I'm running dual boot (98SE & XPPro), P4 3.0, 1GB, 320GB. Hard drive is partitioned to C, (about 1GB) and D (the rest), 98SE on C, XPPro on D. All I really use 98 for is playing old games, and just playing around on. My question is, with so many different update packs, patches and official/unofficial stuff. What do I REALLY need to have a quick and stable system? Win98SE (obviously), DirectX 9.0c (required for my drivers & games), most people say IE6.0SP1, most people say WMP9 or 10 (I don't use it), I use WinAmp & Media Player Classic, do I still need it? What about PCIO98?, What about Outlook Express & updates? What about Flash? and Java? and MDAC? and .NET? and DUN? and WMI? and ASAPI? I'm not trying to start a thread-war about what's good and bad, just what would you guys reccomend. And in what order, I know there is alot of contradiction on this because "this patch has to be on before this update..etc" but a general rule of thumb would be great. Thanks.

Well outlook comes with the IE6SP1, and i dont think that .NET apps run on 9x at all.

But the general order is: OS updates from microsoft, then directx, then chipset software, then other drivers like gfx, sound, ethernet etc.

Disable Active Desktop, and you don't need that update. Use a secure web browser.

No point in updating that if you don't use it.
They should be removed from your computer.

Just update to the latest.

Optional. If you're going to use .NET applications, the 2.0 package is the latest that will work.

on the contrary, xtrm, on .NET programs. .NET apps may work under win98/me only if .NET Framework 2.0 is installed.

as for OE, avoid outlook express. use either 3rd party email clients or web based email.

for IE6.0 SP1, install the latest IE6 SP1 patches (both official AND unofficial) from MDGx's IE page:
http://www.mdgx.com/ietoy.htm
Turn off the "View As Web Page" option to disable the Active Desktop feature; even with a lot of RAM and a fast CPU, Active Desktop slows down the system. Active Desktop has been dumped in XP and Vista

Only install WMP9 if you want to burn/write music CDs. My bro likes to burn music CDs from WMP9. WMP 10 does NOT work under Win98se