I always just run the Unofficial SP 2.1a along with whatever version of DirectX I need. Never had any problems with that.

I also use the USB mass storage updated drivers too, nusb33e.exe. These are a truly a blessing when using flash drives and other external storage.

I don't use my Win98SE boxes for anything except old games. It's not like I need to worry about these systems getting a virus or some other malware.

I am willing to bet an install of original Windows 98 SE is more secure on the Internet than an unofficially patched one. Simply because the infrastructure the malware needs to run isn't there. In other words, "Sir, I'm sorry but you will need to upgrade your computer if you want this new virus to run." That's the short version anyway but I am not concerned about security, just stability playing games.

Yes that nusb33e.exe is pretty awesome indeed!

squareguy wrote:

Yes that nusb33e.exe is pretty awesome indeed!

+1

MDGX BHDD 3.1 patch

n1mr0d wrote:

MDGX BHDD 3.1 patch

Nice! I always copied the ME version FDISK over my existing FDISK but this package is better. I wonder if the unofficial service pack includes these files already. Will have to have a look.

My fastest 98 PC is a
P4 2.5Ghz Non HT talked about below
My P4 Win98 Games Rig
and also a P3 1Ghz but this isn't special for Win98

Most updates even in 98 were to plug the security holes and usually came at a performance hit which is why I don't run the unofficial service pack. Win98 and below did have some non security related ones, which I'll apply if notice the symptoms but not before

EDIT: I put this in the wrong thread sorta, oops. Anyways this is about the Dell 4600 and Windows 98 SE

I got it setup.

Windows 98 SE (setup /p i)
Intel 865 Chipset Drivers
Intel Ethernet Drivers
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz
Nvidia GeForce4 MX440
nusb33e.exe
Direct X 7.0

Windows Installer 2.0 (needed to install Daemon Tools)

7-Zip
QuickPar
Daemon Tools

Played a little Thief 2: The Metal Age and everything looks fine. Next step is to install a SATA hard drive for Windows XP. I have an unidentified GeForce 6 series card (pretty sure it's a 6800GT) with a molex 4-pin power connector on it and will probably use that once I get a molex power extension cable/splitter. Anyone know if the GeForce 6 series has major issues with early Direct X games in Windows 98? I will try to get a Geforce4 TI4600 card for the other computer when I get it built.

Nice little box Chinny22, I am pretty much taking your stance on updates.

98SE2ME has proven to be a stable upgrade to Windows 98. It adds the features of ME that 98SE lacks while retaining the superior DOS compatibility of 98.

Slightly off topic: I recently tried playing Warcraft 3 in W98SE and the (downward) mouse scroll is broken. Do other people have this issue or is something wrong with my setup?

Otherwise runs OK. Played a few games on Battle.net with no other problem.

sliderider wrote:

98SE2ME has proven to be a stable upgrade to Windows 98. It adds the features of ME that 98SE lacks while retaining the superior DOS compatibility of 98.

This looks very interesting. I was going to ask if it was worth installing ME instead of 98SE if you already have a separate DOS installation and don't need Windows DOS functionality. However this sounds like the best of both worlds.

Phil,

When you mentioned XP SP2 was that a typo, did you mean SP3? Any particular reason for SP2 specifically?

SP3 slows down older computers considerably. The memory footprint is also higher. Try running a computer that meets the recommended requirements with XP SP3. It'll be a dog! Oh, wait, a turtle or a dinosaur I would better say 😜

Good to know thanks.

squareguy wrote:

Phil,

When you mentioned XP SP2 was that a typo, did you mean SP3? Any particular reason for SP2 specifically?

Just like GeorgeMan explained 😀

Performance aside it's more period correct as well with the older games.

I just use what works : if it aint broke don`t fix it

95: no updates as it doesn`t make it less crappy anyway
98: no need for this one, prefer 98se
98se: works just fine out of the box, no updates (besides the usual usb stuff and directx)
xp: sp2 works best for me, sp3 always seems more buggy and without servicepacks was even worse
windows 7: no updates, works perfect as is
windows 8: no servicepack will fix this one for me, it doesn`t add anything over 7 that is usefull

KT7AGuy wrote:

I always just run the Unofficial SP 2.1a along with whatever version of DirectX I need. Never had any problems with that.

I also use the USB mass storage updated drivers too, nusb33e.exe. These are a truly a blessing when using flash drives and other external storage.

I don't use my Win98SE boxes for anything except old games. It's not like I need to worry about these systems getting a virus or some other malware.

I've tried the Unofficial Windows 98SE Service Pack 3.x (as mentioned earlier in this post) but, during installation (even with just ticking core updates), I received an installation error that it cannot find the required installation files. I then had to manually point to where the files were extracted. This was on a clean installation of Windows 98SE, following the instructions on the website. However, after installation, I didn't seem to experience any problems.

As some users have mentioned, "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" and I feel that the above service pack includes certain components and features that one doesn't require for playing games or even running software from that era.

I've decided to fall back on the Unofficial SP 2.1a as I feel that it gives you all the Microsoft updates that you require (and nothing more). I've never had any problems with this service pack. The only extra feature that I installed were the USB stack drivers that comes with the Unofficial Windows 98SE Service Pack 3.x package (I just extracted and installed this separately) but the USB mass storage updated drivers can also be installed (I sometimes forget that Windows 98SE will have problems reading USB mass storage devices that are not formatted with FAT32).
I then also installed IE 6.0 SP1 and DirectX 9.0c.

To enable me to choose between MS-DOS and Windows, I just created a start up menu by editing my autoexexc.bat & config.sys files (a once off editing of MSDOS.sys is also required).

More than that you don't need for Windows 98SE.

http://dk.toastednet.org/vogons/win98

I went ahead and added my own personal stuff I add to fresh installs. This directory includes:

* IE 6 SP1
* .NET Framework v2.0 - I normally don't need this but when I installed something a while back it wanted it.
* DirectX v9.0
* 7-zip v9.20
* FileZilla v2.2.15 - Good for transferring files from another computer. It's getting a little harder to find Win98 versions. Not sure if this is the last version that will work it, but it's been working good for me with no issues.
* KernelEX v4.0
* NetTime v3.14 - Updates your clock automatically at specified intervals. I originally used this for an older laptop that had drifting time and was a pain to change out the battery. I now use it on all my computers to make sure they are all in sync. Great little utility!
* NUSB v3.3e
* Opera v10.61 with MSIMG32 - The MSIMG32 is to help with some rendering effects. A trick I use is to force the Opera Turbo on and it will do a lot of prerendering for you offsite. Good for slower computers (like p2 and below).
* Process Explorer - A Task Manager-like utility. I personally just copy it to my windows directory as taskmgr.exe so I can do a ctrl+r->taskmgr.exe and force close a program. I even add it to my startup folder and you can just minimize it to the tray. Closing programs with this utility is a lot more reliable than CTRL+ALT+DEL and plus it shows everything running.
* TweakUI for Windows 98
* 98SE2ME - This was mentioned in this thread, but it really is a nice utility to copy over the better parts of ME and get some updated TCP stacks and other performance and stability. I've used this on some older machines like a P1 166 with no ill-effects.
* Windows Media Player 9 - There are some unofficial updates here but I've never used them.

Feel free to directly link.

I use this in combination with that Unofficial SP2 pack on a daily basis. It's on a P2 400 and I run TightVNC to get into a windows xp laptop elsewhere in the house to do all my web surfing on. Very reliable, even after I've had a good game session on it.

Maraakate wrote:

I went ahead and added my own personal stuff I add to fresh installs.

Nice, this pretty much matches my usual setup. I only add a firewall (Tiny Personal Firewall) just for the sake of it, don't feel comfortable having it connected to the net without one.

Maraakate wrote:

* FileZilla v2.2.15 - Good for transferring files from another computer. It's getting a little harder to find Win98 versions. Not sure if this is the last version that will work it, but it's been working good for me with no issues.

Since I recently needed it, I can confirm that without any extreme modifications, this is the last version that runs on 98. oldapps.com lists other versions too, but none of them worked for me except from this.