Hi there!

I've been having a awesome time running MS-DOS 6.22 (and other operating systems) in the DOS Multiboot virtual machine (Virtual PC 2007). The guest machine loads the MS-DOS 6 Shell at startup and I have configured a awful lot of software to launch on that OS.

The problem is that the boot drive where MS-DOS 6.22 resides has nearly 10,000 files and 450+ directories (I'm pretty luck to see that MS-DOS Shell is capable of reading up to 65,535 files before wrapping back at zero), I get this error message when attempting to view the files on the boot drive itself:

Have you ever run into this issue when you have several thousands of files totaling hundreds of megabytes of used disk space on the drive alone? Is this a bug with the MS-DOS/PC-DOS Shell and it is unable to search so many files that it can find? Can this issue be corrected by the way even with 64 MB of usable memory installed?

Hello everyone, i've got a very persistent problem. My screen randomly goes into something like screensavermode then system is hanging and i have to restart. (Screensaver is disabled as well as turn off monitor and turn off HDD settings).

When i immediately restart without waiting around 10 minutes, then screen has a blackout before desktop loads, after the windows startup menu - this is a pattern that repeats. However everything worked fine before i installed the NVIDIA display driver which means that my hardware ain't failing. I oftenly get an error before desktop icons appear it says how something is wrong with my display settings and/or display adapter and then switches to lowest resolution and colour depth and i have to switch it by hand to the real values. I went to Device Manager to find all works fine. Then it works for a while and a blackout happens. This is going on almost 2 months. I wanted to fix it myself so i gathered data and patterns on how that happens. I checked all hardware for damage, leaky or bulging capacitors, but all is fine. I think that A FIX IS NEAR but i can't figure it on my own.

Things i've tried and didn't work:

1. Installed MSD ran it from pure DOS, wrote down and excluded memoryadresses in CONFIG.SYS and then in SYSTEM.INI. (Video and all other ROM).

2. Disabled all memory.

3. Downloaded Maximus Decim's NVIDIA Driver (latest) this driver has sameissues and also screen resolution couldn't be set to 1024x768 (Monitor Default).

So i returned to my Forceware 81.98 driver. (Resolution has nothing to do with blackouts).

4. Removed Silicon Image Sil 3112A PCI to SATA Adapter. Also i changed the slot.

5. Installed Windows 98 SE on another Hard Drive, it WORKED FINE UNTILL I ADDED NVIDIA DISPLAY DRIVER this time Maximus Decim's release. Then the random blackouts started. Just like with Forceware 81.98 version.

6. Booted into safe mode, blackouts are back.

7. Ran MEMTEST BOOTABLE CD FOR 10 Hours MORE THAN ONCE. NEVER A SINGLE ERROR. 

8. Installed Q926247 (Memory Corruption Fix) After installing this, i noticed 2 things: Slow boot time. And it asked me to add more STACKS IN CONFIG.SYS. Also Since i installed Q926247, I GOT EVEN MORE BLACKOUTS AND RANDOM FREEZING.

9. Downloaded and installed RLOEW'S KERNEL32.DLL (Replaced them from pure DOS). When i restarted a Windows protection error showed up. I restarted again. Same thing. I had something urgent so i went away. After 1 hour i switched PC on, same thing. I removed KERNEL32.DLL from DOS and put back the original one. Protection error was gone and blackouts are back as usual.

Later that day i tried RLOEW'S KERNEL32.DLL on Intel  motherboard with Pentium 2, it works fine.

10. Took the PC apart, cleaned all parts, reinstalled them back in.

NOTE: THESE CONFIG.SYS AND SYSTEM.INI ARE IN USE FOR TROUBLESHOOTING PURPOSE. SHOWN BELOW ARE THE LATEST CHANGES I MADE TO THEM. My NORMAL files have more lines in them. CLICK "Reveal hidden contents" to see the whole text.

Does anyone know of a solution to this issue? My Dell Latitude D600 lacks a ps2 port for any ps2 mice which results in system hang if I forget to unplug my usb mouse. Tested with both Windows 98SE and ME.

What causes this to happen?

Notice: This thread has been reorganized to enhance its reference value, so that the Links Index is now here on post #1.

If you want the User's Configurations List itself, it is now located on post #2, below.

====================================================

All MSFN threads relevant to running Win 9x/ME with more than 1 GiB RAM:

====================================================

• Win9x: More than 512 MB of RAM? (obsolete, link provided in view of historic value only)
• 512 RAM, Can I install more than 512 MB of RAM? (obsolete, has only historical value)
• 512 MB RAM and above?, Myth or Fact? (relevant only from tscharlii's post #20 onwards)
• "Not Enough Memory" error discussion, Possible fix found...
• Puzzling Registry Size Issue
• VCACHE fix attempt
• Help I need to Get 2GB installed RAM working in Win98SE
• Windows 98SE 2GB RAM Out of memory when opening DOS command prompt
• 1.5GB and some trouble with them..., another few bugs discovered and descripted
• How to install Windows 98 in modern motherboards using more than 1 GB (Tutorial)
• Is this Win98SE patch for 4GB use a scam?
• Okay, I have win98se working mostly great on a 2GB P4
• Problem reinstalling me/xp
• Physical Adress Extension and Windows 9x
• Guide to running Me above RAM memory limit?
• Windows 95 2.1GHz CPU Limit BROKEN!
• Optimal Swap file size, etc.
• Unusual memory issue
• More than 1 GiB in Win9x safe mode? (*Do read this:* it's Usher's Method)
• Using more than 512mb ram Update Fix?

=================================

Noteworthy specific posts inside MSFN threads:

=================================

Igor Leyko's Article (in English, translated by GreyPhound) and also Igor Leyko's Article (in Russian, the original text)

cluberti on 32bit Windows not seeing all 4GB of RAM

dencorso on how to remove ACPI and APM

diskless on the relationship among XMSDSK, MaxFileCache and the number of simultaneous DOS boxes

xRayeR on HIMEMX and xRayeR on accessing Safe Mode with more than 1 GiB RAM

RLoew on XMSDSK's limitations (I) and (II), RLoew on HIMEMX's limitations and RLoew on SwapFile limitations (I) and (II) *Do read these 5 linked posts!*

Multibooter on software which is buggy/unreliable with 2GB RAM *Do read this!*

Offler on MaxPhysPage

Dave-H on solving the Registry Size Limitation Issue using the RAM Limitation Patch v. 6.0

dencorso on ramdisk performance tests

Usher on accessing Safe Mode without any patched files with more than 1 GiB RAM

============================

Landmark thread elsewhere from 2005:

============================

Andrew Aronoff's (13 May 2005 02:11 GMT): Post #5, in "Can't start up with 2 GB RAM".
First known report of successfully running Win 98SE with 2 GiB RAM!
Alternate link for full thread at: GNT. Attached is a .pdf version of it, too.

==================================================

MSKB articles relevant to running Win 9x/ME with more than 1 GiB RAM:

==================================================

Q108079 - 32-Bit File Access Maximum Cache Size

Q125691 - INFO: Overview of the Windows 95 Virtual Address Space Layout

Q181594 - Windows 95 Can Access Up to Two GB of RAM **

Q181862 - Specifying Amount of RAM Available to Windows Using MaxPhysPage

Q181966 - System Configuration Utility Advanced Troubleshooting Settings

Q184447 - Error Message: Insufficient Memory to Initialize Windows

Q223294 - INFO: The Windows 98 PageFile_Call_Async_Manager Service

Q253912 - "Out of Memory" Error Messages with Large Amounts of RAM Installed

Q304943 - Computer May Reboot Continuously with More Than 1.5 GB of RAM *

Q311871 - A blue screen appears when you start a computer with 1 GB or more of RAM *

* These latter two articles are misleading in that they include the statement: "Windows Me and Windows 98 are not designed to handle more than 1 GB of RAM", which simply is not true. Q311871 is included here just for the sake of completeness, and ought to be disregarded, as Igor Leyko, in 2005, had already pointed out.

** Likewise Q181594 is also misleading (see this post) and is included here just for the sake of completeness, since it gives the impression that Win 95 can use more than 1 GiB of RAM without any patching, which is not true.

==================================================

Software files relevant to running Win 9x/ME with more than 1 GiB RAM:

==================================================

LAST - FREE - Frank Uberto's XMSDSK v. 1.9I Ramdrive (direct download)

ONGD - FREE - Japheth's HIMEMX.EXE Homepage

LAST - FREE - Japheth's excellent VWin32 Memory Monitor Homepage (direct download)

ONGD - $$$$ - RLoew's Software Homepage, where one finds the RAM Limitation Patch

and the (beta) RAMDISKs, among other useful and unique software.

ONGD - FREE - Xeno86's modified VCACHE.VXD

====================================================

Maximum_Number_of_MS_DOS_Boxes.PDF

Igor_Leyko_Figs.7z

xRayeR_IO.SYS_Patcher.7z

Andrew_Aronoff_Cannot_start_up_with_2_GB_RAM.pdf

My step-cousins needed a PC to play some old games on, so I am fixing a Windows 95 era PC with a Pentium 1 133 MHZ.

What OS should I put on it? It can run Win98 SE, it has 64 MB of RAM. 

Hi, I need a lot of help. The only computers I have used are at library's. I just got a

very old one that had no hard drive but it did have a CD of Windows 98 SE. I know from

surfing around that the first thing I have to do is put in a firewall (ZoneAlarm free??)

and then get all of the updates. After that the usual anti-virus, trojan killer, ad killer,

etc.... But what I don't know is where to go and what to download and in what order to

install the 98 SE updates.

Also, exactly where can I find all of the updates put out since

Microsoft stopped doing it that will bring 98 SE's security up to date?

Also, should I stay with Internet Explorer 5 or use 6 or just use Firefox?

Thanks for any help you can be.

If you're using PC virtualisations such as Virtual PC, VMWare Player/Workstation, Microsoft has a tiny utility for MS-DOS called IDLE. I'm gonna tell you why you shouldn't use that utility if you have a mouse installed.

It's only bytes in 128 bytes size and it's only meant to slow reduce CPU utilitisation of the first core, because DOS does not properly utilise the HLT command thus always consuming 100% of the CPU. However, when you run DOS-based programmes and have the following:

1. The IDLE driver installed.

2. A compatible mouse driver installed.

3. Move the mouse around and type random keys.

The mouse acts and jumps around erratically even if you barely move the mouse! The only way to fix this is to uninstall and reload the mouse driver.

To prevent this from happening, get rid of the IDLE utility and use the FreeDOS APM driver, aka FDAPM (7.3 KB) and type FDAPM ADV:REG at the command prompt. The utility takes only 928 bytes of base memory.

I'm wondering if using FDAPM will have a negative effect on some DOS software or not.

Thoughts?

Contents

1. Introduction

2. System requirements

3. Recommended software

4. Virtual Machine settings

5. Required command

6. Installation sequence

7. File Associations

8. Usability tips

9. VirtualBox 5.0.x

10. Useful websites

11. Other driver options

12. Other virtualization options

1. Introduction

There are quite a few guides out there on how to install Windows 98se in VirtualBox, this one differs in the following ways

• Level of detail - for instance this guide takes you step by step through installing the video driver, the other guides I've seen only give a general outline
• Installed software - once you finish you will have a fully updated system with a basic software loadout and some important runtimes

VirtualBox 4.3.x plus extension pack, not v5.0.x

Host CPU must be capable of and have hardware virtualization enabled (VT-x/AMD-V)

Guest Base and Video memory allocations are quite generous and can be cut in half if desired

The install has been tested in Windows and Linux (obviously not all versions thereof) but not OSX

3. Recommended software

Note on colour codes shown below (en-GB versions of Firefox and Open Office in archives and torent):

@ means that the file is available in the small patches archive and as a part of the torent.

# means that the file is available in the medium patches archive and as a part of the torent.

% means that the file is available in the slow (4KB/s) torent.

Create a CD image file containing the following software (size given includes dependencies):

@ The extracted config and batch files from this post's attachment Win98se_Config_Files.7z

% Auto-Patcher December 2007 Full 331MB - MSFN topic

% Auto-Patcher December 2008 Upgrade - download

@ sdd-win-7.0.0.340-beta.exe 11MB - SciTech Display Doctor

@ KernelEx-4.5.2.exe - compatibility layer to run XP programs

@ GDIplus.dll - 5.1.3102.5581, needed by SumatraPDF and some other applications

@ flashplayer10_3r183_90_winax.exe 3MB - Flash for IE, extracted from fp_10.3.183.90_archive.zip, last version to work

@ msxml4-KB2758694-enu.exe 2MB - Microsoft XML 4.0 SP3, extract msxml.msi and save that to the CD

@ vcredist_x86.exe 3MB - Visual C++ 2005 SP1 KB2538242

# dotnetfx.exe 55MB - .Net Framework 1.1 RtM

@ NDP1.1sp1-KB867460-X86.exe - SP1 for .Net 1.1

@ NDP1.1sp1-KB971108-X86.exe - .Net hotfix

# NDP1.1sp1-KB2833941-X86.exe - .Net hotfix

@ 7z920.msi 1MB - 7-Zip file archiver, make sure you get the .msi version

# Firefox Setup 10.0.12esr.exe 19MB - a bit twitchy, last version to work

@ install_flash_player_32bit.exe - 11.1.102.63, last version to work

@ PlainOldFavorites_1.3.1.xpi - needed to create bookmarks

# jre-6u22-windows-i586.exe 15MB - Java runtime environment, last version to work

% Open Office 3.2.1 - United States - Great Britain - Other 127MB - needs Java, last version to work

@ SumatraPDF-2.2.1-install.exe 6MB - last version to work

@ Any old .pdf file to register the file association

# klmcodec345.exe 26MB - K-Lite Mega Codec Pack, last version to work

@ quicktimealt156.exe QuickTime Alternative, last version to work

4. Virtual Machine settings

Create a new virtual machine named "Win 98se" with (preferred but optional) 512MB of RAM and an 8GB or larger hard drive (fixed size drives are usually faster) then adjust the VM settings to match as closely as possible the list given below. The changes from default settings are in bold, if an item is mentioned then its matching box is ticked.

• General
  • Basic
    • Name: Win 98se
    • Type: Microsoft Windows
    • Version: Windows 98
  • Advanced
    • Snapshot Folder: Default Setting
    • Shared Clipboard: Disabled
    • Drag'n'Drop: Disabled
    • Removeable Media: Remember Runtime Changes
    • Mini Toolbar: Show in Fullscreen/Seamless & Show at Top of Screen
• System
  • Motherboard
    • Base Memory: 512MB
    • Boot Order: CD/DVD then Hard Disk
    • Chipset: PIIX3
    • Pointing Device: USB Tablet
    • Extended Features: Enable I/O APIC (only)
  • Processor
    • Processor(s): 1 CPU
    • Execution Cap: 100%
    • Extended Features: Enable PAE/NX
  • Acceleration
    • Hardware Virtualization: Enable VT-x/AMD-V & Enable Nested Paging
• Display
  • Video
    • Video Memory: 64MB
    • Monitor Count: 1
    • Extended Features: Enable 3D Acceleration & Enable 2D Video Acceleration
  • Remote Display
    • Not Enabled
  • Video Capture
    • Not Enabled
• Storage
  • Floppy Controller
    • Type: I82078 - Use Host I/O Cache
    • Floppy Drive: Floppy Device 0
  • IDE Controller
    • Type: PIIX4 - Use Host I/O Cache
  • Win98se.vdi - 8+ GB Fixed
    • Hard Disk: IDE Primary Master
  • Win98se Install CD
    • CD/DVD Drive: IDE Secondary Master
  • Win98se Updates CD
    • CD/DVD Drive: IDE Secondary Slave
• Audio
  • Enable Audio
    • Host Audio Driver: Windows DirectSound or Linux equivalent
    • Audio Controller: SoundBlaster 16
• Network
  • Adapter 1
    • Enable Network Adapter
    • Attached to: Bridged Adapter
    • Name: {system specific}
    • Adapter Type: PCnet-PCI II (Am79C970A)
    • Promiscuous Mode: Deny
    • MAC Address: {randomly generated}
    • Cable Connected
  • Adapters 2-4
    • Not Enabled
• Serial Ports
  • Ports 1-2
    • Not Enabled
• USB
  • Enable USB Controller
    • Enable 2.0 (EHCI) USB Controller
• Shared Folders
  • Machine Folders

After creating your virtual machine and applying all the settings but before starting it up exit VirtualBox and run the following terminal command in the same user account, it does not require admin privileges (replace "Win 98se" with the name of your virtual machine if you changed it)

Windows

"%ProgramFiles%\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" setextradata "Win 98se" VBoxInternal/USB/HidMouse/0/Config/CoordShift 0

VBoxManage setextradata "Win 98se" VBoxInternal/USB/HidMouse/0/Config/CoordShift 0

6. Installation sequence

As Windows 98se can be more than a bit unstable I recommend saving your image at various points, just chose to "restart later" and shutdown instead of restarting then take a snapshot of the virtual hard drive before proceeding

I've given the time taken for some processes on my system (with the AntiVirus turned off) if you want to take a break while they run

Optional steps are described in green

Start Windows 98 Setup and configure the hard drive (enable large disk support)

Start computer with CD-ROM support then enter the following commands

• D:
• CD Win98
• Format C: /V:Win98se
• Setup /p j (there is a space between /p and j)

Setup will hang on the first reboot after entering the license code, just force a restart

Setup will BSoD on the second reboot, press any key to continue

Switch to Windows Logon (Network Neighborhood >> Properties >> Configuration) - save point 1

Set Virtual Memory to 1GB (My Computer >> Properties >> Performance)

Auto-Patcher December 2007 Full (install only)

Auto-Patcher December 2008 Upgrade (install and run)

Enter the following key sequence - M N U 5 1 3 7 B P S I I (35 minutes)

sdd-win-7.0.0.340-beta.exe (SciTech Display Doctor)

• Install and reboot - save point 2
• Register and reboot
• Choose Monitor Model - (Standard monitor types) - Super VGA 1600x1200
• Click Display Driver then change Active Driver to SciTech Nucleus Driver and reboot
• Change Display Properties - Settings to 256 Colors - 1024 by 768 pixels and reboot
• Windows will hang on startup, force a restart in normal mode
• Change Display Settings to True Color (32 bit) and either 1152x864 or 1280x1024 pixels
• Run the Optimize Wizard - Keep Current Mode - Continue Without Centering
• Run MSconfig and disable "Check for SDD updates" on the Startup tab and reboot - save point 3

Network Setup Wizard (Accessories >> System Tools, cable must be connected, keep files x3)

Internet Connection Wizard (Accessories >> Communications, connect via LAN)

Lock down Internet zones (Internet & Restricted to High, others to Medium)

KernelEx-4.5.2.exe (compatibility layer to run XP programs)- save point 4

Run1X.bat (& Run2X.bat) where X is your CD drive - installs the following, reboots on completion (10 minutes)

• Copy GDIplus.dll (5.1.3102.5581) to C:\Windows
• flashplayer10_3r183_90_winax.exe (flash player for I.E.)
• msxml.msi (MSXML 4.0 SP3 - extracted from msxml4-KB2758694-enu.exe)
• vcredist_x86.exe (Visual C++ 2005 SP1 KB2538242)
• dotnetfx.exe (.NET Framework 1.1 RtM)
• NDP1.1sp1-KB867460-X86.exe (Service Pack 1)
• NDP1.1sp1-KB971108-X86.exe (hotfix)
• NDP1.1sp1-KB2833941-X86.exe (hotfix)
• reboot and autostart Run2X.bat
• extract OOo_3.2.1_Win_x86_install_en-**.exe (Open Office)
• 7z920.msi (7-Zip file archiver)
• Firefox Setup 10.0.12esr.exe (KernelEx - XP SP2)
• install_flash_player_32bit.exe (flash player for Firefox)
• jre-6u22-windows-i586.exe (Java Runtime Enviroment)
• install openofficeorg32.msi
• SumatraPDF-2.2.1-install.exe
• klmcodec345.exe (K-Lite Mega Codec)
• quicktimealt156.exe (QuickTime Alternative)
• Set Firefox as the default web browser

Restart Firefox three times to enable Plain Old Favourites

Open a .pdf file in Windows Explorer and link it to C:\SumatraPDF\SumatraPDF.exe

DeFrag & Error Check

All done

7. File Associations

To register the file associations

• 7-Zip: Open 7-Zip and it's under Tools >> Options >> System (clear the email options on the 7-Zip tab)
• K-Lite Mega Codec: Open Media Player Classic and it's under View >> Options >> Player >> Formats
• SumatraPDF: Open a .pdf file in Windows Explorer and link it to C:\SumatraPDF\SumatraPDF.exe
• Open Office: The easiest reset method is to uninstall Open Office, reboot and then reinstall Open Office with the command [C:\Windows\System\msiexec.exe /I C:\OpenOffice3\openofficeorg32.msi REGISTER_ALL_MSO_TYPES=1 /Qb] or for individual file types you can open the file in Windows Explorer (shift-right-click if already linked) and link it to C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org 3\Program\[word=swriter|excel=scalc|powerpoint=simpress] and then edit the file type (Tools >> Folder Options) adding [ -o "%1"] to the end of the open command

"C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org 3\program\swriter.exe" -o "%1""C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org 3\program\scalc.exe" -o "%1""C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org 3\program\simpress.exe" -o "%1""C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org 3\program\sbase.exe" -o "%1""C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org 3\program\smath.exe" -o "%1""C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org 3\program\sdraw.exe" -o "%1"

8. Usability tips

Some games can have trouble with the mouse, if so try turning mouse integration off

Some games require that the install CD be in the drive, if so connect to a physical (or advanced virtual - Windows, Linux) drive and enable passthrough

You don't have the ability to switch to a true full screen mode so you will have to adjust the host's resolution to close to that of the guest

The supported modes are 640x480 800x600 1024x768 1152x864 1280x1024 1600x1200

Try to match the vertical resolution as closely as possible while maintaining your monitor's aspect ratio, full screen mode will save you about 120 pixels

9. VirtualBox 5.0.x

Once Windows 98se is installed you can "upgrade" VirtualBox to version 5.0.14 or later (on 5.0.12 and earlier Win 98se would only boot successfully about a third of the time)

To ensure your copy of Win98se on VBox 5.0.12- always boots successfully you must disable hardware virtualization but that will result in the VM being painfully slow with stuttering audio

10. Useful websites

KernelEx wiki (application compatibility database)

Auto-Patcher MSFN topic

Main install guide used

11. Other driver options AKA wet bear (all in the small patches archive)

The "Setup /p j" command is used to force ACPI support (item 1) on installation, the other method commonly used is to install Rain 2.0, that should not be necessary in this case but if you are getting 100% CPU load from the VM even when it is sitting idle you could try it

SciTech Display Doctor was released for free (item 2) when the company went out of business, but if you don't feel comfortable using it or want to try something different you can install the Bear Universal VESA/VBE Video Display Driver using the one in the VBE9X\UNI folder (install tips)

You can use the Intel PRO/1000 MT Desktop (82540EM) network adapter as drivers are available, however it won't increase your network speed as VirtualBox will push data through the virtual interface at the highest speed your physical network will support, also don't change to it until after you've run the Network Setup Wizard

To use AC97 audio download the Realtek AC97 Windows 95 driver (not the 98se one) then extract it and use the device manager to install it

12. Other virtualization options

There are two other free virtualization options available, however VirtualBox with SciTech has better graphics performance for gaming

In both cases install the VM drivers after running the Auto-Patcher (at the same point you'd install SciTech on VirtualBox)

If you are using Microsoft Windows 7 (32 or 64 bit) or earlier you can use MS Virtual PC 2007 which has full VM driver support for Windows 98se

However you can't also install Windows Virtual PC which means you won't have access to Windows XP mode (only available in Windows 7 Professional & Ultimate anyway)

MS Virtual PC 2007 emulates a 1995 vintage 4MB 2D S3 Trio32/64 PCI (732/764) graphics adapter

Install MS Virtual PC 2007 in the following order

• Virtual PC 2007 SP1
• Hotfix rollup
• Security update

VMware Player uses a custom SVGA implementation but it lacks acceleration, also the VM driver installation is buggy

Install VMware drivers in the following order

• Install VMware Tools (Player >> Manage), the mouse driver will fail
• Manually install the PS/2 mouse driver via the device manager, inf file at "C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\Drivers\mouse"
• Install the audio driver

512mb ram and ACPI installed.  ICH7

I've had Win98SE installation success as I stated in the "slipstreamable Intel infs" topic.  It's proved  a great laptop for browsing and youtube.  But I soon discovered it is crippled when it comes to graphics performance and DVD watching.  3DMark03 shows frame rates are 28fps on first game and 1-3 fps on all the others which is at least 10 times less than expected.  DVD watching is like 'plug and pray' as the video will play for a few seconds and then turn to what looks like a barber's pole or freeze system.  

A couple of settings:  I'm using NV8269 video driver which after installing I realized I needed to set the NV PowerMizer to maximum power savings or screen would cut out, go black, and come back on especially when accessing a USB drive (as this requires more power).  It needed Rlowe's memory patch with /m option to get it to load completely to Windows-otherwise it would freeze with a black screen about the time you'd expect to see the mouse pointer.  And adding the split8mb option would freeze it too.   

I've seached for tweaking tips and made a few changes to system.ini hoping it would help
[vcache]
MinFileCache=262144
MaxFileCache=262144
Chunksize=512
 
Which seemed to buy me a couple more minutes of DVD watching before it would freeze or stutter.

Anyone else have this kind of thing happen with NV8269 and ICH7?

Anyone have any suggestions?

I have a Windows 98 computer (Would like to upgrade it though.  More on that later).

I upgraded the power supply from a 250W to a 400W.  WOuld tht be too much?

Here is my current setup:

Shuttle MV25 motherboard with a 1Ghz Intel Celeron processor and 512MB of RAM (Max memory for this motherboard)

The hard drive is 40GB and I have 2 DVD-ROM drives installed.  Okay that mimght be much but I have my reasons (illogical maybe )

I upgraded the video card because the onboard wasn't up to par for runnin DirectX 9 games or anything needing accelerated graphics.

The new video card is an nvidia GeForce FX 5200 PCI with 128MB of memory.

Onboard sound was nice even has support (in BIOS even) for Legacy Sound Blaster support.  I upgraded to a Sound Blaster Live because although I could use SB in DOS with the onboard I couldn't have MIDI sound workin.  MIDI playback (for me) is a MUST.

Another upgrade was a 5port USB 2.0 PCI card.  There are only 2 USB ports (I assume USB 1.0) onboard and that for me was annoying.

Here is another (possibly considered unecessary addition) The USB card has 4 USB on the outside and 1 internal.  For the internal I put in a 128GB USB stick to have for extra room, backups and other stuff.  It works flawlessly in both DOS and Windows 98.

With all the upgrades I have done, is the 400W power supply good to have or overkill?  Also the upgrades, good or bad?  I am lookin for opinions.

Around here it is difficult to find a Windows 98 compatible system and would like to have a more powerful system because although 98 runs great on my current system, the graphics (even with the great nvidia card installed) is still a bit sluggish.  Can anyone recomend a motherboard I can buy that would be good for runnin Windows 98 on?

I really have no cares for what people say about WIn 98 bein old/outdated/useless/etc.  It will ALWAYS be my joy and as long as it is possible I will keep one around and use.

Thank y'all in advance.

I been working on a retro Win9X gaming build for quite some time now and I finally got a reasonable build that can work with all the games I used to play back in the day, How ever I've run into a few problems with the setup, most of which I can deal with for now, but there's a major design flaw it seems.

A lot of my games use the old midi format for music (as most did in the 90) so having a Soundblaster (or any sound card for that matter) is a must. Lot of my more recent Win 9x games also use Wav, Mp3, etc for sound as well and since I have a old stereo as my speakers I naturally want the best sound played through it so an old sound card doesn't cut it that well in my opinion.

To make a long story short, I settled on a CT 4520 I freely got from an trashed Celeron system and a CT 4830 I bought for the build awhile back.

Everything was fine until I installed Windows ME, then the problem arose.

1. The CT 4830 (SoundBlaster Live!) COMPLETELY freezes the entire system after playing sound or even doing nothing for awhile, though outside of that it works perfectly fine. I have tried the CT 4830 on many Win ME systems and the problem occurs there as well unfortunately, so I assume it's the card or the OS and not the PC it's self at least.

2. The CT 4520 (AWE 64 Value) has a precise repeating clicking/popping noise at all times when not using the midi synth. Also it can't play ANY digital sound (like Wav, Mp3, etc.) at all in Windows Me. Thankfully the midi synth is 100% ok which is my only real reason for keeping the card in the first place for that AWEsome (Sorry had to write that! XD) late 90's synth.

I've already determined that having both sound cards in at the same time is perfectly fine, but the CT 4830 is the biggest problem as even when it's the only card installed it still freezes.

I really wish that I could get the setup working with this configuration, but if not I do have 2 (maybe 3) other older model sound cards I could try instead.

Thanks for your help. (NOTE: I'll be out of town from Aug. 4th till the 26th so I won't be able to test anything until I get back, but please keep sending suggestions to fix it during my trip. ^_^)

Also here's the detailed specs for my build in case it helps.

MOBO: Techram P6Pro-A+ (Btw, if you know what drivers this board needs that would help as I can't find much info for the board these days.)

CPU: Pentium 3 @850mhz (Socket 370 with Slot 1 adapter)

RAM: 512mb

GPU: Geforce FX 5900 XT

Sound Cards: AEW 64 CT4520 (ISA) & Soundblaster Live! CT4830

Howdy,

I have an old Dell GX150 that dual boots Win98SE and Win2000.  Because the onboard video adapter can only go up to 1280x12024  in 16 or 24 bit color mode, I put in a Geforce 2 MX 400 based video card and got the latest divers, 81.98 for W9x, 93.71 for XP/2K.     The XP/2K drivers installed and work fine, and the card is capable of any resolution my monitor can support at @32bit, so the hardware itself is working fine.  The 9x driver installed fine, too; however, when I boot my PC it has some problem and the drivers aren't loaded.  At that point, I can re-install the drivers from Windows, but the same thing happens upon next boot.  When I try to detect HW, it just finds a generic video adapter. I looked at the BIOS settings, I have Auto and Onboard for the video card (it's Auto) pus 32 MB and 64 MB for AGP aperture.  I tried both 32 and 64 and it didn't make any difference. 

I appears to me that 98SE just doesn't "see" the video card.  The OS install contains a roughly year old or so unofficial SP and the USB driver pack, but probably not much else.   And since Win200 works just fine with the card, HW or BIOS setup error is exceedingly unlikely, so it's probably a 98SE issue.  Any idea on what might be wrong and how to fix it?

TIA

I can't find bios "mod" for support Wolfdale cpu on 775i65g rev 2.0! Do you know if 3.0 version of motherboard supports natively?

Building a nice little retro PC for some vintage DOS gaming.  I have what appears to be a Sound Blaster Live (Value?) non 5.1 card.  Every time i install some iteration of W98SE drivers, I get "Set up can not find hardware installed on your computer" (or something to that extent).  The Sound Blaster is identified in the Control Panel as being a PCI Multimedia Card with the little exclamation mark.

Anyhow, i have tried a dozen or more drivers, i know its been covered on the web with Creative having horrible drivers and what not, but i cant understand why the OS always aborts the install of any driver i try.

My only thought is that it is perhaps an OEM version of this card?  I would take a guess that it might be a DELL??  Again, just guessing.  Therefore, do i need to find an OEM driver that supports it?

Shoot me any thoughts or driver links you may have.  The card worked wonderfully under XP, so i know its not a dude.  Just needing an appropriate working set of drivers at this point.

Having Linux access Windows 98 (for me) was a no brainer, but having WIndows 98 access linux is proving ot be a challenge.  Can someone please assist me in this?

I have a Sound Blaster Live! Value installed and lately I cannot get sound to function in Windows.  DOS works fine for sound.

Another strange item is whenever a sound is played the sound volume, treble, bass, etc. all gets reset to their default settings.

Has this happened to anyone else, and can anyone try and shed some light on the issue?  I have tried all I can think of without success.

***This thread is still a work in progress, plans to organize motherboards by socket type is planned***

Welcome to the updated modern motherboards that are working with Windows 98 information thread. Most of these boards are now considered legacy due to their age, but are still very modern to Windows 98 standards and most will use either Core2 or Athlon 64 processors. Most of these boards however, despite having onboard video and audio, may require the use of compatible addon cards due to Windows 98 not being able to address HD audio at all and most Intel video no longer works with Windows 98.

IMPORTANT: A common problem on most boards of this age is Windows 98 having a problem using ACPI so in order to install Windows 98 without having these issues is to use switches while initiating setup from DOS. When installing, be sure to use "x:\setup /p i" without the quotation marks and x:\ being your installation source drive. This will help issue with hanging during setup or crashes within Windows caused by ACPI.

Also note that in order to use these boards to their full potential, it might be necessary to patch your system to use more than 1GB of RAM. We do recommend Rloew's RAM limitation patch which will then enable Windows 9x/ME to utilize up to 4GBs of memory. Some boards may also require something like Rloew's SATA patch despite being IDE/ATA compatible or even using a legacy IDE drive just because of how the board is set up. To contact @rloew for information on his patches, PM him or visit his site at: http://rloew1.no-ip.com. Those patches, however, are not free. 

So without further ado, here's the list of boards known to be working (or mostly working with some addon hardware and tweaks) with Windows 98.

ABIT IP-95
ABIT SG 80DC
AsRock 4Core1600-Glan
Asrock 4CoreDual-SATA2 R2.0
ASRock 775i65G R2.0ASRock 890FX-Deluxe5
ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0
Asrock AliveDual-eSATA2
Asrock AM2NF3-VSTA
Asrock 4CoreDX90-VSTA R2.0
ASUS A8V Deluxe
ASUS A8n-E (with nForce 4 ultra chipset)
ASUS K8V-MX/S
ASUS M5A97 (Confirmed by rloew)
ASUS P4S800-MX
ASUS P5K
ASUS P5PE-VM
ASUS P5SD2-VM
BCMCOM BC875PLG
BIOSTAR P4M890M7SE
ECS 662/1066T-M2
ECS GeForce 6100SM-M
ECS K8M800-M2
ECS P4M800Pro-M2
Foxconn H55MXV (Rloew's SATA patch most likely required for correct operation, even in IDE/PATA mode)
Gigabyte 8IPE1000-G
Gigabyte G31TM-P21
Gigabyte GA-870A-USB3 Rev 3.1 (AM3+)
Gigabyte GA-8I865GME-775-RH (rev. 2.0)
Gigabyte GA-8I865PE775-G-RH
Gigabyte GA-945GCM-S2L
Gigabyte GA-965GM-S2
Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6
Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3R Rev 2.1
Gigabyte GA-K8A480M-9
Gigabyte GA-K8NSC-939
Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2HP
Gigabyte GA-P31-DS3L
Gigabyte GA-P31-ES3G
Gigabyte GA-P43-ES3G (Rloew's SATA patch most likely required for correct operation, even in IDE/PATA mode)
Gigabyte K8NSC-939
Intel LAD865GVIPL
JetWay J7F4K1G5S-LF
MSI 865PE Neo3-F
MSI 865PE Neo3-V
MSI K8N neo
MSI K9VGM-V
MSI P31 Neo V2
MSI Z87-G41
PC-Chips P23G (v1.0)
Portwell RUBY-9719VG2AR
Soltek SL-XP865G-3IG
Soyo SY-P4I845PE Lite
Soyo SY-P4I845PE-ISA
Supermicro X5DAE
Supermicro X7DAL-E

We will still leave the original topic open, if you have further discussion please see this link here. If you want us to update this thread either post in that thread or PM me, LoneCrusader or dencorso and we'll update this thread, or if you find a board on this list that is NOT working with Windows 98, let us know immediately so we can remove it from this list.

Topic LOCKED

Hey Guys;

i know there is alot of topics about this subject, but i noticed non of them cover the importance of compatibility, and the RAM limit of the video card that Windows 98 Supports. 

So recently purchased a Geforce 7600GT 512mb AGP for my Win98 PC. and was disappointed to find out that the Unofficial NVIDIA Display Driver 82.69 does detected my card, i tried manually installing but i was getting heaps of issues after black screen, not booting, restart issues etc. The only solution is to pay $21 for a bios fix from leow, but to be honest I would rather just get a Video card that has native support for Windows98 and 100% compatible with 0 Issues. Maybe if i had a high end card like the 7900 i would purchase it. 

Right now i am using my onboard graphics "Intel Extreme Graphics 2" and having no isses. 

So can someone please recommend me a card for Windows98 that has native support and 100% compatible.

I experimented with my Dell Latitude D600 with running Windows 98SE and ME, both have encountered a bunch of issues I haven't seen on Windows 2000 or later versions of Windows. According to a scan (I plan to check it later) my hard drive could have a bad sector.

Windows ME

• A lot of applications tend to act weird (Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing 8 crashed upon downloading via disc, I Spy Fantasy installs yet the actual in game clicking to find objects doesn't work despite working the rest of the time)
• Tends to "lag" a lot (Even XP didn't lag nearly as much)

Windows 98SE

• USB mouse won't work even after installing the universal usb driver, mysteriously it magically works if I plug in my usb hub made for 98 then my mouse
• Flash drives don't work after installing the usb driver
• Way fussier than ME when it comes to installing drivers in general
• 7-Zip gives me errors if I highlight then drag, yet works if I press the extract button then have it go to another
• When I install new drivers it tells me it needs to find it in a location after boot, using the unofficial service pack for all official updates usually fixes these issues
• Most DOS games don't even seem to work? Since my laptop lacks a mouse ps/2 port, the game Oregon Trail Deluxe refuses to work because I lack a mouse (Haven't tried DOS much though)

Both

• Tends to be unstable in general

Should I keep Windows 98SE (or ME) on my laptop or are there any solutions to these issues? Should I ditch 9x for 2000, later NT versions?

Below is a list of compatible hardware that works on Windows 9x systems (and or have suitable drivers)

Especially of interest is newer hardware that supports or still supports Win9x.

Please start by including hardware you have on your system that you can confirm works with Win9x.

I will add the hardware to the list as time allows.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=================================================================================

PROCESSORS:

Win9x DOES NOT support HyperThreading (please disable in the BIOS), Multiple Processors or MultiCore processors.

Win98/Me may run on MultiCore processors but only 1 core will be utilised.

Windows 95 has timing problems with CPU speeds higher than 350 Mhz.

Windows 98 FE (and consequently Win95) cannot exceed CPU speeds higher than 2.2 Ghz

(Note: This can be fixed. Read this thread: )

Supported Processors:

Intel:

486 DX2-66 +

Pentium

Pentium Pro

Pentium MMX

Pentium 2

Pentium 2 Xeon

Pentium 3

Pentium 3 Xeon

Pentium 4

Xeon (Pentium 4)

Pentium 4 Extreme Edition ... (3.73 GHz is the fastest)

Pentium D ... (Only a Single Core will be utilised)

Pentium Dual-Core ... (Only a Single Core will be utilised)

Core 2 Duo ... (Only a Single Core will be utilised)

Core 2 Quad ... (Only a Single Core will be utilised)

Dual-Core Xeon ... (Only a Single Core will be utilised)

Quad-Core Xeon ... (Only a Single Core will be utilised)

Celeron

Celeron D

AMD:

486

586

K5

K6

Athlon

Duron

Semperon

Athlon XP

Opteron

Athlon 64 (FX-57 2.8 GHz is the fastest)

Turion 64

HARD DISKS:

Windows 95 supports FAT16.

Windows 95B / 98 / 98SE / Me supports FAT16 and FAT32

Win95 can NOT support hard drives bigger than 32 gig

FAT16 supports drive partitions up to 2 GB.

Win9x's FAT32 can be used on any hard drive larger than 512MB and supports hard disks up to 137 GB in size. To use bigger hard disks the system requires a system update. (See Below)

Windows 9x natively supports ATA IDE Hard Disk Drives. SCSI, SATA and RAID disk drives are supported through third party drivers.

Large Hard Disk Support

Windows 98 and Me do not natively support 48-bit LBA drives larger than 137 GB.

This means:

- If you have a hard disk larger than 137GB... and Windows trys to save data onto that disk past the 137GB barrier, data corruption (loss of files) is likely to occur.

- It doesn't matter if you partition the hard disk into smaller partitions, all partitions above the hard disks physical 137GB barrier will be affected.

- If you put a single partition on the hard disk using fdisk or alternative, and its less than 137GB (UNDER 128GB is recommended as safe) you will be fine (Just Don't allocate the remainder of the disk). But if you want to use the rest of the disk you must use a work around.

Work Arounds:

LLXX's Enable48BitLBA - Implements 48-bit LBA support into Windows 95/98/98SE and ME's default IDE driver.

Windows 98 - get the 4.10.2186 driver

Windows 98 Second Edition - most users should get the 4.10.2225 driver. If you have a old IBM laptop you may have to get 4.10.2226

Windows Me - get the 4.90.3000 driver

- create a primary partition on that drive (smaller than 128GB), using fdisk

- install win9x on that partition

- install drivers

- install the suitable LLXXs patch

- fill the rest of the disk with new partitions. (Keep them under 128GB if you still wish to use Scandisk and Defrag)

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=78592

Intel Application Accelerator - Allows users to access the full capacity of hard drives that are larger than 137GB on supported Intel® chipsets with a supported operating system.

http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/iaa/sb/cs-009299.htm

Rudolph Loew's 48-bit Patch - The High Capacity Disk Patch Program patches Windows 98/98SE/ME to provide direct support for hard drives larger than 137GB without requiring a controller card. The patch installs support for the 48-Bit LBA addressing mode required for hard drives larger than 137GB.

http://rloew1.no-ip.com

PCI ATA Controller card - Using a PCI ATA controller card to connect your 48-bit LBA hard drive to the system is the easiest and simplest option. With this option you can partition the hard drive without the need to upgrade the BIOS to support 48-bit LBA if it does not support this technology. The drivers provided with controller card will provide 48-bit LBA support in Windows 98 or Me.

More information on the 48bitLBA --> http://www.48bitlba.com/win98.htm

Partition Size Limits

The size of individual Partitions are subject to additional limitations due to FileSystem design and Partition management tools. Microsoft specifies a maximum Partition size of 128GB. Third Party Partition Management tools may have other limits.

DEFRAG and SCANDISK (in Windows Mode) are limited to less than 136.9GB Some people have reported limits as low as 127GB.

To disable ScanDisk from running after a bad shutdown in Windows 98 or Me:

1. Click on Start->Run

2. Enter "MSCONFIG"

3. On the General tab, click on the Advanced button.

4. Enable the checkbox "Disable Scandisk after bad shutdown"

5. Click on OK to exit the advanced settings

6. Click on OK to exit MSCONFIG.

DOS, WINDOWS and SCANDISK (in DOS Mode) can handle at least 400GB.

WARNING: Diskeeper 10 claims to support Partitions up to 768GB and Windows 98/SE/ME. Tests show that it can corrupt large Partitions.

It is recommended that you Partition your Large Hard Drive with 2 or more Partitions so that no single Primary or Logical Partition is larger than 127GB.

FDISK can be used to Partition Large Hard Drives but will incorrectly report sizes above 64GB. You will need to enter sizes as Percentages in order to use the full capacity of the Hard Drive.

OPTICAL DISK DRIVES:

Windows 9x natively supports IDE optical drives without additional drivers.

This includes CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD Dual Layer drives.

FLOPPY DISK DRIVES

Windows 9x natively supports internal Floppy Disk Drives.