Please help me help a friend. I know little about W98, having gone from W95 to NT and on to XP. She has signed up to a cable broadband provider who requires a minimum of Windows 98SE, yet she only has the original 98. Apparently the setup from the ISP baulks at her lowly status and demands 98SE.
Can somebody tell me what are the significant differences between 98 & 98SE?
Is there a downloadable upgrade path from 98 -> 98SE? I have got hold of a MS supplied service pack, will that do the job?
Hopefully, when I get a chance to see the problem in the flesh, so to speak, it will be an easy fix. Your help in making this go more smoothly will be appreciated.
Windows 98SE is the version of Windows 98 with all the service packs rolled into it. I am not sure if the upgrade to 98SE can be done through installing your own service packs but it probably can be and is worth a try.
It comes down to the internet providers software requires 98SE. They may still be able to access the internet without the ISP’s software, but they won’t be using their software. Every new version has more complicated drivers and anything that uses the driver hooks put in from a certain version, won’t be compatible with earlier versions.
Using the Internet is completely OS independent. I used to use it with MS-Windows 3.11 WfWG. There are MS-DOS TCP/IP stack programs out there. Even the old Amigas have software to access the Net.
Call the ISP and tell them she has Linux. Ask for the network configuration info. You might have to provide the MAC address of the cable modem and such.
Then configure the PC using that info.
No one under any circumstances should ever use an ISP’s “set up” software. Many of these programs are completely evil.
Its ages since I had to deal with either windows 98 or the Sporadic Errors version, but a rusty neuron somewhere is telling me that 98SE was the first windows with built-in USB support, which might be relevant depending on how the cable modem hooks up. However, USB can be added to 98 via a service pack, so no biggie.
However, I don’t think you can get security updates for 98 any more, in which case you need to spend quite some time and energy securing the box before hooking it up. Otherwise it will be a virus-ridden spambot festering with malware approx 1 hour after being connected to the interet.
IIRC Win98SE was the first OS to provide USB support, which was not present in the original Win98. If the cable provider is using a USB modem this may be the reason for the requirement.
Feel free to jump all over me if this is incorrect.
Later releases of Windows 95 kinda sorta supported USB. All versions of Windows 98 support it. Win98SE was essentially a bugfix release, plus Internet Explorer 5 and a few other bits and pieces. Maybe the ISP’s software depends on some of the fixes introduced in SE.
My mother’s been using Win98SE to surf the web for years, with no problems. Of course, her PC was set up by me :). Disable ActiveX etc. except for sites that need it, don’t be stupid about opening attachments, and your pretty safe with Win9x, it seems. Most current worms are aimed at the WinXP/2K family.
One thing that W98SE has that I don’t think you can get in 95 SPs is FAT32.
However, that shouldn’t be a requirement for ISP software (or any other software, AFAIK).
I agree with other posters that the fact of having an Internet connection is indifferent as to OS. I once installed an ISP’s package and it hijacks your browser and does other stuff you might not like.
Thanks for all the info. Unfortunatly said friend has been infected with a virus - a real one - so is not up to receiving visitors at the mo’, so I am still a little unsure what exactly is the problem. Still, I now feel I shall be a little better prepared. Q.E.D. I may be in touch.
Microsoft introduced FAT32 support in Windows 95 SR2 (which was sometimes called “950b” due to the Windows version number being reported as “4.00.950b” in My Computer). This version also included the minimum files needed for both AGP and USB support. In later versions of Windows 95 (SR 2.1), the USB files had to be installed manually, a strange step back for Win95. By the time of Windows 95 SR 2.5 (950c), the USB files were back to being installed automatically.
Having said all that, you couldn’t buy 950b or 950c in retail stores. It was available only with OEM computers or off eBay or from computer specialist stores that sold OEM software.
BTW, another difference between 98 and 98SE is that 98SE included Internet Connection Sharing (ICS - a totally new feature) as well as DirectX 6 (as opposed to DirectX 5, which was shipped with 98).
Doesn’t look like this’ll be a concern, but a lot of games will run on Windows 98SE, but not on Windows 98. It seems reasonable to assume that this has something to do with the Direct X API.
Having said that, it’s getting to the point where new software doesn’t support any version of Win98. To be honest, I was suprised to find that games like World of Warcraft actually do.
Never hook to a broadband connection without a route/switch between you and the provided modem. Even with just a single computer. It is thje best security $$$ you can spend.