First post, by rishooty
Alright. Last thread in my quest to make setting up vintage pcs easier. I made a slipstreaming application and packs to go with it, I've found out DOS is more or less too complex to standardize beyond what PhilsComputerLab has already done, and now I want to make a post installation utility/pack. Something that uses batch, visual basic 6, or simply an archive with executables numbered in an install order.
So what software do you consider essential to gaming? And I don't mean the bare minimum. Like, what weird thing could a game possibly need. For example, some games documentation are stored as PDF, so you may want a PDF viewer. Some games insist on a certain version of internet explorer, so you may want the minimum version so that it runs. Some games may need special codecs just for their cutscenes to play back properly.
Here's how I see it at the moment:
-DirectX: 7, 8 or 9 if your graphics card driver requires it
-Some codec pack: either the windows media player 6 codec pack or k-lite codec pack, realplayer alternative, quicktime alternative
-Some pdf viewer: early sumatra, early foxit, adobe reader 5
-Internet Explorer: 5.5sp2, 6 if you perform the tweak that fixes its issues, the core files that come with USP3.6 if using 98lite
-Cacheman: performs most of the cache related optimization for you, like supplemental cd cache, hdd cache, virtual memory, etc
-msinstaller
-do any games insist on a version of windows media player??
And the optional/situation specific but recommended stuff:
-(If no ACPI) Some halt enabler: rain, AMNHLT
-USB drivers: XUSB for 95, NUSB2.2 for 98 if using 98lite, NUSB3.6 for 98 if not using 98lit
-Some util to slow your cd drive: nero drivespeed
-some util to control your ps/2 mouse rate: ps2rate 0.5
-a complete uninstaller: total uninstall 2.35
-something to remove drivers with: driver cleaner
-a better task manager: enditall v2.0
-a modern web browser: retrozilla
-.net framework: v1.1 sp1
-archive manager: 7-zip
-virtual disc drive: daemon tools
-a better media player: vlc or mpc
-maybe flash?
-maybe java?
These were more or less taken from both personal experience and a mixture of these two guides:
Windows 95 setup guide for the 2020's
Generic Win98SE Installation & Setup Guide