Hey highspeedmac. 2 great replies from you, thanks =)! This is the exact same iso that i have which is the one with all files dated 4-23-2009 and it is bootable. The hashes match. The other ones that I have, which clearly are modified ones, are bootable as well. I wonder if this one is an original though, beacuse the file in the boot folder is an img of what seems to be a floppy boot disk, and it doesnt have a date on it. BTW, could someone explain how the bootable one would differ from a non-bootable one and why both exist? If I set in my bios to boot to the cd-rom drive and I was using the non-bootable disc, would it boot?
You just saved me TONS of waiting time. I used the hash that you gave me earlier to search for a link to the non-bootable iso and all I found was an ed2k link. I guess Im just going to give my friend the bootable one. May I ask how you compared the two isos to find the extra files? Did you do it manually or is there a program that automates this process?
Lol yeah I know...I went through like 6 or 7 touched isos before finally finding the good one and nearly all of them were tough to find. Thanks, Ill add Winmerge to my library. Im gonna try that program on some of the other isos just for kicks.
I looked inside precopy2.cab using 7zip and I opened support.txt which is one of the modified files. Its file size is much smaller in the bootable iso than in yours. When I opened it, it says: "Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition README for OEM Support April 1999" This leads me to believe that this version of the iso is the oem one while yours is the retail one. Could you check in your support.txt to see if it has the same info in it? EDIT: If you double click license.chm or ieeula.chm inside precopy2.cab from the bootable iso, it opens a help file which reads: "How can I make certain I have legitimate Microsoft® products if they came preinstalled on my computer’s hard disk? Microsoft licenses many personal computer system manufacturers to preinstall systems products directly onto the hard disks of their computers. In some instances, computer manufacturers are also licensed to preinstall specific application products onto the hard disk. For Microsoft products, the computer manufacturers must include with their computers an End User License Agreement (EULA), a Microsoft registration card, and, for many products, a Certificate of Authenticity. If these are missing, chances are the products are not licensed. In most instances, computer manufacturers will also include the product manuals and a set of product disks or a CD-ROM." If you double click iesupp.chm, it reads: "For product support on Microsoft Windows 98, please contact your computer manufacturer. Refer to the documentation that came with your computer for the product support telephone number. " More evidence that this is the oem iso maybe???
Yup I agree. Just reposting my previous post in the same format as highspeedmac for future reference. iesupp.chm from Win98SE OEM Bootable ISO support.txt from Win98SE OEM Bootable ISO BTW, do you know if the retail and oem keys can be used on either of the two versions just like windows 7?
So I just burnt the iso to a cd and tried to run it. The autoplay screen for the disc comes up with the intro sound and lets me choose 4 options. Interactive CD Sampler, Cool Video Clips, Browse this Cd, & Add/Remove Software. The 4th option is obviously greyed because it is a win98se disc and I am running on WinXP OS. The problem is when I click on any of the other 3 options, an error box pops up with the message "Please reinsert your Windows 98 CD-Rom". I tried mounting the iso with daemon tools and still I have the same results. highspeedmac, does your OEM iso have the same issue? What about your retail one?
Well at least it works if you boot to it and the OS installs fine. But have you popped the disk in while running WinXP or a different OS. I got the error message when I popped it in on my XP desktop and tried to click menu buttons on the discs autoplay menu.
Yea, I get that same thing. More than likely it's cause by the fact the disk was meant to run under Windows 95 or 98. Not XP or Vista, which lol weren't thought of at the time.... My real CD does the same thing..
Oh okay, good. As long as your real cd does it too, then thats fine. I was just hoping it wasnt missing any files or something.
Does win98 activation work anything like xp or other OSes? Like for example, if i used an oem or retail key on win98se would it activate and allow installation of all windows updates? Would an oem key have other requirements like bios mod, etc?
Can you give an example link or search string for such Win XP SP3 Light version, clean and known to work on old PCs designed for Win98? What are expected min system (hardware) requirements for such a version (proc. version, HD and RAM size, etc.)?