Windows 98 Tips

Viewing Available IRQ's
Right Click on My Computer
Select Properties
Select the Device Manager tab
Select Computer and click Properties
This will show which IRQs are currently in use

Increase Modem Speed in Windows 98
In Windows 98, your modem may seem to work fine, but the true fact is, the baud rate for you COM Port doesn't allow you to reach top-speed. To improve your port's speed:

Click Start, Select Settings > Control Panel, open System
Click the Device Manager tab, and click on the "+" sign next to Ports (COM & LPT)
Select the port your modem uses, click Properties, then click the Port Settings tab, and set the Bits per second to 115200 bps, that way you won't have a sort of filter on the Port.
115200 bps is the maximum setting for a "Standard" COM port. If you encounter problems, try setting this value lower. With System Monitor you can check if there are any problems. System Monitor (sysmon.exe) can be Installed by starting the Add/Remove Programs Properties in Control Panel, select the Windows Setup tab, double click on the System Tools entry and select System Monitor

(If you are not sure which COM port your modem uses, click on the "+" sign next to the Modem Icon in Control Panel and select your Modem. Click on Properties and choose the Modem Tab. Here you will see the COM port used by your modem)

For most Modems you can use Hardware in the Flow control drop-down box

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The Maximum speed at which Windows 98 communicates with the modem is set in Control Panel > Modems, click the Properties button on the General tab. Windows 98 selects a conservative default speed, to prevent data loss on slower computers. So if you are using a fast computer (defined by MS as a 80486 or Pentium), set a faster speed here. If applications report data errors, lower your speed.

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In Windows 98 Microsoft opted for some limited support of the setting known as MaxMTU in Windows 95.

Select your Dial-Up Adapter from Network in Control Panel
Click Properties and select the Advanced tab
In the selection box on the left, select IP Packet Size
Now you can select a setting in the Value drop-down box, choices are: Automatic, Large, Medium and Small
The settings Large, Medium and Small will put a IPMTU value in the registry entry for your Dial-Up Adapter of respectively 1500, 1000 or 576
For for more information, visit our InfiniSource Internet Information Center Web Site. Here you'll find info on the MaxMTU fix, and other settings to increase your comm's speed.

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It is not widely known, but the serial ports on motherboards and add-in cards that use some specific I/O controllers will support operation at speeds greater than 115200 bps:

ALI:
M1543(Aladdin V south bridge)
Serial ports provided by these chips will run at 230400 and 460800 bps.

NS:
PC87308
PC87307 / 87317
PC97307 / 97317
PC87309
PC87338
Serial ports provided by these chips will run at 230400 / 460800 / 921600 bps.

SMC:
37C665IR / 666IR
37C669 / 669FR,37N769
37B72x / 77x / 78x / 80x,37C67x / 68x / 93x / 93xAPM / 93xFR,37M60x / 61x,37N958FR
Serial ports provided by these chips will run at 230400 and 460800 bps.

WinBond:
W83877TF (TF only, A/F/AF not supported)
W83977F /AF /TF / ATF
Serial ports provided by these chips will run at 230400 / 460800 / 921600 bps.

All they need is the proper software to enable and program these high speed modes.

For Win95/98, getting greater than 115Kbps requires two parts:

Executing a small program at boot time to enable the high speed mode
An updated serial.vxd that knows how to program the high speed rate
The file SHS17.ZIP from http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA004958/over115K/index_e.html provides all you need to determine if your serial ports are compatible and, if so, to take advantage of the high speed operation that these chips support.

View Your TCP/IP Configuration
In order to see your present TCP/IP configuration, Microsoft has included a program called winipcfg which gives you details of your setup. Start it using the Run command (from the Start button).

Trace Internet Routes
Included with Windows 98 is a program called Trace Route. Open a DOS window and type tracert location name. The location name can be any IP address or number, for example tracert www.windows-help.net.

The program will then trace the route from your Internet provider to that location, and show you every computer system along the way.
Watch as you jump from coast to coast and over oceans via satellites and high speed connections instantly. Also very useful for when you can't connect to a site - it will show you if something is down along the way.

Automatic Re-dialing
You can configure Windows 98 Dial-Up Networking to automatically re-dial your connection:

Click Start and Select Programs > Accessories > Communications
Select Dial-Up Networking
Select your connection
From the menu select Connections > Settings
Check Re-dial and select the number of times to re-dial (2-100) and Click OK
Close Dial-Up Networking

If you have a dial-up connection configured to automatically redial your Internet service provider (ISP), you may receive the following error message after the fifteenth automatic redial attempt:

Could not detect modem. It may be in use, turned off,
or not installed properly

For a solution, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q258838

"ClipCache Plus is totally awesome!!! I must use it 50 times a day. All my regular text clips, images, email addresses, and Web site URLs are just a double click away. This brilliant little program probably saves me two hours a day of looking stuff up or typing it over and over. And goodbye to all those miserable ">>>>>" in the emails. It was my lucky day when I read PC World magazine for April and heard about ClipCache Plus."
-- Susan Amos, Canada

Stop Automatic Dialing
To stop your browser - or any other Internet aware application - from automatically dialing up your ISP:

Click Start and select Programs > Settings > Control Panel
Open Internet Options
Select the Connections tab
Check Never dial a connection
Also click Start and select Programs > Accessoires > Communications > Dial-Up Networking
From the Connections menu, choose Settings... and check prompt to use Dial-Up Networking

See this tip if you get a "Do you Want To Close Your Connection?" prompt when closing your Internet aware programs

How to Speed-up your Connecting time
To Speed-up the time it takes for DUN (Dial Up Networking) to establish a connection with your ISP (Internet Service Provider):

Select your connection in DUN (Start > Programs > Accessories > Communications > Dial-Up Networking)
Right-click your connection and choose Properties
On the Server Types Tab, under Advanced Options, make sure that the check-box for Log on to network is unchecked
Under Allowed network protocols select only TCP/IP

Get disconnected frequently? Try this:
If you get disconnected frequently, try this extra modem setting:

Go to Modems in Control Panel (Start > Settings > Control Panel)
From Modems select Properties, select the Connection Tab, click the Advanced button
In the Extra settings dialogue box, enter S10=50
This will force the modem to stay connected without a carrier, up to 5 seconds.

DUN 4.0
Note
Although this update is still available, we suggest to use the new Dial-Up Networking 1.4 Upgrade instead.

In August 1998 Microsoft released a new version of Dial Up Networking (DUN) for Windows 98. In fact, it's a security update, that fixes several security issues with implementations of the Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) used in Microsoft Virtual Private Networking (VPN) products.

Customers who are not using PPTP for network security are not affected by this issue.

Fixes
Download the patch from: ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/softlib/mslfiles/dun40.exe

Strong Encryption Versions (128-bit):

Customers in the United States and Canada can download the strong encryption versions of these updates from: http://mssecure.www.conxion.com/cgi-bin/ntitar.pl

Microsoft has published this Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article Q189771 about the issue.

After you install Windows 98 Second Edition, the 128-bit data encryption won't work, and you will get this error message when you attempt to create a Dial-Up Networking (DUN) connection that uses 128-bit data encryption:

Error 629: You have been disconnected from the computer you dialed.
Double-click the connection to try again.
If you try to (re)install the 128-bit version of the Windows 98 Dial-Up Networking Security Upgrade (Msnt128.exe) file, you are unable to do so. When you double-click the Msnt128.exe file, you receive the 128 bit encryption for Dial-Up Networking (Not for Export) dialog box. When you click OK, you quit the Msnt128.exe program.

This is caused because Windows 98 Second Edition includes a newer version of the 40-bit DUN files that replace the 128-bit DUN files.

You can get a new 128-bit DUN Security Upgrade for Windows 98 Second Edition when Microsoft makes it available. To see if the 128-bit DUN Security Upgrade for Windows 98 Second Edition is available, view the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/Support/NTServer/128Eula.asp

Note that after accepting the License Agreement, the list of 128-bit software is available.

Dial-Up Networking 1.4 Upgrade
Microsoft has released an updated version of Dial Up Networking (DUN) for Windows 95 & 98. In fact, it's a security update, that fixes several security issues with implementations of the Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) used in Microsoft Virtual Private Networking (VPN) products, and it also improves the stability of PPTP connections.

Note:
Before you try to obtain or install the DUN 1.4 upgrade, verify which version of Windows is running on your computer. To do so, right-click My Computer. If you are running Windows 98 Second Edition, it will be displayed as below.

Release Notes

Microsoft Windows 98 Dial-Up Networking 1.4 Upgrade Release Notes
Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition Dial-Up Networking 1.4 Upgrade Release Notes
Download

DUN 1.4 for Windows 98 [505KB]
DUN 1.4 for Windows 98 Second Edition [459KB]

trouble shooting

To remove the version number from the Desktop, install TweakUI (you can find it on your CD-ROM in the \tools\reskit\powertoy folder), on the General tab in the Effects box is an option to troggle Show Windows version on desktop.

Remove My Documents folder from the Desktop
You can remove the My Documents folder from the Desktop simply by right-clicking the My Documents icon and selecting Remove from Desktop.

Only the Icon will be removed, the folder (C:\My Documents) will still be on your drive.

To put the My Documents folder back on the Desktop, simply right-click an empty spot on the Desktop and from the context menu choose New > My Documents Folder on Desktop.

To change the location of the My Documents folder, right-click the My Documents icon and choose Properties. Here you can change the location.

Troubleshooting Power Management problems
The Microsoft APM team has done an exceptional job of setting up a Web site dealing with APM issues.

Visit http://support.microsoft.com/support/windows/tshoot/apm98/

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When your attempt to put Windows 98 in Standby mode, you may receive the following error message:

Your computer cannot go on standby because a device driveror program won't allow it. Close all programs and try again.
If you close all programs and attempt to put Windows 98 into Standby mode again, you receive the same error message.

This can occur if a program, driver, or hardware device is preventing Windows 98 from going into Standby mode. To resolve this behavior, use the Power Management Trouble Shooter tool to determine which program, driver, or hardware device is preventing Windows 98 from going into Standby mode.

Windows 98 Second Edition Hangs During Suspend
Windows 98 Second Edition may hang when the machine is being suspended.

This is due to an obscure bug, which exhibits itself when the path specified for the swapfile in the [386Enh] section of the System.ini file includes a lowercase drive letter.

The name of the swapfile used by Windows 98 can be changed by adding a PagingFile= line to the [386Enh] section of the System.ini file. If the path specified for the swapfile includes a lowercase drive letter, it can cause Windows 98 Second Edition to occasionally hang during a suspend.

To fix this:

Select Start > Run and type msconfig in the Open: box, then press OK
Select the System.ini tab
Click the + sign next to the [386Enh] section to expand it
Select the line PagingFile= and click Edit
Change the lowercase drive letter to uppercase
Click Apply and OK
When prompted, restart your computer
When you try to resume your computer from Suspend mode, your computer may take 30 seconds or more to resume. This behavior can occur if you have a network adapter that is not attached to an active network connection.

When your computer enters Suspend mode, the drivers for your protocols are unloaded. When you try to resume your computer, Windows attempts to load the drivers for your protocols, and then bind them to the network adapter. If an active network connection is not found, a time out occurs and causes the delay.

To resolve this behavior, you either have to connect to an active network connection, or disable your network adapter:

Select Start > Settings > Control Panel, and then double-click System
Select the Device Manager tab, double-click the Network Adapters branch to expand it, and then select your network adapter
Select Properties, click to select the Disable in this hardware profile check box, click OK (twice), and then click Yes to restart your computer

LoadPowerProfile is Listed Twice in System Configuration > Startup
If you view your systems Startup configuration in Microsoft's System Configuration Utility (access from Start > Run, type msconfig in the Open box and press OK), you may notice two entries for Power Management. Both listed as Rundll32.exe powerprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme.

If you view Microsoft System Information > Software Environment > Startup Programs (access from Start > Run, type msinfo32 in the Open box and press OK), you will notice that one is loaded from the Machine Run protion of the registry, while the other is loaded from Machine Service.

This is by design. The first instance runs as soon as the GUI is up. This is so that power management is running even if no one logs on. The second instance runs after logon, and loads the user settings

Restore Suspend option
The suspend option disappears when the machine fails to resume 2 consecutive times. Resetting the registry values will bring the option back.

It would be valuable to know exactly what is causing the machine to fail to resume. You can visit the Windows 98 APM troubleshooting site for more information.

To recover the Suspend or Stand by Option:

Start the Registry Editor
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ VxD \ Vpowerd
Subtract 00000200 from the Flags entry
Set the SuspendFlag entry to 0
Restart Windows

Open and Explore options on Start Menu are disabled
You have to check all the drive letters in the TweakUI appelet ( My Computer tab) from A: to Z: to re-enable those choices when right clicking on the start button.

TweakUI can be found on your CD-ROM in the \tools\reskit\powertoy folder.

Office 97 SR-1 / SR-2 Info
If you run the Office 97 SR-1 patch on a Windows 98 computer, the chances are that the patch will NOT update your Office 97 files and you'll get NO direct warning of that failure!

For all the details visit Woody's Office Watch

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Microsoft has updated the Office SR-1 Patch, the SR-1 patch is now fully optimized for Windows 98 and earlier operating systems.

The new (International) version can be downloaded from:

http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/downloadDetails/sr1off97detail.htm.

Other language versions available at:

http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/Articles/sr1international.htm

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The (Updated) Office 97 SR-2 patch is out. For details & download, visit the Office Update site.

You will need to have the SR-1 before applying SR-2, see this Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q171749 to check if SR-1 is installed on your system.

In some instances the SR-2 patch will not detect that SR-1 is installed. For a work-around see this Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q192816

Information on how to order the SR-2 on CD-ROM: http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/Articles/sr2howtoget.htm

Information on other language versions.

Note: There is also a Service Release 2 ValuePack.

You can read more on the SR-2 update on this page from Woody's Office Watch.

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There's now an Office 97 Version Checker available from Microsoft, you can run this first to see if your computer has SR-1 installed and is ready for the SR-2 patch (you need to have the SR-1 patch installed in order to install the SR-2 patch).

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The best option is to get the Replacement CD:

To get it call Microsoft Supplemental Parts at 800-370-9272 and order the Office 97 SR-2 Replacement CD. This is the Full Version of Office 97 with the SR-1 and SR-2 fixes included.

Supplemental Parts is the only place you can order the Replacement CD. To get the Replacement CD, you must own a retail version of Office 97 or Office 97 SR-1. OEM customers are being given other instructions to obtain the CD.

You have to give the CD's code number and the Product ID number. If you don't ask specifically for the Office 97 SR-2 Replacement CD you would get the SR-2 Patch.

There is no charge for the Replacement Office 97 SR-2 CD.

Note: The Office 97 SR-2 contains Outlook 97, not Outlook 98. Use Custom Install to insure you do not install it if you only want to use Outlook Express or are running Outlook 98.

UK users can call 0345 00 2000

How to Check for a Faulty Math Coprocessor
To determine if the math coprocessor installed in your computer is faulty, follow these steps:

Open System in Control Panel
Select the Device Manager tab
Double-click System Devices, and then double-click Numeric data processor
Click the Settings tab
The following message is displayed in the Diagnostics box:

Your computer's numeric data processor has passed all diagnostic tests and appears to be working properly
or

The numeric processor in this computer can sometimes compute inaccurate results when dividing large numbers

It's obvious that if you get the second message, you have a faulty Math Coprocessor. In that case you can switch of the use of the Math Coprocessor, by selecting the Never use numeric data processor on the same Settings tab.

SU00xx Error messages
SU0010, SU0012, SU0015, or SU0016
If you receive one of these messages during Setup, see Installing Windows 98 on a System Running Windows NT and Installing Windows 98 on a System Running OS/2 in the Setup.txt (excerpt from) for more information.

SU0011
Your hard disk is password-protected. You must first remove the password protection. For more information, see your computer documentation.

SU0013
To set up Windows 98, your startup drive must be an MS-DOS boot partition. If your startup drive is formatted as HPFS or NTFS, you must create an MS-DOS boot partition before running Setup. For more information about creating an MS-DOS boot partition, see your computer documentation.

You may also receive this error if you have third-party partitioning software such as EZ drive or Disk Manager installed. If so, reboot your system and run Setup from an MS-DOS command prompt. For more information, see Upgrading to Windows 98 - a Guide

SU0018
"Setup cannot create files on your startup drive and cannot set up Windows 98. There may be too many files in the root directory of your startup drive, or your startup drive letter may have been remapped."

The root folder of a drive can hold a maximum of 512 entries (files or folders). This message indicates that Setup has detected too many directory entries in the root folder of your computer, and Setup cannot create the files it needs to set up Windows 98. Move or delete some files from the root folder of your drive, and then run Setup again.

Note: Files with long filenames use more directory entries than files with 8.3 filenames. Because the number of entries in the root is limited to 512, the root directory can fill up with fewer files if long filenames are used.

SU0167
A file or folder called Desktop exists on your computer. Rename or move your current Desktop folder, and then run Setup again.

SU0410
Setup cannot open a required file, possibly because the file is missing or damaged, or because your computer does not have enough memory.

If you have already created a Startup Disk, quit Setup, shut down your computer, insert the Startup Disk, and then restart the computer. Then, run Setup from the MS-DOS command prompt.

SU99xxxx
SU99 is a prefix that is added to all errors that Setup does not have a specific error message for. These errors are often caused by low conventional memory. If you have already created a Startup Disk, quit Setup, shut down your computer, insert the Startup Disk, and restart the computer. Then, run Setup from the MS-DOS command prompt

CAB File Errors During Windows 98 Setup
When you try to install Windows 98 or a component that requires copying files from the original Windows disks or CD-ROM, you may receive one of the following messages:

Setup has detected the following decoding error:
Could not decode this setup (.CAB) file. Setup will
attempt to recover from this situation, click OK to
continue.

Setup cannot copy all of the files from your Windows
98 CD. Clean the Windows 98 CD with a soft cloth,
return it to the CD-ROM drive, and then click OK. If
you receive this message again, read the CAB Errors
section of the Setup.txt file. This file is in the
Win98 directory of your Windows 98 CD.

These errors can occur for any of the following reasons:

Your Windows 98 CD-ROM may be damaged, dirty from smudges or fingerprints, or may be scratched.
Your CD-ROM drive is not functioning properly. The CD-ROM may vibrate too much for the laser to accurately read the data.
Your computer is over-clocked. Extracting files from the Windows 98 Second Edition cabinet files is memory-intensive. If your computer is over-clocked beyond the default settings, it can contribute to decoding errors. Computers that are not over-clocked but have a cooling problem can also experience decoding errors.
Your computer has bad or mismatched RAM or cache. For example, you are using EDO and non-EDO RAM, or you are using different RAM speeds. Even if Windows 98 seems to run without problems, the additional stress of extracting files and accessing the disk may contribute to decoding errors.
Your computer has Bus Mastering or Ultra DMA enabled in the BIOS and in Device Manager. The data may be moving too quickly for the system to keep up.
You are using a third-party memory manager.
There is a virus on your computer.
To resolve such error messages, follow these steps:

Remove the CD-ROM from the CD-ROM drive, rotate it one-quarter to one-half a turn, reinsert the CD-ROM into the drive, and then click OK.
Remove the CD-ROM from the CD-ROM drive. Clean the CD-ROM with a soft cloth, reinsert it into the drive, and then click OK.
Check your computer for a virus using virus-detection software.
On one of your hard drives, create an empty folder and name it Win98. Copy the contents of the Win98 folder on the CD-ROM to the Win98 folder. If you are unable to copy the contents of the Win98 folder on the CD-ROM to you hard disk, the CD-ROM may be damaged.
If you are still receiving CAB errors in Windows 98, you can manually extract all the Setup files from the Windows 98 CD-ROM to your hard disk and run Setup from there. It requires approximately 300MB of free hard-disk space to extract the Windows 98 files. You can use the Ext.exe utility to extract the Windows 98 files. This utility is located on the Windows 98 Startup disk and in the \Oldmsdos folder on the Windows 98 CD-ROM.
To manually extract the Windows 98 files, follow these steps:

Insert the Windows 98 Startup disk into the floppy disk drive, and then restart your computer
At the command prompt, type ext
When prompted for the location of the cabinet files, type the path to the Win98 folder that you created in step 4 above
When prompted for the files to extract, type *.*
When prompted for the location where the files are to be extracted, type the path to the Win98 folder
Note: This does not extract the files in the Precopy1.cab and Precopy2.cab cabinet files

After all the files have been extracted, run Setup from the Win98 folder on your hard disk
If the above steps do not fix the problem, you can try to slow down your computer by changing your computer's CMOS (BIOS) settings. Bus mastering, external/internal cache, RAM settings/timings, and other settings contribute to the speed at which your computer runs. For information about how to change these settings, consult the documentation for your computer.

Install Plus! for Windows 95 Pinball
If you want to install the Pinball game from Plus! for Windows 95, you can do this by using the pinball.inf in the \tools\mtsutils directory on your Windows 98 CD.

Copy the pinball.inf file to your hard disk
If your CD-ROM drive is not drive D, edit the line

layoutfile = d:\pluslayt.inf

to point to your CD-ROM drive letter

Before doing this, right-click the pinball.inf file, choose Properties and remove the check mark from Read-only.

Insert the Plus! for Windows 95 CD-ROM in your CD-ROM drive
Right-click the pinball.inf file and choose Install from the menu

Uninstalling updated Device drivers, system patches, or hot fixes
Device drivers, system patches, or hot fixes you installed using the Windows Update feature, can be uninstalled using the Restore page from the Web site. If you are unable to connect to the Windows Update Web site, you can uninstall the latest updates by using Update Wizard Uninstall found on the Tools menu of Microsoft System Information ( Select Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Information).

Existing files and drivers are automatically backed up before the new ones are installed.

Troubleshooting Video problems
If your having problems with your Video, first make sure you have the latest drivers for your graphics adapter.

In Windows 98, graphics hardware acceleration features can be turned off when system performance indicates incompatibility problems:

In Control Panel, open System, select the Performance tab, and then click Graphics
Drag the slider to change the Hardware acceleration setting, as summarized in the list below. Then click OK

The default setting is Full, which turns on all graphics hardware acceleration features available in the display driver
The first notch from the right can be set to correct mouse pointer display problems. This setting disables hardware cursor support in the display driver by adding SwCursor=1 to the [Display] section of System.ini
The second notch from the right prevents some bit block transfers from being performed on the display card and disables memory-mapped I/O for some display drivers. This setting adds SwCursor=1 and Mmio=0 to the [Display] section of System.ini, and SafeMode=1 to the [Windows] section of Win.ini
The last notch from the right (None) can be set to correct problems if your computer frequently stops responding to input, or has other severe problems. This setting adds SafeMode=2 to the [Windows] section of Win.ini, which removes all driver acceleration support and causes Windows 98 to use only the device-independent bitmap (DIB) engine rather than bit block transfers for displaying images

PC Card Power Management: Modem not found ready
When you have enabled PC Card Power Management, sometimes your modem may not work when you try to use it. However if you try again, it works right away.

To resolve this, you have to set an extra dely:

Start the Registry Editor
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINES \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ Class \ Modem
Select the key for the modem you are trying to use
Select Edit > New > DWORD Value from the menu
Name the new value ConfigDelay
Set the Value to 3000, for a 3 second delay
Close the registry editor

Internet Explorer 4 error: "An internal error occurred in the Windows Internet extensions"
The error An internal error occurred in the Windows Internet extensions is in mostly caused by NetMedic. Make sure to remove syshook.exe from \Windows \ Start Menu \ Programs \ StartUp.

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Note: Net.Medic has released a patch for Windows 98 users, the patch is at: http://www.vitalsigns.com/techsupport/indexes/nm_upgrades98_index.html.

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If you're still having problems, or don't have NetMedic:

Try reinstalling TCP/IP:

Go to Control Panel > Network, and select TCP/IP
Click Remove, and then OK
After rebooting, return to Control Panel > Network, and click Add
Select Protocol > Microsoft > TCP/IP. Click all the OK's

Unable to Connect to Secure Web Page Using Internet Explorer
If you try to connect to a secure Web page, you may receive an error message:

Internet Explorer 4:

An error occurred in the secure channel support

Internet Explorer 5:

The page cannot be displayed.
Cannot find server or DNS Error

To fix this:

Select Start > Settings > Control Panel, and then double-click Internet
Select the Advanced tab
Under Security, make sure that the following check boxes are selected:

PCT 1.0
SSL 2.0
SSL 3.0

Click OK

(picture IE 5)

DNS error:

Select Start > Settings > Control Panel, and then double-click Internet
Select the Connections tab, click Connect to the Internet using a local area network
Under Proxy Server, click Advanced
Type the appropriate proxy server address and port in the Secure box, click OK (3 times)

Troubleshooting Windows 98 Startup Problems and Error Messages
For more information on Troubleshooting Windows 98 Startup Problems and Error Messages, see Microsoft's Knowledge Base Article No. Q188867, or use Microsoft's Startup and Shutdown Troubleshooting Wizard.

Where is MS Fax?
MS Fax is on the Win98 CD-ROM at \ tools \ oldwin95 \ message \ us

First find and run wms.exe. This will install Windows Messaging. Then find and run awfax.exe, this installs Winfax Lite.

You'll also find a wms-fax.txt file in that folder, you should read that first.

Problems with Hard Disk Controller After Upgrading to Windows 98
To solve problems with your hard disk controller after upgrading to Windows 98, see Microsoft's Knowledge Base Article No. Q189518.

If your computer contains a PCI-IDE hard disk controller that employs serialization between the two IDE channels, you may experience the following problems:

32-bit file system access and 32-bit virtual memory are not available
Device Manager displays an exclamation point in a yellow circle for the primary and secondary IDE channels
Removing and reinstalling the hard disk controller does not resolve the problem.

This can occur if the protected-mode driver for the hard disk controller was not properly initialized when you started Windows 98 previously. When this occurs, a noide entry is placed in the registry, preventing Windows 98 from making future attempts to initialize the protected-mode driver.

This problem can occur with an IDE controller that requires serialization between the primary and secondary IDE channels. The protected-mode drivers for these IDE controllers can fail to be initialized if one of the following situations occurs:

One IDE channel has a supported hard disk, and the second channel has a CD-ROM or other type of drive that requires real-mode drivers to be loaded. Because of the serialization between the two IDE channels, it is impossible to access the hard disk in protected mode and use the other device in real mode. This causes the protected-mode driver to fail initialization, and the noide switch is placed in the registry to prevent future errors. Both disk devices then operate in real-mode
The driver for the IDE controller is manually removed from Device Manager and then reinstalled, or the protected-mode driver is disabled and then re-enabled. Some PCI controller drivers are not designed for dynamic enabling and disabling, and can cause the protected-mode driver to fail initialization. To force Windows 98 to attempt to reinitialize the protected-mode IDE driver you'll have to remove the noide entry from the registry:

Select Noide.inf found in the \ tools \ mtsutil folder on the Windows 98 CD
Right-Click noide.inf or hold down the Shift key and press the F10 function key
Choose Install from the context menu to remove the noide entry
After you update the registry, restart Windows 98. Windows 98 will then attempt to initialize the protected-mode driver for the controller. If no problems are encountered, the file system and virtual memory will operate in 32-bit mode, and Device Manager will not display an exclamation point in a yellow circle for the IDE channels.

If the protected-mode driver is not initialized properly, an error message will be displayed and the NOIDE registry entry will be re-created. Windows 98 will use the MS-DOS compatibility mode file system the next time you start the computer.

When your hard disk(s) are running in MS-DOS Compatibility Mode, see this InfiniSource TechFile for more details.

Unable to Access CD-ROM Drive After Installing Windows 98
After you install Windows 98, you may be unable to access your CD-ROM drive. This can occur if you have a dual-channel IDE (Integrated Device Electronics) controller installed in your computer. To fix this:

Select Start > Settings > Control Panel, and double-click System
select the Device Manager tab
Double-click the Hard Disk Controllers branch to expand it, select your IDE controller, and then select Properties
Select the Settings tab
In the Dual IDE Channel Settings box, select Both IDE Channels enabled, and then click OK (2 times), and restart your computer

Bad Cluster(s) prevent converting to FAT32
If you have 1 or more bad clusters on your hard drive, Windows 98 will not convert the drive. There are several solutions.

You can modify the registry to have scandisk rescan bad sectors. See Microsoft's Knowledge Base Article No. Q127055.

Note by Roy Lehrer:

A little clarification on the referenced Microsoft's Knowledge Base Article might be in order. Basically this article say to change the last digits of a specific registry key value to 04. While this will work and will cause scandisk to re-check bad clusters it will also possibly re-set scandisk options you have previously set.

To prevent this from happening you should add 04 to whatever your last digits are instead of just changing them to 04.

In my case the last digits are normally 40 because I have Report MS-DOS mode name length errors enabled in the advanced options. If I follow the Knowledge Base Article and change the last digits to 04, the re-check of bad sectors occurs but not the name length error check because it has been disabled. On the other hand, if I add 04 to my current 40 and change the value to 44, then I get both features.

Keep in mind that the 04 change is not permanent, it remains only until scandisk completes, and you close it. Then a 04 would revert back to 00, and in my case the setting for name length error checks would be lost until I re-started scandisk and went into the advanced options and re-enabled it, by changing the value to 44 instead of 04, then when scandisk completes the value is reset to 40 instead of 00 and I retain this setting.

Although this registry hack does reclaim bad clusters, I am not sure just how good the test really is.

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You can use PowerQuest's PartitionMagic to convert to FAT32. PM is known not to have any difficulties converting drives with bad clusters on them.

"Not enough memory" message when converting to FAT32
If you receive the message: "Not enough memory - change the config and the autoexec", copy the existing Autoexec.bat & Config.sys files to a temporary directory, then edit the original Autoexec.bat & Config.sys files, and delete their contents, so that you have just 2 empty files.

Note: If you are loading real-mode display drivers, change the display settings in Windows 98 to VGA, and change back after the conversion.

Restart Windows 98 and run the FAT32 converter. When succeeded, copy your original Autoexec.bat & Config.sys files back to the root (C:\) directory, overwriting the empty ones you created.

If you still get the "Not enough memory" message, try the suggestions from this Microsoft Knowledge Base Article No. Q188561.

Winmodem Problems
There are many reports from people having trouble with their Winmodem. Here are some possible solutions:

Close all applications (press Ctrl + Alt + Del and End all tasks, except Explorer and Systray)
Open Control Panel > Modems, then select the Winmodem and if you have more than one installed Properties > Ports > Uninstall
Note: If you have a Winmodem icon in Control Panel, use that to Uninstall instead

In Control Panel select System and select the Device Manager tab, and look for Unknown items and delete them all
Check Ports and Modems and if Winmodem still exists select Remove for this one also

In Windows Explorer, select your Windows 98 CD and go to \ drivers \ modem \ 3com-usr \ winmodem and run the wmregdel.exe file. Follow the on screen instructions
Select Start > Run > Shut Down
Turn off the power to your computer, wait for about 20 seconds, then power back on. When you get the New hardware detected wizard let it proceed, when appropriate select Have Disk, and either point it to your Windows 98 CD or to the Winmodem drivers you have on a floppy. Realize that if you use the drivers on the Windows 98 CD that they are generic and you'll need to update them later
The above should get your Winmodem working.

Note: be advised that if your (3Com) Winmodem is in the 112501 or 112502 serial group that it is a known buggy modem. I suggest you call 3Com on voice and ask for a replacement.

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Re-enable DosBox support after upgrading to Windows 98
After upgrading to Windows 98, some Winmodems will lose DosBox functionality. If your Winmodem supports DosBox, please follow these steps to re-enable this feature:

Go to the Winmodem icon in Control Panel and select the Port Settings tab and uncheck Enable Dos Boxes, press the OK button.

Note: if you do not see the Enable Dos Boxes section your Winmodem does not support this feature.

Repeat the process by going to the Winmodem icon in Control Panel and select the Port Settings tab and this time CHECK the Enable Dos Boxes box and press OK button. Restart your computer.

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If you get an error message: There Is No WinModem Found in Your Computer, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article No. Q188601.

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PCI Modem Does Not Work After Installing Windows 98
After you install Windows 98, your PCI modem (Winmodem) may not be recognized. When this occurs, the PCI modem may be listed as a PCI Serial Controller under Other Devices in Device Manager. This behavior occurs because the Windows 98 CD-ROM does not include drivers for PCI serial controllers. To resolve this behavior, update the driver for the device, here's how:

Select Start > Settings > Control Panel and double-click System
Select the Device Manager tab
Double-click the Other Devices branch to expand it, select PCI Serial Controller, and then click Properties
Select the Driver tab, and then click Update Driver
Click Next, click Search for a better driver then the one your device is using now (Recommended), and then click Next
Insert the driver disk or CD-ROM that was included with your modem
Click to select the check box for the drive corresponding to the media type (floppy disk drive or CD-ROM drive), and then click Next
If you receive an Update Driver Warning dialog box, click Yes
Click Next, click Finish, and then click Yes to restart your computer

Internet Explorer keeps telling me "New version of IE available"
Although you have the latest version of Internet Explorer on your system installed, IE keeps telling you that a "New version of IE available".

To fix this:

Start the Registry Editor
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Active Setup \ Installed Components \ {89820200-ECBD-11cf-8B85-00AA005B4383}
Delete the "Version Available" key/value (right click the key and choose delete)
Close the Registry Editor

Lost preview of *.JPG in Windows Explorer
If you lost the ability to preview your *.JPG files in Windows Explorer (when using viewed as Web Page):

Click Start > Run, and type the following command in the Open box:

regsvr32.exe /i shdocvw.dll - If you have Internet Explorer 4 installed

regsvr32.exe /i shdoc401.dll - If you have Internet Explorer 5 installed

(and press Enter).

Thumbnail Views Not Displayed for Some File Types
When you enable Thumbnail view for your folders and configure Windows Explorer or My Computer to be viewed as a Web page, the Thumbnail images for some file types may not be displayed. This behavior can occur if you remove and re-create the file association for a file type (when you install another application that registeres that file type). The registry entry used by the Windows Desktop Update component to display Thumbnail images is not updated properly when you re-create the file association (thus, if you uninstall an application which took over a files association, it will not be restored).

To fix this:

Click Start > Run, and type the following command in the Open box:

regsvr32.exe /i shdocvw.dll - If you have Internet Explorer 4 installed

regsvr32.exe /i shdoc401.dll - If you have Internet Explorer 5 installed

(and press Enter).

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Some more information for those who lost the ability to preview certain file types:

For this to work, the folder where you want to preview the images has to have View as Web page enabled
There's the folowing registry fix:
Verify that the following entries exist in the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ registry key for the type of file you are trying to preview:

Registry Key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ShellEx
Registry Key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ ShellEx \ {BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}
Value: (Default)="{7376D660-C583-11d0-A3A5-00C04FD706EC}"

The following file types use the registry values listed above:

.art
.bmp
.dib
.gif
.jfif
.jpe
.jpeg
.jpg
.png
.wmf

Windows Update - Save to Disk

How to reinstall the Windows 98 updates downloaded from the Windows Update Page. By Tom Porterfield - tpp@m9.sprynet.com

Microsoft gave in to numerous complaints from advanced & corporate users and finally made the Windows 98 updates available "the old way".

According to Microsoft: "If you are a corporate IT Manager and would like to download Windows 98 Updates for installation at a later time or on a different machine, use the Windows 98 Updates for Corporate IT Managers site. This site is designed for Advanced Users who are familiar with the Windows Registry and know how to roll back to previous versions of software."

So if you have want to save the downloads for later use, just head over to the new download site.

As you know, when you download an update from the Windows update page, it installs automatically after the file has finished downloading. But what if you want to install that same update on another PC. Or what if you want to save the files that were downloaded so that you can reinstall them later if need be without having to download them all over again. This can be done with a little planning.

Before you go to Windows update, empty your Internet cache folders.

Right click on the Internet Explorer icon on the desktop and choose Properties. You can also get there by running IE and clicking on View > Internet Options. On the General tab under Temporary Internet Files, hit the Delete Files button. This will make it easier to identify and copy out the files that get downloaded from the update site.

Now, go to the Windows update site and download the updates that you want. During the download, watch the Temporary Internet Files folder. You should be able to tell which files it is downloading to do the updates. They are *.cab files or *.exe files. Once the files have downloaded, copy them to a directory for storage. If you can't find them in the Temporary Internet Files folder, do a search for an msdownload.tmp directory on your PC after they have finished downloading, you may find them there.

The Windows Update will automatically install the files once they are finished downloading. However, reinstalling them is not as automatic is it should be, but we'll find a way around that as well.

For the *.exe files, it is easy to reinstall this update. Simply double (or single) click on the exe file and it will reinstall. For the *.cab files, there is a little more to it. To start with, you will need to extract the contents of the cab file to a temporary directory.

Since cabview is built into Windows 98, this requires nothing more than double (or single) clicking on the cab file, selecting all of the contents, and choose Extract from the File menu. Extract them to a temporary folder.

One of the files that gets extracted is a *.inf (setup information) file. The usual procedure is to right click on the file and choose Install. This won't work on some of the files downloaded from the update page. They are a new type if inf file that we will call an "advanced inf file." These require a little more to install. After digging through some of the dll's on my machine, I found this command will work to install:

RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection <inf file(required)>,
<inf section(optional)>
(line wrapped for better readability)

So, to install the advanced inf files, you will need to run this command from a MS-DOS window, supplying the name of the inf file as the first parameter, the second parameter is not needed.

Now for the way to automate this. You can create a simple batch file that will extract the contents of the cab files and install the updates using the inf files. To do this, first copy the *.cab files to a temporary directory. Next, use notepad to create the batch file and copy and paste these two line into the file:

for %%1 in (*.cab) do extract %%1 /E
for %%2 in (*.inf) do RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %%2

Run the batch file in the temporary folder containing the *.cab files and it will first extract everything from the cab file and then install the update using the advanced inf file. You can use this to either reinstall the updates if you ever need to reinstall 98, or to copy the downloaded updates to another machine and install them there without having to re-download the updates.

Disable warning when viewing as Web Page
When you select View > as Web Page in Windows Explorer, and you try to view the contends of your \Windows or \Windows\System folders, you will receive a warning that: Modifying the contents of this folder may cause your programs to stop working correctly. And you will be presented with a Show Files link you'll have to click in order to see the contends of the folder. Here is how to get rid of this annoyance:

Make a copy of the files Desktop.ini and Folder.htt. You can just select the file, and press [Ctrl] + C and [Ctrl] + V in successie. This will place the files Copy of Desktop.ini and Copy of Folder.htt in the folder you are working on. If you ever want to restore this functionality, just rename them back to the original
Now from the View menu (of Windows Explorer) select Customize this Folder
Choose Remove customization and click Next
At the next screen you'll have to choose Next to continue
You'll get a confirmation screen that you have made the changes, but you still have to click Finish, if you press Cancel the changes will not be made

Kill (Netscape's) AOL Instant Messenger
It's easy in Windows 98 if you want to get rid of Netscape's AOL Instant Messenger. Just select Start > Run and type msconfig in the Open: box, press OK. Now select the Startup tab, and remove the checkmark from AOL Instant Messenger (TM).

How to remove the Shop button from Netscape Communicator 4.7
The new Netscape Communicator 4.7 includes a Shop button, which will take you to Netscapes Shopping Center when you press it.

Here is how to remove this button:

Close Netscape
Go to \ Program Files \ Netscape \ Users \ Username \. There should be a file there called prefs.js. Open it with Notepad and add this line:
user_pref("browser.chrome.disableMyShopping", true);

If yoy did not set-up a user profile, you'll find the prefs.js file in \ Program Files \ Netscape \ Users \ Default

You can get rid of the Radio listing on your Communicator menu in the same way, just add the line

user_pref("browser.chrome.disableNetscapeRadio", true);

Msgsrv32 Errors
Many people are experiencing problems which they can trace back to Msgsrv32. But Msgsrv32 is not the cause. Some info on Msgsrv32:

Msgsrv32.exe is a program (Windows 32-bit message server) that performs several background functions necessary for Windows operation.

These functions include:

Load installable Windows drivers at startup and unload them at shutdown
Run the shell program (usually Explorer.exe) and re-run the shell if it fails to respond
Mediate Plug and Play messages among various parts of the operating system
Coordinate automatic responses to Setup programs. This includes checking whether a Setup program has improperly overwritten Windows files, and optionally restoring the Windows versions of those files
Display the initial logon dialog box if networking is enabled
Play the system startup and shutdown sounds
Usually these messages appear on shutdown. Here are some more common errors and their causes:

MSGSRV32.DLL caused a General Protection Fault in Module CM8330SB.DRV
You need to visit the C-Media site and upgrade your drivers

See: Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q188803

Msgsrv32 not responding
See Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q169987

MSGSRV32 caused a general protection fault in module CMCODEC.DRV
This behavior can occur if you have Cmedia drivers loading in the [386Enh] section of the System.ini file.

See Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q222629

Msgsrv32 Caused a General Protection Fault in User.exe
This behavior can occur if you have faulty computer hardware or a damaged driver or program, or if your Windows core files are damaged.

See Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q262998

Suspend or Stand by option missing from Shutdown menu
To recover the Suspend or Stand by option on the Shutdown Menu:

Start the Registry Editor
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ VxD \ Vpowerd
Verify that the data value of the Flags value is greater than or equal to 200. If it is, modify the data value of the Flags value by subtracting 200 from the current value
Set the SuspendFlag entry to 0 (if it is not already 0)
The suspend option disappears when the machine fails to resume 2 consecutive times. Resetting the registry values will bring the option back. It would be valuable to know exactly what is causing the machine to fail to resume. There is an APM troubleshooter available on the Win98 CD-ROM in the \ tools\ mtsutill \ pmtshoot folder, but a more recent version can be downloaded from Microsoft [157KB].

Check if Advanced Power Management (APM) is configured properly:

Select Start > Settings > Control Panel, and double-click System
Select the Device Manager tab, and double-click the System Devices branch to expand it
Verify that there is an Advanced Power Management Support entry under the System Devices branch. If this entry is present, select it, click Remove, restart your computer, and then continue with step 4. If this entry is not present, use the following steps:

Select Start > Settings > Control Panel, and double-click Add New Hardware
Follow the instructions on the screen to finish the Add New Hardware wizard. If this wizard successfully detects and installs support for APM, continue with step 6. If this wizard does not successfully detect and install support for APM, your issue may be related to problems with your hardware, and you should contact your hardware manufacturer for further assistance
Restart your computer, and then test to determine if the issue is resolved by selecting Start > Shut Down. If the issue is resolved, do not continue with the remaining steps in this article. If the issue is not resolved, continue with step 7
Select Start > Settings > Control Panel, and double-click System
Select the Device Manager tab, double-click the Floppy Disk Controllers branch to expand it, select Standard Floppy Disk Controller, and then click Remove
Restart your computer. Note that when you do so, Windows automatically detects your floppy disk controller, and the SuspendFlag entries in the registry are reset
Note: for IBM ThinkPad 760:

IBM ThinkPad 760 series with Mwave/DSP (Audio/Telephony Features) installed models support Data Modem/FAX, MIDI/Wave audio, and CD-Audio features under Windows 95.

When you upgrade to Windows 98, your original Mwave/DSP program that runs on Windows 95 will not allow you to select the suspend/resume power management feature. After you install Windows 98 on your computer, run the Apmpatch.exe file. After you run this program, you can select the suspend/resume feature in Windows 98.

To run Apmpatch.exe:

In the \ drivers \ pwrmgmt \ ibm directory, double-click Apmpatch.exe
Follow the instructions that appear on your screen
Restart your computer
The suspend/resume feature will work after you restart your computer.

This patch needs to be applied for Windows 95 preloaded models of:

ThinkPad 760C / 760CD
ThinkPad 760E / 760ED
ThinkPad 760XD
ThinkPad 765D
For more Power Management troubleshooting Info, see Microsoft's Power Management troubleshooting pages.

New Power Management Troubleshooter Tool
Microsoft has updated the Power Management Troubleshooter Tool (Pmtshoot.exe) [157KB].

More information on the Power Management Troubleshooter Tool can be found in Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q185949.

DUN does not start Automatically
Sometimes your DUN stops Auto dialing when launching your browser, even though you didn't change any of the settings. There are many reports of this happening after installing Quicken 98/99, but it can also be caused by other third party products.

You have to edit the registry to correct this problem:

Start the Registry Editor
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ Winsock \ Autodial
You should find these values there:

Name Value
AutodialDllName32 wininet.dll
AutodialFcnName32 InternetAutodialCallback

And also: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ Winsock \ Parameters
Where you should find:

Name Value
MSTCP ""

Problems running ScanDisk and Defrag
Many people have problems running ScanDisk and/or Defrag, with the program running 10% or 30% and then stalling. Often with a message that Windows is trying to write to the drive. To run ScanDisk/Defrag successfully:

Go to Start > Run and type msconfig in the Open: box
On the General tab, uncheck all items listed under Selective startup (make sure that Selective startup is selected)
Hit apply and OK and restart Windows
This starts Windows with only the basics running; Insures nothing will interfere with ScanDisk and Defrag
Run ScanDisk and Defrag, when ready go into msconfig and select Normal startup and restart Windows
(If you use Windows 95, restart your system, when you see the Starting Windows 95... text on your screen, quickly press the F8 key. From the menu that follows, choose Safe mode, and run ScanDisk & Defrag. When ready, reboot.)

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Defrag Error Message: ID No:DEFRAG005 / DEFRAG006
If you get an error message:

Error Defragmenting Drive <drive>. Windows could not access part
of the drive. Click Help and carry out the instructions for
running ScanDisk. IMPORTANT: To fix this problem, you must run
ScanDisk and choose the Thorough option.
ID No: DEFRAG005

Note that the ID No: DEFRAG005 portion of the error message may be replaced by ID No: DEFRAG006.

See Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q160043 for a solution.

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Defrag Error Message: ID No:DEFRAG009
If you get an error message:

Your computer does not have enough free memory to defrag the drive.
Quit one or more programs.
ID# Defrag009

or:

ScanDisk could not continue because your computer does not
have enough available memory.

See Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q258838 for a solution.

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Defrag Error Message: ID No:DEFRAG0026
If you get an error message:

Windows cannot defragment this drive. Make sure the disk is
formatted and free of errors. Then try defragmenting the drive
again.
ID No: DEFRAG0026

See Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q155404 for a solution.

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Defrag Error Message: ID No:DEFRAG00205
This error can occur if the Applog file in the hidden \Windows\Applog folder is damaged.

To fix this:

First make sure that you are able to see hidden files on your system. See Show all files to see how to show hidden files/folders.
Select Start > Find, and then click Files or Folders
In the Named box, type applog, select C: in the Look in box, click to select the Include sub folders check box, and then click Find Now
Double-click the Applog folder to open it
On the Edit menu, click Select all
On the File menu, click Delete, and then click Yes when you are prompted to confirm the deletion.

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Add a value for DEFRAG.EXE /ALL to the RunServicesOnce key
The Disk Defragmenter for Windows 98 (DEFRAG.EXE) may start and not complete its task. If repeated attempts to defragment the drive are unsuccessful, it may be because an application is writing to the disk. The Disk Defragementer cannot share access to a drive with other tasks.

An application loading automatically at startup may interfere with DEFRAG. Run DEFRAG before applications load at startup by adding a value for DEFRAG.EXE /ALL to the RunServicesOnce key in the registry.

Note: You can use your computer while Disk Defragmenter is running, however, Disk Defragmenter restarts if the contents of the drive you are defragmenting change.

Select defrag.inf found in the \tools\mtsutil folder on the Windows 98 CD
Right-click defrag.inf, and choose Install from the menu
The next time you start your computer, Windows will defragment your drive(s) automatically.

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Feb. 7, 2001

Disk Defragmenter Causes General Protection Fault in User.exe
When you try to run Disk Defragmenter from System Agent or Windows Task Scheduler, you may receive a general-protection fault in module User.exe.

This can happen if the task information for Disk Defragmenter has become damaged.

To resolve this error, delete the Disk Defragmenter task from System Agent or Task Scheduler and then re-create the task to run defrag.

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Scandisk and Disk Defragmenter Processes Are Not Completed
When you attempt to run Disk Defragmenter or Scandisk, they may not run to completion; the process may stop when it is anywhere from one percent to 50 percent complete. These symptoms may also occur when you attempt to run Disk Defragmenter or Scandisk from Safe mode.

This could mean that your computer has been infected with the Fun Love virus.

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ScanDisk Errors on IDE Hard Disks larger than 32GB
If your computer uses a Phoenix BIOS and uses the Phoenix BitShift translation algorithm to report the geometry of large IDE hard disks, the Windows protected-mode IDE disk driver (Esdi_506.pdr) may not correctly recognize the translation mode for the drive, resulting in an inability to access areas of the drive beyond the first 32GB.

In such cases, if you use the protected-mode (graphical) version of ScanDisk to perform a thorough scan (which includes a surface scan) on an integrated device electronics (IDE) hard disk that is larger than 32GB in size, ScanDisk may report errors on every cluster after approximately cluster number 967,393.

Microsoft has released an updated Esdi_506.pdr driver for Windows 98 and Windows 98 Second Edition. The file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center, and is also available from the Microsoft Windows Update Web site. The Microsoft Windows Update site contains localized versions of this fix.

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March 8, 2001

ScanDisk may run on restart, although Windows may seem to shut down correctly
This can be caused by the fact that during the shutdown process, the contents of the virtual cache are written to the destination device. If the destination device is an IDE hard disk, data may be written to the hard disk's onboard cache but not to the disk itself. When this occurs, the data is lost from the cache when the computer turns off.

To resolve this issue, you need to obtain the necessary update:

Select Start, and then click Windows Update
When the page displays, click Product Updates to create the catalogue of available updates for your computer
Select the box next to Window IDE Hard Drive Cache Package, after the catalogue is created, to select this package to download
Select all of the items you want to obtain for your computer, click Download, and then follow the rest of the directions to complete the download process
Note: For the updated Ifsmgr.vxd driver to add the necessary delay during shutdown, it may be necessary to update the registry key. The CacheWriteDelay value specifies the number of milliseconds of required delay.

Start the Registry Editor
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion
On the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then add the following registry value:
Value Name: CacheWriteDelay
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Radix: Decimal
Value: 2000

Exit RegEdit and restart Windows

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March 6, 2001

Computer Hangs Running ScanDisk with McAfee VirusScan 5.1 Installed
When you are running the McAfee VirusScan version 5.1, and you run ScanDisk using the Thorough option, Windows may stop responding (hang). This issue may also occur when ScanDisk runs automatically after you shut down your computer incorrectly.

To work around this issue, choose the Standard option when you run ScanDisk, or use the System Configuration Utility (Msconfig.exe) to disable the McAfee shortcuts in the StartUp folder:

Select Start > Run, in the Open box, type msconfig.exe, click OK
Select the Startup tab
Click to clear the check boxes that refer to McAfee VirusScan 5.1, and then click OK
Click Yes when you are prompted to restart your computer
Note: If ScanDisk stops responding (hangs) when your computer restarts after you shut down your computer incorrectly, you may need to restart your computer in Safe mode before you can use the System Configuration Utility to disable the McAfee shortcuts in the StartUp folder. After you do so, restart your computer.

For more information about this issue, please view this McAfee Web page.

Netscape Communicator 4.5 changes search engine in Internet Explorer
Many people have been complaining that after they installed Netscape Communicator 4.5 the default search engine in Internet Explorer was changed to the Netscape default (Netcenter).

When you installed Communicator 4.5 it it should have presented you with a dialog box "Windows Integration Options", which let you determine, among other things, whether to have Netcenter as your search engine in ALL (including IE) browsers.

Note: This question is apparently only asked if you choose Custom Installation.

To change it back:

Start the Registry Editor
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Main
Double click the Search Page, and change the url to:

(To make it more easy for you to copy/paste, we've put the string in a text box).

If you have a Search Bar key, make sure the URL is:

Also go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Main
Double click the Default_Search_URL, and change the url to:

(To make it more easy for you to copy/paste, we've put the string in a text box).

Close the registry editor and restart Internet Explorer
Alternatively you can download this registry patch. Save it to your desktop, then just double-click to import the registry info in your registry.

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There is another Key in the registry which controls the default search page, so if the solution above didn't work, try also this key:

Start the Registry Editor
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ SearchUrl
The (Default) key should have the value:

(To make it more easy for you to copy/paste, we've put the string in a text box).
Alternatively you can download this registry patch. Save it to your desktop, then just double-click to import the registry info in your registry.

Problems Accessing Windows Update
For all the information on Problems Accessing Windows Update, see the InfiniSource TechFile on the subject.

How do I know which Windows 98 Updates are Installed?
There are 2 ways to check which updates have been installed on your computer:

Connect to the Windows Update Web site, and when prompted:

Windows Update
This program can determine what components are installed on your
computer, and whether new components, upgrades, or enhancements are
available, specific to your computer. This check is done without
sending any information to Microsoft.

Would you like to check now?

click Yes. When the page with updates is displayed, click on Download History to view a complete list of updates on your system, and when they were installed.

Use Windows Explorer, and Open the file \Windows\WULog.txt. The update information is contained in this text file.
Note: The file WULog.txt is a hidden file, so you have to Show all files to be able to see it in Windows Explorer.

Microsoft has updated the Windows update, and now a new folder is created under your Program Files called WindowsUpdate. In this folder you will also find the new history file, called wuhistv3.log.

You can view entries in this file by richt-clicking on the file, and choosing Open Width..., and selecting Notepad (or you can use this tip to add Notepad to your Send To folder. Once you've done this, you'll have the option to "Send" the file to Notepad, by right-clicking on it, and choosing Send To > Notepad).

How do Change the Interval of the Windows Critical Update Notification
If you install the Windows Critical Update Notification from the Windows Update Web site, it is scheduled to run every five minutes in Task Scheduler. If you change the value to another time period and restart your computer, the time period changes back to five minutes. To change the time interval:

Start the Registry Editor
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run
The defaul value for the CriticalUpdate value is C:\Windows\System\wucrtupd.exe -startup, delete the -startup portion, and change wucrtupd.exe to Sucrtupd.exe so that the CriticalUpdate value reads: C:\Windows\System\Sucrtupd.exe
Close the registry editor
In the Task Scheduler, change the interval for the Windows Critical Update Notification task to the interval you want
Restart the computer

Dial-Up Networking won't remember your Password
In some cases, Dial-Up Networking will not remember passwords. What happens is that either the Save Password check box is disabled, or the setting is ignored.

To fix this problem, see one of these Microsoft's Knowledge Base articles:

Dial-Up Networking Password Is Not Saved: Q148925
Save Password Check Box Is Unavailable: Q137361
In some cases, the Password List files get corrupted. Try deleting (make a backup prior to deleting) all .PWL files in your \Windows directory, then try to connect again and save your password.

Your *.pwl file(s) contain your passwords.

If all else fails, try re-creating the Dial-Up Networking connection

Dial-Up Networking Errors
Here are some of the more common Dial-Up Networking Errors:

Error 629
After you install Windows 98 Second Edition, the 128-bit data encryption won't work, and you will get this error message when you attempt to create a Dial-Up Networking (DUN) connection that uses 128-bit data encryption:

This is caused because Windows 98 Second Edition includes a newer version of the 40-bit DUN files that replace the 128-bit DUN files.

http://support.microsoft.com/Support/NTServer/128Eula.asp

Note that after accepting the License Agreement, the list of 128-bit software is available.

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Error 630
When you try to start Dial-Up Networking, you receive the following error message:

Error 630: The computer is not receiving a responsefrom the modem. Check that the modem is plugged in,and if necessary, turn the modem off,and then turn it back on.

Communication port is invalid or busy.
This error message can occur if the modem is using a newly detected serial port installed by Windows 98 hardware detection. If this is the case, change the properties of the Dial-Up Networking connection to use the new modem settings.

Programs run at StartUp from the StartUp folder can also cause this error message.

To temporarily disable programs in the StartUp folder, follow these steps:

Click Start > Run and in the Open: box, type msconfig, then press OK
In Msconfig click the Startup tab. For programs that may control your modem, click the program's check box to clear it. If you are not sure whether or not a specific program should be disabled, click to clear all of the check boxes except for the following check boxes:

ScanRegistry
TaskMonitor
SystemTray
LoadPowerProfile (is loaded twice normally)

This behavior can also occur if you have the Support SerialKey devices Accessibility option configured to use the COM port to which your modem is connected. To resolve this:

Click Start > Settings > Control Panel, and then double-click Accessibility Options
On the General tab, either:

Click to clear the Support SerialKey devices check box

Click Settings, click a different COM port in the Serial port box, and then click OK

Click OK
When you try to use a 3Com (3C562) EtherLink III LAN + 33.6 Modem PC Card, you may receive the following error message:

Error 630 modem not responding
This behavior can occur if the registry entry for the PC Card device is incorrect or damaged. To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

Remove the PC Card from the computer
Use Registry Editor to export the following registry key:
HKEY_Local_Machine \ Enum \ PCMCIA

Delete the following registry key:
HKEY_Local_Machine \ Enum \ PCMCIA \ LAN \ Modem
If there is no LAN \ Modem key, delete the PCMCIA key

Shut down Windows 98, and then turn off the computer
Restart the computer
After Windows 98 starts, insert the PC Card and allow Windows 98 to detect the card

If you receive this error on Windows 98 Second Edition, and you have an 3Com (USR) USB modem, you have 2 options and 1 workaround, until 3Com releases new drivers:

Option 1: Revert back to Windows 98 (Gold) (uninstall Windows 98 Second Edition)
Option 2: Install the modem as a serial device
Work-around:

Select Start > Settings > Control Panel
Double-click Modems, and then verify that your modem is listed on the General tab
Click Diagnostics, select the COM port to which your modem is attached, and then click More Info
Your modem should now be accessible to other Windows applications for the remainder of your Windows session.

Note: This will need to be done each time windows has been restarted.

Check the 3Com Web site for further information.

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Error 633
When you try to start Dial-Up Networking, you receive the following error message:

Error 633: The modem is not installedor configured for Dial-Up Networking.To check your modem configuration, double click the Modemsicon in Control Panel.
This error message can occur if the Telephon.ini file is missing or damaged. To resolve this issue, please see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles:

Q191444 (Error Message: The Modem Is Not Installed or Configured for...)
Q120221 (How to Rebuild the TELEPHON.INI File)

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Error 645
When you try to connect with Dial-Up Networking (DUN), you may receive the following error message:

Error 645 - Dial-Up Networking could not complete the connection to the server.

This is usually caused if the Require encrypted password option is enabled on the Server Types tab in the connection's properties. Here's how to fix this:

Select Start > Programs > Accessories > Communications > Dial-Up Networking
Right-click your connection, and choose Properties
Select the Server Types tab, click to clear the Require encrypted password check box
Click OK

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Error 650
When you try to connect, you receive the following error message:

Modem not responding (Error 650). For troubleshooting information,click Help.
One workaround suggests enabling a post terminal window. Here's how:

Select Start > Programs > Accessories > Communications > Dial-Up Networking
Right-click your connection, and choose Properties
On the General tab, click the Configure button
Select the Options tab
Place a check-mark in bring up terminal window after dialing
Just press continue when the post terminal window pops up after you connect.

Another 650 error:

(650) The computer you have dialed does not respond to a network request
You can get this occasionally when your ISP is busy, and they don't have a free I.P. address to assign to you.

If you are still having problems:

Although it says that it applies to The Microsoft Network version 2.52, try the solution from Microsofts Knowledge Base Article Q192420.

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Error 691
When you dial your Internet Service Provider (ISP), you may connnect successfully, but you receive the following error message:

Error 691: The computer you are dialing in to cannot establish a Dial-Up
Networking connection. Check your password, and then try again.

This error can occur for any of the following reasons:

You have set up the CompuServe service from the Online Services folder on the Start menu and you have not connected to CompuServe by using the CompuServe software included in Windows 98
The Telephon.ini file is missing or damaged
Your ISP uses a different file than the Rasapi32.dll file to verify the connection
The Rasapi32.dll file is a different version than the Rasapi32.dll file that is included with Windows 98
The Setupx.dll file is missing or damaged
For workarounds & solutions, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q188120 or Q293298.

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Error 745
When you try to start Dial-Up Networking, you receive the following error message:

Error 745: An essential file is missing.Re-install Dial-Up Networking.
This error message can occur when a Dial-Up Networking dynamic-link library (DLL) file is missing or damaged. To resolve this issue, please see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q174579.

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More information on troubleshooting modem problems in Windows 98 can be found in Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q190554.

If you have trouble with you WinModem see Winmodem Problems on this Web site.

Troubleshooting Windows 98 Networking
A lot of people are having problem getting their Windows 9.x home networking to work properly. This document will focus on how to get your networking to work, from the perspective that your hardware is successfully installed.

One of the most commonly reported problems is that you can't get the systems to show up in the Network Neighborhood.

First we need to check the basics to get a system to see other systems in the Network Neighborhood:

Is File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks installed?
If not, this can be added from the Network aplet in Control Panel. Press Add... on the Configuration tab, and select Service.

Are the systems part of the same workgroup and have different computer names?
You can check the workgroup of a system from the Network aplet in Control Panel. Select the Identification tab, here the Workgroup name is displayed (and can be changed), as is the Computer name.

You also have to make sure that a computers name is unique on the network.

Did you share something, a printer or a full disk or a directory?
You can enable sharing by right-clicking on an object (printer, disk or directory) in Windows Explorer, and choosing Sharing... on the Sharing... tab. If you don't have a Sharing... option on your right-click menu, you don't have File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks installed. Only systems with something to share will show up in the Network Neighborhood.

Check the Bindings of your NIC (Network Interface Card).
You can check the bindings from the Bindings tab on the properties sheet for your NIC. this is done from the Network aplet in Control Panel.

Only protocols which are checked are used by the NIC.

If you want to connect to other systems than Win9.x, you may want to use additional/other protocols & services.

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Do you have the same protocol installed on all systems?

Check your system to see if the have the same protocol(s) installed. When installing a NIC on Windows 95, it installs the IPX/SPX-compatible Protocol and NetBEUI protocol's by default, along with clients for both Microsoft- and Netware Networks.

Windows 98 on the other hand only installs the TCP/IP protocol by default, along with the Client for Microsoft Networks.

So to have Windows 98 & 95 machines connecting to each other, you will have to install aditional protocols.

NetBEUI is the most easy protocol to get working, along with the IPX/SPX-compatible Protocol. The IPX/SPX protocol has some performance enhancements, and I would recommend it over NetBEUI. As noted above, you will also need to have File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks installed.

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Another source of potential problems is Windows 98 IRQ Steering. Sometimes Windows 98 will assign a different IRQ to the network card then the IRQ the NIC is set-up for. Run the NIC's diagnostics program from a real-mode MS-DOS prompt (restart your computer in MS-DOS) to compare the IRQ assignment to what Windows 98 thinks the IRQ resources are and then get the two into agreement. An easy way to do this is to reserve the IRQ used by your NIC (as reported by the NIC's diagnostic program) in your systems BIOS, and set the IRQ in Windows 98 manually to that value.

For more information on reserving an IRQ in your BIOS, consult your computers manual.

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You might also want to check if you have the latest drivers for your NIC. Early driver versions of Realtek & 3Com are known to cause problems in some cases.

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Only Entire Network Icon Appears in Network Neighborhood
If you have a PCI NIC in PCI slot 1, and an AGP video adapter, a conflict between the network adapter and the AGP video adapter can occur and prevent you from browsing the network. For resolutions see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q193938.

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More information on troubleshooting network connection problems can be found in Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q192534

Internet Explorer Proxy Settings Change After Computer Restart
When you change the proxy server settings in Internet Explorer and then restart your computer, your proxy server settings may revert to the original settings.

To work around this problem, change the proxy settings in Safe mode

Click Start > Shut Down, select Restart, and then click OK
Press and hold the Ctrl key, untill you see the Startup menu
Choose Safe Mode and press Enter
Change the proxy server settings, and restart your computer
More information on configuring a proxy server in Internet Explorer can be found in Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q135982

Internet Explorer 4 Error Message: Overlapped I/O Operation Is in Progress
If you receive the Error:

Internet Explorer cannot open the Internet site <Web address>.
Overlapped I/O Operation Is in Progress

when you try to download something from the Internet using Internet Explorer 4, check Microsoft's Knowledge Base Article No. Q187770 for a solution.

Kernel32.dll errors caused by IEXPLORE
When you use Microsoft Internet Explorer to access the Internet, you may receive the following error message:

IEXPLORE caused an invalid page fault in module Kernel32.dll

IEXPLORER caused an Invalid Page Fault in module KERNEL32.DLL at 0167:bff87ede

For troubleshooting this message, see Microsoft's Knowledge Base Article No. Q155116

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Another possible error message is:

IEXPLORE caused an invalid page fault in module KERNEL32.DLL at 025f:bff87ede

IEXPLORE caused an invalid page fault in module <unknown> at 0000.78581f00

This error can occur if the Aureate Radiate advertising module is installed on your computer. Note that this advertising module is included with over 250 shareware programs.

To identify if the Aureate Radiate advertising module is installed on your computer, download Ad-Aware, it will help you identify if the Aureate Radiate advertising module is installed on your system, and which software is using it.

Note: The Aureate Radiate advertising module is not included with any of our award-winning shareware from Rose City Software.

Invalid Page Fault in Kernel32.dll Errors
If you frequently receive Invalid Page Fault in Kernel32.dll Errors, from different drivers (Explorer, Guide.exe, Msgsrv32, Commgr32, Mprexe and others), it is possible that your password list file is damaged. Try re-creating your password list file:

In Windows Explorer select your \Windows folder
Press F3. This will bring up the Find: All Files window
In the Named: box type *.pwl
Click Find Now
When a list of found files is displayed, delete them all
Close the Find window and restart Windows
Note: you will lose any passwords you have stored, so make sure that you have the passwords written down so you can re-enter them when needed

If you receive an error MSIMN caused an invalid page fault in module KERNEL32.dll, chances are that your computer is infected with the Happy99 worm. For more information on this worm and it's removal see http://www.infinisource.com/cleaner.html.

Kernel32.dll Errors
Here are a few of the more common causes of Kernel32 errors:

Bad memory modules
Insert the command DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:ON into your Config.sys file. You can use the System Configuration Utility (Select Start > Run and type msconfig in the Open box and press OK, select the Config.sys tab and add the HIMEM.SYS line by pressing the New button). Windows will tell you to reboot your computer, watch your screen for a message HIMEM has detected unreliable memory at address xx:xxxxxx which will certainly indicate that there's a memory problem.

It may take several reboots over a period of days for this to show up. You can also download diagnostic software from BCM, BCM Diagnostics [3.87MB], or from AMI, you have to register to download a free demo version.

There is no 100% certain way to test memory except to either substitute known good modules or to use a hardware tester.

CPU, bus speed or multiplier overclocking. If you are overclocking... what do you expect?

Graphic acceleration set too high. Select Control Panel > System, then select the Performance tab, click the Graphics button. Turn down Hardware acceleration by moving the slider a notch to the left, reboot, try again. Repeat as necessary.

Bad or outdated drivers, especially video drivers. Check with your card manufacturer for an updated set of drivers. Video drivers are updated constandly, it pays to have the latest release, specially if you find yourself having problems with Internet Explorer.

Faulty or dirty cooling fans on your CPU or power supply. The CPU fan can be cleaned with a small paintbrush and some compressed air. The power supply fan should be cleaned only by someone who is comforTABLE working around high voltage components.

See also Invalid Page Fault in Kernel32.dll Errors

Kernel32.dll Errors
Here are a few of the more common causes of Kernel32 errors:

Fatal Exception 0E Errors
For all the information on Fatal Exception 0E Errors, see the InfiniSource TechFile on the subject.

Runtime 216 Errors
Most Runtime 216 Errors are associated with known Trojan's ("viruses")

Here are the most frequently experienced Runtime 216 errors:

Error Message: Runtime Error 216 at 00002021
Error Message: Runtime Error 216 at 00002938
Error Message: Runtime Error 216 at 000043f2
Error Message: Runtime Error 216 at 0007EA4A (Backdoor-G2.svr.21 virus)
If you get any of these, get some up-to-date anti-virus software.

There are a few other Runtime 216 Errors, and not all will mean that you are infected by a virus.

Seagate Medalist Pro 7200 RPM fails to work in UDMA mode
Seagate has confirmed that certain Medalist Pro 7200 RPM drives fail to work in UDMA mode. Only early production drives are affected by this issue; currently shipping drives are not affected.

The following models are the only Seagate drives affected by this issue:

ST39140A
ST36530A
ST34520A
If you have one of the affected drives, see the Seagate Web site for details.

Modem Attempts to Dial when Windows Starts
When starting Windows, your modem tries to connect to your Internet service provider (ISP). This behavior can occur for any of the following reasons:

You use a program that automatically checks for updated components or Web pages
A program that dials your ISP is located in the StartUp folder
Your computer is infected with a Trojan horse "virus" such as System32.exe that starts when you start your computer. Note that most anti-virus programs do not currently detect or remove Trojan horse "viruses"
Symantec WinFax is installed on your computer
For solutions, see Microsoft's Knowledge Base Article No. Q175312.

SCSI Setup & Basic SCSI Troubleshooting in Windows
See this Microsoft Knowledge Base Article No. Q133285, for some information on setting up and troubleshooting SCSI controllers

Unable to Install Y2K Update
If you try to install the new Year 2000 (Y2K) update for Windows 98 (see article in our Newsletter of 12 December 1998, but the update always fails, try this:

Make sure that you are not running any programs when you access the Windows Update site. Press [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Del]. This will bring up a Close Program box. You should only have Explorer and Systray running (if you are connected to the Internet, you also have Rnaapp running). Stop all other tasks by pressing the End Task button.

Remove any references to failed installations from the WULog.txt file, which is located in your \Windows folder.

Microsoft has updated the Windows update, and now a new folder is created under your Program Files called WindowsUpdate. In this folder you will also find the new history file, called wuhistv3.log.

If you are having problems accessing the Windows Update site, see Problems Accessing Windows Update.

Before you install the Windows 98 Y2K Update, it is recommended that you disable any anti-virus software that you have running. If you don't disable your AV software, please accept the changes made to the Boot Sector, IO.sys or any other system file when prompted by the anti-virus software during installation of the update or after restarting your machine. These files are updated by the Y2K Update.

After the Installation of Windows 98 Year 2000 Update, please make a new Emergency Startup Disk that will reflect the changes made:

Insert the original startup disk in your A: drive
Click Start > Programs > MS-DOS Prompt
Type Sys a: at the MS-DOS prompt
You will receive a message when the process is complete
If you do not have the original startup disk, use the following method:

Insert blank floppy disk in your A: drive
Click Start > Programs > MS-DOS Prompt
Type cd\windows\command and then press [Enter]
Type bootdisk and then press [Enter] to create an updated startup disk

Euro Support Issues
To begin with, Microsoft Windows 98 and Windows NT 5.0 have both been developed to support the euro currency symbol. Both systems will have all the necessary fonts and built-in drivers to utilize the common currency, provided that the user's peripherals (e.g. printers) were designed to work with the euro. Printer fonts that will support the euro symbol include Times New Roman, Arial and Courier New.

If you want to raed a little more on the Issues involved, Microsoft has released a TechNet white paper on the Euro which delves beyond simply explaining what the Euro is. It offers practical guidelines on how to scope out potential problems and determine your next steps

How to Disable Microsoft's Registration Wizard
There have been many reports about the way that Microsoft tracks your identity when you register Windows 98, and also that a unique "registration" number is added to any and all documents created with Microsoft Word and Excel (version 97 in combination with Windows 98).

Microsoft has made available the following patch and removal tool to allow customers to remove the unique identifier number from existing documents, and prevent the insertion of a unique identifier in any new documents:

Microsoft Office 97 Unique Identifier Patch
This patch, once applied will prevent the insertion of a unique identifier number in all new Office documents.

More information | Download [89KB] Req. OSR2

Microsoft Office 97 Unique Identifier Removal Tool
This is a utility that can be used to remove the unique identifier from previously created Office 97 documents. You can run the utility against one or several documents at a time

More information | Download [141KB]

For more details, read our Newsletter of 13 March 1999.

In addition to the first reports, Richard Smith (who discovered the original problem) discovered that the Windows 98 Registration Wizard (RegWiz), which is an ActiveX control, can be used by any Web site to read your HWID (Hardware ID) and MSID (your Microsoft ID, which id used by Microsoft to track your movements on their Web site). Smith has posted a demonstration of the flaw to his company's Web site.

The folks over at Windows Magazine, discovered that a Web site can use Windows 98 (in combination with Internet Explorer 4 & 5) to run the Windows Registration Wizard, and can alter this HWID (Hardware ID) and MSID (Microsoft ID). The hardware ID is created when you first install Windows 98, the Microsoft ID (MSID) is an ID used by Microsoft to track your movement on their Web site (you will find this information in the Cookie called <your login>@microsoft.txt. Look for the string GUID= ). They also found that this information can then be send to Microsoft!

Disable the Registration Wizard
Microsoft has posted an update to the Windows 98 Registry Wizard on the Windows Update Web site.

Microsoft promised to provide such a tool and to modify future releases of its Windows 98 Registration Wizard so it would not send a hardware serial number to a Microsoft server as we reported in our Newsletter of 13 March 1999.

How to download and install:

On the Product Updates page, select the check box next to Registration Wizard Update
Click the Download button at the top of the page
Follow the instructions on your screen
Windows Update downloads and installs Registration Wizard Update, an uninstall is not available for this component.

To disable the Registration Wizard:

Select Start > Run
Type the following command in the Open: box:
regsvr32.exe -u c:\windows\system\regwizc.dll

This will disable the Registration Wizard control so that it cannot be used. If you later need to re-enable the control, use the command

regsvr32.exe -c c:\windows\system\regwizc.dll

You can also remove the MSID and HWID values from your system, by using these steps:

Start the Registry Editor
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \
Delete the string value HWID
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \CurrentVersion \
Delete the string value MSID
Save the information (by making a backup of the registry keys, or by writing down the information) so that you can undo your changes in case you encounter any problems.

Once you have disabled the Registration Wizard, you can use this page at Windows Magazine, to test your browser.

Windows Update Not Working after Internet Explorer 5 Upgrade
If you upgrade to Internet Explorer 5, and try to access the Windows Update Web site, you might receive the following error message:

You have an older version of Internet Explorer 5 and Internet Tools.
If you would like to download additional components from the Windows Update catalog,
you must first upgrade to the latest version.

There is a registry key, which doesn't seem to get updated with the correct information. To rectify this:

Start the Registry Editor
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Active Setup \ Installed Components \ {89820200-ECBD-11cf-8B85-00AA005B4383}
The string value Version should be 5,00,2014,0216
Close the registry editor, and restart Windows

Internet Explorer 5.01 won't update to use 128-bit encryption
If you upgrade to Internet Explorer 5.01, and try to upgrade from the 56-bit encryption version to the 128-bit version, the upgrade might not work.

If your previous Internet Explorer version was upgraded to use 128-bit encryption, it should stay in place if you upgrade your browser. You can check the encryption strength from Help > About Internet Explorer from the Internet Explorer menu.

If you didn't install 128-bit encryption before, and you are having problems upgrading, you can try this workaround:

Restart your computer in MS-DOS mode
Go to \Windows\System\ and rename schannel.dll to schannel.old (the command to use is ren schannel.dll schannel.old)
Restart Windows, and reapply the 128-bit update
Restart Windows, and check Help > About Internet Explorer from the Internet Explorer menu
You can also check your encryption at this Web site.

The 128-bit upgrade for Internet Explorer 5.01 is available from the Microsoft Web site

Hard Disk Is Low on Disk Space" Message
When free space on your computers hard disk falls below a specific level, you may receive the following message:

Hard Disk is Low on Disk Space
You are running out of disk space on drive C.
To free space on this drive by deleting old or unnecessary files, click
Disk Cleanup.

These are the specific levels used by Windows 98:

HD Size Threshold
Percentage Threshold
Space
<= 512 MB 10.0 25.6 - 51.2 MB
<= 1 GB 5.0 25.6 - 51.2 MB
<= 2 GB 2.5 25.6 - 51.2 MB
<= 4 GB 1.2 24.6 - 49.15 MB
<= 8 GB 0.6 24.6 - 49.15 MB
<= 16 GB 0.3 24.6 - 49.15 MB
<= 32 GB 0.2 32.8 - 65.5 MB
> 32 GB 0.1 32.8 - ?? MB

If you do not want to receive this error message, and do not want to use the Disk Cleanup tool to free disk space:

Start the Registry Editor
Select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ FileSystem
Select Edit > New > DWORD Value and name it DisableLowDiskSpaceBroadcast
Set the data value of the DisableLowDiskSpaceBroadcast value to the appropriate value from the following TABLE:
A 1
B 2
C 4
D 8
E 16
F 32
G 64
H 128
I 256
J 512
K 1024
L 2048
M 4096
N 8192
O 16384
P 32768
Q 65536
R 131072
S 262144
T 524288
U 1048576
V 2097152
W 4194304
X 8388608
Y 16777216
Z 33554432

If you want to disable the error message for more than one drive, you can add the data values of the drives located in the TABLE, and then set the data value of the DisableLowDiskSpaceBroadcast value using the sum of the data values that you added. For example, drive E has a value of 16 and drive G has a value of 64. These two data values added together equal 80. To disable the low disk space notification for drive E and drive G, set the data value of the DisableLowDiskSpaceBroadcast value to 80

Start- and Favorites Menu Not Listed in Alphabetical Order
If you rearrange the shortcuts on your Start- and Favorites Menu, the shortcuts and folders may not be in alphabetical order, and any new shortcuts or folders you add, may just be added at the bottom of the menu. To rectify this:

Restore the default sort order of the Start Menu:

Select the Start Menu > Programs, then select an entry, right-click and choose Sort by Name.

If this doesn't work (the above should work with Internet Explorer 5):

Start the Registry Editor
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ MenuOrder \ Start Menu \ Menu
Delete the (binary) value Order
Close the registry editor
Restore the default sort order of the Favorites Menu:

Select Favorites, from the Internet Explorer menu, then select an entry, right-click and choose Sort by Name.

If this doesn't work (the above should work with Internet Explorer 5):

Start the Registry Editor
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ MenuOrder \ Favorites
Delete the (binary) value Order
Close the registry editor
Note: This functionality is available only when the Windows Desktop Update component is installed. For information about how to install the Windows Desktop Update, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article No. Q165695.

Note: Windows 98 Second Edition and Windows 2000 include both the Windows Desktop Update and the IE5 Sort by name context menu option.

Cannot Use CabView to View Contents of Cabinet Files
In Windows 98, CabView is part of the Shell (basic funtion of Windows 98). You can view the contents of a cabinet (.cab) file, by double-clicking, or by right-clicking and choosing View from the menu.

If you install WinZip 7.0, it will automatically associate itself with cab files, and you can only use WinZip to view .cab files. Uninstalling WinZip does not re-associate .cab files with CabView.

To fix this:

Start the Registry Editor
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ .cab
Rename the (Default) key to:

Exit the Registry Editor
In some cases this will not work, if so:

Start the Registry Editor
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ CLSID \ {0CD7A5C0-9F37-11CE-AE65-08002B2E1262} \ shell \ open \ command
Rename the (Default) key to:

Exit the Registry Editor
After you modify the registry, you can view the contents of .cab files in the following ways:

Double-click a .cab file to view its contents using CabView
Right-click a .cab file, and then click View. CabView is used to display the contents of the file
Right-click a .cab file, and then click Extract to... WinZip is used to display the contents of the file

No information displayed in MSINFO
If you try to view information on your system using Microsoft System Information (MSINFO), you may not see any information (blank fields) for all or some of the categories.

You can start MSINFO by typing msinfo32 in the Run box on your Start menu, or by selecting Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Information.

One common culprit seems to be the Microsoft IntelliPoint mouse driver. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del and end the task Point32.

Another fix:

Load your Windows 98 CD-ROM
Type the following commands in the Run box on the Start Menu:

rundll.exe setupx.dll,InstallHinfSection Msinfo.reg 64 C:\WINDOWS\INF\msinfo.inf
rundll.exe setupx.dll,InstallHinfSection Msinfo2.reg 64 C:\WINDOWS\INF\msinfo.inf
rundll.exe setupx.dll,InstallHinfSection CDM.base 64 C:\WINDOWS\INF\msinfo.inf
rundll.exe setupx.dll,InstallHinfSection Sigver.Base 64 C:\WINDOWS\INF\msinfo.inf

Restart Windows

Device Manager Error Codes
If there is a problem with one of your devices, Windows will list the device with 1 of 3 symbols in the Device Manager (Control Panel > System > Device Manager tab):

indicates the device is in a problem state. A device in a problem state can be functioning. A problem code explaining the problem is displayed for the device.

indicates a disabled device. A disabled device is a device that is physically present in the system, consuming resources, but does not have a protected-mode driver loaded.

on a device resource in Computer properties indicates that Use Automatic Settings is not selected for the device and that the was manually selected. It does not indicate a problem or disabled state.
Note: Some sound cards and video adapters do not report all the resources they are using to Windows. This can cause Device Manager to show only one device in conflict, or no conflicts at all. This can be verified by disabling the sound card, or using the standard VGA video driver to see if the conflict is resolved. (This is a known problem with S3 video cards and 16-bit Sound Blaster sound cards, or those sound cards using Sound Blaster emulation for Sound Blaster compatibility).

Error Codes:

Code 1: This code means the system has not had a chance to configure the device. To resolve the problem, follow the instructions in the Device Status box. In addition, you may be able to resolve this issue by removing the device in Device Manager, and then running the Add New Hardware wizard from Control Panel.

Solution button: Update Driver

Code 2: Depending on which device is failing, you may see either of two different messages. This code means that the device loader (DevLoader) did not load a device. When this device is a Root Bus DevLoader (for example, ISAPNP, PCI, or BIOS), the following message is displayed:

Windows could not load the driver for this device because the computer is reporting two <type> bus types. (Code 2)
Contact your computer manufacturer to get an updated BIOS for your computer.

where <type> is ISAPNP, PCI, BIOS, EISA, or ACPI.

Solution button: None

When the device is not a root bus DevLoader, the following message is displayed:

The <type> device loader(s) for this device could not load the device driver. (Code 2)
To fix this, click Update Driver to update the device driver.

where <type> is the DevLoader such as FLOP, ESDI, SCSI, and so on.

Solution button: Update Driver

In addition to following the recommended solution, try removing the device from Device Manager, and then running the Add New Hardware wizard from Control Panel.

Code 3: This code means the driver for this device is bad, system is running low on memory.

Solution button: Update Driver

As an alternative, use Device Manager to remove the device and then run the Add New Hardware wizard in Control Panel.

Code 4: This code means the .inf file for this device is incorrect or the registry may be damaged. For example, the .inf file specifies a field that should be text, but is binary instead. To resolve this error code, use Device Manager to remove the device and then run the Add New Hardware wizard in Control Panel. If you continue to receive this error code, please contact the hardware's manufacturer for an updated .inf file.

Solution button: Update Driver

Code 5: This code means there was a device failure due to the lack of an arbitrator. If a device requests a resource type for which there is no arbitrator, you receive this error code. To resolve this error code, update the driver as suggested, or use Device Manager to remove the device and then run the Add New Hardware wizard in Control Panel.

Solution button: Update Driver

Code 6: This code means there is a conflict between this device and another device. To resolve this error code, see the "Troubleshooting Conflicting Hardware" topic in Windows Help, or see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q133240: Troubleshooting Device Conflicts with Device Manager.

Solution button: Hardware Troubleshooter

Code 7: This code means that no configuration can be performed on the device. If the device works correctly, you do need not to perform any steps to correct the code. If the device does not work correctly, use Device Manager to remove the device and then run the Add New Hardware wizard in Control Panel. If you continue to receive this error code and the device does not function properly, check with the hardware's manufacturer or the Microsoft Software Library for an updated driver.

Solution button: Reinstall Driver

Code 8: This code means the device loader (DevLoader) for a device could not be found. For example, the .inf file for the device may refer to a missing or invalid file. For most cases, the resolution is to reinstall or update the driver. As an alternative, use Device Manager to remove the device and then run the Add New Hardware wizard in Control Panel. If you continue to receive this error code, contact the hardware's manufacturer about updated drivers.

When the problem DevLoader is a system DevLoader, Windows should be re-installed because this driver is built into the Vmm32.vxd file.

Note: A system DevLoader is one that is part of Vmm32.vxd, and typically begins with an asterisk (*). If the DevLoader is a system DevLoader, the following text is displayed:

This device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the file <name> that loads the drivers for the device. (Code 8)
To fix this problem, run Windows Setup again using your Windows CD-ROM.

where <name> is the system DevLoader that cannot be found.

Code 9: This code means that the information in the registry for this device is invalid. It may be possible to resolve this error by using Device Manager to remove the device and then running the Add New Hardware wizard in Control Panel. If you continue to receive this error code, contact the hardware's manufacturer for the proper registry settings.

Solution button: None

Code 10: This code means that the device failed to start (for example, it is missing or is not working properly). To resolve this error code, make sure the device is attached to the computer correctly. For example, make sure all cables are plugged in fully and that all adapter cards are plugged into their slots fully. Follow the suggested solution button and update the device driver. It may be possible to remove the device and re-detect it using the Add New Hardware wizard in Control Panel.

Solution button: Update Driver

Code 11: This code means that the device failed. To resolve this error, run the Automatic Skip Driver utility from the System Information tool. If the problem persists, contact the hardware manufacturer for updated drivers.

Solution button: Update Driver

Code 12: This code means one of the resource arbitrators failed. This can occur if the device is software configurable and it does not currently have a resource, if the system is out of resources (for example, all the interrupts are in use), or if the device requests a resource and that resource is currently in use by another device that will not release the resource. To resolve this error code, see the "Troubleshooting Conflicting Hardware" topic in Windows Help, or see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q133240: Troubleshooting Device Conflicts with Device Manager.

Solution button: Hardware Troubleshooter

Code 13: This code means the device failed due to a problem in the device driver. To resolve this error code, use Device Manager to remove the device and then run the Add New Hardware wizard in Control Panel.

Solution button: Detect Hardware

Code 14: This code means the device has a problem that may be resolved by restarting your computer. To resolve this error code, shut down Windows, turn off your computer, and then turn it back on.

Solution button: Restart Computer

Code 15: This code means the device's resources are conflicting with another device's resources. To resolve this error code, see the "Troubleshooting Conflicting Hardware" topic in Windows Help, or see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q133240: Troubleshooting Device Conflicts with Device Manager.

Solution button: Hardware Troubleshooter

Code 16: This code means the device was not fully detected. When a device is not fully detected, all of its resources may not be recorded. To resolve this error code, click the Resources tab in the device's properties to manually enter the settings.

Solution button: None

Code 17: This code means the hardware is a multiple-function device and the .inf file for the device is providing invalid information on how to split the device's resources to the child devices. To resolve this error code, use Device Manager to remove the device and then run the Add New Hardware wizard in Control Panel. If you continue to receive this error code, please contact the hardware's manufacturer about an updated .inf file.

Solution button: Update Driver

Code 18: This code means that an error has occurred and the device needs to be reinstalled. To resolve this issue, follow the recommended solution. If that does not work, try removing the device from Device Manager and then running the Add New Hardware wizard in Control Panel.

Solution button: Reinstall Driver

Code 19: This code means the registry returned an unknown result. To resolve this issue, follow the recommended solution, which will run Scanreg.exe. If this does not resolve the issue, type scanreg /restore from a command prompt (more information about ScanReg). Finally, remove the device from Device Manager, and then re-detect it using the Add New Hardware wizard in Control Panel.

Solution button: Check Registry

Code 20: This code means VxD Loader (Vxdldr) returned an unknown result. For example, there could a version mismatch between the device driver and the operating system. To resolve this issue, follow the recommended solution. If that does not work, try removing the device from Device Manager and then running the Add New Hardware wizard in Control Panel.

Solution button: Update Driver

Code 21: This code means the device has a problem that may be resolved by restarting your computer. To resolve this error code, shut down Windows, turn off your computer, and then turn it back on.

Solution button: Restart Computer

Code 22: This code means the device is disabled.

To resolve this error code, enable the device. To do so, follow these steps:

Select Start > Setting > Control Panel, then double-click System
Select the Device Manager tab
Double-click the category for the device you want to enable, and then double-click the device
In the Device Usage box, select the check box for the configuration in which you want to enable the device
Click OK, and then click Close
Shut down Windows, and restart your computer
If this doesn't work, try removing the device in Device Manager, then re-detecting it using the Add New Hardware wizard. If the problem persists, try a clean boot to rule out software interference. If the error persists, contact the hardware manufacturer.

Code 23: This code means the device loader delayed the start of a device and then failed to inform Windows when it was ready to start the device. To resolve this error code, verify the settings for the primary display adapter in Display properties. Try removing the primary and secondary display adapters from Device Manager, and then rebooting to allow Windows to re-enumerate these devices. Verify that the drivers are current and installed correctly.

For devices other than display adapters, follow the recommended solution. If that does not work, try removing the device from Device Manager and using the Add New Hardware wizard to re-detect the device.

Code 24: This code means that the device was not found (for example, it is missing or is not working properly). To resolve this error code, follow the recommended solutions. If the device still does not work, make sure the device is connected to your computer correctly. For example, make sure all cables are correctly installed, or that the adapter cards are properly seated in their slots.

If this happens after plugging in an USB Mouse, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q257514: Error Code 24 in Device Manager After Plugging in USB Mouse.

Code 25: This problem typically exists only during the first and second boots after Windows Setup copies all the files. As such, if this code is identified, it is likely an incomplete installation.

To resolve this issue, follow the recommended solution. Reinstalling Windows may be required, depending on whether or not the reboot resolves the issue.

Solution button: Restart Computer

Code 26: This code means a device did not load. There may be a problem in the device driver or not all the drivers were installed.

To resolve this error code, follow the recommended solution. If this does not work, use Device Manager to remove the device and then run the Add New Hardware tool in Control Panel. If you continue to receive this error code, check with the hardware's manufacturer or the Microsoft Software Library for an updated driver.

Solution button: Restart Computer

Code 27: This code means the portion of the registry describing possible resources for a device does not contain valid entries. For example, the device is marked as configurable, but the configuration information in the .inf file is set to hardwired.

To resolve this error code, use Device Manager to remove the device and then run the Add New Hardware wizard in Control Panel. If the device still does not work, consult the hardware manufacturer for updated drivers or further assistance.

Solution button: None

Code 28: This code means the device was not installed completely.

To resolve this issue, follow the recommended solution. If that does not work, try removing the device from Device Manager and using the Add New Hardware wizard to re-detect it. You may need to obtain updated drivers if the error still occurs.

Solution button: Reinstall Driver

Code 29: This code means the device has been disabled because the device does not work properly and cannot be made to work properly with Windows.

You may be able to resolve this error code by enabling or disabling the device in the computer's CMOS settings. Windows cannot override this setting. Please contact the computer's manufacturer for assistance with using the computer's CMOS setup program.

Solution button: None

Code 30: This code means that an IRQ cannot be shared. This may occur when a PCI/EISA SCSI controller is sharing an IRQ that is also in use by a real-mode device driver that Windows can't change.

To resolve this error code, remove the real-mode driver that is using the same IRQ as this device. The real-mode driver may be loading in the Config.sys or Autoexec.bat file.

Solution button: None

Code 31: This code appears when a device is dependent on another device to be functioning correctly. This does not include devices that are enumerated by the parent device.

The Properties button displays the properties for the other device. More than likely, the other device will also have one of these Device Manager error codes. Follow all the recommended solutions. If the devices still do not work, remove them from Device Manager and use the Add New Hardware wizard to re-detect them. Finally, consult with the hardware manufacturer for updated drivers.

Solution button: Properties

Code 32: This code indicates that the installation disk or CD-ROM was not available to install the drivers. For example, the CD-ROM drive or network connection is not available. This error typically occurs during the first or second reboot after all the files are copied during Setup.

To resolve this issue, first attempt to restart as suggested. If this does not resolve the problem, determine why the installation disk or CD-ROM is not available. Typically, these devices also have Device Manager codes (such as the CD-ROM controller or network adapter). Resolve the issue to gain access to the installation disk or CD-ROM prior to resolving this conflict.

Solution button: Restart Computer

Code 33: This code typically is displayed when the hardware has failed. Consult with the manufacturer of the affected hardware.

Solution button: None

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If you believe that a protected-mode driver should be controlling a device, but the device appears with a real-mode driver in the Device Manager in Control Panel, you can check entries in Ios.log. The Ios.log file in the Windows directory is created when a protected-mode driver is not available or the operating system detects that an unknown device driver is controlling a device.

In most cases, the first line in Ios.log states why the protected-mode driver was not loaded. If the first line mentions Mbrint13.sys, the problem most likely is a virus (unless you are using a driver that replaces the master boot record).

"There Are No Spare Stack Pages" Error
If you get an error:

There are no spare stack pages. It may be necessary to increase
the setting of 'MinSPs' in System.ini to prevent possible stack
faults. There are currently (number) SPs allocated.

To resolve this, add the following line to the [386Enh] section of the System.ini file and then restart your computer:

MinSPs=4

You can do this by selecting Start > Run, and type msconfig in the Open: box. Press OK. Select the System.ini tab, scroll down to, and select the [386Enh] section. Press New and type the command MinSPs=4, press Apply, and follow the prompts.

If the problem persists, increase the number of spare stack pages in increments of 4 (for example 8, 12, 16).

Note: Each spare stack page requires 4KB of memory.

Warning: Your License for This Pre-Release Software Has Expired
When you start Windows 98, you may receive the following error message:

Warning: Your license for this pre-release software has expired.
Please upgrade to the final product immediately. This pre-release
version of Windows 98 will expire on April 1st 2001. After that
date you will no longer be able to use this software.

This error message occurs if you are running a Beta version of Windows 98, and the expiration date for the Beta version you are running is set for November 15, 1998.

When you installed the final version of Windows 98 "on top" of the Beta, this can also happen, because some files where not updated.

From our information it seems that it is possible to install Windows 98 final on top of the beta version, but you'll have to do it from the MS-DOS prompt.

The recommended way is to uninstall the beta version, and then install the final version.

Computer Randomly Plays Classical Music
During normal operation or in Safe mode, your computer may play Fur Elise or It's a Small, Small World seemingly at random. This is an indication sent to the PC speaker from the computer's BIOS that the CPU fan is failing or has failed, or that the power supply voltages have drifted out of tolerance. This is a design feature of a detection circuit and system BIOSes developed by Award/Unicore from 1997 on.

Although these symptoms may appear to be virus-like, they are the result of an electronic hardware monitoring component of the motherboard and BIOS. You may want to have your computer checked or serviced.

Windows 98 Second Edition Update doesn't update Internet Explorer 5
If you where running Internet Explorer 5 before upgrading to Windows 98 Second Edition, chances are that Windows 98 SE didn't update Internet Explorer 5 to the latest version.

The version of Internet Explorer 5 shipping with Windows 98 SE is 5.00.2614.3500.

To update Internet Explorer 5 after you upgraded to Windows 98 SE:

Rename the Iemigrat.dll file in the \Windows\System folder to Iemigrat.old
Start the Registry Editor
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Setup \ Migration \ 100
Delete the IE System Migration value
Exit the Registry Editor, and reinstall Windows 98 Second Edition

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Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 version 5.00.2614.3500 addresses these know issues from Internet Explorer 5 version 5.00.2314.1003:

Updated HTML parsing engine, Mshtml.dll, which addresses three security vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer (See Internet Explorer 5: Security Patches under "MSHTML Update Available for Internet Explorer")
The update that allows you to type double-byte characters in a text box in a Web form (For more information see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q231339 Form Text Box Does Not Accept Double-Byte Characters)
Updated Dynamic Hypertext Markup Language (DHTML) Edit ActiveX control, which addresses a potential security issue (See Internet Explorer 5: Security Patches under "Patch for "DHTML Edit" Vulnerability")
Web pages that were partially rendered in Internet Explorer are now rendered properly (See Fix for "Partial Web Page Rendered If HTTP Stream Terminates Early"
You can map a network connection to a computer that contains Korean characters in the computer name (For more information see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q230372 Mapping Drive to Computer with Korean Name Causes GPF)
An update that resolves the issue where the Back and Forward buttons are unavailable

Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown Problems
There are many users who are reporting problems with Windows 98 SE's shutdown routine. For some the routine just doesn't work, for others a shutdown result in a reboot.

Below are some things to try that worked for some people, however keep in mind that this list is not complete, and these suggestions might not work for you. Before you start, make sure you have the latest BIOS update for your computer.

IRQ Steering and Device Enumeration

Select Start > Settings > Control Panel
Double-click the System icon, and select the Device Manager tab
Select View Devices by type and double-click System Devices
Select PCI bus and click on the Properties button
Adjust or Disable the settings under the IRQ Steering and/or the Settings tab to get the desired results. Make note of how you found these settings before you attempt to change them as a precaution

FIRST try changing the Device Enumeration under the Settings tab from Hardware to BIOS. This does the trick in many cases for various problems.
If Not....

Experiment with enabling or disabling all the combinations of possible settings to try to get the desired results. At times, the BIOS setting that you may or may not have, PnP Aware OS, also has a bearing on these settings....(See below for more info)

Make sure you do a full reboot after every change while testing.

IRQ Steering

Use IRQ Steering - Specifies that Windows programs use IRQ steering. If you select the Use IRQ Steering check box, PCI bus devices behave more like Plug and Play devices. If you click to clear the Use IRQ Steering check box, then BIOS programs dictate IRQ steering.

IRQ steering is determined by one of four routing TABLEs. Windows searches for one of the selected routing TABLEs in the order listed and uses the first one it finds.

Do not change the default settings for IRQ steering unless there is a problem with a PCI device
If there is a problem, click to clear the Get IRQ TABLE using ACPI BIOS check box and restart Windows
If the problem persists, select the Get IRQ TABLE from Protected Mode PCI BIOS 2.1 call check box and restart Windows
Select the Get IRQ TABLE from Protected Mode PCI BIOS 2.1 call check box only if a PCI device is not working properly
One combination that worked for a number of people was to go into your system's BIOS, and make sure that ACPI I/O Node is set to Enabled, and to set the IRQ Steering to Get IRQ TABLE using ACPI BIOS, while unchecking all others.

For some others unchecking the Get IRQ TABLE from Realmode PCIBIOS 2.1 Call, while leaving all other options as they where did the trick.

Assign IRQ for your Video Adapter

Another fix that worked for some people is to go in your systems BIOS, and assign an IRQ for your Video Adapter (you might not have this option in your BIOS). This also solves problems with not being able to Restart in MS-DOS mode.

Enable USB

In some BIOS'ses you can enable/disable USB (by assigning an IRQ to USB). A number of people where able to fix their problem by enabling USB this way, even if they did not have any USB devices attached to their system.

Notes

Windows 98 SE has Fast Shutdown turned off by default in msconfig.

For information on how to access your computers BIOS, consult your computer's manual.

For more information, see this Microsoft Knowledge Base Article No. Q238096 How to Troubleshoot Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown Problems

Microsoft has released a Shutdown Supplement to combat Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown problems
The Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown Supplement addresses shutdown issues on systems with specific hardware/software configurations running Windows 98 Second Edition. These issues include systems restarting when selecting shutdown and systems hanging on shutdown.

Microsoft recommends the troubleshooting steps outlined in the KB article above. If, after following the steps outlined in the article, the system continues to exhibit shutdown problems, then Microsoft suggests applying the Second Edition Shutdown Supplement.

Updated Windows 98 Shutdown Supplement (23 October 1999)

Microsoft quietly updated the Windows 98 Shutdown Supplement. It was found that for some people the original Shutdown Supplement was not working.

The update is only to the install & uninstall .INF file, apparently a file was not copied during install which affected a small number of users.

If you installed the Windows 98 Shutdown Supplement, and it's working for you, there is no reason to install this new one. But if you are having problems with the original Shutdown Supplement patch installed, we recommend that you try this new version.

You can identify the new version by it's size. The original Windows 98 Shutdown Supplement is 491KB, while the updated one is 489KB. The updated .INF files have a time stamp of 27/09/99, but according to sources, the update was only posted this week.

If you want to install the new Shutdown Supplement, and you have the original one installed, you should uninstall that one first.

You can do this by following these instructions:

You should save and close all open documents and close all programs before attempting to uninstall this update. Then click on Start > Find > Files or Folders and search for 239887UN.INF. Once this file is displayed, right-click on the file and choose Install. You will need to have your original Windows 98 Second Edition CD available to uninstall this update.

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Shutdown problems can also occur if you are using Symantec Norton AntiVirus with the Auto-Protect feature enabled. Usually shutdown stops responding (hangs).

To work around, or fix this behavior:

Disable the Norton AntiVirus Auto-Protect feature (workaround)
Obtain the latest LiveUpdate for Norton AntiVirus (Symevnt.exe) from Symantec's Web site. For more information about how to obtain LiveUpdate files, contact Symantec Technical Support. (fix)

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Aug 08, 2001

Intel I820 Chipset

Intel has found that there may be some noise disturbances that occur in communications between the Motherboard components and the Memory Translator Hub(MTH), causing PC's to intermittently shut down or stop responding.

To resolve this problem, download the Intel utility found at the this Intel Web site. This utility determines if the MTH chip exists in the computer. If the MTH component is detected, this is most likely a hardware issue and you should contact your PC's supplier.

Windows 98 Second Edition Hangs During Suspend
Windows 98 Second Edition may hang when the machine is being suspended.

This is due to an obscure bug, which exhibits itself when the path specified for the swapfile in the [386Enh] section of the System.ini file includes a lowercase drive letter.

To fix this:

To resolve this behavior, you either have to connect to an active network connection, or disable your network adapter:

USB Devices May Not Work in Windows 98 Second Edition
Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices that are plugged in to a computer running Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition may not work if the your computer uses the following hardware components:

An AMD processor (running at 350 MHz or faster)
A VIA Technologies USB controller
This behavior occurs because there is a timing-specific problem in the Universal Host Controller driver (Uhcd.sys), which may prevent USB devices from enumerating under specific timing conditions. To resolve this issue, download and run the appropriate file for your language version of Windows. The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

English
German
Spanish
French
Italian
Japanese
Portuguese
Swedish

"Drive W" icons appear in Windows Explorer
When you use Windows Explorer, the icons for Control Panel and Printers may be changed to a Microsoft WordPad icon and their names may be changed to Drive W:. When you double-click either of these icons, you may receive the following error message:

W:\ is not accessible.

This folder was moved or removed.

This is a rather harmless bug, and seems to be related to the combination of Internet Explorer 5.x and Microsoft Office.

Hitting F5 (refresh) or clicking Refresh on the View menu in Windows Explorer should restore the normal view.

Upgrading to Windows 98 Second Edition If you order the Windows 98 Second Edition Updates * CD from Microsoft, you must be aware of some pitfalls:
MS-DOS installations are not supported Because this version will only upgrade over Windows 98, installations from MS-DOS have been disabled. This means you must be able to boot your current version of Windows 98 and run Setup from there.

Cannot reinstall entire OS from the Updates CD If you want to do a clean installation to a new directory or new drive letter, you must first install the original Windows 98 released version, and then apply the Updates CD. You can not reinstall the entire Windows 98 Second Edition directly from the Updates CD. You should always keep your original Windows 98 CD-ROM (or floppy disks) in case you must reinstall.
* The Updates CD is the $19.95 (+S&H) CD you can order from Microsoft to Update your existing version of Windows 98 to Windows 98 Second Edition.

Disable all anti-virus programs running on your system. If these utilities are running during Setup, your system may stop responding.
Note: Some systems have anti-virus capabilities built in. If this option is left enabled in BIOS/CMOS settings, you may receive a warning about virus-like activity or Master Boot Record changes. You must allow these changes to take place for Setup to complete successfully. See your anti-virus software documentation for more information.
Run ScanDisk to check and fix any problems with your hard disk(s).
Close all running programs. This includes disabling any screen savers, advanced power management settings, scheduled tasks, and any other programs that may cause Setup to stop responding.
Windows 98 Second Edition Update doesn't update Internet Explorer 5
If you are running Internet Explorer 5 before upgrading to Windows 98 Second Edition, uninstall Internet Explorer 5 before you upgrade to Windows 98 SE.
To be sure, follow these steps to ensure that Windows 98 SE installation does update Internet Explorer to the latest version (this should not be necessary when uninstalling Internet Explorer 5, but checking doesn't hurt):

Rename the Iemigrat.dll file in the \Windows\System folder to Iemigrat.old Start the Registry Editor Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Setup \ Migration \ 100 Delete the IE System Migration value If you already upgraded to Windows 98 SE, and don't have the latest version of Internet Explorer, follow the steps above, and add a step 5, namely reinstall Windows 98 SE.
The version of Internet Explorer 5 shipping with Windows 98 SE is 5.0.2614.3500.

Performing a clean boot
Third-party device drivers, utilities, or other programs can prevent a successful installation. Clean-booting your system can fix many of these problems. Windows 98 provides a tool for automating many of the steps required to clean-boot a system.
Select Start > Run, and type msconfig in the Open: box. Press OK Check Selective startup on the General tab Clear all the check boxes under Selective startup and click OK When prompted to restart, click Yes When Windows 98 reboots, you should be in a clean environment to run Setup.

Uninstall
We recommend creating uninstall information before upgrading. To do this, select the Save Your System Files option during Setup. This will allow you to uninstall Windows 98 Second Edition if you have problems. The uninstall information can require up to 110MB or more depending upon your system configuration. However, you cannot do this if your current Windows 98 installation is on a compressed drive.

If Setup fails and you cannot boot into Windows 98
Reinstall your original version of Windows 98 over itself. This may allow you to try the Update CD again. We recommend performing a clean boot before running Setup again. This may resolve the problem that caused Setup to fail the first time.
Uninstall Windows 98 Second Edition from MS-DOS. If you saved your system files during the initial Setup wizard, you can uninstall the failed Setup back to your original Windows 98 system. To uninstall Windows 98 Second Edition from MS-DOS, follow these steps:
Restart your computer and hold the Ctrl key until you see the Windows 98 boot menu Choose Command Prompt Only At the prompt, type Uninstal After Uninstall has completed, restart your computer and allow Windows 98 to boot again. Before you try the upgrade again, see Performing a clean boot above If you receive CAB file errors during setup, see this troubleshooting page

Running 100MHz FSB with VIA or MVP4 Chip When you want to install Windows 98 on a system which uses a motherboard with a VIA or MVP4 chip-set, you have to install the appropriate drivers to get Windows 98 running with the 100MHz FSB.
The Intel chip-set's are supported "out of the box", so no additional drivers are required.
The drivers are available from the VIA Web site.

Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) To learn more about Internet Connection Sharing, see the InfiniSource TechFile on the subject.

Setup Command-Line Switches Windows 98 Setup switches are:
Switch Meaning /? Provides help for syntax and use of setup command line switches /C Do not load the SmartDrive disk cache /D Do not use the existing version of Windows for the early phases of Setup. Use this switch if you have problems starting Setup that might be due to missing or damaged supporting files for Windows /DOMAIN: domain_name Set the Windows NT Logon Validation domain used by Client for Microsoft Networks to domain _name. /F Do not look in the local cache for file names. Setup runs a little slower and saves a small amount of memory. /IA Turn off the "after providers" listed in the [AfterProvider] section of the Setupc.inf file. /IB Turn off the "before providers" listed in the [BeforeProvider] section of the Setupc.inf file. /IC Do a clean boot. If this is set and KeepRMDrivers=1 is not in the registry, drivers are commented out from the Config.sys/Autoexec.bat file. /ID Do not check for the minimum disk space required to install Windows 98. /IE Skip the Startup Disk screen. If this switch is used, the Windows\Command\EBD folder is not created.
/IF Do a "fast" setup. Do not notify setupx DOS FindFirst to not look up file names in the cache. /IG Allows Setup to run on some older Gateway and Micron computers with an early BIOS. /IH Run ScanDisk in the foreground so that you can see the results. Use this switch if the system stalls during the ScanDisk check or if an error results. /IL Load the Logitech mouse driver. Use this option if you have a Logitech Series C mouse. /IM Skip the check for low conventional memory. /IN Do not call the networking Setup software. Neither the networking software nor the Networking Wizard screens will be used. /IQ Do not check for cross-linked files. /IR Do not update the master boot record (MBR). /IS Do not run ScanDisk. /IV This switch bypasses displaying the Setup screens during an upgrade within Windows. /M Bypasses the playing of the Setup sound (.wav) files. /N This switch causes Setup to run without a mouse. /NA# This switch bypasses the program check and can use the following values: #=0 Default.
#=1 No Windows-based program check, but MS-DOS-based program are blocked.
#=2 No MS-DOS-based program check, Windows-based programs are blocked.
#=3 No Windows-based or MS-DOS-based program check.
/ND This switch ignores the presence of a Migration.dll file and is used to force Windows 98 to overwrite newer files. Note: Files that use the ",,,32" flag in the .inf file still force Windows 98 Setup to keep the newer files.
/NF Do not prompt to remove the floppy disk from drive A at the end of the Copying Windows 98 Files to Your Computer Setup step (step three). Use this switch when installing Windows 98 from a booTABLE compact disc.
Same as if there is a file named BOOTCD in the cabinet folder Same as if there is a "BootCD=1" line in the Msbatch.inf file

/NH Do not run Hwinfo.exe when running Setup from the Windows 95 user interface. /nm Bypass the check for minimum processor (66MHz 486) /NOSTART Copy a minimal installation of the required dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) used by Windows 98 Setup, then exit to MS-DOS without installing Windows 98. /NR Skips the registry check. /NX Do not check the version of Setupx that is running. /PI Keep forced configured hardware settings (hardware not using default settings). Some BIOS require hardware to have a forced configuration to work. By default, Setup removes the forced configuration and some hardware does not work properly after this is done. /PJ script_filename Load Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) by default. Use settings in the specified script to install Windows 98 automatically; for example, setup msbatch.inf specifies that Setup should use the settings in Msbatch.inf. You must specify the full file name. The setup script file name must be eight characters long with a three-character extension (8.3 file name).
/SRCDIR Specifies the source directory where the Windows 98 Setup files are located. /S filename Load the specified Setup.inf file when starting setup. /T:tempdir Specifies the directory where Setup is to copy its temporary files. This directory must already exist, but any existing files in the directory will be deleted. /U:UPI Specifies the UPI. /IV Do not display billboards. /IW Do not display the License Agreement dialog box. /IX Do not perform a character set check.

Dual-Boot Windows 98 & Windows 95 Here is a crude way to make a Dual-Boot system with Windows 98 & Windows 95:
First create a Start-up Disk in Windows 95. Do this before installing Windows 98, so you'll be able to restore Windows 95 without having to reinstall it To create a Start-up Disk in Windows 95:

Select Start > Settings > Control Panel Open Add/Remove Programs, select the Startup Disk tab Follow the instructions on screen When ready, copy the file Msdos.sys from C:\ to the Start-up disk, overwriting the one on the disk Msdos.sys is a hidden file, see Show all files to see how to show hidden files in Windows Explorer

Now we are ready to install Windows 98:
Select Start > Shut Down, and from the menu choose Restart the computer in MS-DOS mode, click OK Once in DOS, change to the Windows 98 directory by typing cd\ C:\Win98, assuming you put the files on the C:\ drive - replace C with your CD drive letter if you're installing from the CD. Then type Setup Follow the instructions on-screen, when it asks you to Select an installation directory, select Other directory, click on Next, and type in the name for the directory, say, C:\Windows.98 When the installation is done, your computer will boot into Windows 98
Now if you want to start in Windows 95, you just put the Windows 95 Start-up disk in the disk drive, and restart your computer. Note: for this to work, you have to be able to boot from your A: drive. This can be set from your computers BIOS. Usually these settings are found under the BIOS features setup, and you'll be looking for the Boot sequence setting. Refer to your manual if you are not sure.

To start Windows 98, just remove the Windows 95 Start-up disk, and re-start your computer To be able to use programs you have installed in Windows 95 under Windows 98, you would have to re-install them. You can just install to the same directory, just use the same options. Also note that you would have to back-up any custom settings you made.
For those who want a permanent Dual-Boot system, most dual-boot utilities require you to set aside a partition on your hard disk for each operating system you intend to use. You can partition the hard disk without reformatting it, using PowerQuest's PartitionMagic.
Once you have the disk partitioned, you have to use a dual-boot utility, such as V Communications System Commander or BootMenu 3.11, to install Windows 98 on the second partition. These programs let you install a different version of Windows on each hard disk partition and choose which one to use each time you (re) start your computer

FAT32 is an improved version of the File Allocation Table (FAT) file system. FAT32 originally appeared in Windows 95 OEM Service Release (OSR) 2. FAT32 uses smaller clusters than FAT16 drives do, thus using space more efficiently on larger disks (disks over than 1Gb in size). You can also use FAT32 to format disks larger than 2Gb as a single drive.
Drive size Cluster size 256Mb - 511Mb Not supported 512Mb - 8Gb 4Kb 8Gb - 16Gb 8Kb 16Gb - 32Gb 16Kb > 32Gb 32Kb

FAT32 drives have a different on-disk format than FAT16 drives. To date, most disk utilities, including those from all the major vendors, have already been revised to work on FAT32 volumes. The disk utilities included with Windows 98 have been revised to include FAT32 support, in particular: Fdisk, Format, ScanDisk, Defrag, and DriveSpace. However, DriveSpace does not and will not support compressing FAT32 drives.
The Save to File (Hibernate) feature may be incompatible with FAT32. On computers containing a BIOS made by Phoenix Technologies, you might not be able to use the Save to File feature if your primary (boot) drive is formatted using FAT32. If your PhDISK utility is earlier than version 5.0, you must obtain an updated version of the utility and an updated ROM BIOS from your computer manufacturer in order to use a Save to Disk file. With older versions of the ROM BIOS, your computer may be unable to start if it tries to read a Save to Disk file from a FAT32 drive. If this occurs, you must disable the Save to File feature in your ROM BIOS. This does not affect computers using a disk partition to store the Save to Disk data.
Converting a drive to FAT32 in place is a safe, fast operation using the build-in graphical FAT32 conversion utility (Note: Drive Converter will not work on drives under 512Mb). It typically takes only a few minutes. After you run the Drive Converter, Defrag runs on that drive during your next startup. It may take several hours to defragment your drive.
Note: Running Defrag to completion after converting to FAT32 is important. Not defragmenting your disk after converting to FAT32 will result in a less effecient (slower) computer.
There are three ways to enable FAT32:
Convert an existing FAT16 drive in place.
Click Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools and click Drive Converter (FAT32).

Set up Windows 98 on an empty, un partitioned disk. Start your computer from a floppy disk and then run Oemsetup.exe (not Setup.exe).

Run Fdisk on a disk larger than 512MB. An Fdisk prompt gives you a choice to enable large disk support. If you click Yes, any partitions you create that are larger than 512Mb are marked and formatted as FAT32 partitions. (You cannot install FAT32 on a disk smaller than 512Mb.)
Note: Windows 98 does not include a utility for converting a drive back to FAT16 after it is converted to FAT32. However, several third-party utility products do support converting back to FAT16 from FAT32.
Dual booting You cannot dual boot a FAT32 computer with Windows 98 and another operating system such as the original release of Windows 95, Windows NT, Windows 3.x, or MS-DOS 6.x. Other operating systems cannot access a FAT32 partition because older operating systems do not recognize the new data structures.
You can dual boot Windows 98 with another operating system if drive C is FAT16. However, if you have other FAT32 partitions, they will not be visible to operating systems other than Windows 98. Windows 98 supports dual-booting between Windows 98 and earlier MS-DOS operating systems such as MS-DOS 6.22 if you are using FAT16.
And don't forget to Create a Startup Disk with FAT32 Support.

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Note: If you work a lot in real-mode MS-DOS, FAT32 is considerably slower than FAT16. Loading Smartdrv.exe in your Autoexec.bat or MS-DOS.PIF file will be beneficial.

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Microsoft has a handy utility [40KB] to see just how much space you could gain by converting to the FAT32 file system.

Create a Startup Disk with FAT32 Support To create a Windows 98 Startup disk that supports the FAT32 file system:
Place the Windows 98 CD-ROM in your CD-ROM drive, and have a floppy disk available Select Start > Programs, then click Windows Explorer Open the following folder on the Windows 98 CD-ROM: Tools\Mtsutil\Fat32ebd

Double-click the file Fat32ebd.exe, and then follow the instructions to create the Startup disk

Starting in "DOS" mode To bypass starting Windows 98 at start up without pressing F8 or the Ctrl-key, modify the line in the hidden file C:\Msdos.sys. (see Show all files to see how to show hidden files in explorer).
Before you make changes to Msdos.sys, first right-click the Msdos.sys file (in Explorer) and choose Properties. Remove the check-mark from the Read-only attribute.
You can Edit the Msdos.sys file by right-clicking on it, select Open with... and from the menu choose Notepad.
Find the line BootGUI=1 and change it to read BootGUI=0
After saving, right-click the file again, choose Properties and place a check-mark in the Read-only attribute box.
For an explanation of the Msdos.sys file, and it's contents, see Microsoft's Knowledge base Article No. Q118579

Set the System Time, Date and Time Zone Double click the clock on the Taskbar, this will open a dialogue box, from where you can set the system time, date and time zone.
To change the display of the clock on the taskbar to 24-hour format:
Open Control Panel (Start > Settings > Control Panel) Double-click on the Regional Settings icon Select the Time tab In the Time style section select HH:mm:ss

To see the current Date Hold the mouse pointer over the clock on the Taskbar to see the current date.

Using the SHIFT Key You can use the Shift key for many additional features. Try some of the following tasks while holding down the Shift key:
Hold down the Shift key when you delete a file. This will keep the file from being sent to the Recycle Bin. Beware, this means that the file has actually been deleted and can no longer be restored Hold down the Shift key when you double-click on My Computer, Network Neighborhood or the Recycle Bin. This will open these items in the dual-paned Windows Explorer Hold down the Shift key when you double-click on any Folder. This will open the folder in the dual-paned Windows Explorer Hold down the Shift key when you click the Yes button from within the Shut Down Windows dialog box when you select Restart. This will restart Windows only (not completely re-boot the computer). This is useful if all you want to do is just activate some Windows-only changes If you hold down the Shift key when you right-click on an icon, the option Open with... will be available so that you can open the file using a program other than the program normally associated with that file There are probably other ways that holding down the Shift key can be useful, so try it when you are doing something that you think there should be another way of doing things.

Microsoft "Enhanced" Keyboard and Windows 98 Windows 98 has built-in support for the Microsoft Natural Keyboard, and if you have this, or a "Enhanced" keyboard with the special Windows keys (usually 3), use the special keys as follows:
Display the Start Menu + D Minimize or Restore all Windows + E Start Windows Explorer + F Start Find Files/Folders dialog box CTRL + + F Start Find Computer dialog box + M Minimize all windows currently open Shift + + M Undo minimize all windows + R Display the Run dialog box + F1 Start Help + TAB Cycle through taskbar buttons. + BREAK Display Systems Properties panel.

Right-Click with the Keyboard To right-click with the keyboard, make sure the desired object has the focus, and press Shift-F10.

Explorer Shortcut Keys F2 Rename (selected folder or file) F3 Find F4 Displays the Combo Box F5 Refresh the Display F6 Switch the highlight bar between panes F10 Activates the Menu bar Shift+F10 Equivalent to right-click Alt+Enter Show Properties Ctrl+A Selects all files in a folder Ctrl+C Copy selection or item Ctrl+G Go to a specific directory Ctrl+V Paste selection or item Ctrl+Z Undo last action Backspace Go to the parent folder NumLock (and) * Expands everything under selection NumLock (and) - (or Left arrow) Collapses selection NumLock (and) + (or Right arrow) Expands selection

Move or Copy files with ease Microsoft has developed a small utility, Send To X, which is part of the Windows 95 Power Toys Set. You can download [209KB] the Power Toys Set from Microsoft, or visit this page for more information. Using the Send To command (using right-mouse click, or Shift+F10), it enables the user to specify a destination.
Note: The Send To X utility is part of Microsoft's PowerToys for Windows 95, and MS advises you not to use these with Windows 98. We've been using the Send To X utility for some time now, and have not encountered any problems. YMMV.

Setting Default Explorer View Explorer enables you to set the view for folder information using the View menu and the toolbar.
From the menu select View > Folder Options and make sure that the check-box Remember each folder's view settings - on the View tab - is checked.

To set Explorer to show your Drives "collapsed" when first started:
Right-click the Start button From the menu choose Explore Go to Start Menu > Programs Right-click the shortcut for Windows Explorer From the menu choose Properties In the Target: box, type: C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /E,/SELECT,C:\ Click Apply and OK This is the result:

You can even change the display order. Say you want to sort on (file) Type, and you want that to be the first column. Just click on the Type heading, and drag it to the left, then drop it!

Change the View setting in Explorer Many people have reported that they change the view setting in explorer to the way they prefer, only to have it revert to a default setting when restarting. Here's how to let it "stick"
Open Explorer and from the Menu select your preferred View:
as Web Page Large Icons Small Icons List Details

Now Select View from the Menu and click Folder Options Select the View tab Press the Like Current Folder button

Customize Integration Mode To Customize the way your system operates, open Windows Explorer (Select Start > Programs > Windows Explorer) and choose Folder Options from the View menu.
There are 3 options:
Web Style - Your computer looks and acts like the Web (e.g., single click) Classic Style - Your computer defaults to Windows classic settings Custom - based on settings you choose

If you choose Custom settings, you will be presented with a second menu, where you can adjust the settings as you like them.

View Folders as Web Page You can choose to view various Folders as Web Pages: Explorer, My Computer, Control Panel, Printers will all give you additional information when viewed as Web Page. To Select Web Page View:
From within the respective Folder, select View from the menu bar, and select as Web Page Or

Start Explorer and select View > Folder Options from the menu Check Web Style on the General Tab This is how Control Panel looks when viewed as a Web Page:

Note that you'll have more information available in Web view; as an example you can see 3 hyperlinks in the Control Panel above. These provide links to the Microsoft Web site for additional information/help

Make Tool bars from your Folders You can make any folder on your system into a toolbar:
Just right-click a blank part of the Taskbar, select Toolbars from the context menu, and choose New Toolbar from the menu. Then use the dialog box that appears to select a folder. You can select any folder on your local hard disk or on a network drive, as well as the Desktop, My Computer, Printers, Control Panel, Dial-Up Networking, and Scheduled Tasks folders. Windows creates a toolbar with one icon for every file in the folder you picked.

Once you have a few Toolbars open, you may find that you are running out of space at the bottom of your screen. No problem. Just grab any toolbar by its handle (the double vertical line at the left end) and drag it to any side of the screen: top, bottom, left, or right. Or if you prefer, drop it in the middle of the screen where it becomes a floating "palette" of tools you can move and re-size to suit your needs.
To save more space, make all Toolbars self-hiding so that they appear only when you bring your mouse near it. Just right-click any toolbar and select Properties > Auto Hide from the menu. If the Auto Hide option is greyed out, first select Always On Top, then select Auto Hide. The toolbar will disappear when you click the desktop or open any other window; it will reappear when you bring your mouse near it.

Make a Cascading My Computer Toolbar You can have a cascading menu of the My Computer folder on your Toolbar:
Just right-click a blank part of the Taskbar, select Toolbars from the context menu, and choose New Toolbar from the menu. Then use the dialog box that appears to select a folder. select the My Computer folder.
Now resize this folder, by "grabbing" it's handle, and dragging it to the right site of the Toolbar, until you only see the words My Computer, and all icons will be hidden. You will also note a » sign. When you click on it, a cascading menu will appear with the contends of My Computer.

Pointing to any of the items will open a sub-menu.

Show Small Icons on Toolbar If you can't see all the Icons on the Toolbar, select Small Icons:
From the menu choose View > Internet Options Select the Advanced Tab Scroll to the bottom and check the mark for Small Icons under the Toolbar heading

Change the Default Folder Background You can customize the look and layout of your folders. Start Windows Explorer (click Start > Programs > Windows Explorer). Select to the folder you want to customize. Right-click the folders background. Select Customize this Folder from the context menu that appears.
A Wizard will offer you 3 choices:
Create or edit an HTML document Choose a background picture Remove customization The most easy customization is to simply select Choose a background picture to add a new background image to the folder. The Wizard will take you trough all the steps involved.

Changing the Sort order in Explorer To change the sort order of the right window of Explorer simply click on one of the buttons underneath the toolbar to change the sort order from ascending to descending.
To make the columns fit the largest item in the column, just Double-click on the column heading separator.

Disk Tools To use ScanDisk, Backup or Defragmenter on a specific drive, Open My Computer or Explorer then right-click the drive you want to use, click Properties and select the Tools tab.

Read more information on the new Disk Defragmenter.

Disk Cleanup Windows 98 Includes a nifty utility to clean your disks (for example remove temporary files which were "left over").
To Start Disk Cleanup:
Open Windows Explorer or My Computer Right-click the disk you want to free space on, and then click Properties On the General tab, click Disk Cleanup Click the unnecessary files you want to remove, and click OK You can read a description of each file type in the Description area under the list

More Information on Disk Cleanup can be found in Microsoft Knowledgebase Article No. Q186099.

Using System File Checker You can use the System File Checker to verify the integrity of your operating system files, and to restore them if they are corrupted. The System File Checker also gives you a convenient way to extract compressed files (such as drivers) from your installation disks.

You can have System File Checker back up the existing files before restoring the original files. You can also customize search criteria based on folder and file extension, choose a different backup location, choose a different verification data file, or if you experience severe problems, you can Restore the default system information (System File Checker will prompt you about any system files that have changed since you installed Windows). You have also the ability to create/view a logfile.
You can start the System File Checker by clicking Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Information, and then selecting Tools > System File Checker from the Microsoft System Information toolbar.

We recommend to enable Check for changed files and Check for deleted files, as well as selecting to Always back up before restoring.
Also recommended is to manually change the default settings to include the the missing sub-folders of C:\Windows and C:\Program Files. These folders are certainly important enough to deserve the modification in SFC.
To do this, select the Search Criteria tab, and select the C:\Windows and C:\Program Files in turn, pressing the Include Subfolders button on each of them.
To keep your files in good shape, run the SFC after installing new software.

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Sometimes you will receive the following error message when you attempt to extract a new copy of a Windows 98 file using the System File Checker tool:
The file was not found. Verify that you have selected the correct Restore from' location and try again.
This error message occurs when:
You specify the wrong path to the Windows 98 cabinet files The file you are attempting to extract was created during Windows 98 Setup and is not located in a Windows 98 cabinet file You specify a path to a shared Windows 98 CD-ROM on a network Resolutions:
Error #1:
In the Restore File dialog box, click Browse, locate and click the folder in which the Windows 98 cabinet files are located, click OK, and then click OK again.
Note: The Windows 98 cabinet files are located in the \Win98 folder on the Windows 98 CD-ROM.
Error #2:
If you need a new copy of a file that was created during Windows 98 Setup, install Windows 98 again. You can install Windows 98 "on-top" of itself (run Setup from MS-DOS), without loosing anything. Some values might be reset to default values however.
The following files are created during Windows 98 Setup and are not located in the Windows 98 cabinet files:
Control.ini Exchange32.ini Msbatch.inf Msmail.ini Msoffice.ini Ndislog.txt Powerpnt.ini Progman.ini Protocol.ini Qtw.ini Ripaux.dll Setup.old Site.ini Telephon.ini Wavemix.ini Wininit.ini Index.dat Mstask.cnt Mstask.hlp Drvidx.bin Mstask.inf Setup.inf Classes.zip Tclasses.zip Computerinfo.ocx Crypt32.dll Icwscrpt.exe Ie32dsw.ocx Ie32dsw.txt Intro.dcr Javaee.dll Javasntx.dll Jsproxy.dll M5drvr32.exe M5drvr32.rst M5if32.dll Mstask.dll Mstask.exe Mstinit.exe Rnaph.dll Selectfiledlg.ocx Swadcmpr.x32 Swastrm.x32 Sysagent.exe Vmm32.vxd Vsrevoke.dll Winoa386.mod Wintrust.hlp Xobglu16.dll Xobglu32.dll

Error #3:
System File Checker does not support extracting files from a Windows 98 CD-ROM shared on a network. For System File Checker to work properly, the Windows 98 files should be shared from a hard disk instead of the CD-ROM.

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Also note that sometimes when you use System File Checker to restore a Windows 98 system file (for example, the Gdi.exe, Krnl386.exe or User.exe file) from a Windows 98 cabinet (.cab) file, the wrong version of the file can be extracted from the Mini.cab cabinet file. This can result in the inability to start Windows 98 or you will receive a Windows Protection Error error messages in normal and Safe mode.
This can occur when System File Checker prompts you to restore a corrupt system file during a scan or when you manually extract and replace a system file.
This problem is documented in Microsoft Knowledge Base Article No. Q192832, which also gives you instructions on how to fix this problem.
This problem was fixed in Windows 98 Second Edition.

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The following Microsoft Knowledge Base Article(s) may be of your assistance:
Q188186 - How the System File Checker Baseline Is Determined Q264865 - System File Checker identified that the following file may be corrupted

Maintenance Wizard The new Maintenance Wizard helps you get the best performance from your system. You can run Maintenance Wizard to make your programs run faster, check your hard disk for problems, and free hard disk space. By scheduling these utilities to run on a regular basis, you can make sure that your computer is performing at its best.

When you start the Maintenance Wizard (Start > Programs > System Tools > Maintenance Wizard), you can choose to use Express (most common tune-up settings) or to use your own Custom settings.
The next screen will ask you for a time to run the Maintenance tasks. It is best to run these tasks at night. Your choices are:
Nights - Midnight to 3.00AM Days - Noon to 3.00PM Evenings - 8.00PM to 11.00PM If you choose the Custom setting, you'll have a custom choice, where you can set the time you want the Maintenance Wizard to run The next screen lets you choose which tasks to perform:
Speed Up Programs (Defrag) Scan Hard Disk for Errors (Scandisk) Delete Unnecessary Files (Disk Cleanup) If you choose Custom settings, you'll have the option of scheduling each task separately. You also have the option to set parameters for each task.

Dr. Watson Windows 98 includes a version of Dr. Watson, the Diagnostics software. However, Dr. Watson is not loaded at default, nor will you find an entry in the place where you would expect it: in the Programs > Accessories > System Tools.
To have Dr. Watson running all the time, create a shortcut in your \Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp folder to the file \Windows\Drwatson.exe. When you restart your PC, you will see the Dr. Watson icon in the System tray (the indented part at the right on your Taskbar).
If you only occasionally want to run Dr. Watson, you can also just type drwatson in the Run > Open dialog box (click Start > Run).
When you double-click this icon, Dr. Watson will create a snapshot of your system, and display any errors it finds.
If you choose View > Advanced View from the menu, you can see some information on the state of your system. Dr. Watson will sow you a Diagnostics, System, Tasks, Startup, Kernel Drivers, User Drivers, MS-DOS Drivers and a 16-bit Modules tab, with all kinds of information.

By default, Dr. Watson starts in Standard view, only showing the Diagnostics tab. If you want to start Dr. Watson in Advanced view by default, select View > Options from the menu, and in the View box, place a check-mark in the Open new windows in Advanced view.
You can save a Snapshot of your system by starting Dr. Watson and when it finishes with the snapshot, choose File > Save from the menu, give the file a name and click Save. To open a saved logfile you can select File > Open Log File... from the menu.
According to the Microsoft Help file, Dr. Watson was included to evaluate problems when you contact Microsoft technical Support for assistance.

Automatic Skip Driver (ASD) identifies potentially dangerous failures that are known to have caused Windows 98 systems to stop responding and marks them so they are bypassed on subsequent startups.
Automatic Skip Driver:
Identifies hardware devices that fail to respond when tested by Windows 98 Displays a dialog box indicating that it has detected a failure that may cause the system to stop responding Prompts you with the option to bypass this action on subsequent startups Note: All devices that have failed to start are listed by ASD. You can enable any device previously disabled by ASD, and Windows 98 will attempt to use the device on the next startup attempt. Click Details to identify the failing device and display a suggested course of action.
To start ASD, go to Start > Run and type ASD in the Open: box.

Version Conflict Manager Sometimes, when installing software, you may have a newer version of a file on your system than the one being installed. Windows 98 Setup automatically installs the (older) Windows 98 file over the newer file and stores the newer version of the file in the \Windows\VCM folder. Those files can be viewed with Version Conflict Manager (VCM).
Note: The determining factor in identifying an older file is the file version, not the file date.
You can use Version Conflict Manager (Vcmui.exe) to restore an application's version of a file. Reinstalling the entire application is no longer necessary.
To launch Version Conflict Manager:
Select Start > Run and type vcmui in the Open: box. Version Conflict Manager displays the file name, the backup date, and the backed- up version of every newer file that was replaced. It also lists the current version being used of the file
When Version Conflict Manager restores an older file, the older file is moved in the \Windows\VCM folder with it's extension changed to .000. You can then use Version Conflict Manager to determine the original configuration.
Restore Full System Backup with the System Recovery Wizard The System Recovery Wizard restores your Windows 98 installation by using a full backup that you previously created with Backup. To be able to use the System Recovery Wizard to restore your Windows 98 installation, you must have a few items available:
A Windows 98 Startup disk A CD-ROM drive supported by the Windows 98 Startup disk Your Windows 98 CD-ROM A backup device connected to your computer A full system backup created with MS Backup You can create a Windows Startup disk from Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs - Startup Disk tab, or use the instructions found on this page, to create a Windows 98 Startup disk with FAT32 support.

To restore Windows 98 on your computer, use the following steps:
Insert your Windows 98 Startup disk into the floppy disk drive, and then start your computer Note: you might need to change a setting in your PC's BIOS to boot from the floppy drive, instead of the hard drive. Consult your PC's manual if you need to do this.

When you boot from the windows 98 Startup disk, the Windows 98 Startup menu will be displayed. From the menu, choose Start Computer With CD-ROM Support At the command prompt, type the following line, pressing the Enter key after each line: : cd tools\sysrec pcrestor
where is the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive
Note: The Pcrestor.bat batch file starts an automatic version of Windows 98 Setup. After Windows 98 Setup is complete, the System Recovery Wizard is automatically started.

After Windows 98 Setup starts, remove the Startup disk from the floppy disk drive In the System Recovery Wizard, click Next Type your name and company name, and then click Next In the System Recovery Wizard, click Finish. The Microsoft Backup Welcome screen appears In the Microsoft Backup dialog box, click Restore Backed Up Files, and then click OK In the Restore Wizard, use the following options when you are prompted: Restore From: Select the location where your backup is stored
Select Backup Sets: Select the most recent full system backup
What To Restore: Click to select the check box next to each local drive
Where To Restore: Click Original Locations
How To Restore: Click Always replace the file on my computer

Click Start to start the restore process Important: You can use these steps only to restore data to the same hardware on which it was backed up. If your computer hardware has changed since the backup was made, you can use these steps to restore your data, but you will need to reinstall all of your Windows-based software after the process is complete.

Windows 98 Resource Kit Sampler The Windows 98 CD-ROM contains some nice goodies, we'll discuss some of them here. First we want to install the Windows 98 Resource Kit Sampler:
Insert the Windows 98 CD in your CD-ROM drive, and from the menu choose Browse This CD Open the folder \tools\reskit and run Setup.exe Follow the prompts to install the Windows 98 Resource Kit Sampler (this requires a maximum of 12MB of free disk space) Note: If you restart your computer after you install the Windows 98 Resource Kit Sampler, and you get a message that Windows 98 can't start because WIN.COM can't be found, edit your autoexec.bat file, and change the PATH= statement to include C:\Windows. You can edit your autoexec.bat by typing \windows\command\edit c:\autoexec.bat at the command prompt.
Setup creates a Windows 98 Resource Kit folder on the Start menu with a shortcut to the Tools Management Console which is used to browse, acquire help on and run the tools. For more information about these utilities, choose the Resource Kit Tools Help shortcut.

Here's a short rundown of the tools included:
Configuration Tools
Code Page Changer (Screen Shot) This tool lets you change the Keyboard/Code Page for MS-DOS mode.

FAT32 Conversion Information Tool (Screen Shot) With this tool you can scan your (FAT16) drives, and it will tell you how much space you will save when you convert to FAT32.

Time Zone Editor (Screen Shot) The Time Zone Editor creates and edits the time zone entries that appear in the Date/Time properties dialog box in the Control Panel.

Deployment Tools
Batch for Windows 98 (Screen Shot) With Batch 98 you can easily create a script (an .inf file) to automate Windows 98 setup. When you install Windows 98, setup consults this file instead of prompting for each piece of information, allowing you to install Windows 98 virtually unattended and at full speed.

Windows 98 INF Installer Windows 98 INF Installer allows you to add new software components or hardware drivers to the Windows 98 Setup program at installation point.

Desktop Tools
Link Check Wizard (Screen Shot) The Link Check Wizard scans all of the link (*.lnk) files on your system. If the associated application or document for a link is not found, the Wizard will list that link file as a "Dead Link", giving you the option to remove it.

ClipTray (Screen Shot) ClipTray is a small, simple program that places an icon on the System Tray. When you right-click on the icon, it brings up a menu containing titles of ClipTray Entries that are available in a central text file. Clicking on the ClipTray Entry you wish to use will place it into the Windows clipboard, ready for pasting into any program.

Image Editor Edits Icon and Cursor files.

Minitel TTF Files Two font files to provide the styles required by the HyperTerminal application to emulate the look and feel of Mintel terminals. Arial Alternative is the only font that contains these graphic characters.

QuickTray With QuickTray you can add your favorite programs, documents, URLs, or other resources in the system tray of your Windows 98 desktop.

Diagnostics and Trouble-shooting
Microsoft File Information (Screen Shot) Microsoft File Information provides information about virtually every file that is included with Windows 98 and Internet Explorer 4.0, including file sizes, dates, installed location, CAB file location, and a short description of each file.

USB Viewer (Screen Shot) USB Viewer is a tool for developers, support personnel, and others who need to view and troubleshoot Universal Serial Bus (USB) device configuration settings. USB Viewer works by pulling information from the USB hub driver(s) on your system.

File Tools
Long Filename Backup Utility The Long Filename Backup Utility is a command-line tool that removes and restores long filenames from files on a disk or directory. In special cases, you might need to run backup or disk management utilities created for older versions of Windows or MS-DOS that are not compatible with the extended file system capabilities of Windows 98. Or you might occasionally need to run an application that is not compatible with long filenames. In such cases, you can use the Long Filename Backup Utility utility to make your Windows 98 disks and directories backwards-compatible.
WARNING The Long Filename Backup Utility utility is intended for use only by experienced Windows 98 users. The improper use of this utility can cause serious damage to your Windows installation, including disabling the shell.

Text File Viewer (Screen Shot) TextViewer provides a graphical interface for quickly viewing text files on local or shared drives.

Where Where is a command-line utility that can be used to locate files on the hard disk or the network. Where can execute recursive searches, can display file information such as date, size, or execuTABLE type, and can accept environmental variables in place of paths.

WinDiff WinDiff shows the differences between specified ASCII text files or folders of ASCII text files. This is particularly useful for program source code. The display either shows a summary of the comparison status of a list of files (outline mode) or a detailed line-by-line comparison of one of the files (expanded mode).

Network Administration Tools The utilities in the Network Administration Tools category are not installed with the Windows 98 Resource Kit standard installation. These tools require a separate setup procedure.

Network Monitor Network Monitor agent and protocol driver allow network administrators to look at the details of network packets, perform remote captures on a packet anywhere on the network, and gather network statistics about a group of client computers running Windows 98.

Password List Editor (Screen Shot) With Password List Editor you can remove entries from a Windows 98 password list file.

System Policy Editor The System Policy Editor sets administrative policies to define configuration settings for individual users, individual computers, or groups of users.

Remote Registry Service The Remote Registry Service is an application that allows administrators to view and edit the Registry on a remote computer running Windows 98 over a network.

Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Print Provider The Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Print Provider allows Windows 98 clients to administer printer queues on Windows NT Networks.

SNMP Agent SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) Agent allows Windows 98 machines to communicate on SNMP networks.

Scripting Tools
TimeThis TimeThis times how long it takes the system to execute a given command.

Waitfor This command-line tool waits until a signal is given across the network. Multiple machines can wait for the same signal.

Winset Command-line tool that sets or removes environment variables in Windows 98 from either the command line or a batch file. It differs from the MS-DOS Set command in that it operates on the Windows global environment.

Quick Restart of Windows 98 Click on Start > Shut Down Select Restart Click OK while holding down the Shift key Windows will now restart without executing a complete warm boot.

Contents of the Msdos.sys file For an explanation of the Msdos.sys file, and it's contents, see Microsoft's Knowledge Base Article No. Q118579

Show all files By default, Windows 98 does not show hidden or system files. Also file types which are registered with the system (i.e. there is a program associated with the file type), are shown without extension when you view your files in Windows Explorer.
To see all files:
Open Windows Explorer, and select Folder Options from the View Menu Click on the View tab, go to the Hidden Files header and choose Show all files, and press Apply

To see your file extensions for all files, make sure that the check-box for Hide file extensions for known file types is unchecked

Print Screen with Windows 98 When you press the Print Screen button on your keyboard while you're in Windows 98, your screen is copied to the clipboard. Now start the Paint program (click Start > Programs > Accessories > Paint) and from the Edit menu select Paste. Now you can print your screen.
If you only want to print an open window, and not the whole screen, hit Alt+Print Screen.

Viewing IRQ's, I/O, DMA and Memory usage Right Click on My Computer Select Properties Select the Device Manager tab Double Click on Computer Here you van see the IRQ's, I/O, DMA and Memory usage of your hardware

Quickly Open Device Manager The Device Manager is an important Windows tool. When you use it, you can see all the devices which are attached to your computer. You can also see if there is a problem with a device, as Windows will display a warning icon next to it's icon. You can access the Device Manager through the Control Panel, or My Computer, but this is a faster way:
Right-click the Start button, and from the context menu select Explore Right-click an empty space in the right-hand pane, select New > Shortcut from the context menu In the field labeled Command Line, type:
To make it more easy for you to copy/paste, we've put the string in a text box.
(replace C:\Windows\ with your Windows directory, if you installed it in a different directory)

Click Next, type Device Manager when prompted for the name of this shortcut, and click Finish This will place a shortcut to the Device Manager in your Start menu Note: If you have a "Microsoft Natural Keyboard" or any other keyboard with the special Windows keys, you can access the Device Manager directly by pressing the + Pause/Break key.

Print Configuration Summary To print a copy of your system configuration summary, double-click the System icon in the Control Panel, click the Device Manager tab, click Computer and then click Print, select the type of report you want and click Print.
You can also "print" this information to a text file. First we need to add a Generic/Text only printer:
Select Start > Settings > Printers Double-click the Add Printer icon Click Next When you are prompted How is this printer attached to your computer? select Local Printer and then click Next In the Add Printer Wizard window, select Generic from the Manufacturers box. In the Printers box, select Generic/Text Only, and then click Next In the Available Ports box, click FILE, and then click Next On the next screen you can give this "Printer" a name, and select No under the Do you want your Windows-based programs to use this printer as the default printer? question. Click Next When you are prompted Would you like to print a test page? click No and then click the Finish button To print the contents of Device Manager to a file, follow these steps:
Click the Print button in Device Manager In the Report Type box, click the option button for the report you want Note: To print the Selected Class Or Device report, you must first click the class or device you want on the Device Manager Tab

Click the Setup button In the Specific Printer box, click Generic/Text Only On FILE, and then click the OK button Click OK again In the File Name box, type the name you want to use for the file, select a location where you want to save it, and click OK To view the report, you can "send" it to Notepad. For more information see Adding Notepad to Send To.

Log File Viewer Ever noticed that there are a number of things in Windows that allow you to create a log file? Interestingly, finding the log file after it is created is a hassle.
Microsoft created a utility called Logview for use with Windows 95, but it works equally with Windows 98. You can also download Logview from Microsoft [24KB].
After downloading place the file Logvu.exe in an empty folder, and double click it to extract. You can place a shortcut to Logview.exe on your Desktop, or on the Quick Launch Toolbar.

Moving and Re-sizing the Taskbar You can move the Taskbar by pointing on a corner panel and dragging it in the place where you want it.
You can also re-size it by moving the mouse to the edge and dragging it higher or lower.

Line up your Icons You can 'snap' your Icons to a grid. Right click the Desktop, and from the menu that pops-up, click Line Up Icons. It just lines them up...how about that!

Go to a Folder Quickly If you have a folder buried deep inside a tree, but you know it's name, here is how to go to that folder Quickly:
Press Start, select Run In the Open: box type the name of the Folder Press OK Note I: If there is a space in the Folder name, enclose the name with " ".
Note II: If the folder is not on your C:\ drive, include the Drive letter followed by a column (:) sign (drive:\foldername).

Changing the Location of Win98 Installation Files If you've added a new drive to your system, chances are that your CD-ROM drive got a new drive letter. Now every time you need to update some Windows files, you have to tell the Windows 98 Installer where to find the Win98 CD-ROM. Here is how to change the location where Windows looks for it's files:
Start the Registry Editor Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \CurrentVersion \ Setup In the right-hand pane find the SourcePath key Double-click this key and change the location for your Windows 98 files Close the registry editor You can also use my Tweaking Toolbox for Windows, one of it's functions is to change the location of the Windows installation files.
For more information & free download, check the link on our home page.