it would still work. Even if it does there are probably certain parts you should not try to install. Desktop themes, the games and the Deluxe CD Player should be safe though.

[snackwell]

That is not what I asked.

I asked about the Plus! Pack that was sold an extra component for Windows 98/Me

Note: I wish Microsoft would release this Plus! Pack, updated for XP, etc.

this Plus! Pack refers to Plus!98, not Plus!XP which is why the update for XP is there.

There is no Plus! Pack update for XP in Microsoft Product.

Only Microsoft Plus! for Windows XP.

Please read carefully. Thanks!

I am not talking about Windows Me or Windows 98, otherwise I would post in another forum.

I am talking about running Plus!98 on Windows XP and the problem's associated with it.

I have Plus! XP installed arleady as well as the DME Version.

Yes, I have already implied that I realized that by wishing for an update to the Plus! XP to include the old themes/screensavers.

I must be having a problem with clarity this evening.

I have found how to trick to install but since I have all the registry entries, that is not needed. It is not an install problem. Other screensavers in the Plus!98 pack which do not have dll's of the same name work fine in Windows XP.

I am asking if anyone had converted the following non-working screensavers:

Here is the complete list of the files I am talking about:

Screensavers that do not work from earlier Plus! Packs

From Plus! for Windows 98

BASEBALL.DLL 913,408 23-Apr-99 22:22

BASEBALL.SCR 38,912 23-Apr-99 22:22

Dangerous Creatures.DLL 299,008 23-Apr-99 22:22

Dangerous Creatures.SCR 38,400 23-Apr-99 22:22

Inside your Computer.DLL 208,896 23-Apr-99 22:22

Inside your Computer.SCR 38,400 23-Apr-99 22:22

JUNGLE.DLL 724,992 23-Apr-99 22:22

JUNGLE.SCR 38,912 23-Apr-99 22:22

Leonardo da Vinci.DLL 929,792 23-Apr-99 22:22

Leonardo da Vinci.SCR 38,400 23-Apr-99 22:22

MYSTERY.DLL 491,520 23-Apr-99 22:22

MYSTERY.SCR 38,400 23-Apr-99 22:22

NATURE.DLL 299,008 23-Apr-99 22:22

NATURE.SCR 38,400 23-Apr-99 22:22

SPACE.DLL 684,032 23-Apr-99 22:22

SPACE.SCR 38,912 23-Apr-99 22:22

SPORTS.DLL 204,800 23-Apr-99 22:22

SPORTS.SCR 38,400 23-Apr-99 22:22

The Golden Era.DLL 245,760 23-Apr-99 22:22

The Golden Era.SCR 38,400 23-Apr-99 22:22

TRAVEL.DLL 98,304 23-Apr-99 22:22

TRAVEL.SCR 38,400 23-Apr-99 22:22

Underwater.DLL 946,176 23-Apr-99 22:22

Underwater.SCR 38,912 23-Apr-99 22:22

From Plus! for Windows NT 4.0

Ancient Pathways.DLL 2,754,560 31-Aug-96 23:00

Ancient Pathways.SCR 64,512 31-Aug-96 23:00

Tropical Interlude.DLL 1,701,376 31-Aug-96 23:00

Tropical Interlude.SCR 64,512 31-Aug-96 23:00

These files also utilize:

sysagent.exe

plus!.dll

[Skyfrog]

I only mentioned ME because I thought perhaps the same trick would work with XP. I understood your post perfectly. Actually I still have my copy of Plus! 98 so I'll mess around with it and see what I can come up with.

[snackwell]

Correction:

these files evidently came with the OS. Sorry, in any event, has anyone hacked them to make them work?

[Skyfrog]

Edit: SOLVED!

In addition to the .scr and .dll file for each screen saver, you also need the following two files (from the Windows 95 Plus! Pack or Windows 98):

WL32DLL.DLL

WILDLB32.DLL

The next problem is that they all show up in the screensavers menu as "WildLife 32" instead of their proper names such as "Mystery", so you must use Resource Hacker to open each .scr file and modify the name "Wildlife 32" found in String Table, 1, 1033 to it's proper name (Mystery, Nature, etc). Be sure to click the "Compile Script" button in order for your changes to be saved. Now save the file and copy everything to your system32 directory. They should now be in your Screen Savers list. Enjoy.

Download Resource Hacker.

[prathapml]

Most of the features found in Plus! 98 are already built into WinXP - so maybe you should just forget about trying to run Plus! for 98 on XP.....

Get Plus! for XP instead. The DME add-on (Digital Media Edition) for it adds WAAAAYYY more thingies than Plus! 98 ever can offer.

[Skyfrog]

Get Plus! for XP instead.

Where's the challenge in that?

[prathapml]

Where's the challenge in that? 

Yup! right about that, in a way. We do get a kick of adrenaline doing what was told to us as "couldn't be done".

Just had to mention, if anyone gets a bad experience with XP Plus! Pack, upgrade to a GeForce2 or higher class of cards (extremely cheap nowadays), and you'll see what people are raving about when they say it is FANTASTIC.

Just an aside - personally, I just ran XP Plus! for 2 days, then removed it - too much eye candy, didn't like it that much - slows down everything (so I suppose that's the reason you don't want it as well).

[snackwell]

Most of the features found in Plus! 98 are already built into WinXP - so maybe you should just forget about trying to run Plus! for 98 on XP.....

Get Plus! for XP instead.   The DME add-on (Digital Media Edition) for it adds WAAAAYYY more thingies than Plus! 98 ever can offer.

No where in the post did I mention anything about features.

I am talking about screensavers that go with the working themes.

[Skyfrog]

In case you missed it on the previous page I figured out how to get them working. You need to have two extra files besides the ones you listed.

[snackwell]

Plus! 98 - Works

Simply set the setup.exe file to run in Windows 98 compatibility mode and it will let you install it. I chose custom install and only installed the themes and games. The games work perfectly fine, as do the screensavers; no hacks needed.

On to the themes. For some reason Plus! 98 installed the .theme files as .the files, so you need to add the extra "me" onto the extension to get them to show up in the themes list and work. No need to go into the registry.

Plus! 95 - Partially Works

I could not get the installer to work no matter what I tried, so I extracted the cab files using WinRAR. Most of the screen savers work fine except for those you listed, and the icons, cursors, wallpapers, etc of course are perfectly useable. Still trying to figure out why some of the screen savers only show a black screen. If you rename the extension from scr to exe you can get to the properties, but that's not much help. I opened one of the dll files in Resource Hacker, and they contain the sounds for the screensavers. It also contains a reference to "WildLife 32" so I'll try to find that.

Edit: SOLVED!

In addition to the .scr and .dll file for each screen saver, you also need the following two files (from the Windows 95 Plus! Pack or Windows 98):

WL32DLL.DLL

WILDLB32.DLL

Next issue is that they all show up in the screensavers menu as "WildLife 32" instead of their proper names such as Mystery, so you must use Resource Hacker to open each .scr file and modify the name "Wildlife 32" found in String Table/1/1033 to it's proper name (Mystery, Nature, etc).

Copy everything to your system32 directory and enjoy. I'm going to slipstream mine into my SP2 XP CD-ROM tomorrow, but right now I'm going to bed. 

Edit:

Also, you need a copy of sage.dll from the KB (140479)

Ancient Pathways does not work (I am not sure if the scr file is bad). I did not need to edit some of the file as when I looked in one of them, I found a table that reference sage.dll (which is in a plusupd1.exe) from the KB (140479)