Auto-Patcher For Windows 98se (English)

[soporific]

(side bar; you a musician? notice my ID uses the master section of a mixing board? SoundCraft Spirit Studio 16x8x2 )

I am actually, and i did notice the mixer --- I've still got my old TASCAM 8 track that looks a bit like that .... incidentally, i was supposed to be putting my music hat on this year and taking off my propellerhead cap but someone loaded Auto-Patcher up onto Softpedia and now everyone's interested in this project ... i may disappear for a bit when v1.95 finally gets out ... i want to start playing with my LYNX Aurora16 !! it hardly has a scratch !! You should post a link to some of your stuff if you have any. I'll do the same ... you first!

AP news: testing in the real world has thrown up a possible problem with DirectX ... i'm just testing out an old hack ... until 9.0c came out, you couldn't use the installer that came with 9.0a or 9.0b to install DirectX unattendedly ... but if you nicked the installer from v8.1 it would work. So i'm just checking out if its still good ...

And also it is possible to totally screw up your computer using the SYSTEM.INI tweaks --- you would have to be trying very very hard and ignoring all my messages and notices, but it is possible and so i have added code and so have to check again ... its coming, promise ...

If anyone's interested, my test machine (real world) is: AMD-K6 500, 256 mb RAM, 10Gb hard disk, SiS 530 chipset. And for coding and testing in a VM, i have a PentiumD 940 at my disposal. Yay!

Edited March 14, 2007 by soporific

[billygoat]

type this at the command line for me can you:

ECHO Y> "%windir%\wininit.ini"

and tell me if you get any error messages ...

No, silently it creates C:\Windows\wininit.ini containing text "Y".

That's a known bug related to the fact that one of my variables is %LOCATE% which clashes with the LOCATE.COM utility which clears a variable called LOCATE at some stage. This was recently discovered by Submix8c and is now fixed in the next version.

Good to know, thanks.

This is where the debug mode comes in. Maybe I should change the name from Debug mode, to Verbose mode. Actually, i will. i've posted a version of the log that is produced. Please comment about whether that has enough info!

heh, heh... mostly over my head, but good. I'll have a another look. Did I miss the instructions on enabling debug/verbose mode?

This is good, you are picking me up on everything that i've improved for the next version. There is no more "Tweaks for Fast Computers" - i have included a version of AutoSYSTEMini instead that tells you EVERYTHING about the settings you can configure. Talk about overkill. Have you checked out AutoSYSTEMini? its up to v0.54!!

Excellent, glad to know how you're thinking!

Most of these unofficial updates have threads that contain all the discussion about testing, bugs, etc. 48BitLBA has been around for a while and is considered pretty stable these days. The thread can be found here: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=78592

Good, thanks. This probably touches on the main docs issue. I've not been actively searching out unofficial tweaks or updates, so haven't been aware of the community efforts. A few links like that in the readme would help people catch up. Without inclusion in the Auto-Patcher, I wouldn't know about it, but optional status makes me immediately want to do some research. Without a direct link or included comments it's frustrating. So this is good, thanks.

MS says that for EVERY update!

Hah, nuff said! :-)

Yeah, this one has been known to cause funny things to happen. I hadn't noticed that this is the cause of the 10 second delay --- maybe its a good reason to turn it into an optional install so you can by-pass it. Don't forget, this program is SO easy to edit for your own purposes. If you don't want anything in any modules, you can just cut it out ... (i can provide more info about how to do this if you need) -- the installs aren't linked together so you won't break anything by taking the odd hotfix out. You can definitely take out q323455.

All good to know. After peeking at your code, I tried my hand at a few GOTO lines to skip individual updates, and by trial and error eliminated the other possibilities for the 10-second delay. I could see I could always comment out the relevant block, too, or just snip it. Generally I wouldn't want to take out things without a good reason, because I don't *want* to have to understand all of these fixes! But it's good it isn't a monolithic executable without possibility of editing for those who wish to do so. I *have* been concerned about the whole issue of some updates requiring others, but as you say, that seems to be pretty bullet-proof in Auto-Patcher.

I'm always adding to the information, but i've been staring at this project for so long now that its hard for me to get a fresh perspective...

Yes, well even poking into it and running it several times I've begun to see it very differently than the first time.

-- i will eventually get around to updating the list of Auto-Patcher contents, but apart from that, what more could we do? Maybe point people to the complete updates list that i maintain --- that one page has all the download links and info links for all the updates currently available. I should add a link to the main page ... good idea 99.

Thanks, Max. :-) Well, now I've had a look at your 'complete list of updates' page, and yes, that's a large part of what I would be looking for, though in the end the MS info pages can cause more trouble it seems! But for ease of use it would be nice to have links directly in the 'features' readme or at least have an html file for the links which has them organized in the same order. But also the unofficial updates and tweaks don't seem to be there, if I'm not missing stuff, so links to threads covering those would be even more important.

But I may not be very clear about what got me going on this. The very fact of having optional modules and optional features in the modules makes the user want more info if they don't already have an opinion. Depends on the type of user it's intended for. When I see you have some things set to bypass by default, I'm reluctant to set them to 'install' without more info, so I'm curious about benefits and consequences. The note you make about one of the updates eliminating the possibility to alter shortcut icons is perfect. It gives me a very clear idea of why you made it optional and why it's set to bypass by default, and made it easy to decide I want to install it anyway.

Anyway, for the most part I'm one who would install *all* the critical security stuff without question (my main purpose) and nearly all of the critical updates based on your recommendation. Everything else I start to be at least a bit curious about, so including links to discussion threads on any of that stuff would be very convenient. (Not so much for me personally now - I think I'm getting there, and I'll just pester you here for anything still unclear - but to make it as clear as possible for others in the future.)

[soporific]

Anyway, for the most part I'm one who would install *all* the critical security stuff without question (my main purpose) and nearly all of the critical updates based on your recommendation. Everything else I start to be at least a bit curious about, so including links to discussion threads on any of that stuff would be very convenient. (Not so much for me personally now - I think I'm getting there, and I'll just pester you here for anything still unclear - but to make it as clear as possible for others in the future.)

Re: more info on all the updates and unofficial hotfixes --- I think this is the only weakness of AP, you are right in saying that for the curious, there's little info at hand on what all these updates are for. How we go about correcting this is another thing. Even though i've already started uploading the execuatable that I want to release, i'm also still doing last minute checks and so if there is any reason to re-upload the file, I will add more information about how to find out more about the updates. I think a link to the complete list, and also a link to MDGx's site is the way to go.

Thanks for all your feedback. I'm sorry we didn't get to the bottom of why Win98 to ME doesn't work for you but as you are the only one to have ever reported problems, i'm going to go ahead with the code as it is. It seems you are able to manually install it so that's good at least.

Just wanted to repeat for all and sundry ... if you were around when I first released v1.0 or v1.5 then you would have noticed the extreme improvement as the program went up in version --- 1.0 to 1.5 was big, 1.5 to 1.8 was very big, 1.8 to 1.92 was quite big, and 1.92 to 1.95 is out of this world !!!! Really, i should indicate this by calling the next release version 3 or something. Anyway, v1.95 it is ... if you haven't checked out Auto-Patcher since v1.80 you are missing out !!!

EDIT: here's the text of the updates.txt file that can be found in the root directory of the project:

***********************
Updates & Hotfixes Info
***********************

Hi there!

Auto-Patcher for Windows 98se (english) contains many, many more updates and hotfixes than Microsoft ever released, due to a community out there in the real world that doesn't want to upgrade their operating system for whatever reason. Many of the updates were released AFTER Microsoft officially ended support on July 11, 2006 which patch the vulnerabilities discovered since JUly 2006.

The main forum where all these updates come from is -- www.msfn.org -- which stands for the Microsoft Software Forum Network. I discovered the site about two years ago when I was trying to create an unattended boot CD for my Windows 98 machine in order to be able to re-install the operating system quickly and easily. I was successful and the project you are trying out now (or about to try out) is the end result after many months of development of part 2 of the original project. So now I have a CD that will re-install Windows 98se completely hands free (it also does customizations of all setting BEFORE setup starts), and also a program that will fully auto-patch my machine so its completely up-to-date. How cool is that?

To get more information on the following, copy and paste the URL into your web browser and hit ENTER:

The complete list of hotfixes & updates for Windows 98se
 -- with d/l links!! - last update 10th March, 2007
[url="http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=84886"]http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=84886[/url]

Auto-Patcher for Windows 98se (english) (ie this project's homepage):
[url="http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=80800"]http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=80800[/url]

Windows 9x Power Pack v4.1
[url="http://www.msfn.org/board/?showtopic=78666"]http://www.msfn.org/board/?showtopic=78666[/url]
The power pack includes:
 - All Unofficial Service Packs for 98 Gold, SE, And Windows Me.
 - MDGx's 98SE2Me
 - Tihiy's (re-release) RPLite v5, and instructions/zip for lameskin v6 preview.
 - 7-Zip
 - Windows Media Player 9.0 + Codecs
 - MDGx's Windows Media Player 10.0 for Win98SE
 - Xeno86's Kernel Update Project v0.2.7
 - Maximus Decim's NUSB, NUSB Decorator patches
 - Maximus Decim's MDAC update package
 - Maximus Decim's IE6.0 components update for Win98SE
 - Microsoft XML Update

Unattended Boot CD for Windows 98se
 -- v4.4
[url="http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=88008"]http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=88008[/url]

Tweaks Pack for Windows 98se
 -- v1.20 out now ... 8 new tweaks added
[url="http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=90202"]http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=90202[/url]

The web site of the guru of Windows OSes (MDGx):
[url="http://www.mdgx.com"]http://www.mdgx.com[/url]
his MSFN page (extremely useful!):
[url="http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=46581"]http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=46581[/url]

The Windows 98 + ME *still* alive campaign
[url="http://www.mdgx.com/spx/"]http://www.mdgx.com/spx/[/url]

The Windows 95/98/98SE/ME section of MSFN:
[url="http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showforum=8"]http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showforum=8[/url]

The Unofficial Win98 SE Service Pack subforum section of MSFN:
[url="http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showforum=91"]http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showforum=91[/url]

If i've missed any URLs just say so ... the idea is to give the user of Auto-Patcher awareness of EVERY other unofficial upgrade pack in existence. I thought that the Power Pack would suffice for the unofficial service packs and Maximus Decim's stuff.

Edited March 15, 2007 by soporific

[Molecule]

though Iz feelz like a total noob -- me trying offering "advice" on file sharing services -- ha!

This site http://www.openomy.com/ which has a free version which gives 1GB file size, 10GB/mo bandwidth, and a download link to files (so that users don't have to open a free account and log in).

Other file sharing sites were http://www.dropboks.com/ which offers 1GB storage and unlimited BW, and operates on donations; and http://www.omnidrive.com/ which offers 1GB storage, 5GB BW, and java based interface.

I got the links from http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2098950,00.asp. Can't remember how I came across that.

anyway, if this helps, great.

[billygoat]

I think a link to the complete list, and also a link to MDGx's site is the way to go.

Sounds good.

I'm sorry we didn't get to the bottom of why Win98 to ME doesn't work for you but as you are the only one to have ever reported problems, i'm going to go ahead with the code as it is. It seems you are able to manually install it so that's good at least.

Yes, I'm covered. I might have a look at MDGx's original package to see if it does the same thing. I can't imagine why it bails out before copying the files, though, but I have almost zero knowledge.

I would say, though, that the failure was amazingly catastrophic on my system, but I guess it goes without saying that everyone using such a package should make sure they have a reliable backup.

...here's the text of the updates.txt file that can be found in the root directory of the project:

Looks good! Thanks again for everything. Looking forward to AP 1.95!

[soporific]

I am going to try to upload again in a few hours ... if you have downloaded the test version or the code, and have any comments or suggestions, get them in quick!

I have already made a change -- the Time Zones update was put into the manual installs folder because it's not a completely unattended hotfix, but I forgot that i know how to use AutoIT, and so i have re-packaged the hotfix and its back inside the Recommended Updates module. I tried to also do the Web folders update, but that is much trickier and so i'm not going to keep at it.

FEEDBACK PLEASE !!!

NEWS UPDATE for v1.95:

I am updating the first post more regularly than this one, so please check that ...

Bugs found in the TEST version:

* When you are in the 2nd modules menu page, if you try to start the "Make Report" function, nothing happens. You can work around this by navigating to the 1st modules menu page and start the report from there. This will be fixed in the release.

* When using the report function, all the "Set to by-pass" updates are logged in the installation log, when they aren't supposed to be logged at all. This will be fixed in the release ...

Edited March 16, 2007 by soporific

[submix8c]

soporific et-al :

This post has been edited by soporific: Today, 08:26 AM

Time lag between Australia and USA? My clock says 9:43am... When do you sleep? (Scratch that... DUH!!!)

Ennyhoo, I have done some preliminary testing of 4DOS. Appears to be no problem with the following caveat: must make a SINGLE CHANGE "AutoPach.bat" (VER returns 4DOS plus a perfectly good alternate value to detect Win98SE). In addition, you do NOT have to actually INSTALL 4DOS to utilize it and the results are the same; it will run as a "Secondary %comspec%".

Another oddity I have not tried/fixed is (under DOS window) being in another path (e.g. C:\Windows>) then keying the full path (or ..\..\etc.) to the "APfolder\StartPch.bat". Also does not correctly identify the "%LOCATE%" value correctly. WILL find the bugger!!!!

So... I will be downloading your latest upload for inspection/testing. If you find/fix any bugs PLEASE upload JUST the "fixed" modules (etc.) for overlay (as in the v1.5->v1.7 scenario) so I won't be too confused (I may have "old-timer's" disease; no offense any of you other oldsters...).

In the process of gathering variable names/values used to place into tables. Since 4DOS does NOT have to be installed, plan on utilizing it for Table I/O functions AND the wonderful "IF/THEN/ELSE/ENDIF" sequences. VERY similar to some high-end scripting (and programming) languages and convenient as all HE-double-hockey-sticks! Me likey (as a Programmer)!!! Whenever I have a feasible modified test set, I will inform and upload (e-mail?) to/for you and YOU ONLY (after all, this is YOUR project!) for YOUR inspection/testing. I do NOT plan on changing the code, per-se, JUST the methodology (catch-22; I will be changing code...). Oh yeah, 4DOS also obviates the need for FINDCD.COM...

In case U want to check it out (if you already haven't):

http://www.jpsoft.com/download.htm

4DOS for DOS/Win9x is free (MS does not support less than Win2K/NTFS-type either) and has been aroud a LOOOOONG time... 4DOS for NT is NOT free (MS still supports NTFS-style greater than NT4). To use as "Secondary %comspec%", just rename the AUTOEXEC.BAT/001 and CONFIG.SYS/001 and reboot (suggest installing into folder "C:\4DOS" for evaluating).

P.S. I stumbled across the ERRORLEVEL conversion routine (GETEL.BAT) in one of your modules (MainCode.bat)... $ late and a $ short when I passed it to you; BUT at least a method of utilizing was realized... JEEZ, I'm Trying to be Useful here, since I need this too!!!

Don't bother to respond if you don't want to... I KNOW you are busy AND... a month until final release might be realistic; but then again, with all the GREAT feedback and suggestions you've been getting (and hopefully my personal efforts), it may be pushed up. After all the sooner you get to "play with your instrument" the better .

edit: AWESOME DOWNLOAD SPEED!!! I use FlashGet and have RoadRunner (cable) and speed is up to 600k/s; time to download-8min!!!

l8tr B) ...

Edited March 16, 2007 by submix8c

[soporific]

Ennyhoo, I have done some preliminary testing of 4DOS. Appears to be no problem with the following caveat: must make a SINGLE CHANGE "AutoPach.bat" (VER returns 4DOS plus a perfectly good alternate value to detect Win98SE). In addition, you do NOT have to actually INSTALL 4DOS to utilize it and the results are the same; it will run as a "Secondary %comspec%".

Submix8c, quick, please suggest an alternative method for confirming that the user is indeed trying to update a Win98se OS --- what exactly does 4DOS say when you type VER? --- i will download 4DOS and check for myself, but you might reply quicker ... (and i might get it wrong)

some feedback from your earlier post: that method you posted for getting the 'Where-Am-I" value for the PATH ... did you test it with long filenames? I initially thought it worked, but when i was testing out AP when installed in Program Files, it didn't work. Maybe I was too hasty in testing, but ... that's what I found ... this is the code you suggested: CD | ".\BIN\NSET" LOCATE=$1

TO ALL:

The other thing is I am now confident that I can upload the release version of v1.95 when I want to (I have found a very good hoster) -- so i'm just waiting to see if there are any more bugs ... i'll be uploading any second now, so get your FEEDBACK IN while there is still time ... I know it shouldn't be too hard to upload a fix (the bugs will most likely be in the BAT files which are negligible in size) --- but i'd prefer the release to be as perfect as possible...

EDIT:

I'm trying to turn off the brief messages that occur with 4DOS --- i normally would use the CTTY NUL ... [insert code you want to hide]... CTTY CON method but it doesn't work because the messages come from 4DOS loading up ... its not a biggie but if there was a way to easily turn it off, i would do it ...

EDIT2: stuff the messages problem, we have bigger fish to fry ... i'm not sure how easy it is going to be to convert the code to be 4DOS compatible ... i'm already getting ASET errors and I don't know why ... also, some of the commands behave differently eg:

using the DEL command doesn't produce any screen message in MSDOS, but it does in 4DOS. I can add a switch, but my question is: how many changes will i have to make? Is there a handy list of what's different between 4DOS and MSDOS ?? Is there a way to ask a 4DOS user to temporarily use MSDOS while using AutoPatcher? This is our best option rather than making wholesale changes that will then need testing, testing and more testing...

EDIT3:

Well, my analysis is that ... unfortunately, 4DOS support will NOT be added to v1.95 because it appears that too many changes will need to be made to the code to be able to release it without rigorous testing ... i have added code to trap the 4DOS user and tell them all about this rather than let them see the "This will only work in Windows 98se, sorry to get your hopes up" message. At least they will know what's going on ... I have suggested that they un-install 4DOS first so they can use Autopatcher --- they can always re-install it afterwards ... so unless anyone has further info that i don't know about, this is what's happening ...

Edited March 16, 2007 by soporific

[submix8c]

soporific :

Sorry for late reply... was downloading/expanding/inspecting new code (as of 3/15/07 4:51am?)

Ok... MAY have been hasty (maybe not...) . Here is the "test" check for 4DOS (in AutoPach.bat which is now/also tested for in START_ME.BAT/START_DEBUG.BAT)

:::::::::::::::::: Support for 4DOS (I THOUGHT, anyway) ::::::::::::::::::
VER | FIND/I "2222" >NUL
:: IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO NOTWIN98
IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO WIN98SE
if "%@eval[2 + 2]%" == "4" echo 4DOS is loaded!
Pause
VER | FIND/I "dos 7.10" >NUL
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO NOTWIN98
:WIN98SE
:::::::::::::::::: Support for 4DOS ::::::::::::::::::

Use this method to bypass 4DOS until I can figger out this bugger...

ALSO rename the AUTOEXEC.BAT->AUTOEXEC.4DS/AUTOEXEC.001->AUTOEXE.BAT, likewise for the CONFIG.xxx then reboot. This will allow you to "play" (like I am...). A line got added to each. Navigate to the install folder of 4DOS (under DOS window) and enter "4HELP" to get VERY detailed info. If you do not have the time, no worries, mate; I'm on it 'cuz I STILL want to check out the wonderful functions that may STILL be incorporated...

Peace bro!

P.S. Never had an application beat me yet!!!! That's why 200+ people in the office I (used to) work in pestered me A LOT for solutions.... (keywords: HIGH-END programmer/analyst) Saved a multi-million project once just 'cause I knew what I thought was obvious to others (yeah, that's a big Toot-Toot, pat-on-my-own-back).

EDIT: Confuzed??? here is the result for the NSET question...

---

Enter a Filename to find:

x

CD-Rom not found Finding x; HDD=C: IAM=C: LOCATE=C:\_findcd-long

Wanna go again? (y or n)

Enter a Filename to find:

setup.exe

CD-Rom D: found Finding setup.exe; HDD=C: IAM=C: LOCATE=C:\_findcd-long

Wanna go again? (y or n)

---

DOES work!!!

Edit2: DURN! Found the NSET problem !

I gave you: CD | ".\BIN\NSET" LOCATE=$1

Should be : CD | ".\BIN\NSET" LOCATE=$0

From manual:

string: is usually a token $1...$99 for the n-th word of STDIN, or $0 for a

complete line. But you can use any text string with one or more embedded

tokens to form the resulting string.

Using STDIN, examples:

by PIPE: CD | NSET SDIR=$1 (SDIR=current directory)

from a file: NSET X=$3 < some.txt (X=3rd word from some.txt)

keyboard: NSET IN=$0 (IN=input up to CR)

Tokens $1..$99 refer to "words" from STDIN, defined by the following standard separators:

blank space

comma

semicolon

equal sign

carriage return

line feed

First method truncated at first blank; DOH! (RTFM, rite?) 16-BIT DOS PROGGIES!

More on 4DOS later... finding out how it REALLY works. Currently discovered that for variables passed to the next process (e.g. %1, %2, etc.) that you wrap with quotes (to keep them complete, e.g. "FLDR XX") 4DOS takes LITERALLY when evaluating (result will be ""FLDR XX"") and causes some passed (SPECIFICALLY the new LOC8 variable passed from STARTx.bat to AUTOx.bat) to be horked.

-- Chug, Chug, will keep goin' --

Edited March 16, 2007 by submix8c

[billygoat]

I've tried 1.95 (no Tweaks) with the same options I used for 1.92.

First, I wonder if 1.92 erroneously skipped the update 'q314941 - Hotfix for Vulnerability in Universal Plug 'n' Play'. 1.95 apparently installs it, even though 1.92 skipped it, claiming I didn't have Universal PnP installed. (At the time, I imagined this might be because I had disabled it in the BIOS at one time, but no, that's no longer true.) I guess now I would suppose W98 has Universal PnP by default, and the update is installed, so I'm good.

More interesting is the IReport.Log shows some weird results. Updates just installed are reported as 'set to by-pass' after the next boot. Maybe this is related to your discussion of reporting bugs. Critical and Recommended is where the trouble starts:

--------------------------------------------------------------------

10:40:20 ++ the Critical & Recommended System Updates module was started

--------------------------------------------------------------------

10:40:33 -- was installed: 98TShoot - Unofficial Windows 98se HTML Help Troubleshooting Fix

10:40:36 -- was installed: ScanFrag - Update of Defrag & Scandisk to Windows ME versions

10:40:40 -- was installed: RichEd9x - Unofficial Rich Text Controls Update (RICHED20.DLL 5.40.11.2220)

10:40:42 -- was installed: UCopy2GB - Unofficial Fix for Bug When Copying Files Over 2gb in Explorer

10:40:45 .. the computer was set to reboot.

10:41:57 .. the computer finished rebooting and started Auto-Patcher.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

10:42:18 ++ the Critical & Recommended System Updates module was started

--------------------------------------------------------------------

10:42:22 -- set to by-pass -- ScanFrag - Update of Defrag & Scandisk to Windows ME versions

10:42:28 -- was installed: UShell98 - Unofficial Fix for Bug with Windows Explorer and numerous large files

10:42:30 -- was installed: V_Studio - Unofficial Visual Studio 6.0 SP6 Components Update

10:42:33 -- was installed: NPUpdW98 - Unofficial Update for Windows Notepad

10:42:35 -- was installed: UsbmteUp - USB, 1394 & Mass Storage Device Drivers (q242975 Update)

10:42:36 -- was installed: FdskFrmt - Unofficial Fix for Windows 98 SE Display Errors with FORMAT & FDISK

10:42:38 -- was installed: 48BITLBA - Unofficial Update for Drives over 137gb (not for IBM portables)

10:42:40 -- set to by-pass -- 48BITLB2 - Unofficial Update for Drives over 137gb (for IBM portables)

10:42:42 .. the computer was set to reboot.

12:18:45 .. the computer finished rebooting and started Auto-Patcher.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

12:19:06 ++ the Critical & Recommended System Updates module was started

--------------------------------------------------------------------

12:19:07 -- set to by-pass -- ScanFrag - Update of Defrag & Scandisk to Windows ME versions

12:19:09 -- set to by-pass -- UShell98 - Unofficial Fix for Bug with Windows Explorer and numerous large files

12:19:14 -- set to by-pass -- 48BITLBA - Unofficial Update for Drives over 137gb (not for IBM portables)

12:19:14 -- set to by-pass -- NativUSB - Maximus Decim Native USB Drivers v3.1

12:19:26 -- was installed: kb925672 - MSXML 4.0 SP2 Update

12:19:27 -- was installed: SERVIC9X - Unofficial Windows 98se SERVICES Update

12:19:28 -- was installed: ADDREMOV - Unofficial Add/Remove Programs Utility Update

12:19:31 .. the computer was set to reboot.

12:21:54 .. the computer finished rebooting and started Auto-Patcher.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

12:22:16 ++ the Critical & Recommended System Updates module was started

--------------------------------------------------------------------

12:22:17 -- set to by-pass -- ScanFrag - Update of Defrag & Scandisk to Windows ME versions

12:22:17 -- set to by-pass -- UShell98 - Unofficial Fix for Bug with Windows Explorer and numerous large files

12:22:18 -- set to by-pass -- 48BITLBA - Unofficial Update for Drives over 137gb (not for IBM portables)

12:22:21 -- set to by-pass -- ADDREMOV - Unofficial Add/Remove Programs Utility Update

12:22:21 ++ All titles have finished installing.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------

I think all the 'set to bypass' items actually reported as 'installed' on the command line. Haven't checked to verify any of the components. Maybe this is exactly what you're referring to already, though.

[ENDer2000]

Check your email @ hotmail.com for hosting (softpedia)

[submix8c]

soporific :

Near a SIMPLE solution to 4DOS being installed. Very few changes necessary and a single SMALL VBScript which I am working on now (nearly completed). Note that I have NEVER written a VBScript, but I am extremely fast on self-teaching.

These simple modifications will make the AP compatible with BOTH! Never seen a 'puter beat me yet!

Also, only emoticons from now on is the "greets"... decided to be pro about this...

Will post patches as soon as worked out. ALREADY tested this on AP v1.92 and it WORKS (not needing the VBScript; special circumstance introduced into v1.95R2)!

l8tr, all.

P.S.

billygoat:

AP re-checks after each reboot to see if something was installed in that category, since restarting after reboot currently REQUIRES re-entering the same category/routine. Thatis why it looks so strange (hope I'm correct... "Bueller, Bueller?...")

Also UPnP is a Windows Option in the Add/Remove Programs - Windows Components, NOT the BIOS... You must have selected it (somehow). AP will ONLY install the patch if you have installed that Windows Optional Component. Your ok! (p.s. the patch is for hacker-prevention if you have UPnP installed).

Hope that helps... and PLEASE, soporific, correct me if I am wrong!

[billygoat]

AP re-checks after each reboot to see if something was installed in that category, since restarting after reboot currently REQUIRES re-entering the same category/routine.

It *should* show those installed updates as 'installed', though, not 'set to bypass'. If you look at the same item, before the previous boot it shows 'installed', then in the current module session shows 'set to by-pass'. But apparently there's something fishy about any reports of 'set to by-pass', if I understood correctly.

Also UPnP is a Windows Option in the Add/Remove Programs - Windows Components, NOT the BIOS... You must have selected it (somehow). AP will ONLY install the patch if you have installed that Windows Optional Component. Your ok! (p.s. the patch is for hacker-prevention if you have UPnP installed).

Thanks for clarifying. My semi-clean 98SE install was previously saved, so I don't remember what options I may have disabled in Setup, but UPnP doesn't even ring a bell. (There *is* a 'PnP OS' option in my BIOS, but is irrelevant, I guess.) Anyway, the behavior of AutoPatcher was different from 1.92 to 1.95 because I reverted to the same system before starting clean again with 1.95, partly just for kicks.

Thanks for your comments. I'll have a look.

[submix8c]

billygoat :

Found this right away:

http://www.ciac.org/ciac/bulletins/m-030.shtml

The Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) service allows computers to

discover and use network-based devices. Windows ME and XP include

native UPnP services; Windows 98 and 98SE do not include a native

UPnP service, but one can be installed via the Internet Connection

Sharing client that ships with Windows XP.

This indicates that since in the installation of AP's "Optional Components - Windows Networking Tool (from Windows XP)" that UPnP was indeed also installed, hence the application of the patch. Search the net (or go to www.MS. com) for this tool. It is used to simplify home networking.

As for the Report... better left to soporific to correctly respond.

Back to work...

edit: OHHHH!

After closer inspection of your report, it DOES look like a minor "bug" in that logging function. Appears to not have a switch set to "already installed" or perhaps de-selected when "installed" for the next pass. Still, it appears that the patching process is working.

Edited March 17, 2007 by submix8c

[billygoat]

Found this right away:

http://www.ciac.org/ciac/bulletins/m-030.shtml

...Windows 98 and 98SE do not include a native

UPnP service, but one can be installed via the Internet Connection Sharing client that ships with Windows XP.

This indicates that since in the installation of AP's "Optional Components - Windows Networking Tool (from Windows XP)" that UPnP was indeed also installed, hence the application of the patch.

Hi, thanks for the link. Interesting. However, I have the Optional Components bypassed completely right now, and it's all just the same as it was with 1.92. (I don't find anything like UPnP in Add/Remove even after the patch, FWIW.)

I only let the W98 machine access a couple of partitions on an NAS unit right now. W98 isn't sharing anything because I use the NAS for shared files.

Still, it appears that the patching process is working.

Yes, I ran a report just now and it reports all installed.