PowerToys/TweakUI

Allows you to customize Windows behavior, configure input devices behavior and add useful context menus for Explorer, etc.
TweakUI is part of the Power Toys, which are distributed on some versions of the Windows 98 CDs only.

"HZtool" and "Unknown devices".

Windows 3.1, to run in a window. :)

Beyond Compare 2

A great program to compare, edit and merge files (text, data, dll, etc...) and folders. Version 2 is still compatible with Windows 9x.

Rain

AIDA32
Norton Partition Magic 8.x
FileZilla 2.2.22
WinImage 8.0
Windows Entertainment Pack

Everest Home 2.01

Will dig up an insane amount of information and specs about the components in your computer, whether drivers are installed or not. I'm not sure exactly how it gets the information but I used it to check the core and memory clocks, ROP\TMU organization and memory type (SDR\DDR) on tons of old ATi Rage, Nvidia TNT2 and Geforce 2 MX cards. It was extremely helpful, and as mentioned, it didn't require any drivers to be installed for the cards.

It was pretty amazing to finally figure out which cards were better than others. A fancy looking generic Geforce 2 "MX 400" with a gold heatsink that I'd used from time to time turned out to have the same specs as an MX200, despite having faster SDRAM chips. 64bit, not DDR and underclocked? Yeesh... thank you Everest for helping me to realize this before I used it in a system that actually needed the 3D performance of at least an MX400.

As a very fast program to not only edit but also to browse images, Paint Shop Pro 7 is hard to beat.

Then there's WinAMP which for me was always an essential part to the Windows 98 experience. I know WinAMP has a bit of a mixed reaction from a lot of people but nostalgia rules here.

There's Cheat Engine - older versions work in Windows 98 and it's very handy for the harder games.

To be honest, a lot of the apps I used back in the day, I would no longer use on a retro PC: NERO - why risk failing to burn CDs? MSN Messenger - defunct. ICQ - same.

jheronimus wrote:

Note that I'm not including Win98SE unofficial service packs because they always gave me issues (for some reason they mess up the Active Desktop, so My computer can't show anything 90% of the time). I would be happy to find a vanilla compilation of all official Microsoft updates for Win98SE though.

This might be what you are looking for. http://www.vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?file … &menustate=54,0

red_avatar wrote:

As a very fast program to not only edit but also to browse images, Paint Shop Pro 7 is hard to beat.

I still use PSP 7.04 on Windows 10! Wonderful program, easy to use and has all the features I need in a paint program. It's incredible that it is still perfectly compatible with the latest version of Windows after 18 years.

7? pfft 5 is where it's at. No bloat, the brightness/gamma ops properly work,etc.

leileilol wrote:

7? pfft 5 is where it's at. No bloat, the brightness/gamma ops properly work,etc.

5 was good too. I remember my brother having the retail boxes for PSP5 and Bryce 2 back in 1999 or so.

PSP6 was a glitchy mess from what I remember. 7 was more stable, like 5, and had some much needed improvements over both. It's been so long (18 years?) since I started using PSP7 though, I couldn't tell you which changes I appreciated the most at the time, but I know they were significant.

3.12, baby! Win 3.1 support and 8.3 filenames or bust!

RivaTuner
Opera browser

tannerstevo wrote:

jheronimus wrote:

Note that I'm not including Win98SE unofficial service packs because they always gave me issues (for some reason they mess up the Active Desktop, so My computer can't show anything 90% of the time). I would be happy to find a vanilla compilation of all official Microsoft updates for Win98SE though.

This might be what you are looking for. http://www.vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?file … &menustate=54,0

Thanks, I'll check it out!

for extra bling there was windowblinds for 9x and lots of taskbar skins that also covered the start menu (lurking in WWW somewhere still)

flashget download accelerator classic is still available from CNET can use its site explorer on public / password FTP
https://download.cnet.com/FlashGet-Classic/30 … 5_4-170652.html

Spybot search & destroy although all the dialup hijackers aren't around anymore theres still updates for IE and Firefox including useful HOSTS innoculation
https://www.safer-networking.org/mirrors162/

SpeedFan is a program that monitors voltages, fan speeds and temperatures in computers with hardware monitor chips. SpeedFan can even access S.M.A.R.T. info and show hard disk temperatures. SpeedFan supports SCSI disks too. SpeedFan can even change the FSB on some hardware (but this should be considered a bonus feature). SpeedFan can access digital temperature sensors and can change fan speeds accordingly, thus reducing noise. SpeedFan works fine with Windows 9x, ME, NT, 2000, 2003, XP, Vista, Windows 7, 2008, Windows 8, Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012. It works with Windows 64 bit too.
https://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

That's quite a necrobump.

It seems like there have already been other threads like this, as in Generic Win98SE Installation & Setup Guide , but I will mention my favorite TClockEx again nonetheless. It's not safe to run Windows 98 without having the free system resources conveniently on display.

PS2Rate

I always disliked how laggy/clunky mouse movement is on Windows98 inside PCEm/86box... until I rediscovered this tool I used back in the day. And now my G325 is as smooth as it's on the host OS! That 40Hz default refresh rate was a crime.

PS2Rate is great 👍

DriverCleaner Pro and RegCleaner are a couple of other useful tools.