DOS - not MAC/Apple

I have always had a feeling that railroad tracks should be standard widths throughout the United States, rther than having some narrow and some wider. Also, it is good for national security to have all within America stop at red stoplights and go through at green ones, plus drive on the right side of the road and NOT the left, so as to not be bass-ackwards daffy like the Brits and the Aussies who clearly are not functioning in accord with:

Ecclesiastes 10:2 A wise man's heart inclines him toward the right, but a fool's heart toward the left.

Ed Schultz, Thom Hartmann, Mike Malloy, Stephanie Miller and their demmie/dummy ilk [weirdly] call their anti-GOP "lefty" slant "progressive," but the above verse speaks for itself, for the continued survival of the sane.

Which gets me to the "alternate" operating systems (note the plural) of MAC and Apple, even UNIX and LINUX.

Every one is obviously not cooperating on the same page - which can be dangerous nowadays, in view of Al Qaeda and their antisemitic subversives ready to strike.....whenever and wherever.

The Bite-Out-Of-The-Apple symbol of the MAC/Apple logo really says it all, with regretful nostalgia alluding to the rebellious catastrophe which transpired back in the Garden of Eden a long time ago.

I have studied MAC/Apple owners and users for years, and the distinct impression I have of them is their defiant hatred against Bill Gates and Microsoft.

True, they have concocted some nerdy-complex UNIX/LINUX-like hieroglyphic manipulations embedded within streamlined-designed casings styles and graphics oddities, but it would be helpful for everyone involved if all participating got into the Microsoft groove of peaceful-coexistant standardization -- instead of diverting off on arrogantly-insubordinate hacker-like tangents.

Some notorious for departing so in wayward deviance are many anti-patriotic, feminist-twit, school-system, educrat revisionists....along with anti-Christian, socialist-sympathizing, Hollywood-movie-producing goonies.

Of all the presently-available FREE e-mail services, one which yet supports the Windows 3.11 graphical environment which you can sign up with is:

FastMail Signup Webpage

Another excellent, potently-non-cluttered, almost-incredibly-simple, extremely fast, and thus my most useful e-mail service might yet be available from:

Lavabit

Microsoft had their finest hour with their creation of their Windows 98SE operating system...for many vital reasons.

Lamentably, they then continued on into 2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7 NTFS and HPFS-partitioned phantom C-drives.....all of which turn the hard drive into a DOS-incompatible "network drive" -- almost as bad as Apple/Mac operating systems.....despite pseudo-"educational" rebellious-artists/actors Hollywood hype to the contrary:

Microsoft “retired” their support for 98/ME as of July 2006. Please refer to the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article for more information: End of support for Windows 98, Windows Me, and Windows XP Service Pack 1 The scheduled end of life for ESET NOD32 Antivirus 2.7 falls 5 years after the retirement of Microsoft operating systems 98/ME

Much prejudicial hype has been touted by Apple/Mac enthusiast rebels that Apple/Mac have less problems with malware (i.e. viruses, trojans, and worms) than PCs using Microsoft's DOS and Windows. In the past that has frequently been the case, but a combination of cooperation from Microsoft and their myriad non-malicious customers and users seeking to alleviate the problems has been quite successful. Malware can be written and employed to attack Apple/Mac, but the infrequency of utilization generally makes that cybervandalism not worth it, and the contempt of Mac and Apple users against Microsoft and PCs has worked hand in glove with particularly-notorious hackers maliciously terrorizing America's corporate stability for whatever mindless, demonic, and subversive causes (not "reasons").

Always be aware that faulty components and hardware failure might be the case of computer misperformance, that bad sectors could develop in hard drives, hard drive speeds vary, and that hard drive displays are sometimes slow because routine defragmentation is needed.

A DOS-based folder small enough to put on a diskette containing Norton or (better yet) Trend Micro's P-Cillin antivirus program run occasionally when in DOS mode is sometimes all that is needed to discover and delete a Stealth, Ripper, or other virus. Many anti-spyware, firewall, anti-virus programs available to the paranoid, ignorantly and superstitiously overly-applied to hard drives clog and muddy up computers, causing them to run slower.

Microsoft-supported XP and Vista are simplistically complex, have embedded strangely but somewhat-tolerable, somewhat inconveniently laid out graphical environments (placement of manipulatible icons), and some basic root-drive files of XP are quite vulnerable to acquisition of "Active X, "Porn Tube," other non-erasible downloaded intrusions (even with the many downloaded patches)......though some reparative relief is available by downloading, launching, and running the freeware program "Advanced WindowsCare V2 Personal" to clean up and repair XP if that is what operating system is on the computer.

XP has no Scandisk, thus prohibiting the possibility of quaranteening bad sectors on hard drives with Scandisk's "Thorough"-scan option; with non-controlled bad sectors residing on a hard drive, one never knows when some programs will begin to not work properly or not work at all. Vista is so rife and reeking with security guards that some programs cannot even run on the professional versions.

There is no "Restart in DOS Mode" black-screen possible in ME, 2000, XP, (and Vista?) - in which ME, 2000, XP, and Vista could have been completely exited from and worked on from the outside in case of Access Denied problems or cases when nonwanted programs downloaded and automatically launched from the internet cannot even be removed with Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel. Instead, one is always stuck in the ME, 2000, XP, or Vista shell, even using Dos Prompt to display the phantom C (NTFS and HPFS partitioned) 2000, XP, (and Vista?)drives in black screen.

ln contrast, I love DOS-based partitions, which support DOS 6.22, Windows 3.0, Windows 3.11, Windows 95, Windows 98SE, and Windows ME. All are easily manipulated, and can overcome each other in cases of Access Denied scenarios.

Each have their advantages, depending on the specs of one's computer and its capabilities pertaining to internal hardware.

If one wants to use newer dial-up modems, sound cards, PCI cards, video-adapter cards, wifi adapters, etc. one should consider using at least Windows 95 with Internet Tools, but better yet 98SE (with Internet Tools already embedded within the .cab files), and even more: ME. Admittedly, 2000 and especially XP (and Vista?), which are much larger programs requiring much more hard drive space than 212MB-sized 98SE and 600MB-sized ME (XP requires at least a Pentium 1 processor with at least 128 MB RAM), internally contain more needed driver files for the newer hardware cards within the newer computers and the newer peripherals such as up-to-date printers, scanners, and so forth.

Even though XP can set up some networking wifi adapters more efficiently than 98SE and ME, every computer serviceman should have a 3-1/2" diskette of the basic DOS 6.22 operating system with DOS 6.22 utilities thereon, such utilities as fdisk.exe, sys.com, format.com, setver.exe, himem.sys, and so forth, plus properly-coded config.sys and autoexec.bat files thereon with mscdex.exe and oakcdrom.sys CD driver files to facilitate CD ROM operation.

With the fdisk.exe of DOS 6.22, and if the computer BIOS was already adjusted to boot up with a diskette first and is cold-booted up with a DOS 6.22 operating-systems diskette, one can bring up the black partition screen even on an XP (or Vista?) computer and delete the Non-DOS 2000, XP, (and Vista?) NTFS and HPFS NT partitions, then re-partition with DOS-based operating systems such as DOS 6.22 and upon that build Windows 3.11, 95, 98SE and ME.

If one upgrades from Windows 3.11 to 95 or to 98SE or to ME, some operating system CDs require no presently-residing operating system on the hard drive, and some require the WIN95 35MB folder of files to upgrade to newer versions of Windows. To work with an operating system CD that requires no presently-residing operating system already on the hard drive, simply cold boot with a DOS 6.22, 95, or 98SE boot diskette containing the basic operating system files and run Setup for the newer operating system from the activated CD-ROM drive (usually the D drive).

If one wants to enter 128-bit encrypted bank websites for online viewing, one needs to have at least Firefox 1.5 or Internet Explorer 6.0 working. In order to have Internet Explorer 6.0 functional on one's hard drive, one needs to already have Windows 98SE functioning on one's computer. In order to have Windows 98SE functioning on one's computer, one needs at least a 66 MHz processor and an absolute minimum of 16 MB RAM with at least a 250 MB hard drive. Also, memory-stick flash drives only work with Windows 98SE and ME, but not non-32-bit Windows 95 nor Windows 3.11.

Driver files for memory-stick flash (or jump) drives (and a sizable number of sound cards, PCI cards, video-adapters cards, etc.) do not reside within any of the 121-MB-folder c:\WIN98 .cab files of Windows 98SE, and so need to be downloaded from the internet or inserted by diskette or CD ROM to be copied onto the hard drive. Windows ME, however, has most all driver files for all flash drives.

Some useful freeware and shareware file search, slideshow, screen capture, games, math programs, etc. not engrained within the older versions of Windows are downloadable for free (for the particular version of Windows running) on the internet.

Specifically, free useful programs one might add to Windows 98SE and ME are: ScreenHunter (v. 4.0) which is a good screen-capture program, msworks (v. 2.0a) containing Word and Excel and is less than 1.2 MB and thus containable on one diskette, Belarc (to get detailed inner specs on one's computer), DeepBurner (easy-to-work CD burner program), Cleanup! (v. 3.1.2) which is a simple but effective cookies and waste-files cleanup program, filesearch (by Candlelight Software), and Graphics VP Deluxe (v. 3.5) with both picture-resizer and re-positioner plus slideshow utility. Good Bible-translations programs are those of Larry Pierce of Timnathserah Ministries (such as his v. 7.00-C/WIN32), which can be Googled for download location.

Warning is given in ME that loading and launching Windows Media Player 9.0 will adversely affect Restore (for what that is worth). [Alternate media player programs such as VLC Media Player are available]. Also, as previously mentioned, one cannot Restart in DOS Mode with ME, though one can Restart in DOS Mode with 98SE. Restarting in DOS Mode is necessary when running some antivirus programs, some of which programs give warning that if they delete virus files from the DOS Prompt when Windows are running, Windows will be adversely affected.

If one's computer has a memory of at least 8 MB RAM and at least a 80 MB hard drive, one can launch and use Windows 95. However, Internet Tools (about 50-60 MB) needs to be added and launched for many programs to operate. Less that 4 MB of RAM limits one to Windows 3.11 but only if the computer has Enhanced Mode operating.

Windows 95, 98SE, and ME operating systems are centralized in the registry (but not so with Windows 3.11). To load and launch Windows 95, 98SE, and ME requires a CD-ROM drive, being that the massive .cab files (somewhat like zip files) exceed megabyte capacity of 3-1/2" diskettes (less than 1.37 MB each). Also, launch files for such newer operating systems must be launched in a certain exact sequence.

In contrast, Windows 3.11 files are small enough to be on diskettes, and non-sequential launching is possible (although original Windows 3.11 files can be launched in specific sequence also). In other words, if one has a complete set of Windows files on several diskettes for Windows 3.11, and a complete set of Windows/System files on several diskettes for Windows 3.11, and copies such accordingly to the one Windows folder and the one Windows/System folder, then reboots the computer, one can successfully bring up Windows 3.11 by typing in and entering Win after the DOS prompt in the black screen after having typed and entered \cd to get into the Windows folder (in which folder the subfolder of Windows/System resides).

Just as DOS 6.22 (with it's SCANDISK.EXE inclusion) was and is THE pinnacle of DOS operating system achievement (compared to earlier versions of DOS - such as 3.2, 5.0, 6.0, 6.20, 6.21, etc.) created by MICROSOFT during the last half of the twentieth century.....so Windows 3.11 was and is THE finest version of Windows ever produced by MICROSOFT (and, at the time of this writing, Windows 3.0, 3.1, 3.11, 95, 97, 98, 2000, ME and XP exist, besides the earliest versions of Windows).

Disadvantages of Windows 3.0 Compared to Windows 3.11

1. Though a nice-looking easy-loading graphical Windows environment, one problem with Windows 3.0 is that if one wants to delete files (like program files of other software) put thereon, those files put thereon have to be deleted ONE at a TIME (that is: groups of files cannot be quickly deleted, as they can with WINDOWS 3.11).

2. A similar problem with Windows 3.0 is that Diskette Spanning Transfer is not possible with Windows 3.0 in contrast to Windows 3.11 (meaning that if the total number of files with their associated byte sizes within a subdirectory on the C drive exceeds the capacity of one 1.44-Meg-capacity diskette, Windows 3.0 does NOT apportion (onto however many diskettes it takes) transfer of all files within that particular subdirectory of several files.

3. As indicated by their outside-cover Specifications, most software is not compatible with Windows 3.0, and if one attempts to load and/or run such software, an error message of 'A NEWER VERSION OF WINDOWS IS REQUIRED' is portrayed on the monitor screen.

4. Compared to Windows 3.11, Windows 3.0 is deficient pertaining to its Program manager Run utility, which utility has no Browse option, thus requiring one to type in the FULL Driveletter:\\directoryname\subdirectoryname\launchfilename into the Command Field Box manually....to load and launch new programs.

5. Windows 3.0 does not recognize (and thus will not load) valid .ttf fonts, which fonts it declares 'invalid.'

Limitations of Windows 3.1 Compared to Windows 3.11

Pertaining to Windows 3.1, the SETUP.EXE file associated with it does NOT allow for a Super VGA driver option - which makes Windows 3.1 inadequate for realistic and pleasing display of internet and other .jpg and .gif photo files.

Problematic with the beyond-WIN311 versions of Windows (e.g. Windows 95, 98, and so on) is that:

(1) they require installation from a CD-ROM using a CD-ROM drive (something old 386 and 486 computers with 8 MB RAM and 33-133 MHz processors frequently do not have, but instead often contain the ancient 5-1/4 inch diskette drives instead of a CD-ROM drive). Windows 95 files cannot [for all practical purposes] be loaded from 80 or more 3-1/2 diskettes because of the longer-than-8-character filenames required for Windows 95 loading and launching (the endings of which 9-or-more character filenames are represented on diskettes by merely a tilde and 1 indication (~1).....whatever that might stand for).

Diskettes have internal moving parts and are subject to magnetic erasure - and thus more fragile and subject to disk failures as contrasted with CD-ROMs. Assuming the BIOS of a computer correctly matches, recognizes, and indicates the actual disk drive and video card types within a computer without mismatch, having been partitioned with FDISK and then having a DOS6.22 operating system loaded therein, formatted with FORMAT.COM, and both CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT placed in the root directory (along perhaps with WINA20.386), Windows 3.11 files can rather quickly be loaded onto the hard drive from the A or B drive into their respective C:\WINDOWS and C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM subdirectories (typed using md while yet in DOS) and launched (after re-starting the computer) with no OEM number registry info required for loading nor launching -- provided that the computer has a DOS 6.22 (or equivalent) 16-bit (not 32-bit) operating system transferred onto the hard drive using the SYS.COM file from an DOS 6.22 operating-system (OS) diskette, and that both a properly-coded AUTOEXEC.BAT file and CONFIG.SYS file have been copied onto the root directory (C drive) from the A or B diskette drive

(2) they take up a HUGE amount of hard-disk (i.e. fixed-disk) space in terms of megabyte capacity. Windows 3.11 takes up less than 25 MB, whereas even Windows 95 requires over 100 MB to load, launch, and run.

(3) the startup/setup files MUST be loaded SEQUENTIALLY in ORDER with NONE missing....or there will occur a HIMEM.SYS MISSING error message or Registry error happening when trying to launch and run Windows 95 or newer.

In stark contrast, Windows 3.11 files can be respectively loaded from the black-screen C:\ prompt in DOS [6.22] into one md-created C:\WINDOWS directory and one md-created C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM subdirectory in ANY order, then launched [AFTER re-starting computer] by typing in win at the C:\WINDOWS/ prompt....then run OK.

To elaborate, the following C:\ directory Windows 3.11 files (though shown below in alphabetical order for your convenience, and including some Internet Explorer 3.02 and Adobe Acrobat files here and there) can be loaded into the C:\WINDOWS directory in ANY order, then launched after re-starting or re-booting computer!, and successfully run - with no HIMEM.SYS MISSING or other error messages:

Additional files showing up in the WINDOWS directory or WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory are supplemental files accumulated (as from software programs) -- whether useful or useless, good or bad. One particularly useful WINDOWS\SYSTEM file to have is VBRUN300.DLL for certain WINDOWS 3.11-compatible programs this webauthor has affectionately renamed WindowsCapture, WinfileSplit, WinfileSearch, MemoryMonitor, QuikPic and so forth [not all of which require VBRUN300.DLL, incidently. More info about acquiring downloadable 16-bit Windows-3.11-compatible zipfiled software given below!].

Harmful files are viruses, worms, trojans, etc. and should simply be deleted when discovered, with no need for an always-on-to-muddy-up-and-slow-down-the-system antivirus program to constantly reside on the hard srive (whether Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro's P-Cillin, or whatever). This is NOT to say that occasionally running Trend Micro's P-Cillin anti-virus program on the C-drive [even FROM the C-drive and not from slow-loading cold-start diskette!] is not a good idea to delete any hidden viruses of whatever type.

(4) they use file and directory/subdirectory alphanumeric names larger than 8 characters - conflicting with the established up-to-8-characters-only limitation - making MANUAL md and other directory and directory/subdirectory construction and rd deconstruction from DOS difficult if not impossible.

(5) they are configured so that they themselves, not DOS, function as automatically-launching operating and shutdown systems after computer-power-switch turn-on and in place of MANUAL computer-power-switch turn-off. (Sort of like having AUTOEXEC.BAT coded so that the computer is forced to load directly to Windows, rather than sometimes-conveniently staying in black-screen C-prompt DOS in which DOS one can freely manipulate files and directories/subdirectories without being in a Windows environment)

(6) they have files larger than 1.4 MB, and therefore are not containable (unless zipped into compression) on up-to-1.4-MB 3-1/2-inch diskettes...requiring 100MB-250MB IOMEGA or CD-ROM media. (The cannot-be-contained-on-a-diskette 3.0 MB win386.swp file seen on some already-built-up screens of File Manager in Windows 3.11 does NOT have to be copied, because it is AUTOMATICALLY constructed when Windows 3.11 launches)

(7) because Windows 95 and newer versions launch automatically from computer power-on, and thus the MS-DOS C-drive prompt is embedded in the Windows 95 environment, files of Windows 95 and newer cannot be erased from that MS-DOS C prompt...showing an ACCESS DENIED message if one attempts to MANUALLY erase them from the C prompt. (Windows 95 and newer files ...including all ACCESS DENIED files....can, of course, be erased by formatting the hard drive using FORMAT or partitioning the hard disk using FDISK, but both of these techniques erase ALL the data off the hard drive).

(8) they are WAY too complex - consisting in part of subdirectories of subdirectories of subdirectories of subdirectories, etc. Such makes the newer versions of Windows extremely difficult and tedious to erase the files of using DOS commands in the C-prompt black screen (in situations where the Windows files become hopelessly corrupted with Registry problems or viruses, or when installing a simpler version of Windows is desired). In stark and quite pleasant contrast, ALL the files of Windows 3.11 (a DOS shell - in essence - contained in ONLY ONE directory and ONLY ONE subdirectory) are EASILY and QUICKLY erased with NO non-erasable residue files! THAT makes Windows 3.11 I>extremely easy to QUICKLY rebuild if desired.

(9) a lot of still-quite-useful software (including earlier versions of NETSCAPE, such as their 2.02 and 3.0 or even 4.08 editions, and relatively-fast Internet Explorer 3.02; a quite-adequate version of MS Works sized less than 1.4 MB - thus containable on ONE 1.44M diskette; QUITE-sufficient Write word-processing programs (simpler, and not frustrating users with the tab/indent jumpiness of newer versions of Word for Windows); certain Bible software; and much more, is compatible with Windows 3.11.....so there is NO advantage in running such on and being encumbered with the newer versions of Windows. [Admittedly, a number of software designers have - unfortunately, but perhaps in the ongoing financial interest of computer-related corporate greed, licensing and copyright-related strong-arming from Redmond Washington, and economic inflation - made their programs compatible not for Windows 3.11 but only Windows 95 and newer].

Some claim that the newer versions of Windows load faster, execute programs faster, have greater search for and install wizard capacities (pertaining to setting up modems, printers, scanners, and so on), and are more compatible with the newer internet browser versions. Indeed, the newer drivers for the newer peripherals are contained in the newer versions of Windows, facilitating easier install of modems, printers, scanners, etc. And, the newer versions of Internet Explorer (like 5.5 at the time of this writing) and Netscape (such as 4.5, 4.7 and 6.0) are structured for the newer versions of Windows. However, given the latest speed and specifications increase in the latest computers (with RAM specs way past 128MB, processors in the gigabit range, and hard drives touting 20, 30, 40 and higher gigabit capacities), the speed of Windows 3.11 would obviously increase tremendously with such supercomputer types.

This webauthor has found -- through trial-and-error hard-knocks experience -- that the newer versions of Windows are much more susceptible to all sorts of malfunctioning problems and virus/trojan/worm malware....and thus impose serious shortcomings.

That being said, one of the great advantages of Windows 7 is the ability to right-click on an .exe launch file of some older DOS-based program, which brings up a popup windows in which the user can select what older Windows operating system he wants that older DOS program to run in on Windows 7. Such a feature has been VERY useful in loading, launching, and running some of my older DOS-based Bible programs (two of which can be downloaded from The Web, then launched and run without internet connection), such as:

"Online" Bible for Windows, Ver. 7.00-C/WIN32 (from Larry Pierce
of Timnathserah Ministries of Winterbourne Ontario Canada [519-664-2266]


Bible Library, Ver 4.0 (from Ellis Enterprises Inc, Oklahoma City OK)

E-Sword Bible Translations Library (from Rick Meyers)

Moreover, dinosaur-ancient 386 and 486 computers - maxing out at 120-200 MB hard drives, 33-133 MHz processors, and 8 MB RAM - simply cannot handle the massive system requirements of Windows 98 and newer.

Thankfully, non-registered hand-me-down files of Windows 3.11 are practically (but not quite) in public domain which do NOT require the OEM registration identification necessities of Windows 95 and newer to load and launch.

One's highest regards go to insightful MICROSOFT chairman Bill Gates

along with his mopheaded wife Melissa, plus the brilliant, hardworking, and insightful MICROSOFT software design engineers who invented and distributed such a refreshingly simply yet phenomenally efficient, dependable, and elegant Windows program one can take apart and put back together as applicable and convenient for edifying and socially-beneficial purposes.

Recently, much publicity has been given to the senseless terroristic cyber-genocidal vandalism of virus-concocting hackers exploting script-exposed source-code deficiencies and vulnerabilities of Microsoft and their PCs incurred by massive-user internet web browsing, networking, and e-mail. Can UNIX-based MAC OS X source code and device drivers be malcoded and make their way into singular open ports of MAC users? CAN such worms, trojans, and whatever be forced into MACs despite built-in active-default firewalls? The reader may find the following as-of-this-time-working hotlink below interesting:

Problems Detecting Viruses in UNIV-Based MACs?

A final note:

When one purchases or first acquires a computer, one should - if one wants to load Windows 3.11 thereon - make sure that a [true] DOS or dual operating system which includes [true] DOS has been selected for the BIOS of the computer....not a Windows 95 or newer-ONLY operating system. [Perhaps one can help to insure that by loading a DOS 6.22 (or equivalent) operating system using SYS.COM through the A or B diskette drive BEFORE switching a new computer on. Otherwise, if Windows 95 initially launches FIRST, and AFTERWARDS a different operating system and windows versions is imposed on the computer, the system will probably hang incessantly now and then [again: IF Windows 95 or newer Windows version takes FIRST precedent on the new computer.

In summary, I realize that Microsoft would not make much money limiting OS sales to DOS 6.22 with WINDOWS 3.11...even though a price of $200 or $300 for such would be better than nothing. Certainly, WINDOWS 3.11 would be much larger if the ever-increasingly myriad device driver files for all the new printer, modem, scanner, and other peripherals were added. And Microsoft would have to convince software manufacturers and programmers to allow specifications for such software and peripherals to accomodate again to WINDOWS 3.11 instead of restricting such to WINDOWS 95 and the newer versions of Windows. Such could be done, obviously, and it would unify the computing world tremendously.

Shareware and Freeware Programs for Windows 3x

Diskette-Sized Audio and Movie Programs for WINDOWS 3.11

Supplier #1 for DOS 6.22 and/or WINDOWS 3.11

Supplier #2 for DOS 6.22 and/or WINDOWS 3.11

There is both freeware and shareware zipfiled software on the Internet available for downloading. Zipfile names indicated below might have been changed from original sources. All zipfiles listed below were singularly loadable onto ONE 3-1/2 inch diskette (thus each within 1.4 Meg of byte size). Use the hotlinks below to get your copies of them. When opening them, some will indicate a VBRUN300.DLL and/or THREED.VBX file is needed. Don't be discouraged. Keep the program, download those two common files from an internet source, and load them into your c:\windows\system subdirectory. Sources and file names can be searched in using the keyword search boxes of Google or some other search engine. Some zipfiled software programs will automatically contain and load in either or both of those two files.

If you now have enough disk space on your hard drive (and such is limited on 386 and 486 computers, and I never compress hard drives myself because complications of all sorts would occur if I did compress), click back to the main Program Manager desktop screen with the group icons thereon. Each of the zipfiles, of which were unzipped and selectively placed into their respective subdirectories of some arbitrarily-named main subdirectory on the C drive, contains a self-executable .exe file (usually the one having the largest byte size of the .exe variety, and usually named install.exe or setup.exe).

One of the worst problems in compressing a hard drive with the compression utility of Windows 95 or 98SE is the inability to readily change operating systems. It sometimes can be done, by re-partitioning the compressed hard drive (if yet possible) using the fdisk.exe utility of DOS 6.22 to get rid of the NON-DOS partition sometimes appearing from the black screen of fdisk relating to the compressed hard disk and then re-partitioning with that DOS 6.22 fdisk.exe utility file, whether or not one wants to afterward create Extended DOS Partitions with different drive letters (hopefully not interfering with Drive D associated with the CD-ROM drive, which problem might be avoided by launching the fdisk.exe utility of Windows 98SE while in Windows 98SE using the DOS prompt file utility, and thus having Windows 98SE automatically adjust the CD-ROM drive letter to E or F or whatever).

Also, it is best, when asked by the fdisk.exe utility file of Windows 98SE if one wants to partition the entire hard disk as one unit (instead of the typical 2GB sections for primary, then further DOS partitions), to press "N" (for No!), being that - again - if one wants to change to different operating systems, there will be frustrating problems attempting to do so if one instead presses Y (for Yes) concerning partitioning the entire hard disk as one whole.

Legality-related time-limit statements for anonymously-downloaded, disk-saved, deletable on hard drive, reloadable-from-disk shareware programs are difficult if not impossible to enforce. Some shareware programs thus limit features of their program more than other more benevolently-philanthropic shareware programs. Nag screens reminding one to register go with the territory, and one should neither steal program code nor ignore that the hardworking author of the shareware program deserves not only name authorship and copyright integrity of freeware authors, but also the recognition, free advertisement, and associated monetary rewards due him. Some programs have structure quirks and inefficiencies within them, making them less desirable than other programs.

16-bit Windows 3.11-compatible software is [presently?] downloadable from:

Source #1

Source #2

Source #3

Source #4

Perhaps it is still possible
to download the best Netscape browser for Windows 3.11
by clicking on
Netscape Navigator 4.08 for Windows 3.11


There is also a working Netscape browser for Windows 98SE called

Netscape Navigator 9 Ver. 9.0.0.6

A good alternative browser for Windows 98SE is Acoo Browser Version: 1.98.744 [Released: Sep-27-2009]

Great Utility Programs Which Work with Windows 98SE:

[ NOTE: Many of these programs below require the file vbrun300.dll
to be downloaded or whatever and put into the c:\windows\system subdirectory ]

Graphics VP Deluxe & Graphics Gallery (from SkiSoft Shareware, Brier, WA 98036) [Skibby@aol.com]
Wisdom-Soft ScreenHunter 4.0 Free
IrfanView 32 Bit for WinNT & win 9X, Ver. 2.90 (from Irfan Skiljan) [e9227474@student.tuwien.ac.at]
Convert Ver. 2.2 (from Brian Gries Toy Co., Webster TX 77598)
Elements, Ver. 2.1 (from Brian Gries, Webster TX 77598)
Microsoft Works, Ver. 2.0a (a less-than-1.44M .exe file)
WinZip 6.3 SR-1 (from Nico Mak Computing, Mansfield CT 06268)
SoftPerfect Personal Firewall, Ver. 1.4.1. (from SoftPerfect Research) [firewall@softperfect.com]
CleanUp! Ver. 3.1.0 (from Steven R. Gould) [http://cleanup.stevengould.org]
Engineering-Mechanics Calculator (from A. Hallahan)
Alge-Blaster Plus (from Davidson and Associates)
FileSEARCH (from Candlelight Software) [702-456-6365]