Windows 98 Second Edition

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  • @JamieDoesStuff
    i know its been like 2 years but yes, windows 98 requires atleast 66 mhz cpu.
  • Even though 98 and 95 are very unstable on VirtualBox theyre still pretty good.
  • 98 SE is rock solid in VMWare Workstation - for me. I use it for test installing Win 3.1, 95 and 98 apps regularly.

    Win 3.1 in VMWare on the other hand is not worth a hoot, but runs well for me in Virtualbox.

    IOW, there is no "one size fits all".
  • Are there any files of win 98 SE that is not an image file? I want to upgrade my IBM PC 350 from win 98 FE to SE and I got the FE files from here PLEASE helt me.
  • edited July 2023
    Is there something going on with the downloads? Because when I try to extract the Windows 98SE OEM Full iso, it only gets to 151 megabytes when it just stops extracting and says "data error: " and the path of the file. And I have tried it with both servers and both give the same error. I have not tried the cloudflare one. I will do so now to see if it is fixed that way.
    Edit 1: Just tried to extract the cloudflare download, and it worked correctly. So something must have been corrupted in the servers or something for the extraction to drop at 151 megabytes for the server downloads.
    Edit 2: But now I ran into another problem, I downloaded the "OEM Full" version of Windows 98 Second Edition, but it is acting like the retail full version instead. Could someone check through the servers to make sure that is the case, or it might be just me? The reason I put the OEM Full in quotation mark is that I have the virtual machine setup to boot from CD, then floppy and then hard drive, but I put in my OEM full disk in and it just goes straight to network boot.
  • The downloads worked fine for me.

    The CD image looks like a typical OEM version. Keep in mind that OEM versions were never guaranteed to boot on anything other than the OEM's hardware. Make sure you are emulating an IDE CD drive.
  • edited July 2023
    Hey there again SomeGuy. I tried to install the Windows 98 OEM Full disk with the 98 se boot floppy and it gives a "Windows 98 setup files are not found" error in VMWare Workstation. It seems to be the reason why it would just go to the network boot when I commented about it a few days ago.
    Edit 1: Scratch that, I had the image in the VM but not connected in VMWare Workstation.
  • is this only for a virtual drive or is it an actual disk i can use to install onto my old PC? im trying to get windows 95 or 98 back on it but i cant seem to get a "boot disk" no matter what i try
  • Please, I need help!

    Something goes wrong when I install Windows 98 Zweite Edition (German) (OEM).
    Downloaded the OS, the floppy disk, added/activated in Oracle Virtual Box VM with CD-ROM.
    When I installed the same OS years ago, it worked when I had Windows 8.1 (Laptop OEM). Now, I have Windows 10 (upgraded).

    Installed from Floppy Disk, when the installation was done and wanted restart, I got error
    message that there not enough memory space and I have to delete something from
    autoexe nd sys.com. But I have zero knowledge with MS-DOS. I hate DOS!
  • One possibility:


    https://www.computing.net/answers/windows-95/i-am-getting-a-message-of-insufficient-memory-for-windows-98/171190.html

    Solved I Am Getting a Message Of Insufficient Memory For Windows 98

    I recently installed Windows 98 as a Virtual Machine via VirtualBox on my Windows 10 computer. I tried run the drive, but keep getting a message about insufficient memory to initialize Windows.

    “What do I have to do to get past this message on Windows 98?”
    You actually have TOO much memory. Set the Win98 guest memory allocation to less than 512MB.
  • @02k-guy: I gave TOO MUCH memory for Windows 98 Guest (4 GB). I have 16 GB System RAM and nVidia GeForce GTX M 900x series with 6 GB Dedicated RAM (Laptop Computer). I gave the virtual HDD with 30 GB. LESS than 512 MB? Would 256 MB enough then?
  • edited September 2023
    For everyone who wants to install Microsoft Windows 98 - Zweite Edition (OEM) (German), the product key is PRDDH-83JD9-G6PK4-684GF-6Y73B. It worked.

    EDIT: I still can not get 98se to work properly. Gave 512 MB RAM, 8 GB HD, 64 MB graphic RAM. I could handle to install - even so with many error messages that some ".vxd" are missing (in MS-DOS starting procedure). OS installed, started WITH sound, but 16 colors and extremely slow (standard graphic VGA adapter). Every OS start begins with same erroe messages but Windows starts anayway. VirtualBOX Guest Additions can NOT be installed in 98se, because of that the Shared Folders do also not appear in Windows 98 explorer.
  • There's this thing called, "take small steps, before you run."
    And there is SO MUCH good infor out there on the web.

    Now me,I'm lazy, lazy, lazy. If somebody else has a working solution, I'd rather just copy what they have done. And later, if I see a need, I can experiment.

    Here is one I have used that explains about a whole range of issues:

    https://archive.org/details/windows-98-se-with-3-d-acceleration-virtual-box
  • edited October 2023
    are these original iso's? or are they repacked? both swedish versions include msbatch.inf which inserts the key into setup. the msbatch info inside the file says it was created on 01/29/00, but the VOL has a modified date of 1999-05-05 and the other has a mod date of 2002-01-09, both msbatch.inf's have the same contents so seems like this was added, ontop of that the select version does not include the msbatch.inf nor does it insert the key by other means, so its just like RET, it even uses the same key as retail and a single key for one release type will work for any other... for example here are all the keys for all these iso's (tested in vm)
    they work with any version, does this mean they all have the same base?

    All-OEM-FULL-UPG = RC7JH-VTKHG-RVKWJ-HBC3T-FWGBG
    All-RET-FULL = F73WT-WHD3J-CD4VR-2GWKD-T38YD
    All-RET-UPG = KYGBV-MT92C-6RQ7B-RDDVD-2HCDP

    also the fuji siemens one is probably real, it has all the cabs put into a passworded RAR file, the only way setup will run is some sort of check on the real fuji hardware bios so it wont even boot the setup screen. however i did copy files enough to get an install from other cabs, enough to let me get to the key insertion stage and none of the above worked and i found this one that did

    French Fuji Siemens = DMWRC-T9XP4-GJ2P8-26G66-V9WBB

    apart from this one key, all other keys stick to the RET/OEM/UPG and can be used on any of the iso's, the fuji iso is useless without a real fuji laptop of that time or some hacks to the iso or a bios spoof in a vm maybe but in general its not worth bothering with, i tried hex dumping certain files but nothing shows any mention of RAR or the file all the cabs are stored in which is called PROTSET.DAT, after i discovered the key i moved on.

    the polish version has extra files in, it even includes a txt file for the serial key in the root iso, this key file is different to above but the above are like master keys, i used another key for OEM that worked in one version but not another, i had a list of keys and kept trying most common keys until i found these keys are working on all releases of same type, i made a bootable floppy to detect the cd version, then fdisk/format and run setup applying the correct key which helped me speed up testing the keys, RET asks for key at start of setup, OEM is at the end of setup :(

    also just to add, All of those OEM iso's are bootable except 2, they are;

    Windows 98 Second Edition [Finnish] (OEM 115)
    Windows 98 Second Edition [Slovenian] (OEM 120)

    the description at the top led me to believe that only the OEM Full is bootable, but all of them are except the two above

    @SomeGuy they seem fine so far and even if they are repacks, they install just fine with the proper languages and from what it seems these original discs are rare so it seems in this case repacks are almost needed, nice to have a collection like this though.

    EDIT: Recently discovered (by testing WIN98FE 116 OEM UPG) that all OEM will accept that one OEM key for FULL or UPG, only RET-FULL and RET-UPG have different keys, (i couldn't test that here with these iso's as there is no WIN98SE 116 OEM UPG in this list)
  • There could be some crufty copies in here, in which case a genuine re-dump is always wanted. As you noted, OEM editions can be wonky. Retail versions are always preferred when available.
  • OEM is the only bootable edition as released by Microsoft. I used to start with that iso and modify for Retail install.

    There is OEM, and then there is branded OEM. So its important to keep that in mind.

    Verified Hashes are available for English Editions. I just a few days ago offloaded all my Win98 SE stuff, so I'd have to find where I stuck that thumb drive.

    Here are 2 Swedish ISOs:

    https://archive.org/details/Win98SESVEOEM
    https://archive.org/details/Win98SESVESelect

    Both appear to have untouched msbatch.inf files - that's what my quick scan just now says.

    Microsoft offered SELECT editions of many of its titles during this era. It was a channel directed at education, government, and large corporations.

    Using Microsoft Office as an example, there would be separate "Install.exe" for a full office install, Word only, Excel only, etc. IT staff would push the designated Install.exe to certain users - say Word to data entry, Excel to bookkeepers.

    I'm a big fan of official SELECT editions. It generally means there is no hassle searching for a valid key.
  • @02k-guy Thanks for the info, could you possibly point me in the direction of a list of hashes?

    so then Windows 98 Second Edition (Select) should have an msbatch.inf? but it does not, i have tried installing it 2 ways and it does not enter a key, thus the hassle of finding keys is present for that disc, but not for this https://archive.org/details/Win98SESVESelect ?

    i just checked those ISO's you linked, for some reason the ISO's are created differently resulting in different ISO size and hash, but i extracted the contents then ran
    find . -type f -print0 | xargs -0 sha1sum > sums.sha in both directories to create a sum for every file, then i diff'd those files and there was no difference in sums, so they are the same, one labelled OEM and the other SEL, both have the release code as 115 and ProductType=9 so i dont see why the two versions for technically the same disc?

  • I have no idea what it is you are messing with. What matters is you generating a hash value pf the ISO, and then confirming it against a known good list.

    You are mucking about with all these different language ISOs. What is it you seek to resolve?

  • @SomeGuy.
    Downloaded both Winworld 98SE Swedish ISOs - they are the same as the links I posted above (laughs at Self).

    Long story short:
    1.
    The ISO on Winworld listed as OEM has modified msbatch.inf to include product key, and is dated 2008 with UltraISO's fingerprints on it. It IS bootable.
    2.
    The ISO on Winworld listed as VOL appears original, and is actually a Microsoft SELECT Channel. It too has msbatch.inf with product key (expected with SELECT ISOs).
    3.
    I don't see how either will cause problems, but Winworld /could/ relabel the "VOL" as SELECT, and delete the "OEM" version, since it's redundant.
  • Name: win98se_sv-se_select.iso
    Size: 574189568 bytes (547 MiB)
    SHA1: 8586270C83D000FE0750B5C2FF671A6C1092E267
    MD5: 55367EC29303BDB89C07383187EE1257
    CRC32: CAD33B0A

    VOL: W98SESEL_SV
    Tool: CDIMAGE 2.47 (10/12/2000 TM)
    Date: 05/05/1999 08:13:00AM
    Bootable: Yes

    msbatch.inf:
    [Setup]
    ProductKey="TYG73-R4XDG-9XBJ4-YJGT9-738BY"

    Mounted with UltraISO and re-imaged with WinImage:
    Name: 98select.iso
    Size: 574189568 bytes (547 MiB)
    SHA1: 8586270C83D000FE0750B5C2FF671A6C1092E267
    (IOW, no padding).

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

    Name: 4.10.2222A__x86fre_Win98SE_se-sv-oem.iso
    Size: 588761088 bytes (561 MiB)
    SHA1: 07C899FF3928716ACD6652A0E7E9C5A34E75316D
    MD5: E1E22C1A820F984CD3C1C78E861F2392
    CRC32: 7BD4232F

    VOL: W98-SE-Select
    Date: 07/25/2008 11:02:13PM
    Tool: N/A
    Bootable: Yes

    At the date/time/author field is found:

    2008072523021300.2008072523021300.0000000000000000.0000000000000000...ULTRAISO.9.2.0.2536.........................

    ^^ neener, neener!!!
    msbatch.inf:
    ProductKey="TYG73-R4XDG-9XBJ4-YJGT9-738BY"
  • Ok, thanks for looking in to these. You make a good point. If the OEM version has been modified in to essentially a select CD, then there is no point to have both. I've zapped that one, and tweaked the download name of the other.
  • Souds like a plan. :)
  • edited October 2023
    I promise, some day I will finish cataloging and describing the buzillion editions of 98 FE and 98SE.

    There was Retail Full, OEM Full, Select Full. Dirrerences mainly in licensing terms, and keys used. Select had the key embedded.

    Upgrade, Updates, StepUp:

    "Upgrade" will check for Win3.1, Win95 or Win98FE being present, and if so do a clean install.
    "StepUp" Will check for Win98 FE being present and if so do a clean install.
    "Updates" was available directly from Microsoft for a time, and only worked on 98FE. It included ICS and IE5.

    Internally, the ISOs were know by their different types:

    From Betawiki:
    "Type 102 is the upgrade version bought in stores"
    "Type 112 is the stepup version"
    "Type 116 is the upgrade sold under an OEM license, accepts OEM keys"
    (found by examining "Setupx.dll" inside Precopy2.cab with a hex editor)

    https://news.microsoft.com/1999/05/05/microsoft-windows-98-second-edition-released-to-manufacturing/
    So: $109 Retail, $89 Upgrade, $19.95 SE Updates.

    Mighty damned confusing, and Microsoft was not clear and careful in their choice of wording.
  • For anyone attempting to run this on VMWare with a Ryzen CPU:

    BEFORE INSTALLING:
    - Boot your Win98 boot floppy and select Start PC WITHOUT CD support
    - Install the MSCDEX (Microsoft CD Drivers) to the C drive

    - Now, boot your Windows 98 setup and go through it like normal.
    - After it finishes copying files and reboots, hold CTRL while booting
    - Choose #3 - Safe Mode
    - In Safe Mode, right click on "My Computer" -> Properties -> Performance -> File System -> Troubleshooting -> Check 'Disable 32-bit Protected Mode Disk Drivers'
    - Reboot and complete install as normal :)

  • duh i dont need to do that just use patch9x.
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