On 01/15/2018 03:42 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
says...
On 1/15/18 1:08 PM, wrote:
I took the insulated handle of a plyers and smacked that
button really hard.

Remind me to NOT let you work on any of my things.

For us older people, we know the first thing one does is to hit the
device that is causing the problem.

Surprised he didn't try that sooner. Experience is SO important!

--
Cheers, Bev
The volume of a pizza of thickness 'a' and radius 'z'
is given by pi*z*z*a

On Mon, 15 Jan 2018 18:42:13 -0500, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article ,
says...

On 1/15/18 1:08 PM, wrote:
I took the insulated handle of a plyers and smacked that
button really hard.

Remind me to NOT let you work on any of my things.

For us older people, we know the first thing one does is to hit the
device that is causing the problem.

It's usually more or less a last resort for me. I did all the cleaning
and stuff first. I'd fix this mouse if I could do it for a buck or two,
but not more than that, because there are plenty of cheap used mice at
second hand stores, rummage sales, and so on. The only problem is that
now when I need it, I have not found one yet. Hitting it was a last
resort. If I destroyed it, so be it....

Most of the time hitting an object does break it, but this time I lucked
out and made it work again. I did however use an insulated handle to
make the blow less damaging, yet still effective. It worked this time.
At least so far. I wont expect it to still eb working in a few weeks
from now, but by then, I'll find another mouse or have my adaptor so I
can use a USB mouse on my PS/2 plug.

In article t,
says...

In article ,
says...

On 1/15/18 1:08 PM, wrote:
I took the insulated handle of a plyers and smacked that
button really hard.

Remind me to NOT let you work on any of my things.

For us older people, we know the first thing one does is to hit the
device that is causing the problem.

When, as an apprentice, I "worked" in the computer test bay (mainframe
in those 1960s days), there was a test that included hitting the frame
with a mallet in specified places...

Mike.

In article ,
says...

In article t,
says...

In article ,
says...

On 1/15/18 1:08 PM, wrote:
I took the insulated handle of a plyers and smacked that
button really hard.

Remind me to NOT let you work on any of my things.

For us older people, we know the first thing one does is to hit the
device that is causing the problem.

When, as an apprentice, I "worked" in the computer test bay (mainframe
in those 1960s days), there was a test that included hitting the frame
with a mallet in specified places...


One does have to know where or what to hit and how hard. Where I worked
there were many things that had a tendency to stick. WE could hit it
with something and it would work from weeks to months. If we repaired
or replaced it, it would still last a few weeks to months.

I am sure most everyone has heard the story where a company hired
someone from outside to repair something. The fellow walks up and hits
it with a hammer. Sends in bill . The company wants it it itemize. It
comes back, hit with hammer, $ 2.00, knowing where to hit it, $ 500.00.

On Monday, 15 January 2018 23:42:23 UTC, Ralph Mowery wrote:
In article ,
says...
On 1/15/18 1:08 PM, wrote:

I took the insulated handle of a plyers and smacked that
button really hard.

Remind me to NOT let you work on any of my things.

For us older people, we know the first thing one does is to hit the
device that is causing the problem.

.... but not really hard


NT

On Sat, 13 Jan 2018 13:59:41 -0800, Mary-Jane Rottencrotch
wrote:

On 2018-01-13 13:29, wrote:

Yea, I know computer mice are cheap, but I need a PS/2 connector and
want a ball mouse. I dont like the infared mice, and can not use a USB
mouse on my Windows 98 computer.

Does it not have USB ports? Disregarding the utter ridiculousness of
still using Windows 98 in 2018, it supports USB just fine (since Windows
95 OSR 2.1, around 1997 - 21 years ago nearly).


When the government makes it mandatory to upgrade to the latest version
of Windows, I'll be the first person to throw my computer in the
garbage. I use both Win98 and XP. I wont touch anything newer.

I recently had the misfortune of someone handing me a computer with
Windows 8. They asked me to do someting with it. As soon as I saw that
butt ugly Metro screen, I closed the lid and told them to toss it in the
nearest garbage can.

Just for the record, Win 95 and 98 did not have good USB support. That
was just the one drawback of Win 9.x. Otherwise it was far superior to
anything made by MS since. Win98SE works better for me than any other OS
I have ever used. But XP is tolerable too, just lacks in some ways.

One other thing, I still use DOS, a USB mouse or keyboard wont work on
Dos.

"One other thing, I still use DOS, a USB mouse or keyboard wont work on
Dos. "

LMGTFY "usb support for DOS"

https://www.google.com/search?source....0.nU3IRUVc5rs

I agree about 98SE. Lost alot going to XP but 98SE would no longrer connect and the phone support would not walk me through a manual setup for the router/switch/MODEM. I said "What, did my money expire ?".

But one thing I miss is being able to confine a file search. I have this music library and to search that I had saved a search named "*.*" but within the music directory. You could put in any word from the artist or title and get results in milliseconds. Well XP won't do that and any search goes through something like five hard drives every time. Now Vista, I can't even figure out how to get the thing to search for a file.

Also, I manually did my "SendTo" menu you get on a right click. You create a shortcut and move it in there. Then you can send a file to any of your image editors, or a movie or music to any of your players, without changing the file association or going through its dialog box. I also liked the fact that the old style media player would allow multiple instances so files that I had downloaded could be compared and only the best one kept. Now, I have an old version of VLC or something that does that. Might be Irfanview not sure.

I got into the Sendto in Vista but as an administrator. I couldn't get in at all on Win 7. What do you mean access denied ? Whose PC is this anyway ?

Anyway, the government is not the one who will force your upgrade to the dumpster, it will be software manufacturers.

On Wednesday, 17 January 2018 22:04:27 UTC, wrote:
"One other thing, I still use DOS, a USB mouse or keyboard wont work on
Dos. "

LMGTFY "usb support for DOS"

https://www.google.com/search?source....0.nU3IRUVc5rs

I agree about 98SE. Lost alot going to XP but 98SE would no longrer connect and the phone support would not walk me through a manual setup for the router/switch/MODEM. I said "What, did my money expire ?".

But one thing I miss is being able to confine a file search. I have this music library and to search that I had saved a search named "*.*" but within the music directory. You could put in any word from the artist or title and get results in milliseconds. Well XP won't do that and any search goes through something like five hard drives every time. Now Vista, I can't even figure out how to get the thing to search for a file.

Also, I manually did my "SendTo" menu you get on a right click. You create a shortcut and move it in there. Then you can send a file to any of your image editors, or a movie or music to any of your players, without changing the file association or going through its dialog box. I also liked the fact that the old style media player would allow multiple instances so files that I had downloaded could be compared and only the best one kept. Now, I have an old version of VLC or something that does that. Might be Irfanview not sure.

I got into the Sendto in Vista but as an administrator. I couldn't get in at all on Win 7. What do you mean access denied ? Whose PC is this anyway ?

Anyway, the government is not the one who will force your upgrade to the dumpster, it will be software manufacturers.

The easiest way to find files on any PC is to maintain a plain text list of everyfile & its location, and update that now & then. There's a windows utility called LS that creates such lists, conveniently named to cause confusion with linux.

98 usb support was mostly fixed by nusb3.1 3rd party patch.


NT

wrote on 1/17/2018 4:39 PM:
On Sat, 13 Jan 2018 13:59:41 -0800, Mary-Jane Rottencrotch
wrote:

On 2018-01-13 13:29, wrote:

Yea, I know computer mice are cheap, but I need a PS/2 connector and
want a ball mouse. I dont like the infared mice, and can not use a USB
mouse on my Windows 98 computer.

Does it not have USB ports? Disregarding the utter ridiculousness of
still using Windows 98 in 2018, it supports USB just fine (since Windows
95 OSR 2.1, around 1997 - 21 years ago nearly).


When the government makes it mandatory to upgrade to the latest version
of Windows, I'll be the first person to throw my computer in the
garbage. I use both Win98 and XP. I wont touch anything newer.

I recently had the misfortune of someone handing me a computer with
Windows 8. They asked me to do someting with it. As soon as I saw that
butt ugly Metro screen, I closed the lid and told them to toss it in the
nearest garbage can.

Just for the record, Win 95 and 98 did not have good USB support. That
was just the one drawback of Win 9.x. Otherwise it was far superior to
anything made by MS since. Win98SE works better for me than any other OS
I have ever used. But XP is tolerable too, just lacks in some ways.

One other thing, I still use DOS, a USB mouse or keyboard wont work on
Dos.

I believe they made minor tweaks to 98 to create Windows ME and then
discontinued that OS line. The reason was it was designed from the ground
up to be insecure and unstable. It was impossible to provide the sort of
protection from misbehaving applications and malware that the "real" OS line
descended from NT has. I recall my copy of Windows 98 had gotten so full of
poorly written drivers that it would crash about once an hour. I got my
hands on a copy of of Win2k and my life was forever changed. If you are
going to obsess with a version of Windows, THAT is the one.

Windows 98 is a real piece of crap and anyone who is obsessed with running
it has so much to learn. But then we pretty much know that about you
anyway. So no surprises there. BTW, this was typed on a Windows 8 machine
that hasn't been rebooted in well over a month. Hmmm... 1 hour, 1 month...
I wonder which is better?

--

Rick C

Viewed the eclipse at Wintercrest Farms,
on the centerline of totality since 1998

In article ,
says...


Anyway, the government is not the one who will force your upgrade to the dumpster, it will be software manufacturers.


I had to go to a Win 10 computer from XP just so I could run a tax
program. Partly the same way I had to move from Win 98 a number of
years ago to do the taxes.

Each upgrade of Windows causes me to have to keep another machine
running. I have laptops running Dos and WFW 3.11 to run some programs,
another ruunig Win 98, Win XP and Win 10. I did manage to bypass the
win 7 and 8 versions. The had to buy a newer version of Office to run
on a new laptop. Just glad I found someone on ebay that sells the key
(or whatever) for under $ 10 for the 2016 version.

I don't care for what microsoft has to offer, other than the Office set,
I don't run anything or do anything with microsoft once I get the
computer up and running.

On Wednesday, 17 January 2018 23:45:13 UTC, rickman wrote:
wrote on 1/17/2018 4:39 PM:
On Sat, 13 Jan 2018 13:59:41 -0800, Mary-Jane Rottencrotch
wrote:
On 2018-01-13 13:29, wrote:

Yea, I know computer mice are cheap, but I need a PS/2 connector and
want a ball mouse. I dont like the infared mice, and can not use a USB
mouse on my Windows 98 computer.

Does it not have USB ports? Disregarding the utter ridiculousness of
still using Windows 98 in 2018, it supports USB just fine (since Windows
95 OSR 2.1, around 1997 - 21 years ago nearly).


When the government makes it mandatory to upgrade to the latest version
of Windows, I'll be the first person to throw my computer in the
garbage. I use both Win98 and XP. I wont touch anything newer.

I recently had the misfortune of someone handing me a computer with
Windows 8. They asked me to do someting with it. As soon as I saw that
butt ugly Metro screen, I closed the lid and told them to toss it in the
nearest garbage can.

Just for the record, Win 95 and 98 did not have good USB support. That
was just the one drawback of Win 9.x. Otherwise it was far superior to
anything made by MS since. Win98SE works better for me than any other OS
I have ever used. But XP is tolerable too, just lacks in some ways.

One other thing, I still use DOS, a USB mouse or keyboard wont work on
Dos.

I believe they made minor tweaks to 98 to create Windows ME and then
discontinued that OS line. The reason was it was designed from the ground
up to be insecure and unstable. It was impossible to provide the sort of
protection from misbehaving applications and malware that the "real" OS line
descended from NT has. I recall my copy of Windows 98 had gotten so full of
poorly written drivers that it would crash about once an hour. I got my
hands on a copy of of Win2k and my life was forever changed. If you are
going to obsess with a version of Windows, THAT is the one.

Windows 98 is a real piece of crap and anyone who is obsessed with running
it has so much to learn. But then we pretty much know that about you
anyway. So no surprises there. BTW, this was typed on a Windows 8 machine
that hasn't been rebooted in well over a month. Hmmm... 1 hour, 1 month....
I wonder which is better?

98 was dreadfully unstable and insecure by today's standards. But back then there wasn't anything better, it was as good as it got. Before anyone objects of course there were NT and stable non-windows OSes, but none of them had the range of apps needed to be very useful as a desktop machine.

Once you learnt 98's many foibles and got it running sufficiently, it's then near zero effort to keep running it. Hence many of us ran it when there were in some ways better OSes available. But I sure do not regret going linux, and watch people's endless win up/down/sideways-grade nightmares with bemusement. Why people are so keen to volunteer for their own misery I don't know.


NT

Ralph Mowery wrote on 1/17/2018 11:07 PM:
In article ,
says...


Anyway, the government is not the one who will force your upgrade to the dumpster, it will be software manufacturers.


I had to go to a Win 10 computer from XP just so I could run a tax
program. Partly the same way I had to move from Win 98 a number of
years ago to do the taxes.

Each upgrade of Windows causes me to have to keep another machine
running. I have laptops running Dos and WFW 3.11 to run some programs,
another ruunig Win 98, Win XP and Win 10. I did manage to bypass the
win 7 and 8 versions. The had to buy a newer version of Office to run
on a new laptop. Just glad I found someone on ebay that sells the key
(or whatever) for under $ 10 for the 2016 version.

Maybe your problem isn't the OS, maybe it's the applications you want to
run. I haven't used MS Office in a decade or more. LibreOffice works great
and just seems to work everywhere I want to use it.


I don't care for what microsoft has to offer, other than the Office set,
I don't run anything or do anything with microsoft once I get the
computer up and running.

I will say I miss Visio. But then I was using that before MS bought them.

--

Rick C

Viewed the eclipse at Wintercrest Farms,
on the centerline of totality since 1998

On Thursday, 18 January 2018 05:43:47 UTC, wrote:
On Wednesday, 17 January 2018 23:45:13 UTC, rickman wrote:
wrote on 1/17/2018 4:39 PM:
On Sat, 13 Jan 2018 13:59:41 -0800, Mary-Jane Rottencrotch
wrote:
On 2018-01-13 13:29, wrote:

Yea, I know computer mice are cheap, but I need a PS/2 connector and
want a ball mouse. I dont like the infared mice, and can not use a USB
mouse on my Windows 98 computer.

Does it not have USB ports? Disregarding the utter ridiculousness of
still using Windows 98 in 2018, it supports USB just fine (since Windows
95 OSR 2.1, around 1997 - 21 years ago nearly).


When the government makes it mandatory to upgrade to the latest version
of Windows, I'll be the first person to throw my computer in the
garbage. I use both Win98 and XP. I wont touch anything newer.

I recently had the misfortune of someone handing me a computer with
Windows 8. They asked me to do someting with it. As soon as I saw that
butt ugly Metro screen, I closed the lid and told them to toss it in the
nearest garbage can.

Just for the record, Win 95 and 98 did not have good USB support. That
was just the one drawback of Win 9.x. Otherwise it was far superior to
anything made by MS since. Win98SE works better for me than any other OS
I have ever used. But XP is tolerable too, just lacks in some ways.

One other thing, I still use DOS, a USB mouse or keyboard wont work on
Dos.

I believe they made minor tweaks to 98 to create Windows ME and then
discontinued that OS line. The reason was it was designed from the ground
up to be insecure and unstable. It was impossible to provide the sort of
protection from misbehaving applications and malware that the "real" OS line
descended from NT has. I recall my copy of Windows 98 had gotten so full of
poorly written drivers that it would crash about once an hour. I got my
hands on a copy of of Win2k and my life was forever changed. If you are
going to obsess with a version of Windows, THAT is the one.

Windows 98 is a real piece of crap and anyone who is obsessed with running
it has so much to learn. But then we pretty much know that about you
anyway. So no surprises there. BTW, this was typed on a Windows 8 machine
that hasn't been rebooted in well over a month. Hmmm... 1 hour, 1 month...
I wonder which is better?

98 was dreadfully unstable and insecure by today's standards. But back then there wasn't anything better, it was as good as it got. Before anyone objects of course there were NT and stable non-windows OSes, but none of them had the range of apps needed to be very useful as a desktop machine.

Once you learnt 98's many foibles and got it running sufficiently, it's then near zero effort to keep running it. Hence many of us ran it when there were in some ways better OSes available. But I sure do not regret going linux, and watch people's endless win up/down/sideways-grade nightmares with bemusement. Why people are so keen to volunteer for their own misery I don't know.


NT

Somewhere out there there's a set of windows 2 apps made to run on modern windows. They're still usable.


NT

wrote on 1/18/2018 3:42 AM:
On Thursday, 18 January 2018 05:43:47 UTC, wrote:
On Wednesday, 17 January 2018 23:45:13 UTC, rickman wrote:
wrote on 1/17/2018 4:39 PM:
On Sat, 13 Jan 2018 13:59:41 -0800, Mary-Jane Rottencrotch
wrote:
On 2018-01-13 13:29, wrote:

Yea, I know computer mice are cheap, but I need a PS/2 connector and
want a ball mouse. I dont like the infared mice, and can not use a USB
mouse on my Windows 98 computer.

Does it not have USB ports? Disregarding the utter ridiculousness of
still using Windows 98 in 2018, it supports USB just fine (since Windows
95 OSR 2.1, around 1997 - 21 years ago nearly).


When the government makes it mandatory to upgrade to the latest version
of Windows, I'll be the first person to throw my computer in the
garbage. I use both Win98 and XP. I wont touch anything newer.

I recently had the misfortune of someone handing me a computer with
Windows 8. They asked me to do someting with it. As soon as I saw that
butt ugly Metro screen, I closed the lid and told them to toss it in the
nearest garbage can.

Just for the record, Win 95 and 98 did not have good USB support. That
was just the one drawback of Win 9.x. Otherwise it was far superior to
anything made by MS since. Win98SE works better for me than any other OS
I have ever used. But XP is tolerable too, just lacks in some ways.

One other thing, I still use DOS, a USB mouse or keyboard wont work on
Dos.

I believe they made minor tweaks to 98 to create Windows ME and then
discontinued that OS line. The reason was it was designed from the ground
up to be insecure and unstable. It was impossible to provide the sort of
protection from misbehaving applications and malware that the "real" OS line
descended from NT has. I recall my copy of Windows 98 had gotten so full of
poorly written drivers that it would crash about once an hour. I got my
hands on a copy of of Win2k and my life was forever changed. If you are
going to obsess with a version of Windows, THAT is the one.

Windows 98 is a real piece of crap and anyone who is obsessed with running
it has so much to learn. But then we pretty much know that about you
anyway. So no surprises there. BTW, this was typed on a Windows 8 machine
that hasn't been rebooted in well over a month. Hmmm... 1 hour, 1 month...
I wonder which is better?

98 was dreadfully unstable and insecure by today's standards. But back then there wasn't anything better, it was as good as it got. Before anyone objects of course there were NT and stable non-windows OSes, but none of them had the range of apps needed to be very useful as a desktop machine.

Once you learnt 98's many foibles and got it running sufficiently, it's then near zero effort to keep running it. Hence many of us ran it when there were in some ways better OSes available. But I sure do not regret going linux, and watch people's endless win up/down/sideways-grade nightmares with bemusement. Why people are so keen to volunteer for their own misery I don't know.


NT

Somewhere out there there's a set of windows 2 apps made to run on modern windows. They're still usable.

What do you mean "still" usable. When was it originally usable?

--

Rick C

Viewed the eclipse at Wintercrest Farms,
on the centerline of totality since 1998

On Thursday, 18 January 2018 09:07:17 UTC, rickman wrote:
tabbypurr wrote on 1/18/2018 3:42 AM:
On Thursday, 18 January 2018 05:43:47 UTC, tabby wrote:

Somewhere out there there's a set of windows 2 apps made to run on modern windows. They're still usable.

What do you mean "still" usable.

seriously?

When was it originally usable?

when they were released with windows 2 or perhaps earlier.
Was there a point you wished to make?

On Thursday, January 18, 2018 at 6:29:03 AM UTC-5, wrote:


when they were released with windows 2 or perhaps earlier.
Was there a point you wished to make?

Fly**** to the right.
Pepper to the left.

The point is already well-made, but creative hair-styling is at play.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

wrote on 1/18/2018 6:28 AM:
On Thursday, 18 January 2018 09:07:17 UTC, rickman wrote:
tabbypurr wrote on 1/18/2018 3:42 AM:
On Thursday, 18 January 2018 05:43:47 UTC, tabby wrote:

Somewhere out there there's a set of windows 2 apps made to run on modern windows. They're still usable.

What do you mean "still" usable.

seriously?

When was it originally usable?

when they were released with windows 2 or perhaps earlier.
Was there a point you wished to make?

I saw Windows 2 and it was virtually unusable on a 286 PC which was the
fastest at the time.

--

Rick C

Viewed the eclipse at Wintercrest Farms,
on the centerline of totality since 1998

In article ,
says...

Ralph Mowery wrote on 1/17/2018 11:07 PM:
In article ,
says...


Anyway, the government is not the one who will force your upgrade to the dumpster, it will be software manufacturers.


I had to go to a Win 10 computer from XP just so I could run a tax
program. Partly the same way I had to move from Win 98 a number of
years ago to do the taxes.

Each upgrade of Windows causes me to have to keep another machine
running. I have laptops running Dos and WFW 3.11 to run some programs,
another ruunig Win 98, Win XP and Win 10. I did manage to bypass the
win 7 and 8 versions. The had to buy a newer version of Office to run
on a new laptop. Just glad I found someone on ebay that sells the key
(or whatever) for under $ 10 for the 2016 version.

Maybe your problem isn't the OS, maybe it's the applications you want to
run. I haven't used MS Office in a decade or more. LibreOffice works great
and just seems to work everywhere I want to use it.


I don't care for what microsoft has to offer, other than the Office set,
I don't run anything or do anything with microsoft once I get the
computer up and running.

I will say I miss Visio. But then I was using that before MS bought them.

I think we are sort of saying the same thing.

The tax program I am using quit woring with win 98, then it quit with XP
as the years went on. Some old programs that I need to run to program
old equipemnt such as motor speed controlers and radio transceivers
will not run under anythng but a true DOS program and a slow computer.
A TV dongle will show the video but not play the sound under Win 10.
With MS Office being used whre I worked, I got used to using it. Guess
that I could use Open Office at home now I am retired,but did not want
to change as the old Office XP worked fine for what I am doing.

I don't play games on the computer, but do have an old version of Doom
that I sometimes put on to check out the graphics speed. That thing
quit working under Win 10 ,just as some of the old games did under XP.

So it is the APPS that I want to run , but I still blame the OS for not
being compatiable with the old programs. The it works the other way,
blame Turbo Tax for not running on the older operating systems either.

On 1/18/18 2:47 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
I think we are sort of saying the same thing.

I have a similar problem.
I have a 25 MHz 386 running Win98 SE because that is the
only machine my older Motorola radio programming software
will run on properly.

I've had three XP machines that have served quite well decide
"We're done here." One got replaced with it's twin brother
also running XP. One got replaced with a recent box running
Win7, and the other a new box running Win10.
My primary Win7 had issues, so I moved the hard drive to an
HP Pavilion. That was hours of fun. But that's working
perfectly now.

Then just for laughs, after 28 years of MS machines, I was
given a 24" iMac. Well, that's certainly different.
Pros: "It just ****ing works."
Cons: "It didn't come with solitaire."



--
"I am a river to my people."
Jeff-1.0
WA6FWi
http:foxsmercantile.com

"I have a 25 MHz 386 running Win98 SE because that is the
only machine my older Motorola radio programming software
will run on properly. "

I have a game that will not run on anything with a math coprocessor, so it is limited to a 386. It is an old poker game, runs nice and fast. Also there is a key that gives you all kinds of odds and stats. If you try to run it on anything 486 or newer you get a divide by zero error. I am pretty sure there is no "compatibility mode" or anything like that to make it run. It would have to disable the math coprocessor. The program also runs in DOS.

I got a windows based one which plays well on XP, runs kinda funny on Vista and won't run at all in Win 7. Both of these ran fine in Windows 3.1(1).

Like I said, it's not going to be the government forcing the old guy to update, it will be the software manufacturers. In my case I had to give up 98SE to connect to high speed internet. That was actually caused by Dlink.

I had 98SE running fairly stable. I loaded the PC and left it alone, no new software or anything like that.

One other thig bothers me is I had a Visioneer 6100B flatbed scanner. This was one exceptional scanner. It would scan in 3D. It kept in focus away from the glass. I scanned the ring gear from a Chevy van rear end, guns, our faces and all kinds of things. One thing I remember was a boat made of sheet metal, you've seen them, people make the out of beer cans. Well I scanned that and it picked up the whole thing even though it was bigger than the glass. So apparently the pickup in the thing had some weird pattern to it which allowed for this.

But I could not get XP drivers for it. I tried. It was also parallel port which is just about obsolete. I have a few year old PC that still has one, and also has PS/2 ports for keyboard ad mouse, which I use. I have an optical PS/2 mouse.

What I wonder is what anyone would have against an optical mouse. I would use nothing else. After all the trouble with the balls and getting a real surface to run an old mouse on I said "I want a frikken mouse that'll run on a gravel driveway" and an optical damnear will. The only thing it has trouble with is glass, or a mirror. At one poit I would only run a wireless keyboard because my wiring is a mess. But with the setup I have now it is not an issue.

Actually, my wireless USB keyboard ad mouse won't run in Linux. I tried to use OPHcrack on a machine and the damn thing would not do anything. I don't know if it would run in Win 7, didn't try.

I reloaded it, which gets me how they screw people. You can download the disk imagge of all these OSes for free. You get an ISO file which means you need the right software to rebuild the disk. Manufacturers are charging people for these restore CDs when they could get them for free, but without the nag-ware. Frikken they supposedly give you all this bundled software but it is all trial versions. Just download the proper OEM version from Microsoft.

Then you have to register it, and it is married to that machine. To reregister Win 7 I had to be online AND on the phone at the same time. But it worked. So don't let factory support stick it up your (_|_) charging you for something you actually already paid for.

You used to be able to trust big companies, now that is not true.

On Thursday, 18 January 2018 21:15:26 UTC, Fox's Mercantile wrote:


I have a similar problem.
I have a 25 MHz 386 running Win98 SE because that is the
only machine my older Motorola radio programming software
will run on properly.

Sounds painful. I once had an old 486/66 with 24M RAM running 98se, got used very occasionally as a backup machine. 16 colour graphics or something like that. It got virus scanned all of once. It took over 15 minutes to even begin to scan.


NT

On 1/17/2018 3:39 PM, wrote:

One other thing, I still use DOS, a USB mouse or keyboard wont work on
Dos.

That really depends on the BIOS of the machine; I've got a few DOS
machines out there with USB keyboards.

(Don't use USB mice on DOS machines nowadays, so can't say.)

RwP