Mine is an NEC as well with Win98SE. You can run the Win98SE setup over
the existing installation without losing any data, at least I have. If at
all possible keep from doing a re-format, there usually isn't a good
enough reason to do that if the OS is up and running good enough.
There is too many tweaks and maintenance you can do with 98 to have to
usually.

Keep is scandisk'ed and defrag'ed, run reg cleaners like :
1> EasyCleaner version 2.0 by Toni Helenius, ToniArts (free)
http://www.toniarts.com
2> Jv16 PowerTools v1.3 (free)
http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/dload/jv16-1.3.0.195.zip
3> Microsoft RegClean v4.1a build 7364...(free) DL from
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download458.html
Use the Windows Millennium Edition (ME) versions
[build 4.90.3000, newest releases] of Defrag.exe (Hard Disk Defragmenter)
and Scandskw.exe (Disk Scanner) tools. Replace Win98SE's with these.....
http://ftp.mdgx.com/files/SCANFRAG.ZIP (free)....
If you don't find these files at these sites, do a google search for
them, their out there!
There is MUCH more...matter of fact, some 700+ files in Win98SE can be
replaced with ME's files for a more stable, faster OS! But go to
http://www.mdgx.com/ to find out all the particulars... there is a
process to go through to accomplish this. But the files above can be
replaced without any problems, just change the original 98 files
attributes so you can replace, then put attributes back as were.
These do the job some 5 or more times faster and more efficiently!

Two more, get the free  'Windows Security Update CD' from Microsoft
online order at their support website....

"Support For Software Updates
Support Info Online: For all of our support offerings, visit
http://support.microsoft.com In Canada, visit Microsoft Canada Online
Phone Support: For toll-free support of this CD and any of the security
patches included, call (866) PC-SAFETY [(866) 727-2338] in the U.S. and
Canada.
TTY Users: Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services are available at
(425) 635-4948 in Washington state or (800) 892-5234 in the U.S. Call
(905) 568-9641 in Canada.
Worldwide: Support outside the U.S. and Canada may vary.  For regional
contact details, visit http://support.microsoft.com/international.aspx.
If there is no Microsoft subsidiary office in your country or region,
please contact the establishment from which you obtained your Microsoft
product.
Conditions: Microsoft’s support services are subject to then-current
prices, terms, and conditions, which are subject to change without
notice."

THEN: DL and install 'UNOFFICIAL Windows98 Second Edition Service Pack
2.0.1 (Freeware)' at  http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4131.html


enjoy!

Lazarus B. Israel               [log in to unmask]






EasyCleaner documentation by ToniArts
On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 10:00:57 -0700 Carol <[log in to unmask]> writes:
> Don,
> I don't think what I'm seeing is completely normal.
>
> What I'm saying is that one minute I have "open with" when I right
> click on a
> picture and a few minutes later I don't, when I click on the same
> picture.
>
> The "File Types" tab is the same issue - one minute it's there and
> the next it is
> not.  I know it IS contained in Win98SE, because I've used it
> numerous times.  This
> is a fluctuating problem.
>
> It's a desk top computer - NEC, purchased 1/99.
>
> I doubt it's power surges, because it's been this way in the
> apartment where I live
> now, as well as the house I used to lived in 15 miles away.  (And no
> one else I
> know, in the area, is complaining about the same problem.)  I am
> actually now living
> in a good place for power.  It's a building that is only 3 years old
> and the wiring
> is underground.  We haven't had a power outage in the 3 years I've
> lived here.
>
> Thanks for the info. on ERD.  I'll try doing that.
>
> I have a CD from NEC for reformatting and there seems to be only one
> option.  It
> looks like a couple of options, but they do exactly the same thing.
> I've used both
> options, and both destroy all my data.  So, if there is a way to
> overlay Win98SE,
> it's not via the CD.  (I actually have two CDs.  I purchased a
> second from NEC when
> I was having trouble near the beginning of ownership, and thought
> possibly there was
> a problem on the CD.  One of them contains Win98 and the other is
> Win98SE.  I'm now
> not sure which was the one on the computer when I purchased it, but
> I believe it was
> Win98SE.)  Is there another way to overlay, without the CD?
>
> Thanks,
> Carol Hanson
>
>
> The best solution if to have regular registry backups, from which
> you can
> always restore the registry quickly and easily whenever things get
> out of
> kilter. Use ERD, free from Microsoft---see my tutorial on registry
> backups.  It's very simple to use.
>
> It's 10-second job instead of a 1-day (if you're lucky) reformat
> job.  With
> regular use of ERD, I never once had to reformat in 6 years of W95
> use.
>
> For readers using Win NT/XP, use ERDNT.
>
> When things are working well, that's the time to make a registry
> backup.  If your MGI is now working as you want, now's the time to
> do a
> registry backup. Restoring the registry in future will restore
> yourOpenWith
> settings.  No need for a reformat, unless your computer has gotten
> so far
> out of kilter that there's now no alternative.  You could always try
> a
> reinstall of W98 "over the top". That's much less hassle than
> reformatting,
> and may be enough to fix a badly-corrupted registry, though it does
> tend to
> preserve the previous registry settings wherever possible.
>
> Don Penlington
>

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