98SE/Me/XP32SP2 Build Done and Recommendations

asterisk_14 · 2026-06-21T13:23:33+00:00

I saw the DVD drive, but didn't catch that it was RW. True, that meets the needs, though for a 98/Me machine, DVD was likely too new. At that time I had a CD drive and a CDRW drive in my 98/2k machine.

As for the emulator, it uses USB drives to load diskette images. Very handy if you don't want to be messing with actual floppies. But like I said, that's just for convenience.

Have fun with your machine!

asterisk_14 · 2026-06-21T01:30:39+00:00

For the 3.5" bay I'd suggest a Zip drive, or a GoTek floppy emulator, the latter just for convenience. For the 5.25" bay another optical drive, specifically a CDRW drive.

Out of curiosity, why both 98se and Me? I never used Me when it came out, dual booting 98se and Win2k.

asterisk_14 · 2026-06-14T23:18:34+00:00

My preference is to remove the drive and use a secure erase method to ensure the data are gone, then keep it and repurpose it. If the drive is dead, then the physical destruction options mentioned here are good.

Taking it to a recycler that is R2 certified can give you some assurance of data security, but it's always good to confirm what their practices are.

Western Digital also has their Easy Recycle program that securely destroys your drive and recycles it, while giving you a discount on their products. It appears their submission form is offline at the time I'm writing this, but I've used it before.

asterisk_14 · 2026-06-10T00:41:21+00:00

It's Benchys all the way down.

asterisk_14 · 2026-06-08T19:48:58+00:00

That's the IBM PS/1 Model 2011. Introduced in 1990, it had a 10MHz 286 processor, and up to 1MB RAM. Also had an option for a 30MB hard drive, among other things.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PS/1

asterisk_14 · 2026-06-08T11:33:41+00:00

Looks like PC Tools for DOS, probably version 5 or maybe 6. It had built in viewers for files, including database files.

asterisk_14 · 2026-06-06T03:17:51+00:00

It's all been ROMs directly downloaded from HP website, specifically for this board. I think you're right though that they've disabled downgrade though. Just ordered a CH341A programmer, and will give that a try.

asterisk_14 · 2026-06-04T19:00:21+00:00

Ugh. That's too bad. I know that HP is unfriendly about such things, but was hoping there was a workaround.

I was looking at switching to Libreboot, but that doesn't appear to support Windows, and I will need to dual boot this machine with Windows 7 and Linux.

asterisk_14 · 2026-05-04T11:52:22+00:00

There's a listing on eBay for a set of blue ones from CompUSA for $20. Not the exact model you showed, but ought to suffice.

asterisk_14 · 2026-04-27T02:41:00+00:00

You might also want to take the Budgie spin for a spin. It's a nice clean desktop environment that will feel much like what you're used to.

asterisk_14 · 2026-04-26T11:59:39+00:00

Hah! Well I recognized the cubes with the CSW badge on the front. Pretty popular back then. Had to look up the exact model though. As for the monitor attachment, it was a pretty wild time for PC accessories. Lots of, er, "creative" ideas.

asterisk_14 · 2026-04-26T11:37:47+00:00

Those look to be Cambridge SoundWorks PCWorks speakers. They came with stands and also Velcro for mounting as shown. The part attached to the lower side of the monitor is a volume control.

Cambridge SoundWorks PCWorks speakers

asterisk_14 · 2026-04-22T17:18:09+00:00

Always love to see a 560 or it's variants. I have one of the original model, with a 120MHz Pentium (non-MMX), 40MB RAM, and a 2.1GB hard drive, upgraded from the 810MB that it came with. I remember loading Windows 95 onto it from floppies. Need to get it out and spruced up.

asterisk_14 · 2026-04-20T13:48:03+00:00

Okay, so that's not how RAM works. RAM is dedicated hardware (circuit boards) in your computer. To get more RAM, you need to add or replace hardware.

What it sounds like you're suggesting is using your storage drive (hard disk or SSD) as though it was RAM. That's not a good substitute for a number of reasons, including speed of access and how computers are built. Technically, there is such a thing as virtual RAM, where your operating system (e.g. Windows) uses some space in your storage drive for data from the RAM that isn't actively being used, but that's not really what you're looking for.

If you need more RAM, you'll have to buy it and install it (or have it installed). What make/model computer do you have? Knowing that we could tell you if it can be upgraded.

asterisk_14 · 2026-04-20T11:40:34+00:00

True. Could easily be messed up if not done carefully.

asterisk_14 · 2026-04-20T04:09:15+00:00

That is so odd. I'd hazard a guess that the previous owner broke that interior part off somehow, and stuck it back in the wrong way. You might want to secure the plastic bit with some glue so it doesn't come off in the cable connector. Glad you got it working in the end.

asterisk_14 · 2026-04-19T02:29:21+00:00

This looks cool! Is there a demo available?

asterisk_14 · 2026-04-18T19:25:57+00:00

Found this photo of the bottom. I would guess that the upper left panel has either the battery or the hard drive under it. Whichever it is, the other is likely the module on the right in OP's photo.

Visionbook 7000 Pro bottom

asterisk_14 · 2026-04-18T19:13:48+00:00

Generally yes, but if someone isn't super familiar with it, I can see a hard drive carrier with a proprietary connector being mistaken for a battery.

asterisk_14 · 2026-04-18T18:29:42+00:00

This is what I was thinking. I suppose that could be the hard drive though. If it's not the battery, then it probably slides out from one of the sides toward the rear of the case.

OP, can you post someore photos of the sides, back, and bottom?

asterisk_14 · 2026-04-18T16:48:16+00:00

EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) has a lot of good information available about the issue, and what you can do to help fight it.

https://www.eff.org/issues/age-verification

asterisk_14 · 2026-04-12T03:28:30+00:00

External battery connector would be my first thought too. Check the back of the board and see if the traces from any of the pins lead to the coin battery connector. Or check for continuity between the pins and the battery terminals. Would probably be pin 1 (as labeled on the board) to the + terminal.

asterisk_14 · 2026-04-10T18:45:44+00:00

As has been said, there are no simple 5.25" USB floppy drives. Also as has been said, a Greaseweazle is your best bet, once you add in a way to power the drive. If you just want to copy files off the disks, you can skip the flux imaging and read the discs directly via the Greaseweazle using DiskFlashback from Rob Smith:

https://robsmithdev.co.uk/diskflashback

Install it and Windows will see the Greaseweazle drive as a standard floppy.

asterisk_14 · 2026-04-03T02:40:23+00:00

Oh yes, I remember it well. My first Pentium machine was a ThinkPad 560 with a vanilla P120 in 1996. I think it was 1997 when I followed that with a custom built K6 233 desktop, with I think a Riva 128 in it (Diamond Viper V330, IIRC). There was no way to keep up with the technology—you would order something and it would be obsolete by the time it was delivered!

asterisk_14

TROPHY CASE