Windows 98 / ME: Win9x / ME FAQ

I have 3 computers on the network at home - two are installed on the operating system Windows 2000, and on one Windows 9x. And so it is with this computer is not visible network printer. No permutations of the drivers have helped, what to do?
The solution here is very simple - Windows 9x does not see a network printer if its name is more than 12 characters and / or contains spaces. It's enough just to rename your network printer and everything will be fine.

In connection with the cheapening of memory, I decided to increase its volume in my computer to a gigabyte. I have an operating system Windows 95/98 / 98SE / Me. But for some reason after installing additional memory the system refused to boot, telling me that it lacks (!) Memory. What to do?
This error is recognized by Microsoft, which it kindly reported in its Q253912 response to its Knowledge Base. To correct the situation it is possible to use three methods:

• Set the system file cache size value to less than 512 MBytes by adding the MaxFileCache = 128000 string (where 128000 is the 128 MBytes limit, for example) in the [VCache] section of the system.ini file. This is the most correct way - it allows you to use all the memory.

• The msconfig utility sets Limit Memory to <x> MB less than 512 MBytes. It is clear that the amount of installed memory above the specified value will not be used by the system.

• To remove memory above 512 MBytes (it is not true, whether the worthy decision is offered by the firm-developer of the operating system)

After connecting the USB keyboard, I always turn on Caps Lock after I boot Windows 98. Trifle, but you forget about it all the time. When you connect a normal keyboard, everything is fine. How to get rid of this problem?
This effect is on any non-English version of Windows 98. To eliminate it, remove the call to the keyb command from the autoexec.bat file.

After installing a number of programs, the computer performance slowed down noticeably. I deleted everything from the StartUp folder, but, nevertheless, some of the programs (the video card control panel, for example) are still loaded at system startup. How to remove the download of unnecessary programs?
To remove unnecessary programs, start the registry editor and
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run you can just delete unnecessary to run the program permanently. It is only necessary to clearly understand what can be painlessly removed. In the example below, you can uninstall EM_EXEC (Logitech Mouse Control Panel) and V66SHELL (ASUS Quick Card Control Panel).

After installing two additional boards (SCSI controller and TV tuner), the system encountered an interrupt conflict, which I can not resolve - they are distributed by the BIOS and the system does not change them. What can be done?
In this case, most likely, Windows 98 is deprived of the ability (it happens often enough) to distribute interrupts, so you should allow the operating system to manage interrupts as follows:

1. Select the System icon in the Control Panel

2. Select "Devices by connection" (View Devices by type)

3. Select "PCI Bus" (PCI Bus)

4. Select the "IRQ Steering" tab

5. Select the option "Use IRQ Steering"

6. After selecting OK, you must agree with the system's request to restart and turn off the power or press Reset (since there will not be a normal reboot).

How it should look is clear from the picture:

After replacing the motherboard, I can not get Windows 98SE to shut down the computer's power, which is very inconvenient. How to eliminate this defect?
This problem has two solutions:

• Install a patch from Microsoft , eliminating this defect on most "problem" (in this sense) computers. Microsoft also warns that it can not give an absolute guarantee.

• Less time-consuming method: run the program msconfig.exe (it is included in the W98 package) under Windows 98 and then in the Advanced panel, check the Disable Fast Shutdown option.

I purchased a new IDE hard drive with a capacity of 36 GBytes. I have Windows 95 OSR 2.5 installed, but I could not force the system to work properly with the new hard drive. What should I do to correct this situation?
Unfortunately, nothing can be done. According to the official statement of Microsoft , Windows 95 in any of its versions can not support IDE hard disks with a volume of more than 32 GBytes. Therefore, the only way to solve the problem is to install Windows 98.

How to enable ACPI mode in Windows 98? The BIOS of my motherboard supports this mode, but, as far as I understand, it is off by default.
You can install ACPI support in two ways:

1. Run the Windows 98 installation as follows:
   Setup / pj

2. Registry correction (the Windows 98 distribution must be on the hard disk) as follows:

   1. In the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Current Version \ Detect registry key, enter the ACPIOption parameter (as a variable of type DWORD) and assign it a value of 1.

   2. Exit the Registry Editor.

   3. Login to the Control Panel Equipment Setup to automatically search Windows for new devices, reaching the automatic search of non-PnP devices.

   4. Reload Windows. Windows will add all ACPI devices to the system and the ACPI mode will work (assuming that the whole computer stuffing this mode supports).

I have a computer with the Windows 98 operating system. Everything worked without any problems until I changed the processor to the Pentium III 450. After the replacement, I hang any game with DirectX 3D support. I return the old processor - everything is fine. What is the problem and how to fix it?
The problem is in the incorrect VMCPD.VXD driver, which is bundled with DirectX 6.1 and is usually installed with any modern video or audio card. This driver includes support for new Pentium III commands, but it does not quite right, so a return to the old processor fixes this situation. To solve the problem, extract the file VMCPD.VXD (usually it is in win98_45.cab for the Russian version) from the Windows 98 distribution. The file extracted from the archive should be put in the \ windows \ system \ vmm32 directory.

I can not print Russian text from Microsoft Word 97 editor. Instead of Russian letters, squares. The installation of the Service Pack for Office 97 did not remove the problem. What to do?
To solve this problem, you need to make changes to the Windows registry. These changes depend on whether Service Release 1 is installed or not. When SR-1 is installed, you should:

• Call the regedit program.

• Find the string HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ 8.0 \ Word \ Options in the register

• Open Options by double-clicking on it.

• Create a new String Value variable NoWideTextPrinting.

• Assign it a value of 1.

• Exit regedit and restart Word.

If SR-1 is not installed, then it is necessary to make such changes

• Call the regedit program.

• Find the string HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ 8.0 \ Word in the register

• Select Your Printer

• Create a new string variable Flags

• Assign it a value of 8192.

• Exit regedit and restart Word.

Information provided by Seiko Epson .

I have strange things on my computer - the floppy disk drive is periodically polled, despite the lack of a floppy disk. This phenomenon is very annoying, but I could not find the reason. What is the matter and how to prohibit these unnecessary appeals?
This question has been the most frequent year for all the questions that are asked of us. The reason for unauthorized access is very simple: when you install Microsoft Office 97 in Startup, the Fast find file is recorded, which is constantly "run through" all files on all disks (including flexible ones) to adjust your database Data on files. If there is no urgent need in the constant search and detection of files, you just need to delete the Startup call of this program and everything will stop.

I had the FAT32 file system installed, then I programmed FDISK to re-partition the disk for the FAT16 file system and again installed Windows 95/98. After that I was not able to work properly with the system - constant errors during boot, failures during work, etc. I also tried to install Windows NT - the result is almost the same. What to do?
Indeed, this effect is often the case when switching from FAT32 to FAT16. The simplest way to deal with this phenomenon is to rewrite the program from the hard disk manufacturer's website to completely erase the information on the disk (as a rule, zeros are written to all sectors of the disk), it is usually necessary to give it a couple of minutes to work (to erase the initial sectors Disk) and then mark the disk as required. Everything should be fine. This rule should be maintained for any drives with removable media, regardless of the interface, except for the usual 3.5 "drive and CD-ROM drives.

Has got to itself the store on magneto-optical disks with SCSI the interface. During operation, I removed the disk (by pressing the button on the drive) and installed another one. Imagine my surprise when the directory of the newly installed disk completely coincided with the previous one - but none of the files were read, and all previously stored files on this disk disappeared. Why did this happen and what to do?
Such cases occur quite often. The reason for this is that the operating system serves the magneto-optical disk almost as well as the usual hard drive. When replacing a disk by pressing a button, the system does not understand that it was a replacement and begins to restore the information on the disk, considering that it is the same disk, but with damaged files. However, the information on the new disk is lost. Therefore, you should extract the disks from these drives ONLY using the operating system itself, by setting the cursor to the drive name in the My Computer, Explorer, and so on. And by right-clicking Eject.

After installing the drivers Bus Master 3.01 from Intel stopped working properly on writing my writing IDE CD-ROM. What to do?
Indeed, Bus Master 3.01 drivers from Intel do not support work with IDE CD-ROMs. To eliminate the problem, you must install the driver version 3.02 or replace the operating system with Windows 98.

How do I set the OSR2 version to an arbitrary cluster size?
The format command has an undocumented z key, which allows you to set the cluster size to be a multiple of 512. Syntax format <disk>: / z: n , where n is the multiplier. For example, to create a disk with 1 Kb clusters, the command will look like: format <disk> / z: 2 .

Why is OSR2 not being installed on a computer with a previously installed version of Windows 95?
The OSR2 version exists both in the English and Russian versions only in the OEM version and should only be installed on new computers. Therefore, it can be installed either on a free disk or on a disk where OSR2 was previously installed.

Why "can not see" the CD-ROM drive on motherboards with chipset 430HX, 430VX and 430TX?
Windows 95 version 950, 950a does not recognize the 82371SB and 82371AB controllers included in these chipsets (for more details on these sets see the "Motherboards" section ). If the CD-ROM drive is connected to the second IDE controller, Windows 95 may not detect it. The easiest way to properly "register" the CD-ROM is to install the Bus Master drivers that automatically replace the usual IDE drivers from Windows 95. The release of OSR2 Windows 95 recognizes the CD-ROM normally.

Why can a hard drive with FAT32 installed from Windows 95 OSR2 be incorrectly read on another computer?
If the OSR2 installation was performed on a computer with a BIOS that supports the extended INT13 specification (support for disks larger than 8.4 Gb is added), then the disc can be read incorrectly on a computer whose BIOS does not support this specification. For ASUSTeK P / I-P55T2P4 BIOS, starting with 02xx, supports advanced INT13.

I'm trying to install the Bus Master driver from Intel v.3.01, but after installation a Windows 95 protection error has occurred. My sound card is Creative AWE-64. What to do?
It is necessary to boot into Safe mode, then in the Sound card resources panel change the synthesizer address on the wave table from 620 to 640 and restart Windows 95. Now everything should be fine.