Updating Windows 98

[astondog]

I posted a question yesterday about windows 98 SE and had some answers that helped but, is there a way of updating my exsisting Windows 98 to the 2nd edition. I have been told my computer will not take XP and I sent an email to AOL with my system Info and they told me I needed 98 SE to take their broadband.

 Is there an update that can be found online or cheaply anywhere.   Cheers.

[Potatoman]

I very much doubt you can do this, as (obviously) win98 is not longer available and microsoft have dropped support for it. Seriously, you are delaying the inevitable by not upgrading yr PC. Or, get winMe to tide you over, wich in my opinion is better than 98. If you buy or built (not that hard!) a new pc, you will wonder how to got by without winXP and its security. XP is expensive, but, if you have 98 installed, you can buy an update disc for XP that upgraded 98 to XP, and this is about half the price of the full version. Remember, you only have to buy it once! Good luck, PM

[Ralph]

Have a look at www.novatech.co.uk for Windows XP Professional OEM operating system CDs, fully legal for less than �100. Since it's OEM, you may have to buy a component or two to qualify as "a system builder".

Why will your PC not take WinXP? It may like it more after some more memory in which case you've found the component you need to qualify to get your OEM CD and it should make your PC faster as well. Shouldn't be expensive either.

[Ralph]

Actually, I've only just read your earlier question and what someone there said looks like the answer. Win98 didn't support USB properly until the Second Edition came along so therefore if your ADSL modem is the USB type, you'd need 98SE. An easy solution is to get an ethernet card and an ethernet modem. The one sitting here beside my parents PC is a Zyxel Prestige 600 series which does ethernet and USB which is the best sort of future proofing you can get since you'd need the ethernet port if you wanted to install wireless or use a games console online.

[dodgyshirt]

A cheaper alternative to an Ethernet modem is an internal PCI one costing about �20. These use less of the PCs resources than a USB one and are simple to install. Also they are easy to network from.

Personally I would avoid AOL like the plague, their invasive software maybe does need SE to run properly.

Also avoid upgrading to ME,this was the most unstable of all Microsoft`s offerings and was so short-lived that that you might get driver problems with your peripheral equipment.

[bugatti29]

To answer your original question: 98SE is not a patch to the original 98 and has be installed from scratch.

I seriously don't think you need to upgrade though.  What you tend to find is that the original Win 98 received a lot of noteriety when 98SE was released and so a lot of software companies say they don't support the original just to cover themselves (as it would seem AOL are doing in this case).  It's not the most stable of Operating Systems agreed but it should support most things that claim to be 98SE only.

In terms of what you need to run broadband I ran it with Windows 98 'first edition' fine.  I installed a wireless network adapter (98SE only by the way) and connected to a Dlink Wireless ADSL Modem/Router (although admittedly this is an expensive option).  I wouldn't worry too much about the USB support issue either - as long as I used devices that were USB 1.0 compatible I didn't have any problems. 

As for security issues with 98 - make sure your Anti-Virus software is up to date and running and install ZoneAlarm (freeware firewall).

As for your choice of ISP I have to agree that this is a crumby option.  You can do a lot better for a lot cheaper.  If you've got the time and inclination then you would be much better off researching other ISPs using a site such as http://www.adslguide.org.uk/.

Hope this helps.

[stoo_pid]

Doesn't really answer your question astondog but I'm pretty sure that AOL broadband simply piggy-backs off NTL.  In other words, your contract is with AOL but the network is entirely run & maintained by NTL.  As already mentioned you get lots of unnecessary resource-intensive software if you use AOL & according to NTL's website you may not need 98SE
http://www.ntlfreedom.com/broadbandhelp/minimum_req.htm

[astondog]

Thank you all for your help. Have a good Crimbo.