# Windows 98SE Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 2, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-98se-question/158608 "2003-03-02T18:17:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Docklands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/47e85d/32.png) [@Docklands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docklands)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-98se-question/158608/1 "2003-03-02T18:17:21Z")
My Dad just bought a Panasonic DV camera and firewire card, and I have been trying to help him get them working. When I inserted the firewire card the driver installed ok, but I got an error message telling me that “NTKERN.VXD was unable to load the device driver properly [code 2]” in system/device manager. Eventually I found an update on the MS support website, ran it and the problem was solved. However, although I could now detect the DV camera and see it in System manager, it then had the exact same error “NTKERN.VXD” error. Any advice would be greatly appreciated ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2003, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-98se-question/158608/2 "2003-03-02T18:31:47Z")
Is this camera supported under Win98? That file appears to be an NT file. ---
**Author:** ![Docklands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/47e85d/32.png) [@Docklands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docklands)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2003, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-98se-question/158608/3 "2003-03-02T18:35:34Z")
I have to admit I don’t know, although my web searching brought NTKERN.VXD and 98 up together many times, so I don’t believe they are exclusive. ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-98se-question/158608/4 "2003-03-02T18:49:29Z")
I know you don’t want to hear the old “try reinstalling the drivers” bit, but that’s what I suggest. Incomplete installs will sometimes cause that error. NTKERN.VXD is a Win 98 file. ---
**Author:** ![Docklands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/47e85d/32.png) [@Docklands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docklands)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2003, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-98se-question/158608/5 "2003-03-02T18:51:30Z")
I’ve reinstalled the drivers more than once. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2003, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-98se-question/158608/6 "2003-03-02T18:56:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Trigonal Planar \* > \*\*Is this camera supported under Win98? That file appears to be an NT file. \*\* No, it’s actually a (shared) Win98 driver file. Win 98SE is pretty old and is sort of mothballed (techsupport wise) at this point. For better firewire support an upgrade to Win ME might be suggested if the hardware has the horsepower for it. I don’t think it has anything to do with the camera. It’s likely a PCI firewire card issue. If you updated the system from 95 to 98 a full re-install of 98SE from scratch is suggested for full firewire implementation. [Q: How do I verify a successful installation of IEEE 1394 card on Windows?](http://www.newsoftinc.com/tech%20support/FAQ/Presto!%20VideoWorks/FW-Win-0005.htm) > [@](#): > > 3.6 If you only upgraded from Windows 95/98 to Windows 98SE, you should consider a complete full install of Windows 98SE to include FireWire (IEEE 1394) support [Win32 Driver Model (WDM)](http://home.earthlink.net/~krionic/wdm.htm) > [@](#): > > NTKERN.VxD > > The implementation of WDM in Windows 98 is achieved by adding a new layer to the existing device driver architecture. In Microsoft NT, device driver access is handled by calls to Kernel Services. In Windows 98, Ntkern.vxd provides a similar environment. Ntkern.vxd allows the Windows 98 architecture to appear, to the minidriver, to be the same as the NT architecture. This abstraction is what allows IHVs to develop one driver for both operating systems. > > Simply put, Ntkern.vxd provides an NT-like environment in Windows 98 so common device drivers can be sues in both operation systems. > > Note: The file Ntkern.vxd is contained within the Vmm32.vxd. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gozu/32/6615_2.png) [@Gozu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2003, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-98se-question/158608/7 "2003-03-02T19:54:28Z")
Whatever you do, do NOT install winME. It’s a buggy, unstable, bloated piece of trash. If you must switch, go for win2k sp3 or winXP sp1. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2003, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-98se-question/158608/8 "2003-03-03T00:36:25Z")
ME works great for me, YMMV. Just what kind of camera is this? Make & model & what kind of computer? Model nbr? Having this info makes answering so much easier. If you got USB ports, [meritline.com](http://meritline.com) has a neat external USB & FW box for $39.00 ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-98se-question/158608/9 "2003-03-03T03:45:47Z")
**astro** , NTKERN.VXD emulates certain NT services, but usually vendors will develop a W9x specific driver anyway, due to compatibility issues. ---
**Author:** ![Docklands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/47e85d/32.png) [@Docklands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docklands)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-98se-question/158608/10 "2003-03-04T18:53:16Z")
The camera is a Panasonic GS1B. I really appreciate any help you can give.