Auto-Patcher For Windows 98se (English)

[Harry Tuttle]

quick question: are the replacement tools for "add remove programs" & "shutdown reboot logoff" supposed to actually replace the original ones? because for me they only work when I select them directly from system tools

also it appears that some tweak ui options are not working anymore, the Shortcut overlay option and the Logon automatically option

nothing major though

Edited July 26, 2007 by Harry Tuttle

[soporific]

quick question: are the replacement tools for "add remove programs" & "shutdown reboot logoff" supposed to actually replace the original ones? because for me they only work when I select them directly from system tools

also it appears that some tweak ui options are not working anymore, the Shortcut overlay option and the Logon automatically option

1) replacement tools: nope, they are designed (i suppose) to supplement the tools you already have. I guess the title of the update is misleading but you'll have to complain to Tihiy about that, i just include his update in the program

2) Tweak UI options: the shortcut overlay thing is due to one of the updates ... if you review the optional updates for the Critical & Recommended Updates module, you'll see that one of them has a side-effect of removing the option to remove shortcut arrows from shortcuts.

I didn't know about the auto-logon disappearing as well, has anyone else noticed the same thing?

[Harry Tuttle]

quick question: are the replacement tools for "add remove programs" & "shutdown reboot logoff" supposed to actually replace the original ones? because for me they only work when I select them directly from system tools

also it appears that some tweak ui options are not working anymore, the Shortcut overlay option and the Logon automatically option

1) replacement tools: nope, they are designed (i suppose) to supplement the tools you already have. I guess the title of the update is misleading but you'll have to complain to Tihiy about that, i just include his update in the program

2) Tweak UI options: the shortcut overlay thing is due to one of the updates ... if you review the optional updates for the Critical & Recommended Updates module, you'll see that one of them has a side-effect of removing the option to remove shortcut arrows from shortcuts.

I didn't know about the auto-logon disappearing as well, has anyone else noticed the same thing?

ah well it's fine the add remove programs replacement tool is more useful than the original one

about the automatic logon, an update changed my Primary Network Logon option to Microsoft Network instead of Windows Logon that was the problem

thanks!

[wrayal]

Is there any way at all to slipstream this into an install disc? I'm not overly concerned if it takes lots of effort (rebuilding driver .cabs etc), but would just much prefer it if there were any way to do this?

Thanks,

Wrayal

[soporific]

Is there any way at all to slipstream this into an install disc? I'm not overly concerned if it takes lots of effort (rebuilding driver .cabs etc), but would just much prefer it if there were any way to do this?

Wrayal

i did originally plan to do this but it hasn't been enabled. The main reason is that i already have achieved a unattended boot CD and there are instructions about how to use the files in Auto-Patcher to make it update your computer as well. Go to the following link for the unattended boot CD:

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=88008

Edited July 28, 2007 by soporific

[wrayal]

Thanks very much! That's perfect

[celtish]

@ soporific - Just downloaded and installed AutoPatcher June 2007 sp2 FULL. You may recall from a few months back I was having multiple troubles with AP. This time I was pleasantly surprised to find that it all seemed to go well, no error messages or complications. (But there's some stuff included in there that I didn't need e.g. Zip-7, powermenu)

[teddy123]

I only have a license for a localized danish version of Win98SE. I have the original installation CD with boot-disk. Would AP work on my system or should I go find/purchase an english version of Win98SE?

The problem is that any edition of Windows 98 se that uses different names for "Program Files" or "Windows" will produce errors when updates try to install. The other problem is that some of your language strings will become English. But the only way to actually find out the exact effects is to try it out!

But it really shouldn't work.

Would it work (except for some things being in english afterwards), with a non-english win98se

if I have c:\Program\ renamed to c:\Program files\ (and all references in the registry too) before ?

on this setup I have windows in c:\W\ so I have to reinstall anyway so if I do the change

before anything else, perhaps there isn't that much to change than ProgramFilesDir, ProgramFilesPath

and CommonFilesDir in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

and perhaps some more.

A better idea would maybe to modify autopatcher (if possible) instead. I really don't like

the idea of having a space in an important windows-directory, when I can have it a

normal 8-char non-lfn...

[soporific]

@ soporific - Just downloaded and installed AutoPatcher June 2007 sp2 FULL. You may recall from a few months back I was having multiple troubles with AP. This time I was pleasantly surprised to find that it all seemed to go well, no error messages or complications. (But there's some stuff included in there that I didn't need e.g. Zip-7, powermenu)

Why don't you think you need powermenu? I change thread priorities quite often, especially if i am multitasking like a mad demon. And what unzipper do you use instead of 7-Zip? Those programs were included because they add functionality to Windows that really should have been there already. All other 3rd party programs included have to perform some absolutely necessary function for it to be included. And if they are small in size then that helps too.

Would it work (except for some things being in english afterwards), with a non-english win98se

if I have c:\Program\ renamed to c:\Program files\ (and all references in the registry too) before ?

on this setup I have windows in c:\W\ so I have to reinstall anyway so if I do the change

before anything else, perhaps there isn't that much to change than ProgramFilesDir, ProgramFilesPath

and CommonFilesDir in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

and perhaps some more.

A better idea would maybe to modify autopatcher (if possible) instead. I really don't like

the idea of having a space in an important windows-directory, when I can have it a

normal 8-char non-lfn...

The only way to find out is to try it out. If you have "Program Files" as a directory, then it should work (possibly perfectly). The program doesn't use "Windows" anywhere, it uses %Windir% which is the environment variable for the Windows directory. SO try it out !!!

[celtish]

Why don't you think you need powermenu? I change thread priorities quite often, especially if i am multitasking like a mad demon. And what unzipper do you use instead of 7-Zip? Those programs were included because they add functionality to Windows that really should have been there already. All other 3rd party programs included have to perform some absolutely necessary function for it to be included. And if they are small in size then that helps too.

About powermenu, my 'chine isn't up to so much multitasking so pm just gets in the way in systray and uses up resources needlessly. Besides, I seem to recall reading something while back about it being a bit dodgy, couldn't get hold of maker's webpage either.

As for the zipper, I bought NetZip couple of years back and I use that plus the zipper that came with MDGx's 98SE2ME. I load NetZIP when I need to add or subtract things from a ZIP file because its big feature is that when loaded it allows a zip file to be used just like a common-and-garden folder.

(I also have WinRAR there in reserve for stuff the other zippers can't handle)

postscriptum - 'the July 2007 release will be available within 48 hours!' Can't wait, but hadn't that better become August 2007 by now, we're on the verge! (PPS - will that be a 'full' or a patch and if it's a full can it be installed on top of the June full?)

Edited July 29, 2007 by celtish

[soporific]

postscriptum - 'the July 2007 release will be available within 48 hours!' Can't wait, but hadn't that better become August 2007 by now, we're on the verge! (PPS - will that be a 'full' or a patch and if it's a full can it be installed on top of the June full?)

* Thanks for all the info about your software alternatives re the 3rd party apps --- i do listen to feedback and if enough people say the same thing then i usually will bow to popular demand. Usually.

* the July 2007 release will be an update installation, its currently 8.30 MB in size and these are some of the changes:

- Microsoft .Net Framework 2 has been completely removed (the reason is v2 is not officially supported in Win98 even though the version included in previous APs worked fine)

- the following apps have been updated:

* 7-Zip (v4.51)

* Flash for IE (9.0.47)

* OLEUP

* Root Certificates

* Visual Studio 6.0 sp6 Components

* Unofficial Windows Explorer Update

- the following are new apps:

* Unofficial Visual Basic 6.0 sp6 Update (Visual Basic Runtimes module)

* Karen's Directory Printer v5.2.0.3 (3rd Party Applications module)

* CD File System update (reads CDs as WAV files) (Optional Windows Components module)

- The latest Visual Studio Components update replaces the Visual Basic 6.0 Common Controls Update and has been moved from Optional Components to the Visual Basic Runtimes module.

This is only a partial list, i will complete the list tomorrow. Good night and i hope you all have colorful dreams !!

[Drugwash]

Question: could you please elaborate on the 'is not officially supported' statement regarding .NET v2?

I'm not a fan of it and I have no .NET version installed on my system yet, but tangentially, while collaboration on this IM application down in my sig, I might wanna install it at some point in time, if only to test some 3rd-party plug-ins that rely on .NET.

So, could you explain what you mean by this supported/unsupported thing? There are heaps of applications that officially don't support Win9x, but work just fine on such systems, or with little issues that can safely be overlooked. While .NET v2.0 seems to work on such systems (your words) and there have been no heavy complaints regarding misbehavior, why would you remove it from the package?

As I said, it's just a question...

[celtish]

- Karen's Directory Printer I already have. Would AP detect this and not reinstall it in a different place on my hard disk? Just wondering. And again out of curiousity when I re-install or update AP do progs which were previously installed by AP but are not in the updated versions of AP actually get removed from the HD?

Edited July 29, 2007 by celtish

[soporific]

Question: could you please elaborate on the 'is not officially supported' statement regarding .NET v2?

I'm not a fan of it and I have no .NET version installed on my system yet, but tangentially, while collaboration on this IM application down in my sig, I might wanna install it at some point in time, if only to test some 3rd-party plug-ins that rely on .NET.

So, could you explain what you mean by this supported/unsupported thing? There are heaps of applications that officially don't support Win9x, but work just fine on such systems, or with little issues that can safely be overlooked. While .NET v2.0 seems to work on such systems (your words) and there have been no heavy complaints regarding misbehavior, why would you remove it from the package?

OK, i was wrong about the support question - it is supported -- the problem is due to the version i was using --- it was designed to be installed on the Win2000/XP tree of OSes and the official one from MS doesn't play well when trying to install it silently. I may put it back in, but i will definitely wait for people to actually start asking for it because it has been such a pain for me ...

- Karen's Directory Printer I already have. Would AP detect this and not reinstall it in a different place on my hard disk? Just wondering. And again out of curiousity when I re-install or update AP do progs which were previously installed by AP but are not in the updated versions of AP actually get removed from the HD?

Re: Karen's Directory Printer (which was suggested by Submix8c, thanks dude) --- now that i'm starting to include more 3rd party apps, i have thought long and hard about how to go about checking if it has already been installed. The way i've gone with is to check for the uninstall string and use the information from that. So it doesn't matter where you've installed it, if you used the installer, then everything will be fine. IF you didn't use the installer, then you already have it anyway. But it is OK to try to re-install it if you already have it as it should be able to tell if it needs installing (by using the uninstall string info).

re: do old updates get deleted from HD if they are removed from AP? Case in point .Net Framework 2.0 --- in short, no they don't get deleted. This means that the install directory for a user that has June 2007 sp2 and July 2007 installed will have a bigger directory than is needed. You can delete the dotnet20.exe file from the components directory to save 16 mb.

Edited July 30, 2007 by soporific

[soporific]

I would really appreciate some help with this one.. I installed the Auto-patcher. When I try to run it, it opens in a dos box and I get this message.

A choice function was not set properly causing this error.

This is simply slack programming! That's naughty that is ....

Fortunately, we can recover from this error, somewhat.

Please press any key to continue...

Whatever key I press, the message just refreshes.

How can I get past this? Thanks.

Can you give me any further info...

1) Is this the FIRST thing you see? The first thing you should see is "Loading Auto-Patcher for Windows 98se..."

- please be more specific about where you get to before the program stops working, you should at least see ""Loading Auto-Patcher for Windows 98se..."

2) i can't see how you don't at least see the main menu, of which a screenshot looks like this:

3) what version of AP are you trying to use?

Please answer the above and i'll try to help ...

EDIT: please see the first post for news and links for the July 2007 release

Edited July 31, 2007 by soporific