Windows 98 Incompatibilities & Fixes


As time goes by and Windows 98 becomes more prevalent, the inevitable incompatibilities come to light. Below is a list of the various incompatibilities known to us, along with fixes, if available. We've compiled this list from several sources, including feedback from FixWindows.com users. As more issues surface, we'll report the problems along with any resolutions we're able to find. If you know of an incompatibility with Win98 that has been documented by the manufacturer of your computer, peripheral device, or software program, drop us a line. Please remember, though, there are only two of us. Unfortunately we don't have the resources to help with your individual problems. However, any feedback you supply is appreciated your fellow PC users.

Product

Known Problem or Incompatibility Recommended Solution
Novell Netware Client32 If you remove Client32 and try to install Microsoft's Services for NetWare Directory Services, the installation will fail. NetWare's Client32 install program modifies two files needed by Win98's NDS service. It renames NETDEF.INF to NETDEF.BNW, and deletes NWNDS.DLL. To get Microsoft's services for NDS to work, you'll have to rename the above file back to its original name, and extract NWNDS.DLL from precopy1.cab on the Win98 CD to the windows\system folder.
External ISDN Modems (all brands) The Win98 ISDN Configuration Wizard returns the error "No ISDN devices were found. Please install an ISDN device and run the wizard again", even though you have the external modem correctly installed. In actuality, the wizard only works if you have an internal ISDN modem. Microsoft refers you to the manufacturer's technical support for help configuring your external ISDN modem.
Toshiba Portege or Tecra (Toshiba Corp.) During Win98 setup on a "clean" (blank, formatted) system, computer hangs with a blank screen after 2nd time Win98 restarts computer. Only works in safe mode afterward. DMA drivers for IDE hard drives included with Win98 are incompatible with bus-mastering drivers required by these Toshiba models. You must contact Toshiba for a solution. Click here to go to Manufacturer Support Numbers page.
Hitachi Flora M-series or NM- series computer Screen may switch to flashing colored text during setup, and setup may fail during file copy phase. Incompatibility between DBLBUFF.SYS and BIOS. Contact Hitachi to obtain an updated BIOS at www.hitachi.com.
Toshiba Tecra (Toshiba Corp.) SU0013 message during setup ("Setup could not create files on your strtup drive...") Some Toshiba Tecra machines were shipped with incorrect partition information. To work around the problem, run setup from MS-DOS. If you need a startup disk for this procedure, click here for help.
AST Ascentia-M series (AST Computer) Windows 98 setup hangs with 13 minutes remaining This problem occurs if the machine is supended during Win98 setup. To workaround the problem, restart Windows 98 setup and select "Smart Recovery". To fix the problem, contact AST to obtain an updated BIOS at www.ast.com.
Compaq Deskpro (Compaq Computer) After upgrading to Win98, a non-existent removable drive appears in My Computer This problem affects machines with LS-120 drives. Remark out the reference to HFLOPT.COM in Config.sys. Click here for more info.

Norton Utilities v. 3.0 (Symantec)

Disk fragmentation report is inaccurate

NU 3.0 patch from www.symantec.com

Dell Dimension XPS R400 (Dell Computer)

Sound card and modem problems

Obtain updated drivers from www.dell.com
Gateway Solo 9100 (Gateway 2000) PC Cards (PCMCIA) malfunction or don't work at all Obtain updated BIOS from www.gateway.com
IBM Thinkpad 770E (IBM) Cannot transfer files via Infrared port Use Puma Intellisync 97 or Windows 98 IR sofware
Logitech Mouseware 7.2 (Logitech) Mouse buttons cannot be programmed Obtain updated driver from www.logitech.com
Quarterdeck Cleansweep 4.0 (Quarterdeck) File-deletion protection does not work Version 4.02 patch available from www.qdeck.com
HP OfficeJet 1150C Printer (Hewlett-Packard) Crashes and error messages when attempting to print An updated driver is available at www.hp.com
Toshiba 550CDT (Toshiba) ACPI Power Management fails Upgrade BIOS with latest firmaware update from www.toshiba.com. YOU MUST APPLY THE UPDATE BEFORE YOU UPGRADE TO WIN98.