A popular and easy way is network and ftp, as long as you can have network on your retro pc.

I have personally never had issues using USB drives when working with Windows 98SE. Just make sure it's not too huge and is formatted with FAT32 (NTFS will not work without extra drives\software). Also, the operating system will only see one partition on external drives (like anything before Windows 10).

This is so much more convenient than the alternatives that I would suggest just trying to fix that first, either by installing a USB PCI card or tracking down whatever is causing your system to not work with the drive.

Also, make sure you've got these drivers installed, because Windows 98SE does not come with USB Mass Storage drivers:
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/windows-98-u … age-driver.html

USB to CF adapter?

Alistar1776 wrote on 2022-12-22, 12:07:

So, Im trying to figure out a nice easy way for transferring files. The system Im using is S370 PIII running win98se. Ive considered a floppy emu, but some files i need are larger than the 1.44mb partitions, and my main PC uses primarily a usb stick, or over network. For context, the system will likely be used for media writing, and win9x gaming. Is there a way to do larger files with a floppy emu? Id do a CF card, but Id need a CF to PCIe 1x for the modern system (Ryzen 7 5800x modern) and I couldnt seem to find one. Tried SD card, but cant find an SD to IDE card... i wonder if any of yall have an idea? Im stuck. Its also 6am at time of writing too 🤣.

Edit: the USB stick acts a bit funny with the win98se system, it will reboot when plugged in, but then not see the drive at all, when it previously worked some few months ago. which is why im trying to find another method.

I don't understand the problem with CF or SD cards on the modern system. All you need is a simple USB card reader?
Then there are IDE to USB adapters

konc wrote on 2022-12-22, 13:01:

A popular and easy way is network and ftp, as long as you can have network on your retro pc.

I agree.
When the retro PC has no USB port, but it is connected to the home LAN, FTP is the best solution.

My phone file manager has the FTP server capability, so I often use it to transfer files to my retro build (by connecting to ftp://<phone_lan_ip>:<phone_ftp_port> on Internet Explorer).

HTTP can also be used, if you have Python installed on your modern PC:

1# start a simple HTTP server on port 8080, where you can download files starting from current dir
2python -m http.server 8080

There are also CD-ROM data disks, but they can be written only once 😅

My WinXP system on a Z68 board works fine with all modern USB drives I've tried. My other Athlon XP doesn't like USB hard drives much, but it's fine with all USB thumb drives I tried. My Win98 machine is a bit more finicky.

The very first USB flash drive I bought 20-odd years ago was a SanDisk Cruiser, and they had Win98 drivers available for it. I still have that drive and those drivers, so any data transfer under 100MB is easy. But for big data transfers, I pull the hard drive out of the case and attach it to another computer. My older WinXP system has an IDE motherboard, so I can mount it normally there. I've also got a SATA to IDE adapter and an external SATA drive dock. It may not be the most convenient method ( pulling drive, IDE to SATA adapter, SATA extension cable to dock, dock to USB ) but I don't do it very often so it's worked fine for me.

Demetrio wrote on 2022-12-22, 14:14:

I agree. When the retro PC has no USB port, but it is connected to the home LAN, FTP is the best solution. […]
Show full quote

konc wrote on 2022-12-22, 13:01:

A popular and easy way is network and ftp, as long as you can have network on your retro pc.

I agree.
When the retro PC has no USB port, but it is connected to the home LAN, FTP is the best solution.

My phone file manager has the FTP server capability, so I often use it to transfer files to my retro build (by connecting to ftp://<phone_lan_ip>:<phone_ftp_port> on Internet Explorer).

HTTP can also be used, if you have Python installed on your modern PC:

Copy code to clipboard

1# start a simple HTTP server on port 8080, where you can download files starting from current dir
2python -m http.server 8080

There are also CD-ROM data disks, but they can be written only once 😅

network I think would be best, but i cant seem to find drivers for the ethernet card it has. its a Cnet 181BP200

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2022-12-22, 13:20:

I have personally never had issues using USB drives when working with Windows 98SE. Just make sure it's not too huge and is form […]
Show full quote

I have personally never had issues using USB drives when working with Windows 98SE. Just make sure it's not too huge and is formatted with FAT32 (NTFS will not work without extra drives\software). Also, the operating system will only see one partition on external drives (like anything before Windows 10).

This is so much more convenient than the alternatives that I would suggest just trying to fix that first, either by installing a USB PCI card or tracking down whatever is causing your system to not work with the drive.

Also, make sure you've got these drivers installed, because Windows 98SE does not come with USB Mass Storage drivers:
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/windows-98-u … age-driver.html

Ill give it a shot, see if I can get that working.

Alistar1776 wrote on 2022-12-22, 21:48:

Demetrio wrote on 2022-12-22, 14:14:

I agree. When the retro PC has no USB port, but it is connected to the home LAN, FTP is the best solution. […]
Show full quote

konc wrote on 2022-12-22, 13:01:

A popular and easy way is network and ftp, as long as you can have network on your retro pc.

I agree.
When the retro PC has no USB port, but it is connected to the home LAN, FTP is the best solution.

My phone file manager has the FTP server capability, so I often use it to transfer files to my retro build (by connecting to ftp://<phone_lan_ip>:<phone_ftp_port> on Internet Explorer).

HTTP can also be used, if you have Python installed on your modern PC:

Copy code to clipboard

1# start a simple HTTP server on port 8080, where you can download files starting from current dir
2python -m http.server 8080

There are also CD-ROM data disks, but they can be written only once 😅

network I think would be best, but i cant seem to find drivers for the ethernet card it has. its a Cnet 181BP200

Didn't find anything with that name.

Only thing relative to CNET I've found is this card from Dell:

Does it resemble the card on your system?

Demetrio wrote on 2022-12-22, 22:20:

Didn't find anything with that name. […]
Show full quote

Didn't find anything with that name.

Only thing relative to CNET I've found is this card from Dell:

s-l1600.jpg

Does it resemble the card on your system?

Yep, exact card

Alistar1776 wrote on 2022-12-22, 22:33:

Demetrio wrote on 2022-12-22, 22:20:

Didn't find anything with that name. […]
Show full quote

Didn't find anything with that name.

Only thing relative to CNET I've found is this card from Dell:

s-l1600.jpg

Does it resemble the card on your system?

Yep, exact card

Drivers are on the Dell site 🙂

As another person said, a USB CF card reader for the modern system and a CF to IDE adapter for the old one works great. I use this myself with my 386 old system and a modern Ryzen system. There is no need for a CF to PCIe card for a modern system.

However, it is important to remember to always eject/dismount the CF card properly on the modern system as old file systems like FAT seem to be a lot more susceptible to corruption if thd CD card is pulled out while being written to.

So the CF cards are one option, but I tend to use it for older stuff. On my Win98SE machine(slot1 P3 motherboard) I have two USB 1 ports and I've been using a 1GB FAT16 formatted USB stick with it(you could use FAT32 too) as well as a modern Usb3 SD/MicroSD card reader. The only issues I had were a couple of times the USB stick wasn't recognised, but once I rebooted it worked fine. Same with the SD reader. This is a minor thing.

Another, more serious issue was that a 500GB external HDD would not work at all with the Win98SE. When connected it would spin up and then make a clicking noise similar to the famous "usb hdd click of death", but it worked fine on the modern pc after. So I concluded the USB 1 probably can't supply enough power to run a mechanical HDD. Back in the day I used 3.5in IDE to USB caddies with DC power Jacks.Self powered USB Hdds arrived around USB2 era if I remember correctly.

If you are having issues with modern USB storage devices on Win98SE it may be due to power consumption. I would try a powered USB hub or older USB sticks.

Demetrio wrote on 2022-12-22, 23:15:

Drivers are on the Dell site 🙂

I cant find them still 🤣

flynth wrote on 2022-12-22, 23:42:

Another, more serious issue was that a 500GB external HDD would not work at all with the Win98SE. When connected it would spin up and then make a clicking noise similar to the famous "usb hdd click of death", but it worked fine on the modern pc after. So I concluded the USB 1 probably can't supply enough power to run a mechanical HDD. Back in the day I used 3.5in IDE to USB caddies with DC power Jacks.Self powered USB Hdds arrived around USB2 era if I remember correctly.

If you are having issues with modern USB storage devices on Win98SE it may be due to power consumption. I would try a powered USB hub or older USB sticks.

Quite possible Windows 98 just can't handle a hard disk that big too - 500GB is an order of magnitude or two bigger than anything you could buy at the time. I don't know about USB Mass Storage Devices, but for IDE drives the limit is somewhere below 150GB with the exact limit depending on the particular machine/BIOS/etc.

davidrg wrote on 2022-12-23, 01:01:

flynth wrote on 2022-12-22, 23:42:

Another, more serious issue was that a 500GB external HDD would not work at all with the Win98SE. When connected it would spin up and then make a clicking noise similar to the famous "usb hdd click of death", but it worked fine on the modern pc after. So I concluded the USB 1 probably can't supply enough power to run a mechanical HDD. Back in the day I used 3.5in IDE to USB caddies with DC power Jacks.Self powered USB Hdds arrived around USB2 era if I remember correctly.

If you are having issues with modern USB storage devices on Win98SE it may be due to power consumption. I would try a powered USB hub or older USB sticks.

Quite possible Windows 98 just can't handle a hard disk that big too - 500GB is an order of magnitude or two bigger than anything you could buy at the time. I don't know about USB Mass Storage Devices, but for IDE drives the limit is somewhere below 150GB with the exact limit depending on the particular machine/BIOS/etc.

The biggest IDE drive I have is 120gb

+1 for 10/100 NIC. 3com and intel typically have very good support in 9x. Use ftp or set up a Windows 2000 VM on one of your more modern boxes to host a network share

Alistar1776 wrote on 2022-12-22, 23:56:

Demetrio wrote on 2022-12-22, 23:15:

Drivers are on the Dell site 🙂

I cant find them still 🤣

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drive … driverid=r25996

Demetrio wrote on 2022-12-23, 08:21:

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drive … driverid=r25996

Awesome, thank you. Drivers are installed, now to set up the connection between the systems.... not sure on that one either.

Alistar1776 wrote on 2022-12-23, 15:11:

Demetrio wrote on 2022-12-23, 08:21:

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drive … driverid=r25996

Awesome, thank you. Drivers are installed, now to set up the connection between the systems.... not sure on that one either.

Awesome!
For the connection, you can set up an FTP server with FileZilla Server on your modern machine. Configuration should be straight forward.

Then just connect with Internet Explorer 🙂

P.S. In Windows98, IIRC there's an FTP client you can install through the installation disk. Through it, you should also be able to transfer files to your modern machine