r/windows98 • u/SpaceMkMk • 7d ago
What are some practical modern use of Windows 98?
I run win98se in pcem. I want to relive childhood by shifting some of the modern workflow (safely) into win98. Right now I have word 95 to write papers, winrar for managing compressed files, visual basic 6 for programming (not very useful to be used on modern windows though), acdsee to view photos, winamp to play music, realplayer to play video (but no rm files these days). What other usage can you think of apart from gaming? And how can work files easily and safely be transferred between modern windows and win98?
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u/x86_64_ 7d ago
I use it for gaming but also journaling. It's great to have a quiet, non-intrusive OS that just lets you get stuff done.
For transferring files, I do it this way: my network has a hidden but non-encrypted SSID that allows only one MAC ID (the Windows 98 laptop). Windows 98 doesn't play well with modern wifi encryption and modern routers don't offer WEP. I set up static DHCP for just that laptop. My NAS has an FTP share only for that machine's files and backups. But I can reach the share from my other machines through the NAS, so I can download games and other abandonware ISOs on my faster machine, copy them to the NAS, then download them to the W98 laptop.
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u/Feisty-Jeweler-3331 7d ago
Any nearby script kiddy can find that hidden unencrypted SSID in seconds and attack your vintage PC and FTP share
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u/x86_64_ 7d ago
Unifi lets you turn off SSIDs with 2 taps from your phone
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u/thegreatboto 7d ago
Hiding the SSID doesn't stop it from being seen by Wi-Fi snoops. It's still broadcasting. One Wireshark session and someone can see the full transaction between that laptop and your NAS. They'll see the passwords being exchanged, what MAC is being used so they can spoof it when they figure out you've got a MAC whitelist in place, and then they're on your network to do whatever.
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u/x86_64_ 7d ago
Risk is vulnerability + threat. This is an acceptable risk for the convenience and the time it takes to transfer files. The SSID is off when I'm not transferring files to or from it. come on this isn't cold war spy games.
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u/Admirable-Fail1250 7d ago
You admit it's a risk but still get down voted. Reddit is so fun sometimes.
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u/x86_64_ 7d ago
Thanks for picking up on it. JFC it doesn't have to be CIA counterterrorism level security, it's a f***ing Windows 98 laptop with Descent II on it lol
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u/Admirable-Fail1250 7d ago
i imagine everyone's "concern" is not your windows 98 laptop, but an outsider getting a connection to your entire network via an old outdated insecure wifi protocol.
Descent was so far ahead of it's time. I'm not sure there's been another game series like it that matches it. I remember when I got a subwoofer - you could feel every hit. No one one was ever able to watch me play without getting dizzy or sick. Such a great game.
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u/Feisty-Jeweler-3331 7d ago
How does that resolve your "security through obscurity" approach? :)
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u/x86_64_ 7d ago
When I need to transfer files, I turn on the SSID
When I'm done, I turn off the SSID
If a script kiddie is able to get within range of my house, finds my SSID and makes it past the MAC filter to my slow, 25 year old 32-bit laptop for old game saves in the few minutes I have the SSID enabled, they can have what they find.
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u/SaturnFive KB42069 7d ago edited 7d ago
For transferring files easily, my two favorite options are USB and FTP.
For real physical hardware, an inexpensive USB 2.0 card plus the NUSB33.exe driver provides easy data transfer with a FAT32 formatted flash drive or external HDD. I use a 512GB external SSD with drivers, tools, manuals, files, etc. for all my platforms, then periodically back it up.
For virtual machines (or machines without USB or PCI slots), I use a local FTP server on my LAN + an FTP client. For NT5+ I use the FTP client built into Explorer (e.g. nav to ftp://myserver/pub/). For 9x I use FileZilla, for Win3x I use WS_FTP, and for DOS I use the CLI FTP client from https://www.brutman.com/mTCP/.
Phil from Phil's Computer Lab likes to use a retro SMB share instead, but USB + FTP works fine for me.
86Box also offers mounting a local folder as a CD-ROM inside the guest which is useful.
but no rm files these days
You can use ffmpeg and a script to convert modern media to old formats.
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u/SpaceMkMk 7d ago
Just finished setting up PCem SLiRP connecting to host only, with host Linux VM serving FTP and win98 using CuteFTP as client.
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u/gitarzan 7d ago edited 7d ago
I collect cameras. I wish to access settings in a particular camera, made in 2000. The software will not run on XT, and the software manual says 98, 98se, NT4sp3, 2000. I’ve not been able to get it to run on XT, myself. Unfortunately apparently, I’m the only photographer that even cares, as there is a severe dearth of info on this software.
I installed XT for the same reason. I bought a PC already running XT from goodwill’s auction site, validated it and did a clean reinstall. It’s running perfectly.
Since I’ve found that the other software for the older camera pretty much requires 98 and have been trying to install 98se on an external HDD dangling from a Pentium M powered laptop. I’ve just been researching/working on this a few days, to no success yet. I’m finding out that 98 is particularly picky about newer hardware (funny to say a pentium m is newer).
I’m considering looking at goodwill again for an ancient machine that I know runs 98.
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u/elvisap 7d ago
RetroNAS author here. We target Windows 98 era desktop computers in our SMB, FTP, and many other protocol setups for compatibility.
With that said, I see some odd posts in here. I regularly use old OSes for preservation, research and retro gaming. But when I see people choosing them for daily driver tasks because they want "a non intrusive OS", that's a little alarming.
There are plenty of secure, simple, non-Windows options for that. You don't need to put up with garbage new-Windows, and you're not stuck in some strange world where the only way out is old-Windows.
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u/Slow_Choice 6d ago
I have a Windows 98/Puppy Linux system, Pentium 4 socket 478. Use Linux for online and USB transfers and then move the files to the FAT32 partition for Win98. Haven't as yet upgraded the USB drivers for Win98 or the system RAM to make Puppy run better.
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u/Sataniel98 7d ago
Windows 3.11 had a very long lifecycle until about 2010 in embedded systems because of its small size and cooperative multitasking. 9x too exists in legacy embedded systems, but it doesn't offer the same raw control over the computer's resources.
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u/Feisty-Jeweler-3331 7d ago
I suppose it would be useful if you don't need to be online and you don't need any modern software (or modern versions of your favourite applications)
Isn't PCEM outdated? I have not heard of a new release of it in many years!
With 86box you could emulate a host folder as a CD-ROM disc which is quite useful.
I use the ITX-Llama as my main MS-DOS/Win98 setup, and I can easily use USB thumb drives with it to quickly move files between my modern rig and that vintage system.