When I install the service pack I get a "registry corruption" error after the reboot. Then SCANREG attempts to fix the registry, but the error persists after every reboot. So, the Win98 becomes completely disabled... How can I try out this service pack? What am I to do?

Could you check your C:\MSDOS.SYS file? It must contain "SystemReg=0" line...

There's no such line in that file. I'll include it in the file and see how it goes.

I've tried it. It works. Great!

Thanks for the tip! Everything works fine. I've installed the version 1.63. I'll download and install the latest version to see the new stuff.

I do know that a registry check can fail if you have a hardware RAM configuration problem.
(such as too aggressive RAM timings defined in the BIOS or OC'ing it too much)

Gape, why do you think this is occuring?

I thought that the registry checker wouldn't report an error unless the HDD was corrupted. Is it actually rejecting the service pack files?

you guys may also want to run Scanreg /fix in DOS outside win98se to fix some problems with the registry files. then run Scandisk in native DOS mode to fix file system errors on your HDs. and after you fix all the problems with the registry and hard drive, then run the 98se service pack installer to see if the registry problems are gone.