It all depends on what you want to do with your 98 SE computer, I suppose. If you're only running a couple of games and you are satisfied with their performance and stability, then perhaps there is no need to fix what isn't broken.

I don't know if it really qualifies as "bloat" since it's mostly fixes and updates for existing Windows components that would be present anyway, or that you would otherwise have to manually install sooner or later.

I wouldn't put my trust on a badly tiled background, huge walls of text and a "******by PROBLEMCHYLD ******" giving an operating system update.

there's also lots of suspect cross-windows dll and material mixing (i.e. winme graphics, winxp dlls)

This should be in Marvin, not the Windows subforum.

Moved.

I'm using it because the windows updates refused to download trough IE6, some error about root certificate or whatever, and this unofficial service pack supposedly contains all the updates. Seems to work ok, though I did not install most of the features of the service pack, just the updates and a few other things

The last time I installed one of the unofficial service packs for 98, it sent performance to a crawl. For most purposes, I think it's better just to stick with stock 98SE and only install what few updates you may actually need (like DirectX 9, USB mass storage support, etc.)

I was unable to install some programs until I did install the updates in the service pack... I dont exactly remember which they were, I think it was daemon tools and hard disk sentinel

^^ Same 😀

Thought it's likely not hard to figure out what it is, often it's an updated installer version, but USP is a convenient way and I've not encountered any issues, so it is something that I install every time now.

The go to Unofficial Service Pack is version 2.1a. Later versions became a little bloated, but I think 2.1a is a really nice starting point even for older PCs running Win98, such as a Pentium or Pentium MMX. You can always select what you want to install, I personally really like the fact that it updates the theme to imitate WinME and Win2000, with prettier icons and colors. I've been using it for many years now.

I run it, no problems, and I don't subscribe to the "if it's not broke" category mentioned previously. Wouldn't want anyone working on my computers that thought that, especially computers that go on the internet. These people use anecdotal evidence to decide something's not broken, which is not logically valid. "Oh I don't bother having recalls done on my car because I've never gotten in an accident before"

It's either broken or it isn't, and it wouldn't have a patch if it's not.

I'd rather fix bugs up front than find them at a frustrating time.

kenrouholo wrote:

especially computers that go on the internet

I agree that if you're going to be using a 98SE machine for everyday tasks and browsing the Internet, a service pack like this is probably an excellent idea – but that's a thoroughly unusual use case at this point.

It's either broken or it isn't

If there's a bug in a piece of code, but the code never gets run, is it really bugged?

I'd rather fix bugs up front than find them at a frustrating time.

The best argument against an unofficial service pack of this nature is that it results in combining new and old components in ways that no one at Microsoft is remotely interested in testing, which means you're more likely to encounter some compatibility problem that no one has ever heard of before and that no one particularly knows how to fix. In fact, it's entirely conceivable that there is software specifically written with the expectation that some Windows component will act in a buggy way that Microsoft showed no interest in fixing at the time – in which case, it's not a "bug", it's a "feature".

But that's just my opinion.

F2bnp wrote:

The go to Unofficial Service Pack is version 2.1a. Later versions became a little bloated, but I think 2.1a is a really nice starting point even for older PCs running Win98, such as a Pentium or Pentium MMX. You can always select what you want to install, I personally really like the fact that it updates the theme to imitate WinME and Win2000, with prettier icons and colors. I've been using it for many years now.

This is what I do, and mostly for the same reasons. The Dutch version is 2.0a or something (it's slightly lower).

The 3.x versions were something of a reboot and I always tended to see these SPs geared more towards making 98SE more compatible with newer stuff mostly.

I tried it once, and the installation gave some errors, but it rebooted Windows 98SE just fine. Other than that, I didn't see any other real benefits.

If you want a better Windows 98, then pony up the $25 and get lite98, IMO. For me, I am just using stock Windows 98SE with IEradicator.

I've also tried the Unofficial Service Pack 3.x versions (I think the first one I tried was when version 3.2 came out) and received errors while trying to install it (the installer was constantly looking for files, which I manually had to point to). However, after installation, everything worked fine.

I also echo some of the statements already made.
After trying out the Unofficial Service Pack 3.x versions, I preferred to go back and install the Unofficial Service Pack 2.1a.
Compared to the 3.x versions, the Main Updates from version 2.1a contains mostly a combination of the official patches that were released by Microsoft. This saves you the trouble of having to manually install all those patches one by one.

Unfortunately, version 2.1a does not contain any USB stack drivers, but the latest Unofficial Service Pack 3.x versions do.
I then just extract a file called "USBSTACK.EXE" from one of the latest Unofficial Service Pack 3.x versions (use an archive program like 7-zip to open the file "U98SESP3.EXE" and extract aforementioned USB stack file) and run that to get USB support for removable media.
Some people prefer to install a file called "nusb33e.exe, but I've had mixed results with this (like my Microsoft Sidewinder joysticks not being detected properly).

If your motherboard has a VIA chipset, and you are experiencing problems with USB devices, then it might also help to install the VIA USB Filter Patch v1.10 (usbf_110.zip).

You can install Daemon Tools 3.47 after installing this Windows Installer update (InstMsiA.exe) for Windows 98:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/winhun ... 98,%20Me)/

jesolo wrote:

I then just extract a file called "USBSTACK.EXE" from one of the latest Unofficial Service Pack 3.x versions (use an archive program like 7-zip to open the file "U98SESP3.EXE" and extract aforementioned USB stack file) and run that to get USB support for removable media.

I want USB support on Windows 98 SE. I just downloaded U98SESP3.EXE and used 7-zip to see what's in the file. I didn't see "USBSTACK.EXE" or any other file that starts with "usb" Am I missing something?

Thanks

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