Questions tagged [windows-me]
For questions specifically regarding the Millennium Edition of the Microsoft Windows OS.
25 questions
17 votes
1 answer
3k views
What was the reason to require MSDOS.SYS to be at least 1024 bytes in size?
Similarly to CP/M, the kernel of MS-DOS up to version 6.22 was split into two files: the (DOS-)BIOS, carrying the name IO.SYS (or IBMBIO.COM), and the BDOS, named MSDOS.SYS (or IBMDOS.COM). With MS-...
- 27.6k
7 votes
1 answer
2k views
How do I change my login username in Windows 9x?
A few years ago, I set up a lot of Windows 9x VMs. During the Windows installation/setup process for several of the VMs, I, in my infinite hubris, ignored the common advice against using your actual ...
- 479
10 votes
1 answer
652 views
What is a "driver information database" in Windows 9x?
At first boot post-installation or when installing third-party device drivers in Windows 95/98/ME, it's common to see the following dialog: So what is this "driver information database" ...
- 345
31 votes
4 answers
12k views
Was the MS-DOS window in Windows 95 an emulator like current DOSBox?
Windows 1.x, 2.x and 3.x required a DOS to be loaded before running them. Later Windows 9.x and ME had similar (?) way of working, but DOS was included with them, 32-bit multitasking and other stuff ...
- 413
26 votes
1 answer
4k views
What did SULFNBK.EXE actually do?
SULFNBK.EXE is an executable file that came with Windows 98 and Millennium, and is known for sporting a pretty… interesting icon in the former: It has also become pretty infamous for being subject to ...
- 27.6k
2 votes
0 answers
264 views
Where can I find a list of official Windows ME updates (security patches, etc.) that came after the RTM version?
I am using the Windows ME final version (4.90.3000, German; newer installation CDs are not available). I am looking for a chronological list of updates that came after this version, that in the past ...
- 5,490
12 votes
3 answers
7k views
Does the kernel of Windows 95/98/ME have a name?
In this question: Why was the DOS kernel discarded? I was told that DOS is not a kernel. It runs on CPUs that don't even have kernel mode. So how can it be a kernel? So I think this is right. Now if ...
- 5,490
6 votes
2 answers
2k views
Why do most of my games have graphics errors on my Windows ME retro PC?
I've built a retro PC with Windows ME, a GeForce 2 MX 400 (drivers installed) and DirectX 8.1. But it seems many of the games have graphics errors. In most cases these are black areas. (See ...
- 5,490
2 votes
1 answer
240 views
Is it possible to view hardware-reported device identifiers on Windows ME?
On Windows XP and later you can view OS device identifiers for a given hardware component in Device Manager; those often include hardware-reported device identifiers, like PCI vendor/product ID pairs. ...
- 5,490
6 votes
3 answers
816 views
Is it possible to delete a phantom floppy drive under Windows ME without additional tools?
I have build a Windows ME retro PC. In the BIOS I disabled the floppy controller. There is no physical floppy drive installed. But Windows ME still shows a phantom floppy drive A:. Everytime Windows ...
- 5,490
3 votes
0 answers
461 views
Why does Windows ME setup not start even if I switch SATA drives to IDE mode?
I switched SATA disks to IDE emulation mode in the BIOS (instead of AHCI). Then I ran Windows ME setup from a SATA CD drive. But I get this error: Device driver not found: OEMCD001 No valid CDROM ...
- 5,490
14 votes
1 answer
2k views
Why do Windows 98 and ME boot disks use EBD.CAB and the RAMDrive?
Starting from Windows 98, Microsoft RAMDrive was introduced into Emergency Boot Disks (EBDs). A:\README.TXT contains the following explanation: Without creating the RAMdrive, we would not have enough ...
- 345
3 votes
2 answers
2k views
Can HIMEM.SYS be disabled in Windows ME’s IO.SYS?
Windows ME's IO.SYS includes HIMEM.SYS, which it loads unconditionally. Since it is possible to decompress and disassemble IO.SYS, and hack it to enable full DOS mode, can we go a step further and ...
- 41
12 votes
2 answers
2k views
What technical reasons prevented the Win9x Virtual Machine Monitor from running multiple threads simultaneously?
Were there any inherent limitations in the way the VMM for Win9x was designed, and that prevented it from being able to run threads simultaneously if the underlying hardware had multiple cores/...
- 423
4 votes
0 answers
253 views
How to perform a DNS lookup in a VxD?
Is there a documented way of performing a DNS lookup in VxD-land? Windows 98 provides TCP/IP-32 VxD that mimics the function of the Windows NT/2000 TDI, however this interface usually works with IP ...
- 423