check behind me por favor

[minus-sign]

I need to build a new office system and ghost a Win98 OS and data onto it.

I've selected these parts:

CPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103240
$40
Mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130187
$47
Quiery: will 240-pin DDR 400 function on this board? If it does, I can skip RAM.

PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153023
$36

HDD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144102
$35

Tentative cost to build: 158 pre-shipping. I have case and...a gig of old RAM (2 gigs actually, but they're all half gig sticks on a 2-slot board so...). Also have DvD and a floppy I can scrounge. Any other suggestions appreciated; this little weaner has to last a while.

[Paul Komski]

and...a gig of old RAM (2 gigs actually, but they're all half gig sticks on a 2-slot board soWin98 can go beserk if you cross 512MB RAM.

[rond36]

...and ghost a Win98 OS and data onto it.
:eek: Not a good idea! Drivers and registry for other hardware will cause major problems!!!

Quiery: will 240-pin DDR 400 function on this board? If it does, I can skip RAM.

No! DDR 400 will not function on that board!

DDR 400 (PC3200) DIMMs are 184pin and the keyway is in the wrong position to fit on that motherboard.

Did you read the specs on that board?
http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=prodmbspec&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=&cat3_no=&prod_no=1472#menu
Read the little note to the right of the image of the board.
"MSI Reminds you: Because of the limitations of chipset, this MB does not support Win98/ME"

Number of Memory Slots: 2×240pin (duel-channel)
Memory Standard: DDR2 800
Maximum Memory Supported: 4GB

Win98 has a 512MB memory limit and in most cases will not boot if more then that is installed. If it does boot as soon as you start any program you will get an out of memory error. The way arround this is to install less then 512MB then use msconfig to limit the amount of memory available to Windows to 512MB then you can add more memory but Win98 still can't use it but the onboard video can use 256MB of it.

[jlreich]

"MSI Reminds you: Because of the limitations of chipset, this MB does not support Win98/ME"
You will find that to be the case with most modern motherboards. You will need to go back several years to get win98 support.

Depending on the particular situation it may be easier to run 98 in a virtual machine on a modern system. That way you can limit the ram you assign to it and the VM will present basic hardware to windows.

[minus-sign]

damn...

I'm short on options for this person. Short as in uno. it's windows 98 or nothing. Anyone know a way to boot straight to the VM Win98...well, to "look" like it boots to the win98 from an enduser perspective? I'll keep looking, but I have less experience with anything earlier than win2k...

[jlreich]

Only thing I can think of maybe going to somewhere like geeks.com. They sell a lot of refurbished old systems. They also tend to have some older boards and other components like s478 P4's and such that should run 98 without problems.

I also know there are some 98/ME geeks out there that have hacked these OS's so they are more stable and can address more ram without flaking out. But I am not into it so I don't know where to start looking. If you can find one of those sites they might be able to give you advice on how to get it running on a modern machine.

[mjc]

Another option, especially with large amounts of RAM is to create a massive 'ram disk' and 'ghost' 98 into it. Takes forever to boot, while the script copies the OS to RAM...but once there 98 is lightning fast. I can't find the links on how to do it, but Google should bring up some...

[Paul Komski]

MSFN Thread (http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=97588) on Mobos with Win98 Support.

We don't really know how "geekish" the user is prepared to be or exactly how they will be intending to use the computer but I suspect that getting compatible hardware is more likely to be acceptable than messing around with Virtual Machines and software solutions. The display alone (presuming a full screen mode is desired) may be problematic - particularly if high resolution wide screens are used.

To avoid having to re-initiate booting into a VM on a reboot then consider using/teaching to how use Hibernation (on systems that have the option and it has been enabled in the power options). One tip that many don't know about is that you may need to press the shift key to change the Standby button to change over to Hibernate.

[jlreich]

From Paul's link
is not possible to add graphic card supported with official drivers because Windows 98 has not recieved PCIE support.
Most that want or need to run 98 won't need a dedicated GPU, but it is good to know that a dedicated card is pretty much out of the question on modern boards.

[minus-sign]

User is afraid to upgrade and easily confused. I've stepped them through 3 different operating systems and they are incapable of liking anything other than what they already know. They're in the "I know what works for me and that is all I want until I keel over" category.

Thanks for the suggestion MJC; I'll keep looking. And thanks for the links Paul; the cheaper this build is the happier they'll be.

No rush on this(well, not much. I do want to get it done asap); I told them that what they are looking for would be a PITA.

[rond36]

I would give them the option of Win XP SP3 or nothing, if they still don't want XP leave them with nothing and move on.

If the Win 98 PC that they want is going to be connected to the Internet I would refuse to build it even if I could, it would be added to someones bot-net in about 2 minutes

[minus-sign]

I would give them the option of Win XP SP3 or nothing, if they still don't want XP leave them with nothing and move on.

If the Win 98 PC that they want is going to be connected to the Internet I would refuse to build it even if I could, it would be added to someones bot-net in about 2 minutesThat would be one heck of a family reunion next year:p

The box will be hooked up to dial-up. I'm not worried about anyone trying to turn it into their zombie though. Just recently a slightly used piece of hardware from Centurion Technologies has come into my possession that will let me set up a virtual drive >;-) They will have the option of saving to jump or nothing! No more desktops full of garbage icons thank you very much.