98lite option for win98/98SE/ME

[Audioaficionado]

I just did a clean intall of win98se and then used 98lite to safely remove that integrated IE5.0 and some other junk. Then I used a MS utility to remove OE too. Then I had 98lite build a file with three desktop shells to choose from. I installed a fresh copy of IE 5.5 and service pack as a stand alone app.

'Sleek' is the faster 95 shell/explorer file search engine and no desktop/web integration but with the 98se base OS. It is lightning fast and runs games well but only IE & OE on the web. Norton update, ZoneAlarmPro works as does winamp. Not Opera and some other utilties.

'Chubby' is the 98 shell/explorer and minimal desktop/web integration. Not quite as fast but still pretty good and great for web connectivity. Other apps have full access to the web too.

'Overweight' has all the web/desktop ingration bloat goodies 98 is famous for and is 4x slower than 'sleek' on my box.

I also replaced the 98se scandsk.exe and Defrag.exe with the better ME versions. Much faster disk maintenance now.

So until I can afford win2k and learn Linux, I'll have to get by with my cobbled together version of win95B/98SE/ME/lite. It's a lot better than either 95b and 98se were on my machine.

Anyone else try the 98lite option for win98/98SE/ME?

 

[mbigna]

I actually tried the Win98 Lite process and used it on a machine. I went through the whole thing as an experiment in stability for review. This was during the time that MS was under the gun of Judge Penfield Jackson when they claimed that they couldn't extricate the browser and other stuff from its 'basic' O/S. They got stung pretty heavily when the guy who developed this process showed it working in court. This was one of the major reasons that Jackson had decided to break up the company.

I liked the setup because it got rid of Outlook Express and Internet Explorer and I used Netscape Communicator instead. I have to say that it was faster and didn't crash as often and also saved gobs of disk space.

However, I gave up on that setup because I couldn't possibly develop software with a hacked up O/S. I couldn't be sure that everything would run correctly on client's machines that had standard installs.

 

[Audioaficionado]

So far the only bug that bugs me is that OE5 refused to export or inport any mail from my backup files. Maybe I should just use the microsoft utility to get rid of it and reinstall before too much mail comes in.

This probably isn't 98lite but my feeble attempt to drag and drop copy my backup files into the program file of OE. I keep getting a failed to spool error.

 

[phantom punisher]

this sounds realy interesting can you guys recommend some websites? also is this something you can do to a win98 iso to make it install this way?

 

[Audioaficionado]

Google over to 98lite and download the free version.

Install it on a machine you want to do the clean install on.

When you launch it, option 1 is to do a clean intall of 98. While the install is in process, you have the option to allow or disallow many bloat components as the OS installs.

I just used lite twice after my original 98 install was complete and hardware drivers were installed.

First I removed the bulk of redundant or outdated bundled apps as well as OE & IE.

Second I invoked the shell swap option install using both 95 and 98 install CDs so lite could copy all the needed cab files and dll files it will need to switch shells.

Third I replaced the scandisk and defrag exe files with ME's version.

Oh and I also went into the 95 install CD and snagged all the components for my wife's favorite win95 games Solataire, Freecell and Minesweep. All the pieces were in differant cab files and hard to find. WinExp couldn't find anything lower than the cab files themselves. There were 38 of 'em.

An ISO image for a complete automated win98lite install would be awesome but I'm sure MS would vigorously prosecute anyone distributing such an item. The 98lite authors really embaressed Bill & friends in court by proving them to be liars in front of a very public trial.