usb support in windows 98 (not SE)

[captech009]

I'm trying to rehabilitate a machine for a luddite ;-). It has Windows 98 (not SE). All of the relevant patches have been uploaded from the Microsoft site.

It has a USB printer that worked at one time and stopped. I have tested the printer with my laptop and it works fine, with the existing cable.

Here's the problem:
When I reload the driver for the printer, the USB port does not show up as an available port.

Two questions:
(1) Is there an available driver or patch specifically for Windows 98 (I would purchase a USB card and install it with the drivers provided, but none of them support pre-SE Windows 98).
(2) Is there a way to upgrade Windows 98 to SE? (I have a copy of the upgrade version of 98SE, but it only upgrades from 95 or 3.1 or Workgroup and [in spite of assurances from a Windows tecchie], it does not recognize an existing 98 installation).

Thanks!

[Thong_Ispector]

Do you have an old copy of 95 or 3.1 around?
It might be easier to just put a basic OS on it then upgrade with your CD.

I think you are trapped into going to SE if you want the USB...

[captech009]

Do you have an old copy of 95 or 3.1 around?
It might be easier to just put a basic OS on it then upgrade with your CD.

I think you are trapped into going to SE if you want the USB...

*****

I appreciate the thought. I may need to do this. My hope is that I can fix the USB without having to rebuild their configuration from scratch. It did work at one time, under Windows 98.

[DMR]

Pre-98SE USB support was a kludge at best; if you had it working before, count yourself as one of the lucky ones.

There definitely are 98->98SE upgrade disks out there, but at this point they may be hard to find. You might try eBay, or perhaps post a request in our "Geek's Lounge" forum; one of our members might have a copy they don't need any more.