Hi good people, Im just recovering from a gigantic crash that left me with no computer for a couple of weeks and no net connection for a month :( Luckily I was backed up so it wasnt too bad. The good thing is, Ive now got a spare computer that Id like to use as a dedicated render machine. I seem to remember a while ago someone discussing how to cut all the dross out of a Win98 OS so as to get the most out of the speed of the machine. Any ideas anyone.

Attached Link: http://www.litepc.com/index.html

Yes litepc.com Oh happy to report you can sort of due the same thing with ME with a bit of work. More work but seems to be more stable. But then again there is a lot less programs on this puter I'm fixing right now then my machine. It's not quite the same thing yet here on the ME machine. But I've managed to hack it's speed to about the same as my puter running 98 lite. Surprise, I have yet to crash it since the hacks. Active destop is difficult to get rid off. There remove does not remove anything. It's reg edit and shift delete. IE is still here but it's been banned from the web and is reg edited out basically. It would run if you found and clicked on the exe file still though. Mozilla 10 times faster and I don't own this puter, the people who own it said that, not me I just installed it. Lookout gone. IE gone, Microsoft spyware gone. Inactive bloat gone. CPU priority to 1, network machine, half gig swap file. It works pretty good now. This machine was unusable when I started to fix it. They wanted me to reformat and start again. I never did that I fixed it just like it was.. Works great now. Another happy customer.

And make sure to get the Pro version of 98lite (The difference being that with the Pro version, you pay, get further upgrades for free, and a reduced price on 2k-XPlite when Shane Brooks finishes it. And some tech support, if you need it. The freebie version just removes IE.). That has all the goodies, including the shell swap (if you have access to a Windows 95 CD that is OSR 2.1 or before, you can do the sleek install option, which puts the 95 desktop and shell on top of 98, and replaces the browser-look version of Windows Explorer with the older, and much faster, 95 version of same. Dual booting between 98lite and Win2k, and have yet to encounter a Win program I can't run...and about the only DOS programs I can't run are so ancient that you literally =have= to run them on ancient equipment. One other thing to look for if you go with 98lite is the IE.ini file that is provided. It re-inserts exactly 1 IE registry key at the top of the stack....the one that all those programs that swear on the Bible and spit three times that you -have- to have IE 5.5 or above to even install them. They lie. The most I have ever lost access to is MS Help files, which are usually no help at all.... I still haven't forgotten that experiment with Vue on 98lite Pete. I've got most of a new renderbox for the garden scavenged, and am planning on putting Vue on that and doing some benchmarking.

Cheers Pete & Dale for the quick response, Id not heard of them before and after just taking a quick peek at the site, 25USD doesnt seem too bad. The only thing thats now holding me back is that Ive been told that Win98 can only support <1gb mem. Is this right? Ive only got 512mb in at the moment but Ive got another 512mb on order. If this is the case it looks like Ill have to put XP on the box and wait for the new Xplite version to be released. Oh decisions, decisions

I'll say there is probibly no limit to memory on 98 4 gigs is the limit on a 32 bit machine, but there is a limit on graphics cards on puters with lots of memory. There is a simple fix though you can add to the config.ini file to fix tht problem. The graphics cards and memory mapping table get goofed up but you can fix that. Can't say I've tried with more than a gig but the limit is suppose to be way down at 512k not a gig. If you have that problem like it says not enough memory to start windows. Yup that's the error then you have to add that single like to the config file. It just limits the paging file so as not to overwrite the AGP graphics card table. I had the command saved here but seems to have expired. It's gone. here is the link: actually that was the wrong link. There is so much BS going around about this bug. It has to do with Vcashe overwriting the memory table or the memory table taking up all the space so there is no room for the Vcashe table. Oh a better link You can calculate it out yourself here: http://support.microsoft.com:80/support/kb/articles/Q181/8/62.ASP&NoWebContent=1 Now I personally think it's BS but hey. I think it's caused by other addon bloat and not 98. Seems like when the bloat is gone that error never shows up. I've seen 98lite run on 1 gig no problem. Usually though that's the limit of most boards but now you can get 512 sticks so who knows. I'd say give er and if you have that problem add the line. I never added that line and had no problem. See it don't make sence cause all windows boxes have by default 4 gigs of virtual memory.

The Vchache fix is a definitely needed item if you run any 9X OS at 1 gig of ram or above. I've had 98lite cruising along happily on 768megs. The problem is also dependant on just how resource hungry your video card is. a Serious card requires the added line in system.ini. If you don't need it, no harm done. When I took my current main box to 1gig, I could -not- start 98lite. It would initialize Windows, then reboot (Athlon XP-1700 and a GF4-TI4400 card). Adding the 512meg limiting line fixed the start up, and I haven't had anymore problems with it. One thing you will want to do, is run Norton Windoctor, or something equivalent, after you do =any= Windows install. MS is terminally sloppy in their installation coding, and even if you allow Windows to do the kind of install it wants, there will be dangling shortcuts, exposed ActiveXCOM keys in the registy, etc. Most of the trouble that people can't figure out usually is the result of something glitching and attaching itself to a call that it doesn't use. So cleaning up the registry is a Good Thing.

Oh one thing I was going to say about agp port vid cards.. Remember the worse the card the bigger the memory window you need and the better the smaller the window you need. I fix puters all the time and find say 64 meg cards given a window of 64 or bigger window size. That's wrong. It shoud be smaller. 16 meg would be enough for such a card. a 16 meg card may need 16 or better window size the better cards almost need none. So set the cards up right and avoid that glitch. I good agp card will not use any extra memory so big windows are a waste. It's there for poor cards not excellent cards, say 128 meg cards. I've personally never had that bug show up but haven't gone over a gig also. If you have problems though it's the vcache, nothing to do with windows. IT's AGP cards using some memory for themselves. So you have to set windows up so it does not overwrite Vcache and set your cards up proper so that the window size is really all it needs if any. That's in the bios. Try it with none and if it works then leave it that way if not make it bigger in 8 meg steps till it does work then stop. Regaurdless chances are the card will never use it.

Cheers again, I've now got plenty of info to be making a decision, still not sure which way to go though, but I'll be sorting it over the next few days.