Old laptop with win98

Soldato
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I have got an old PII laptop and have a legit version of win98.
After installing 98 i find the picture does not take up the whole area of the laptop screen (the is an option iin bios to compensate but it leaves me with only 640 x screen.

This laptop is not capable of getting on the net, i was wondering if anyone knows where to get the service patches for 98 from? I have searched the microsoft site but cant find anything.
 
Soldato
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Also how are you connecting to the net? Via a ADSL or Cable Router, dial up or through a USB ADSL / Cable Modem?

Would you be brave enough to try Xubuntu or another Linux variant for the older hardware?
 
Soldato
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the laptop does not connect to the net.
I did think about linux, but since i have the win98 disk i thought i would try with this.
 
Soldato
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Are you trying to connect it to the net or using it for non-internet activities?

Maybe you could get a 'dongle' that would connect it to the net.

I was using an old P2 laptop with a PCMCIA Wireless card to connect to the net.
 
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Soldato
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Also with regards to the service pack, if you have the original Win98 install disk and have got nothing to lose either a) bite the bullet and try it - what's the worst that could happen or b) do some more research..
 
Soldato
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It seems as though (looking at the laptop spec) i could install xp. I have two other computer in the house - both with their own OEM windows xp disks, can i use one of the xp disks for the laptop? Or is that illegal?

EDIT : I have installed win98, thats where im getting my screen size problem, which is why i though updating 98 would resolve the problem.
 
Soldato
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Sounding more like it's either the display adapter drives or the drives for the laptop's tft/screen.

Is there a make/model on the laptop and gfx adapter?
 
Soldato
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Yep, would be illegal.

A P2 laptop would be very underpowered for XP.

Have you tried the laptop manufacture's web site for any win98 graphic drivers?

If the laptop can boot off a CD, you could try a 'live distro' CD of almost any popular linux distribution.

Check out 'Puppy Linux' or 'Xubuntu'
 
Soldato
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Unfortunatally not. There are no stickers or labels. All i know is that its an 's series lifebook'.

I checked out thier website to find lots of updates but only if you know which model you have.
 
Soldato
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If your PC can boot from CD, then download 'Ultimate Boot CD' (check Google).

There are apps on there that should identify your hardware on the laptop such as PC Config.

Report your findings and we can go from there.
 
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Soldato
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ok im downloading UBCD now.
Something to add, i cant run dxdiag, is that suppost to run on win98?
Maybe i could put the latest dx on the laptop.

BTW, thats for the help.
 
Man of Honour
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I had XP Pro running fine on a P2-366 laptop with 128Mb RAM... after some tweaking it was pretty similiar to 98 for performance... I now have freeNAS running on that laptop tho...

You need to increase the desktop resolution to 1024x768 probably or whatever the displays "native" res is... same as my old laptop it doesn't stretch to fill the display it just centers the display and uses as many/few pixels as the resolution requires...
 
Soldato
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It seems the laptop is a P3 (600) not a P2 as i previously thought. The bios says its a P3 but the 'system properties' said it was a P2.

I installed UBCD on 98, didnt try to boot from start up, ill give it a go when i get home.
 

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Deleted member 329

yeah i would just put XP on it a tweak it, change the services run by default etc.

hopefully XP would resolve your monitor issue, which to me seems like it needs newer drivers

edit, find someway to connect it to the net for your windows updates with XP or 98, USB adapter or PCMCIA card. Almost all laptops back then had built in network cards tho.
 
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