The Retro PC Thread

[noiseredux]

I'd go with 98.

[isiolia]

Why not go Windows XP? If not, then at least Windows 98 2nd edition for the latest USB drivers.

Windows 95/98/ME are still technically Windows on DOS. 98SE is a good idea if going with 98 though.

XP is from the Windows NT line, so anything that's still kinda-sorta DOS rooted (particularly) may run into problems.

[Ziggy]

Yeah, like the Doom Collector's Edition (The Ultimate Doom, Doom II and Final Doom). No mouse in XP.

Definitely go with 98SE over regular old 98.

[Fragems]

Alright I'll go the 98SE route found some install files online as well as some product keys to try. Did they require online authentication with 98SE or will just any old product key I find laying around work?

[isiolia]

Activation wasn't until XP. You just need a serial number. (available here)

[Fragems]

sweet yeah I already found a few was thinking about buying a legit copy on eBay but there didn't seem to be much point to that. Hell half the people have the activation code showing in their listing pics .

[Ziggy]

You can't just use ANY key code, it has to work with the particular disc that you have. When I lost the key to my Win95 disc, I had to try dozens of CD keys before I found one that worked. Very annoying. But yeah, there's no online activation or anything. Honestly, Win98SE is pretty cheap on eBay. It might be easier to just buy a copy. New/sealed full retail (non upgrade) versions might be a little expensive, but otherwise they're pretty cheap.

If you're gonna download 98SE, you might as well search for one that has all the latest updates included. And if you happen to find that, let us know! I have a couple of legit copies of 98SE that I use, so I've been too lazy to search for a download for an ISO that is the final version.

[Exhuminator]

Alright I'll go the 98SE route found some install files online as well as some product keys to try. Did they require online authentication with 98SE or will just any old product key I find laying around work?

If you have any problems, you can download an ISO to burn and keys to authenticate with here:

https://winworldpc.com/product/windows-98

[Ziggy]

https://winworldpc.com/product/windows-98

Thanks for the link! The forum on that site looks like it could be pretty useful.

I see the full retail version of 98SE for download, but it doesn't state which version (as in updates) it is.

[noiseredux]

I might actually do a clean 98SE install on my retro PC. I always have to sit through some errors at boot-up thanks to this apparently previously being a networked office PC. My understanding is that it looks for a network that it can't find at boot. But everything I've tried to disable this doesn't help. It's not a "problem," but it's kind of annoying so a fresh install would probably be smart.

I haven't really messed with this PC in a few weeks though. Been busy, plus I still don't have a working optical drive for it.

EDIT: Although one thing that scares me about the clean install is that I'd need to be sure I can find drivers for that GPU first...