Forums - Maintaining a Windows 98 Computer

I can't believe I didn't post this advice earlier in this site, but anyways, I'll do it now. :)

If you still happen to have an old Windows 98se Client, here are some tips to keep it up to date (yes, even though its had no support over the past 8 years, some people are STILL keeping it maintained), and keep it optimized:

1. Check out The Windows 98se Unofficial Service Pack (Last updated a few weeks ago), this contains all the M$ hotfixes and updates, as well as a few updated components, and features.
2. If you have newer programs, you can use KernelEX to run newer programs.
3. Last version of DirectX for Windows 98se was December 2006, You can download it here. (Last version for ME was October 2008, I haven't experimented whether the installation will work for 98se by tricking the installation with KernelEX).
4. If you don't like Explorer, you can replace the shell with my recommended replacement, bblean or if you want something more retro-ish, use Program Manager from 3.1 provided for 98se (You'll have to populate your own program lists), and you can replace the file manager (so you won't execute explorer completely) with either the file manager from Windows 3.1 (included with Windows 98se) or the personally-recommended Total Commander. (Latest versions will still work.)
4A.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Microsoft Support Article Q142255

To use Program Manager as the shell in Windows, follow these steps:
1.Click the Start button, and then click Run.
2.Type system.ini in the Open box, and then click OK.
3.Locate the line that reads "shell=Explorer.exe," and then place a semicolon ( ; ) at the beginning of the line to disable the line.
4.Add the following line beneath the line you disabled in step 3:
"shell=Progman.exe"
5.Save and then close the System.ini file.
6.Shut down and then restart Windows 95/98.

5. If you want to keep explorer, but you want to slim explorer down (to Pre-Win95 OSR 2.5 versions), 98lite can be used to remove IE from your PC (and MS HTML embedded in explorer) if you have a Windows 95 OSR 2.1 Disc, making 98se lighter. The professional version of 98lite includes more features to remove, making 98se even lighter, but you must be careful.
5A. If you're using the Professional version, keep PCHealth before you're installing DirectX, otherwise there will be installation errors when installing DX. (You can remove it afterwards.)
6. Use the Maintenance Wizard to keep your PC to prime performance, I suppose.
7. Install the service Pack first, then KernelEX, then you can choose to execute 98lite.

If you have any more tips, just holler here.