Actually, Ron, to say that only pay support still exists for Win98 isn't
exactly accurate. The very BEST support for 98 ever - pay or otherwise - is
right here on this newsgroup, especially with you Microsoft-certified
MVPs!!! So support is just as good as it ever was :O)


--
Regards,
Anthony Giorgianni

The return address for this post is fictitious. Please reply by posting back
to the newsgroup.

"Ron Badour" wrote in message
...
What you were told is wrong--you have to purchase SE. More info below.

Why don't you invest in a new computer now? Rather then spend a couple
of
hundred bucks getting an upgrade and external drive, take a look at this:

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/prod...=19&l=en&s=dhs
Your old PC has little to no value and you could use the hard drive from
it
for back up.

MS can no longer sell W98 disks as an initial purchase so your best bet is
to try to find another source; however, supplies of W98 are becoming very
limited. Go to http://www.pricewatch.com, scroll to the software section,
click on Operating Systems and click Windows 98. They may have listings
on
boot up floppy disks, CDs but no license, a license but no CD, OEM
versions,
W98 and W98SE CDs, update from W98 to W98SE only and so on. Pay ATTENTION
to what the listings say or you may end up with something you don't want
or
need. You can also check on EBay or other auction sites. Be aware that
only paid support for W98 still exists. Here's some info about the
various
types of W98SE CDs:

RETAIL FULL INSTALL: This CD will either upgrade W95/98 to SE or you can
install it to a blank hard drive.

RETAIL UPGRADE INSTALL: This CD will either upgrade W95/98 to SE or you
can
install it to a blank hard drive; however, when installing to a blank
drive,
install will ask to see the qualifying system (i.e., W95) disk(s).

OEM FULL INSTALL. This SE CD is designed to be installed to a blank hard
drive; however, there is a good possibility that you can trick it into
upgrading. For info, go to:
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/upgrade.html Be aware that if you buy
an OEM disk, it might be customized for installation on a particular
computer; however, this will probably be primarily with a used disk.

UPDATE CD: This CD will only update a functioning copy of W98 to W98SE.
When MS sold them, they were $20 and came with a ProductKey. Some venders
were selling them and advising customers to use the W98 ProductKey which
may
or may not work--don't get stung.

RECOVERY CD: Some companies will brand an OEM CD and call it a recovery
CD.
You should avoid these unless it is the exact recovery CD you are looking
for. Many recovery CDs will only install on the equipment they were
intended for.

--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

snip