Lazar81 wrote:

What is a really good stable and fast Windows 98 SE Software setup?

Above seems fine, but skip the SP3.

Why?

Not necessary, opaque, bloated, may cause instabilities and hard to remove in case of issues.

I install nusb before even any chipset drivers, and I don't bother with SP3, Tuneup97 or Ccleaner. Never had a (major) issue.

You can go crazy trying to install the "perfect" Win98 unicorn, and like a unicorn it doesn't actually exist. It will blue screen from time to time, some game won't run just right for whatever reason, etc, etc
I'm not sure what 982ME killer replacements are but do they enable you to do anything that you need but cant do already or does it just it just add a few useless but pretty enhancements on what's really just a gaming rig?
Personally I install as little as possible, no updates, no unneeded applications. minimal tweaks. Others like to try and squeeze the absolute max out of their install whichever you choose ultimately ...

"system is running, no errors, no lags" that's the perfect install in my book.

I had no issues with carefully selected options of sp3 installation package.
These replacements are from mdgx. Just found them a few days ago...: http://www.mdgx.com/98-5.htm#KRM9S ....haven't tested it yet.

Lazar81 wrote:

Hello,
?

Fixed

Create 98 lite pro
During setup choose Chubby
Later on during setup remove Internet explorer, outlook express and tons of other worthless Crap
Installing chipset driver
Installing DirectX 7a
Installing GPU driver
Install other drivers such as NIC, Sound
Manually Add TCP/IP settings.
Install Selective fixes or updates such as TCPIP 1.4, RLOEW Patches
Installing NUSB driver (optional)
Installing IE 5.5 SP2 core Files from SP3 and nothing else( there is some goodies in there like ASPI layer but the main updates don't install those.)
go to 98lite add remove and re-add re-patch custom Show desktop, repatch chubby.
Install CCleaner
Cleanup
Defrag if on a normal Hard disk.

Warlord wrote:

Fixed […]
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Lazar81 wrote:

Hello,
?

Fixed

Create 98 lite pro
During setup choose Chubby
Later on during setup remove Internet explorer, outlook express and tons of other worthless Crap
Installing chipset driver
Installing DirectX 7a
Installing GPU driver
Install other drivers such as NIC, Sound
Manually Add TCP/IP settings.
Install Selective fixes or updates such as TCPIP 1.4, RLOEW Patches
Installing NUSB driver (optional)
Installing IE 5.5 SP2 core Files from SP3 and nothing else( there is some goodies in there like ASPI layer but the main updates don't install those.)
go to 98lite add remove and re-add re-patch custom Show desktop, repatch chubby.
Install CCleaner
Cleanup
Defrag if on a normal Hard disk.

Interesting... I tested 98lite (not the pro version) yesterday evening. Looks very efficient. I will go on testing today.

General Question:
Are there any updates and/or fixes that anyone here would say are a must have?
On mdgx site I found so much updates and fixes - I don't know which one are REALLY necessary. I wouldn't take them all because some are for printers, scanners and inet connections - nothing I use.
http://www.mdgx.com/web.htm#AP98

For playing games I don't think so. There are specific patches for hardware compatibility. Id be curious if any of those patches increase performance. Recently Rishooty made a thread and we debated some of these hotfixes. Some people swear by things like Shutdown FIX. Id say only apply updates that cure specific symptoms your rig has and if it doesn't exibit symptoms that a specific patch would mitigate than its not recommended to install it.

Just from a lot of people experience some of these patches either break compatibility or just make the computer slower, which does nothing for gaming. Which is why a lot of people don't like the service packs. Some people seem to think the old 2.1 SP is ok but even that one messes with the audio subsystem, which people have claimed breaks compatibility.

Win9x Quick Slipstreaming Utility

Warlord wrote:

Id say only apply updates that cure specific symptoms your rig has and if it doesn't exibit symptoms that a specific patch would mitigate than its not recommended to install it.

Exactly my latest thoughts

Sort of the thinking with 98se is that it contains all of the updates and patches that have came out since 95 1st edition. Including all of the patches 98 1st edition got. So as a release 98se is sort of 95 Service pack 10 or something and out of the box under normal situations it should be pretty decently stable on period correct hardware and software.

So generally with that thinking in mind, I use 98 lite pro to strip features out of 98se without breaking compatibility to bring it closer to 95 performance. Instead of bloating it out trying to make it more like ME.

Think Stable, Compatible, Fast.

I try something new now:

Fresh install of Windows 98
Chipset driver
Nusb
Dx7a
Gpu driver
Just two dll files for using Revolutions Pack
Cleanup
That's it
The next days will show...

A minimal install of revolutions pack is a good thing. I've done extensive testing of it, using minimal install on top of a minimal install of windows. It will run with chubby 98lite feature that disassociates IE from windows file explorer. IE uninstalled using 98lite and a 5.5 sp2 core files on top. It's been shown to increase stability without increasing system resource usage.

I was playing around with 98lite for a few days now and decided to stay with fat cat for now... Not that I don't see the benefits of sleek or chubby. But I really like the typical look of 98 and having enough power in my system to handle this easily I wanted to use the full one. But I removed a bunch of other things. And man it runs real nice ... 😀

Hello, i'l follow your tips! Just one question, it is safe to install Unofficial Windows 98 Second Edition Service Pack 3.66 ( which have eng language ) on Win98SE ITA version ? Thanks

It's not safe to install that Service Pack on anything. Much less on a mismatched language OS.