Tihiy @msfn apparently hacked some xp resources to enable cleartype in 98 and me:
http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/131040-revolutions-pack-96/

so with addition of kernelx to run nt programs you can further improve the appearance of page display in browsers and document editors for better readability. revolution9 also adds support for true colour icons(like xp) and better stability

make sure to install rp9updates as well because it didn't work without it, after installing revolution pack9; reboot and install the update and reboot again. if you prefer classic look; make sure to select custom install and remove 'themes'

enable cleartype in the config, no need to restart


now your kmeleon fonts display will be the same as on modern systems

98 with and without cleartype comparison:












Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/2010 12:18PM by disrupted.

Quite a difference!

Perhaps this could help with my font probs in KM1.6...
Just not quite sure about RAM, but sure would like trying, the only prob is that I'll have to do a system backup before, and that takes such an awful lot of time and my disk is nearly full... But when I'll hopefully get around some day I'll try that thing

enabling cleartype didn't really have a payload on memory usage.. no need for backup, it doesn't require any as it's an easy straight-forward install/uninstall. the libraries don't replace any system files..they are separate and registered independently. the entire thing was less than 3mb, that is without the themes which isn't that important(eye candy) but cleartype is very important. cleartype is one of the major reasons that kept me from spending more time testing on 98 because the fonts were irritating

for rest assurance; an unistall removed all the files and registry keys ..the system was unaltered..this isn't like kernelx which replaces the kernel32

Tihiy did a brilliant job with this revolution pack



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/2010 12:18PM by disrupted.

COOL!

Nice to hear that cleartype can be used under Win98 or WinME with RP9 installed.
Too bad Tihiy is no longer working on the Win2000 version of the Revolutions Pack. I would have loved to see him attempt to implement Cleartype support on his Win2000 Revolutions Pack.

There is an MS app called Microsoft Reader that uses Cleartype support. Download and install it under a Win98/ME computer with RP9 & cleartype enabled to see if Cleartype works.

btw, disrupted, you mis-spelled the creator's name of the Revolutions Pack 9 addon in your first post. It's Tihiy, not tinhy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/13/2010 01:37AM by 4td8s.

Sigh. Tried it.
Now have a problem.
And of course, my last system backup was ages ago, shame on me

That was the result:

If ClearType is enabled, the about:config page shows no bold text anymore.
Additionally with RP9 the taskbars can't be moved anymore!
I like to have the quickstart icons on the left corner and right of it a double row of "windows". The icons were cut at the bottom after installing RP9+system stuff, so I looked what happens if pulling the taskbar a bit bigger to the upside. What happened is what always happens, all icons jump to the top, but unlike 'always' there was no handly anymore to move them around! Now the quickstart bar is still all over the whole screen width, and below the windows bar

Both is really a killer, and since the other stuff of RP9 (lots of icons and skins etc.) is of no interest to me anyway, decided to uninstall again. Mostly I had installed it hoping it might possibly fix the messed TABS bar favicons in KM16, but didn't help, and if not even ClearType works, so what.

After uninstalling, the 'updated' english unlock-menu for the taskbars had vanished completely, so I still cannot move them at all...


.
.

.
.

.
.

.

Any suggestions how to get the Unlock-Menu back...?
Yeah I should read through the RP9-forum and post there, will do that, when I get around, grmpf.
Must say this was not just the *pure* RP9 pack only. After installing only that, ClearType didn't work yet, so I tried installing also that "system update" stuff that was posted next to it in that RP9 forum. I know I should have copied my system first, but my disk is long since almost full, and USB is only 1.1 and slower than a snail, and... and...
Then after uninstall of RP9 that "system" stuff probably still stayed, and probably had overwritten my old stuff, no idea.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/2010 02:13PM by siria.

Quote
siria
and USB is only 1.1 and slower than a snail, and... and...

though this is off topic, you could purchase a PCI expansion card that adds USB 2.0 chipsets/sockets/ports to your win98se computer. I bought a Vantec USB 2.0 PCI card a few years ago that uses NEC-based USB 2.0 chipsets and drivers.
if you can't install it yourself, ask a computer technician to install it for you.

aww bummer for the Cleartype on win9x stuff, siria. guess there were some flaws.

Yes, with the biggest flaw being me thinking I had a few weeks old registry backup, but obviously had only meant to do it but not gotten around immediately and then forgotten *could still kick myself*

Well, would long since have tried that with a new USB card, but my current main machine is a notebook, and I'd most likely 'screw' it if clueless me dared do 'screw it up' ;-) IIRC with the USB ports fixed to the mainboard, but not sure anymore, it's been awhile that I had done some research for USB. Had even gotten me an expensive pcmcia-card or how that's called with USB 2.0 ports on it, but that thing kept crashing and freezing, grmpf. But thanx for reminding me, perhaps that works now with KernelEx who knows?? Hmm, may try that again some time...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/06/2010 10:12PM by siria.

sira, you can try browsing to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Look for any values related to "taskbar". My Win98 has none so I suspect you should have none also, if you have some then deleting them may help. Reference: #lock (much to read on that page)

Reading the msfn forum I see you've tried deleting:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Desktop

Clearly the Taskbar and Toolbars sections of that key are relevant, so is the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects

Which can be deleted also.

I suggest comparing all of those keys to backups you may own, perhaps even the whole contents of:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer


Before looking at the date of your posting I was going to say "look in C:\WINDOWS\SYSBCKUP for RB00*.CAB, I currently have five of them generated during the last six days. Each contains a complete registry backup so if one of them preceeds the day you installed the updates then you have a way back, just make copies of them immediately", but it's too late for that.

:O
You mean there are automatic registry backups? That would be it... :O

Quote
Stuck in '98
look in C:\WINDOWS\SYSBCKUP for RB00*.CAB, I currently have five of them generated during the last six days. Each contains a complete registry backup so if one of them preceeds the day you installed the updates then you have a way back, just make copies of them immediately", but it's too late for that.

No, it's not too late, there are still two which are dating from before!! *OUFF!* Thanx man!

Of the other stuff with the single regkeys I had already tried a few myself, after a search for "taskbar" in the registry, then extracting "suspicious" parts from my old backup, and deleting and replacing those keys in the current reg. But had not helped so far, on the other hand I didn't dare trying ALL, only those that didn't look too complex ;-)

So... Those rescuing CABs open fine in 7zip and obviously really contain the four system files

YES - that worked!!
My taskbar handles are back, toolbars can be moved again!!




If anyone else needs to restore an automatic registry backup in windows98 and doesn't know how to, a quick summary:

Make a backup copy of all "rb00x.cab" files from folder
C:\WINDOWS\SYSBCKUP (if all goes well you don't need this, but just in case ;-)

Restart system in DOS mode
Type "scanreg.exe /restore"
Choose one of the offered backups by date
Restart Windows - that's all!!

There are some very good screenshots here in a tutorial, the "choice screen" is Figure E:
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-5030758.html



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/2010 02:43PM by siria.

siria ... there is actually a free program that will make 14 registry backups. I discovered it several years ago and wrote about it at the MSFN forum. I dug up the message and will put it here for you to read ... and any others that still use Windows 98SE ... I talk about 3 registry programs ... Rescue by Ronaldo ... Bobstur's Batch File ... COP 2.2 by PLATO ... I use all 3 ... can never have too many registry backups in case something goes terribly wrong and 5 or 6 backups get corrupted.

*** maybe the links no longer work ... the COP 2.2 link is still good. Maybe a Google search for Rescue by Ronaldo and Bobstur's Batch File will find the neat little programs ... they are all "must have" registry backup programs for Windows 98SE. I will also search around for working links. The links are still good ... they must have not transferred correctly from the MSFN posting. Grab the programs now while they are still around.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Rescue by Ronaldo

http://www.softcom.net/users/mikey719/rescueV2_screenshot.html


Bobstur's Batch File

http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/regback1.html


COP 2.2

http://www.bootdisk.com/cop.htm

-------------------------------------------------------------
Posted 04 April 2009

Almost Like "System Restore" For Windows 98SE ...

... maybe not quite, but a couple of nice little Registry Backup programs for Windows 98SE that maybe some are not aware of ... the first is "Rescue by Ronaldo" ... I have posted what someone wrote about this little program, exactly what I read when I first discovered this little gem. It is listed as a recovery program for Windows 95 but does work with Windows 98SE. .... I will add a third registry backup program at the end ... all these programs are getting old but still seem to be available at the links ... never know, one of them might disappear someday, download and save if you think they are of some value.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------

RESCUE by Ronaldo

A Windows 98 Recovery program ... this little freeware program is truly amazing! The author must have had one of those moments of true inspiration when he wrote RESCUE. It is simple to use, easy to understand and provides valuable protection for your computer by backing up your registry. Sheer genius! ... and it works! I should know since I have had to use it once already (it was just a small, little change to the system.ini file, I thought it was harmless; but when I rebooted, all I had was wallpaper! ... no desktop icons, no explorer, no nothing, just wallpaper! ... but since I had backed up right before this small, little, harmless change, I just followed the directions to restore my registry, rebooted and was back in business. It took a whole 7 or 8 minutes!) let me tell you, this is one very cool program!
All RESCUE is ... is a bunch of simple DOS commands arranged in the proper order in an executable batch file! This is what makes it so beautiful! Its simple elegance screams at you! Version 1 can automatically backup your registry every time you start windows and you can manually save your registry in a second place whenever you like and all that takes in one double click (there is no automatic backup with version 2, but that's ok, I like version 2 better).
To restore from a backup, all you do is boot into DOS, make one simple directory change, then type a one word command. That's it! It's so simple, it's brilliant! There are some very expensive programs out there that claim to do the same thing, but they will never be as easy to use as RESCUE! Throw them all out! Download RESCUE now and get some peace of mind for once! There are no screenshots per se, so I have elected to talk at length about RESCUE on the screenshot page (but what else is new!) ... and before I forget, the author has told me that Rescue WILL WORK with Windows 98. So there! Also ... the download is on the appropriate screenshot page! Ok, I'm feeling adventurous! What else can you possibly say about RESCUE?

A quick note about Rescue v2 and viruses ... (note to me: Sunday, August 13, 2000)
It has been reported to me by two different visitors {earlier this year} that their version of "McAfee Antivirus" reported a virus when they tried to run the setup for Rescue v2. Briefly ... this is a false positive. McAfee has said themselves, after some research, that their virus scanning engine gave a wrong reading and identified it wrong, and that to solve this, you needed to update the DAT file to the most recent version. So, to recap, Rescue v2 does NOT have a virus.

I was rather surprised to find this out. I use McAfee on my 3 computers at home. I have McAfee on the 30 computers at work, that I am in charge of. My parents and brothers use McAfee and I have installed Rescue v2 on all of those computers and McAfee has never complained once. Anyway, if this happened to you, sorry about that but Rescue does not contain any virus. All you have to do is look at Rescue, they are DOS batch files, open them up in any text editor and all that they contain are simple DOS commands, which is the whole beauty of Rescue to begin with. Anyway, I won't go on anymore because I hope that I have made my point. Please email me if you have any questions or concerns, I will address them as best as I can.

In fact, Rescue saved my butt about three weeks ago (this would be the 2nd weekend in July 2000) I was playing a game on my Win 98SE computer, I hit a wrong key and my computer
froze up. No big deal, I just rebooted, but upon rebooting, Win 98SE reported I had a corrupt registry and Win 98SE then said it would replace my bad registry with a good copy. I thought to myself 'ok, sure, why not' (actually I had no choice, this was just a blue information screen and my only choice was to hit any key to continue). So ... Win 98SE did something and automatically rebooted my computer and guess what happened ... same darn blue screen of death and windows saying that my registry was corrupt, it will replace it and hit any key to continue. I watched my computer do this 3 more times as Win 98SE kept replacing my corrupt registry with its own copy of my corrupt registry and rebooting. I just said screw it (pardon my language), I popped in a DOS boot floppy, booted into DOS, ran the repair batch file for Rescue, it restored my registry in 2 seconds, I rebooted my computer and it has been fine since then.

Anyway, please download Rescue and backup that registry while you can before some stray electron from somewhere corrupts it. Rescue only works if you backup your registry when you know your computer is working well. I have no idea what I would have done to get my computer back, except for a complete reinstallation but because I had Rescue, I was able to restore my computer quickly. (note, the whole process took about 10 minutes, the first 9 minutes were spent quietly cursing my computer and watching it restore a corruptted registry 3 times; the last minute was spent restoring my registry with Rescue, rebooting back to windows and starting my game up again).

Anyway, I've gone on now for far longer than I planned to but this issue is important to me because I love to try and use freeware. I've been doing this for several years now, (today's date being Sunday, August 13, 2000) and I've never had a virus or a virus warning, with any freeware or shareware that I have tried and the thought that I might pass a virus out is appalling to me. So, not knowing what else to say ... keep those virus definitions up to date. Thanks ... mikey

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------

OK, the above is long on details and description but it explains that program very well ... the "RESCUE by Ronaldo" link.

... link posted above



Now the second registry gem .... we all know how Windows 98 saves 5 copies of the registry in case a copy or two become corrupted ... this program will change that to 14 backup copies (or whatever number you want ... 20, 50) ... I think 14 would be enough in case of some serious registry problems, odds should be that some out of the 14 should be OK ... this is not a download, just simple instructions as to how to change the normal 5 backup number to 14 registry backup copies but there is a batch download available to make it all easy. All explained further down. At the web page you have to page down to the middle. Top is blank, at least for me.

... link posted above

There is a link to "Bobstur's Batch File" in the article for his download that makes things very easy with this registry backup program ... the way they have the link to the download file I can't paste it here but the link does still work for this program at the web site ... it will be on Page 3 ... because the article is so long I edited out a good part of it ... on Page 1 there is a link for downloading the whole article in text but by simply downloading Bobstur's Batch File it makes everything easy and simple, if you would like a 14 day registry backup. Just grab both the article and batch download ... it explains that if you do a restore, you simply pick a letter to reload a registry backup.

Bobstur's Batch File

A very knowledgeable friend and all around swell guy, Bob Sturtevant, created a very crafty batch file which gives you more control over restoring the Registry. This batch file overcomes the serious limitations of SCANREG by making many more backup copies of the Registry easily and readily available. To look at it here you might think it is complicated, but in fact it's designed to be remarkably simple to use. We've made it available to you here in two formats: As text you can copy and paste into a plain text (Notepad) file and then save with the name CABREST.BAT in your root directory.

Or you can click here to download a zipped copy of the batch file. Save it in a folder on your hard drive. After the download is finished, unzip it to your root directory.

Either way, once it's in the root directory just leave it there and forget about it until you need it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------

How To Back Up And Restore Your Registry In Windows 98

Before you get started, we recommend that you print this article and keep
it near at hand.

When you first saw the title of this article you may have been mildly
curious, but you may not realize just how important the ability to backup
the Registry can be. I see numerous posts in help forums desperate for a
solution to what seems like insurmountable problems which could easily be
completely repaired by restoring the Registry. But there is one more
important use for this skill: Have you ever installed a program only to
find that the installation routine has either gone terribly wrong or has
made unexpected and unwanted changes and even uninstalling the program
doesn't set it right? This is just the sort of "damage" that can be
instantly undone with a simple Registry restoration. The beauty of it is
that it's dead simple to do.

This information will guide you through the steps required to backup and
restore your Registry. We will go a step further here though; we will show
you how to increase the number of back up copies of your Registry as well
as provide you with a small, simple and extremely powerful program which
allows you much greater control over how you manipulate these backup files.

The Standard Set Up

By default, Windows 98 will make a backup of your Registry just once daily,
but only if you reboot during that calendar day. The standard setting keeps
a backup for each of the previous five days only -- a rather limited number
if you ever get into trouble. Also, if you don't reboot for an entire day,
Windows will not create a backup. And it doesn't matter how often you
reboot, only one backup will be generated per day. This is critical because
you may, through program installations or direct manipulation, make
significant changes to the Registry during the course of your computing
sessions on any given day. If you wanted to restore a version of the
Registry from a point after you had made changes during the day you would
be unable to do so unless you have more backup copies at your disposal.
Remember though, each new backup will replace the oldest one archived by
Windows 98.

Improving The Standard Set Up

We recommend that you make more immediate copies of your Registry on an as
needed basis. Make a backup copy just before beginning an editing session
or installing any program, even small ones, which modify the Registry. That
way, should the results of your edits have undesired effects or if you make
an error, you can simply restore the copy from a few minutes before, even
if your machine has been rendered unbootable by your edits or installation.
Presto - you're back in business. That it is remarkably easy to do this
should serve to encourage you to be diligent in backing up your Registry.
We will also show you how to make more than five copies of your Registry a
little later on in this article. For now though, let's start with the
fundamentals.

To Backup Your Registry In Windows 98:

Click Start/Run, type SCANREGW and click OK.
This will launch Windows' Registry scanner and backup utility. Once
complete you will see a Registry Scan Results dialog box informing you of
the results of the scan (it will tell you whether there were errors or not)
and asking if you'd like to create a backup.
Click the Yes button and Scanreg will replace your oldest backup with a
current copy of the Registry.
That's it. It's that easy.
If you read no further than this you'll have learned how to backup your
Registry when you want, rather than relying on Windows' single daily back
up. But we have much more good information here for you, so read on!
To Restore Your Registry:

In order to restore one of your copies of the Registry you must boot into
DOS. There are three basic ways to boot into pure DOS.

If you are in Windows you can go to Start/Shut Down... and select Restart
in MS-DOS mode. The computer will restart in pure DOS (not a DOS box in
Windows - very important distinction).
Alternately, if your computer is already off, you can start it into pure
DOS by holding down the Ctrl key as soon as the BIOS information clears the
screen. As soon as the menu appears, press the Space Bar (or any other key)
once. This will keep the menu active and allow you the time to read over
the selections available. Choose Command Prompt Only from the menu. You
will then be in Pure DOS.
If you are having trouble booting your computer, you can use your ERD (the
Emergency Recovery Disk) to boot into DOS. Simply insert the disk into the
floppy drive and reboot the computer. It will do all the work for you.
Any of these choices will get you into pure DOS. Once there you can restore
or even make another backup copy of the Registry.
In order to restore any copy of the Registry, either a copy you made or one
that Windows 98 itself made within the last five days, just type
SCANREG/RESTORE. Using the arrow keys, select the CAB (the CABs you will
see are archived copies of the Registry) you want. The CAB files are listed
by date with the most recent copy at the top. Once you've restored the
Registry, use the arrow keys to highlight Exit and then reboot.
If you like, you can also create another backup in DOS by typing
SCANREG/BACKUP. Then follow the prompt. This backup will work exactly like
the one you made in Windows. There is no functional difference.
You should now be able to boot back into Windows 98 normally, just as
before you edited the Registry or had a problem. Now you know how to
restore those back up copies you made. See, we told you there would be more
good information. And we've just barely begun.

Making Additional Backup Copies Of Your Registry

The mechanism that Windows uses to control Scanreg is amazingly simple.
It's just a plain text file called SCANREG.INI which you can easily edit
with Notepad. When you run Scanreg, it first checks in this file to see if
you've customized any of the available parameters such as the maximum
number of backup copies, or where the copies are stored. To view and edit
SCANREG.INI, simply click once on a blank spot on the Desktop Taskbar and
press F3. Type SCANREG.INI in the Named: box, and type C:\WINDOWS in the
Look in: box. Click Find Now and in a moment, when you see the file in the
window simply double click it to launch it in Notepad. The standard version
of SCANREG.INI should read something like this:

;
; Scanreg.ini for making system backups.
;

;Registry backup is skipped altogether if this is set to 0
Backup=1

;Registry automatic optimization is skipped if this is set to 0
Optimize=1

ScanregVersion=0.0001
MaxBackupCopies=5 [We recommend changing this number to 14]

When you practiced restoring your Registry in DOS as described above, you
probably noticed that only four copies of the Registry are available to
SCANREG. Even if you create more backup copies of your Registry as
suggested above, you will only be able to access four of those copies.
What's more, SCANREG will seemingly randomly choose any four copies. The
obvious drawback is that you don't have access to all your carefully stored
copies. What if you need one of the copies that SCANREG has not made
available to you for restoration? ... Not to worry, we have a solution.

Bobstur's Batch File

A very knowledgeable friend and all around swell guy, Bob Sturtevant,
created a very crafty batch file which gives you more control over
restoring the Registry. This batch file overcomes the serious limitations
of SCANREG by making many more backup copies of the Registry easily and
readily available. To look at it here you might think it is complicated,
but in fact it's designed to be remarkably simple to use. We've made it
available to you here in two formats: As text you can copy and paste into a plain
text (Notepad) file and then save with the name CABREST.BAT in your root
directory.

Or you can download a zipped copy of the batch file. Save it in a folder on your
hard drive. After the download is finished, unzip it to your root directory.

Either way, once it's in the root directory just leave it there and forget about
it until you need it.

A few preliminary notes:

You will see a table which will allow you to select which CAB file to
restore from. So, for example, to restore from rb009.cab, you look at the
table and see 09 corresponds to the letter J. You type the J and NOT the
number.
This batch file assumes that your CAB files are stored in the default
location, C:\WINDOWS\SYSBCKUP and that your Windows directory is C:
\WINDOWS. If you have your Windows installation on another partition or
located in some other directory then please edit the batch file
accordingly.
Take a quick look in your C:\WINDOWS\SYSBCKUP directory and make sure that
you currently only have CAB files in the range rb000.cab to rb014.cab.
(Note: rb means Registry Backup.) If there are any other additional rb-CABs
move them somewhere else.
The program must be run from real mode DOS (Command Prompt Only) and will
intentionally abort if Windows is running.
Note in that CTRL-C will stop the program at any point, and you'll also be
asked one last time if you want to restore the files.
About the only thing you could do wrong would be to restore an older backup
when you didn't want to, but then you could just run the program again and
restore the correct one, so don't worry if you're unsure which CAB to
restore.

That's it. Simple, no? Once in your root directory just boot into pure DOS
and simply type CABREST and hit ENTER. The rest is cake.

Summary

As you've seen, this whole process is much more difficult to explain than
it is to use. Once you understand how to backup and then restore your
Registry you can do it in a flash. The batch file provided should make it
even easier. The versatility that this knowledge allows you should help you
avoid problems or repair them quickly rather than end up stressing out
because you have to reinstall Windows 98.

Enjoy!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------

The third registry backup program is a simple backup program called "COP 2.2 by Plato" ... it's just good for a quick registry backup just before you want to try out some software ... if something goes wrong, you uninstall the software and run COP and you are good to go again ... it does have a few little extras also.

... http://www.bootdisk.com/cop.htm ....


Hope these programs will be of some use ....



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/2010 06:18PM by duffy98.

Quote
siria

Well, would long since have tried that with a new USB card, but my current main machine is a notebook, and I'd most likely 'screw' it if clueless me dared do 'screw it up' ;-) IIRC with the USB ports fixed to the mainboard, but not sure anymore, it's been awhile that I had done some research for USB. Had even gotten me an expensive pcmcia-card or how that's called with USB 2.0 ports on it, but that thing kept crashing and freezing, grmpf. But thanx for reminding me, perhaps that works now with KernelEx who knows?? Hmm, may try that again some time...

You could try buying the IOGear GPU202 Cardbus USB 2.0 PCMCIA Card for your laptop. I didnt realize that you were using a laptop and not a desktop computer.

Some online stores sell it at affordable prices. Careful though as it may not work with "high-powered" usb 2.0 devices such as usb hard drives & usb cd drives. usb 2.0 flash drives should be okay with the IOGear usb 2.0 cardbus adapter.

hope you got the usb and cleartype problems resolved soon.