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OK, thanks for the clarification. stuck

I cleaned up an old ME box by using the OEM system restore option. Having done so I thought I'd got to Windows Update and get all the patches but as the PC only has IE 5.5 on it Windows Update won't work. In fact it appears I'd need at least IE 8 if I wanted to do this but that's not ME compatible. Is there a way round this? stuck

No, .NET stuff has never been part of XP service packs, you need to download then and install them as required. Note too that .NET 2.0 does not supersede .NET 1.1, it is a whole new beastie. stuck

I run XP MCE fully patched and it runs GIMP & Paint.NET just fine. Why do you say your set p won't run these applications? Do the installations fail? If so what error messages do you get. If they install OK what happens when you try to use them? stuck

Bundled with my Netgear DG834g router was a WG111 Netgear wireless adapter. The software for the WG111 is 98SE compatible and it allows my ancient IBM ThinkPad 390 laptop to connect to my WPA encrypted home network. Does this help? stuck

I beg to differ about no one doing extended songs any more. it's nothing like Bob Dylan but try Porcupine Tree - Anesthetize, all 17:42 of it. On the album Fear of a Blank Planet stuck

Try reading this thread stuck

My main home PC is still 98FE and it still uses dial-up (56K) but I'm in the process of going ADSL with an XP box. As part of that process I bought a Netgear DG834G wireless router. Bundled with it was a W111 wireless USB thingy. I tried adding the wireless gizmo to the 98FE PC but it choked big time. However, when I installed it on an old IBM 390 Thinkpad laptop that runs 98SE it was perfectly happy and joined the home network that that router was providing to my XP box and two other laptops (one Vista Gold, the other XP). So, yes 98SE can do wireless networking and from what I've seen so far there is no reason why 98SE couldn't handle an ADSL connection to the internet. Perhaps when you say companies told you 98 isn't supported they meant the modems they supply as part of their ADSL package won't work. In which case don't take the modem they offer. Go shopping and find one that is 98SE compatible. My experience is the Netgear DG834G works with 98SE but your mileage may vary. stuck