China DOS Union

MLD, I tried your MINI98, and it feels pretty good, but there are currently some things I don't understand that I'd like to ask you about. I noticed that the COMMAND.COM in your boot disk uses the first release of 98, and after using it, it can't support long filenames (I've already changed it to the 98SE one). I don't know why. Also, I noticed that many files in mini98 are also from 98 or 95. After I replaced them with 98SE ones, it would no longer boot. I don't know which of those files can be replaced with SE versions, or if none of them can, please advise. Also, let me point out some shortcomings in your mini98. It does not support long filenames very well (I've already solved this part), and the swap file is set on drive D. That way, if you want to do data recovery on drive D, some files on D may become unrecoverable (I've already changed it to drive Z). Also, the registry has "Disable synchronous buffer commits" enabled, which slows the speed down (I've already turned this off as well). In addition, there is still some leftover registry information from installed software; I suggest deleting it. I wonder whether this version can be slimmed down further and whether some of the old files can be updated to 98SE files?

Many friends wrote to me and mentioned these issues of yours. To tell the truth, in dozens of experiments I can say this: 99% of my attention was focused on getting this mini system to boot normally, so there were inevitably some problems I didn't notice.

I think it should still be possible to slim it down a bit more.

As for the issue of the files not being entirely 98SE files, that is mainly because the material was taken from w98plus2.gho, and that was already a slimmed-down edition, which saved a lot of trouble.

Also, the COMMAND.COM file is from 98SE (4.10.2222), not the first release of 98 (4.10.1998) as you said. You can tell by using tools like hex.

After booting, if I interrupt while it is extracting files and then enter VER, it shows 4.10.1998. I don't know why either. The file length matches the SE one, but the displayed version～～～

What do you mean by saying it can't support long filenames very well?

Using your original iso file and directly opening the CD in VPC, I found that all the directories with long filenames inside had been truncated to 8.3 format. I don't know why. Later I modified the boot IMG file again and that solved it.

So that's how it was, just replacing COMMAND.COM?

The following is quoted from MLD at 2003-10-29 11:42:46:
So that's how it was, just replacing COMMAND.COM?

It should be related to command.com, because I re-added the three 98se boot files, and at the same time made some adjustments to the boot disk, including replacing findcd.exe, findramd.exe, shsucdx.exe, and adding files such as cda.exe and off.com. At present I have compressed most of the files in mini98, deleted Shell32.w98, adjusted the registry, and am preparing to slim it down a bit more.

Not bad! Wish you success!

Let me talk about what it was like after trying it:
The test machine was P3 500/TNT2 16M/40G hard disk/D-Link 530TX/VIA694X/256M.
The first thing I installed was the W98plus1.gho he provided. This system is based on the first release of Win98, and both hardware and software installation went very smoothly. Internet access at my workplace is through shared access, so I didn't try using a modem or ADSL dial-up to get online. Since the author optimized the network, internet speed was very fast; the speed of browsing web pages and downloading was simply excellent. The browser used was opera.
As for application software, I tried a slimmed-down edition of office 97, but later found that WPS.Office.2003.Green.Edition was the best. This WPS 2003, only 10M in size, can fully support Microsoft's office file formats.
The author had already integrated archive software and image viewing software into it, I only replaced WinRAR with the latest version.
Because I needed to watch DVDRip movies downloaded from the internet and run the MAME emulator, I only installed DX8.1.
I installed the NERO5 CD burning software, and CD burning also worked. I tested burning data CDs and MP3 CDs, and both had no problems.
I have to mention the shortcomings of W98plus1. First, the file manager: its address bar can neither accept input nor be copied, which is rather inconvenient. The browser used is opera, so some websites could not be accessed, which was inconvenient too. When installing the driver for the motherboard's built-in AC97 sound card, I found that only .inf format drivers could be installed, while WDM format ones could not, so the effect when playing MP3s was really too poor.
There is no "Show Desktop" function, which is also inconvenient.
Next I did not continue trying the Win98 second edition-based W98plus2. Instead, I downloaded 98lite, then installed Win98 second edition and began slimming down the system manually, combining the advantages of W98plus. I kept the IE kernel-based file manager, successfully installed the WDM format sound card driver, and the MP3 playback effect finally came out. Of course, most importantly, I kept the author's network optimizations and disabled the swap file. After slimming down the system, I installed IE6, DX8.1, MyIE0.8, and NERO6. The system size is now 222M. It is very convenient for going online, watching DVDRip, and burning CDs. I didn't slim it down any further.
Oh right, I deleted all the input methods that came with the system and switched to Universal Wubi.
But it is still inconvenient in one respect. Because I often play the Chinese Game Center's Stud game, I need to open at least 20 accounts on one machine to farm coins. Sigh, no way around it, Win2003 is still required.
After setting the swap file to none, opening DVDRip files is slower than with a swap file, so it seems I still need to add a swap file. After adding the swap file, the number of programs that can be opened at the same time obviously increases.

When using a USB2.0 mobile hard disk, the speed is no different from USB1.1, so the speed advantage of USB2.0 doesn't show at all.
This Mini98 is both lovable and hateful, ah

Strongly looking forward to Mini2000!!!

The following is quoted from MLD at 2003-10-29 13:38:16:
Not bad! Wish you success!

Thanks.