Hello guys,
I got some problems after installing 98SE (the heb version) in VPC2007.

First, it does not state it is a second edition although the version number is correct (4.10.2222 A), and during installation (when it copied the files to the hard drive) it said something like "Copying files from Windows 98 Second Edition CD-ROM".
I checked it using two different ISO images and it happened on both.

In addition, long ago I had a real PC with Windows 95 and after a problem occured, I gave it to a technician and got it back with 98SE.
I think that the 98SE version I worked with in the past is different than the one I installed in VPC. I'll give you some examples from what I can remember.

1. The boot&shutdown screens stated 'SE' or 'Second Edition' next to the regular '98'. I created an image that illustrates this here.
Edit: I found a picture of a CD that has this kind of writing on it here.
It could be also like in here or here.
I remember that the version I worked with a decade ago had one of these screens and not the regular 'Windows98' screen.

2. The writing on the side start menu (if I remember correctly) was not 'Windows 98' but 'Windows 98 SE/Second Edition' (not sure). I found a picture that shows this here.

My question is, am I the only one who thinks that 98SE looks like a regular 98 and should've been a lot different?
I checked it also with an English version but it looks just like Win98 (the only place where 'Second Edition' appears is in the properties screen).
Maybe there was some update doing this? or even maybe the heb (upgrade?) version was different than the English?

Modification of boot screen of Windows 9x can be 'easilly' achieved by modifying Logo.sys on the system drive root (you can do that with Paint).
So I think someone tweaked Logo.sys. If then there is no wave animation under the boot screen until user modifies Logo.sys via hex editor.

I think you got a fake version of Windows.

As said, 9X is pretty easy to customize, which is something someone did with the copy you had some time ago...

As for the no "Second Edition" text: if you install the RTM of Windows 95 (which is infact RC 7) in Hebrew, you will notice it will say "R-7" next to the version number, despite the fact that no other 95 RTM release displays that part. So this could be a simmilar thing I guess...

I don't think so. But I'm sure that the particular version I had in the real PC was fine.
The version on Virtual PC also has the 95-style dark blue strip at the upper side of an opened window, which as I remember was a bit lighter,
Look at the two pictures below. I think they are both taken from Windows98SE systems.
1, 2.
Maybe there is an update to 98SE that does these things?
Edit: I remember I also had IE&Outlook Express v6 so I assume the system was updated in some way. Because on the 98SE I installed in VPC there is an earlier version of IE.


Sounds OK. I'll consider it as a 'glitch' in the system...

'My Computer' screen is just looking like normal Windows 98 FE / SE.
Windows 95 doesn't have sidebar(or frame?) on the left side until you install Active Desktop
(but it has different look. No sky on the background.).

Default Title Bar
Of course Windows 98 title bar is 'gradient' as you said. Just like the image above.

Customized Title Bar
But user can edit the color scheme like this. That means 'solid dark blue' title bar on Windows 98 is possible.



Then you got tweaked version. Original Windows 98 SE comes with IE 5. FE comes with IE 4.

The unofficial 98 SE Service Pack does some cosmetic changes to the system. It is possible you had that installed...

In a second thought, I'm not so sure whether I got them when I first got the upgraded 98SE or got them maybe after a problem with the system so when he returned the computer he also installed them as an update...
I wish I still had it. I threw it away in '04 when I got a new computer.


Well, I just messed with the display settings and got it to be gradient like I remember.
But that was not all.


That's interesting. But were there any unofficial SPs and updates to 98SE in 2000/01/02?

It seems that in that version you cannot know if it is FE or SE besides the version number (2222 A). I was about 11-12 when I first got the computer with 98SE installed so I assume it should've been stated elsewhere. I clearly remember that the CD he forgot in the CD drive was an uprage 98SE blue disc, which does match this.

I will try to install 95 then update to 98 and to 98SE and see if there's any of the stuff I mentioned in my first post.
If it doesn't work, I will try to install the unofficial SP and be back with results.

You know what, it could be all a glitch. Is there any problems elsewhere? What happens when you launch "winver.exe"?

BTW, when I installed Windows 98 SE, there is no SE in the bootscreen as shown in your picture. Mine is English, of course.

Original 98SE doesn't call itself SE everywhere, probably because MS didn't bother to change all the branding...

winver says "Windows 98".


I believe it is like what you say, but please have a look at this german site I found. It contains boot screens of all Win systems. Scroll down to 98SE, what do you say?
Maybe there was sort of an update that changed this, or even an official patch that was available for foreign languages only?

That's modified. Have a look at any original 98 SE and you will never see "Second Edition" or "SE" on the bootscreen. It's one part of the GUI they didn't update to say SE.

What? I can definitely remember my original 98 SE (bought at a store in 1999) saying "Zweite Ausgabe" (Second Edition) on the boot-up screen. How can that be modified?

Well, any Windows 98 SE CDs/images I have used do not show up a Second Edition note. Are you sure it's an original one?

Drop LOGO.SYS into Paint. That file is nothing more than a plain old bitmap image that Windows uses as its startup screen.

It was definetly modified. As said many times, you could customize the bootscreen in paint. It was probably a pirated copy as well...

Original SE doesn't say "SE" or "Second Edition" in Setup, bootscreen, and some other UI elements. The box, disc and System Properties, however, should state "Second Edition" (except in this case, it seems Hebrew is something special...).

Indeed, it could be an error in the Hebrew-locale of Windows. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

I think it's the unofficial Windows 98 Second Edition Service Pack.

The default bitmap for the Win98 startup comes from IO.SYS. I should be highly supprised if the bitmap on SE does contain the legend, since IO.SYS from the two versions are identical.

You need a logo.sys to say this, usually in the root directory. It's quite easy to recreate logo.sys for other ends: the OEMs can do this with a little utility in the OEM kit.

A question that I probably knew the answer to at one time and have now forgotten...

Where does one find the OEM Kit?

2. The writing on the side start menu (if I remember correctly) was not 'Windows 98' but 'Windows 98 SE/Second Edition' (not sure). I found a picture that shows this here.

Hmm, Windows Me/2K icons?

Unofficial 98 Service Pack is known to change the icons to those of 2000/Me.

las4,

I vaguely remember having a Windows 98SE installation that also had the exact text you mentioned. In the boot screen and Start Menu, respectively.

I'm not sure if it was due to an update (unlikely) but I did not have the Windows 98 Second Edition Service Pack 2.1a installed on that system.

One way to tell if the aforementioned software was/is installed is by looking at the Status Bar in Windows Explorer. The "Computer" icon will be in the Windows 2000 style, even after setting the icon on the desktop to its default setting.

You don't have to have an unofficial service pack installed for the icons to be like the Me/2K icons or for the start menu side bar to have "Second Edition" on it. Themes and modding were quite popular in the late 1990's and I suspect that is what you had. I modded ME's Explorer.exe so the sidebar says "Microsoft Neptune" but that doesn't make it Neptune.

If the Hebrew version of 98SE from Microsoft actually said "Second Edition" on it then it is unique. I haven't seen it in any other language version.

Indeed, no other 98SE had SE in the start menu or boot screen. It could be that Hebrew was unique to such things (just like 95 RTM Hebrew that has R-7 in the System Properties), which is about 30% probability, or it was just some custom 3rd party theme/mod/whatever you want to call it that added "SE" or "Second Edition" to places where MS didn't (and that is 70% probability).

And now that the original question has been answered about a million times already, let's move on, shall we...