EnigmaOne

Originally posted by zen69x: Quote: This is impractical... Yeah. If you're going to keep the stockholders--instead of your customers--happy. (Customers - the people who possess the money you want for yourself.) Originally posted by zen69x: Quote: ...I think that MS has probably the longest support around in regards to software... Only recently something you could call support--we'll ignore longevity of same--and not willingly, of course. It certainly needs it desperately, with all those security holes that still need to be filled-in with spit-balls and duct tape. Originally posted by zen69x: Quote: ...See how far back any type of linux distro or open office is supported. Hmmmmmm..... Yeah. OOo, as a project, is at least as old as ms office. Maybe you should install a mainstream Linux distro sometime, and use nothing else for a couple of years. The rates of maturation of the respective OS platforms are not the same--Linux is evolving more rapidly--hence, you're comparing apples to oranges.

The pertinent parts of the microsoft EULA are: Code: "...1. GRANT OF LICENSE. Microsoft grants you the following rights provided that you comply with all terms and conditions of this EULA:1.1 Installation and use. You may install, use, access, display and run one copy of the Software on a single computer, such as a workstation, terminal or other device ("Workstation Computer" ). The Software may not be used by more than one processor at any one time on any single Workstation Computer....3. RESERVATION OF RIGHTS AND OWNERSHIP. Microsoft reserves all rights not expressly granted to you in this EULA. The Software is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws and treaties. Microsoft or its suppliers own the title, copyright, and other intellectual property rights in the Software. The Software is licensed, not sold....13. SOFTWARE TRANSFER. Internal. You may move the Software to a different Workstation Computer. After the transfer, you must completely remove the Software from the former Workstation Computer. [b]Transfer to Third Party. The initial user of the Software may make a one-time permanent transfer of this EULA and Software to another end user, provided the initial user retains no copies of the Software. This transfer must include all of the Software (including all component parts, the media and printed materials, any upgrades, this EULA, and, if applicable, the Certificate of Authenticity). The transfer may not be an indirect transfer, such as a consignment. Prior to the transfer, the end user receiving the Software must agree to all the EULA terms.[/b]..." According to the above, you're in the clear...but the eBay seller might have unfulfilled obligations with respect to the "component parts, the media and printed materials, any upgrades, this EULA" clause. If you want a real laugh, read paragraphs 15 through 22 of their EULA. You basically have NO warranty and NO remedy for damages caused by their software. Even if microsoft knowingly sells you software that won't work as advertised, or is possessed of any of a long list of specific or general flaws.

Originally posted by jmmijo: Quote: Are you sure ?!? After a hundred-or-so installs? ROFLMAO! Yup! 8) (Much better than MS-DOS 5.X - 6.X.) http://www.devicelogics.com/

Originally posted by jmmijo: Quote: The fun thing to do with Win 95 however is to install it along with QEMM 8.xx, twas a sight to behold 8) Ya ain't seen nuttin until you run 95 on top of DR-DOS!

Originally posted by spyke31: Quote: I have never felt more like a newbie in my life as I do now with this computer! Anyhow...I looked at all the files you asked about. They all display as the following:Autoexec.bat @echo off xbios /P- /Z /I /M /V=Z substtoz VDISK Letter %RAMDRIVE% Config.sys DOS=HIGH,UMB DEVICEHIGH=ACTCD.SYS /D:ASPICD0 LASTDRIVE=Z BUFFERS=40 FILES=40 ER.bat @echo off Rescue /ve:32 MODE CO80 25 Actcd.sys-->gives some funky looking characters and the system beeps Win.ini-->text is too long for me to get the first screenful of it and DOS is not recognizing and switches or the edit command Last night, I was able to do a boot where it asked before initiating any drivers. I had it ignore any lines that booted to A:. That allowed me to get to Windows--but today I'm still having problems getting it to boot up. This morning--all it wanted to do was hang right after telling me the IDE Bus Master was confirmed. That's all I have for now! (Sampson...I'm soo wishing you lived close to this area! I'd have ya troubleshoot this machine in person! lol) This looks, to my eye, like the contents of the config.sys and autoexec.bat files from a MaxBlast (?) CD-ROM boot image. Letter.bat is certainly present on the MaxBlast3 CD. In the root directory of your C: drive, your config.sys file should look something along the lines of this: DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE For all intents and purposes, your autoexec.bat file can be empty. The essential question remains: How did these files get on the root of your hard drive? Do you have a MaxBlast CD in the CD-ROM drive (one possibility)? Did you copy the files from a MaxBlast CD-ROM (another possibility)? I'm curious as to the contents of your C:\ directory. Do you think you can post a directory listing here? If the file COMMAND.COM has a size/date/time of: 66,433 Bytes - Friday, July 21, 2000 5:44:00 PM instead of: 93,890 Bytes - Friday, April 23, 1999 10:22:00 PM then you are most certainly dealing with your root directory startup files having been overwritten by those from a MaxBlast CD-ROM. Compare your root directory contents against something a bit more typical for a windows 98 machine: Code: _Volume in drive C is TRASH-OS _Volume Serial Number is XXXX-XXXX_Directory of C:\_ADABAS_________<DIR>________06-25-04__2:48a_AdabasINSTALL________<DIR>________06-15-04__3:35p_InstallMATROX_________<DIR>________04-27-04__2:26p_MatroxMYDOCU~1_______<DIR>________04-27-04__2:27p_My DocumentsPROGRA~1_______<DIR>________04-27-04__2:27p_Program FilesWIN98__________<DIR>________04-27-04__2:29p_win98WINDOWS________<DIR>________04-27-04__2:29p_windowsWUTEMP_________<DIR>________04-27-04__2:26p_WUTempAUTOEXEC_BAK___________377__06-25-04__2:49a_autoexec.bakAUTOEXEC_BAT___________511__07-06-04__6:45a_autoexec.batBOOTLOG__PRV________53,286__04-16-04_10:20p_bootlog.prvBOOTLOG__TXT________51,361__04-16-04_10:23p_bootlog.txtCOMMAND__COM________93,890__04-23-99_10:22p_command.comCONFIG___SYS____________59__06-12-04__6:32p_config.sysDETLOG___TXT________72,670__04-16-04_10:07p_detlog.txtFETNDI___LOG_________9,992__05-17-04_11:39p_fetndi.logIO_______SYS_______222,390__04-23-99_10:22p_io.sysMSDOS____---_____________9__04-16-04__9:58p_msdos.---NETLOG___TXT_________7,081__04-16-04_10:18p_netlog.txtSCANDISK_LOG_________7,312__07-02-04__3:10a_scandisk.logSETUPLOG_TXT_______104,753__04-16-04_10:13p_setuplog.txtSUHDLOG__DAT_________5,166__04-16-04_10:05p_suhdlog.datSYSTEM___1ST_______516,128__04-16-04_10:05p_system.1stWIN386___SWP___536,870,912__07-06-04__6:45a_WIN386.SWP (Underscores added to preserve output format) Also, type 'ver [enter]' at the C:\_ command prompt. If you receive: Code: Caldera DR-DOS 7.05Copyright © 1976, 1988 Caldera, Inc. All rights reserved. as an output, you've definitley found your problem. You'll then need to restore your command processor (and possibly all initialization files) from a startup disk [file editing required] or another working installation of win98 [preferred source]. Maybe this will help you on your way to a fix.