Man, I hope I can get a reply about this.

I installed Windows 98SE using 98Lite's Micro install. I'm trying to achieve more speed and stability. After installing Opera 5.12, I wanted to make sure that I could check my email @ hotmail. But, I can't get into it. I checked the support page <A HREF="http://www.opera.com/support/supsearch/supsearch.cgi?options=index&name=604" target="_new">here</A>, and everything checked okay in the Preferences. Is there something else I can do? I don't want to have to use IE, because I want to prevent as much security holes as possible.

Thanks for any help...

Kernel32.dll error...aw, son of a....

IE is so tightly knit to the OS's expect in Win XP that is is almost impossible to get around it, even with 98Lite. You will have to install the basic components of IE to get you hotmail to work. I think the main file it needs is MSHTML.dll. You can install the Win95 version of IE as the 98Lite states and still have the speed. But I know it defeat the purpose in your case, since security is your main concern.

I had a world of trouble with IE 5.5 and I used 98Lite to get around it and experienced the same problem you are having, so I had to install the basic components of IE to access certain sites and get other things to work. IE 6.0 is much better that the other versions without the freezes and crap.

If you can crack the code or find all the shell IE files needed to run without IE install post it. I am sure their are more people interested. Good luck.

JC-------<*){{{>{~~~~~
Fisher of men

Hey, I really appreciate your reply. I figure that people aren't willing to wanna go through all the trouble. I guess I'm a freak...

My concern is that I don't wanna always have to worry about having to go to Windows Update, or worry about if I'm secure. I just want to be as secure as possible. I have a firewall and all, but at least I want to do all I can. (I hope people don't think I have too much time on my hands, because I don't...)

I was just thinking of installing using the Micro install, then just install IE6. Cuz I agree that it's better, compared to the previous versions.

I don't think I'll be using Hotmail once I setup a POP3 email account with Pacbell (I'm using their DSL service). I don't like the initial name I setup, so I'm trying to get a secondary one. Then, I'll get rid of my hotmail account.

I submitted the problem to Opera tech, and hopefully they'll answer me. I'll be sure to post my progress, knowing that at least you will want to know.

Thanks for the luck...I'll need it.

Kernel32.dll error...aw, son of a....

Yes, I would be very interested in hearing what Tech Support at Opera has to say. I actually caved in and purchased Win2k and now dual boot with Win98SE. I like Win2k much, much better than 98. Good security, stability, and performance. I was very impressed, but still M$ has the vunerability of worm viruses which is sad.

I am almost temped to go Linux. I'm sure that M$ is gonna do something careless like forgetting to patch a major vunerability which will push me over the edge and make me a Linux convert.

Well I hope everything works out for you. I'll be looking for an update from Opera.

JC-------<*){{{>{~~~~~
Fisher of men

To my surprise, I actually got a reply! But, it didn't make sense, because he wanted to to backup my hotlist file to another directory, uninstall Opera, delete the Opera folder and opera.ini, reinstall Opera, and overwrite my backed up hotlist file. I haven't saved any favorites or anything, though...so I just installed it on a fresh image of Windows 98 micro (I used Drive Image 4 to image my partition after I installed Windows 98 micro and my drivers).

Slowly, I made sure I followed the directions as suggested to be able to get into Hotmail. This time, it worked! Argh... How come it worked <b>this time!?!</b>

Oh well. That's my latest update. I'm waiting for my new POP3 mailbox from pacbell. But, I'm still not gonna use Hotmail, because I'd rather use POP3. I'm planning to use Pegasus to manage my email, since MS Outlook would also open up a security hole. After reading the section about 98micro, I'm trying to figure out whether or not installing Office 2000 would open up the security holes again. Should I just use StarOffice or something? It's not clear, and I'm not sure.

Well, I'm off to install the rest of my apps. Until sometime else comes up, I'm happy.

Kernel32.dll error...aw, son of a....

Update: Nope...not working anymore. Changed some settings, restarted my computer, tried to log into Hotmail. Can't get in. I restored my partition image, and I'm currently using Netscape 6.1. I replied to Opera tech and told them that nothing worked. Hopefully, that'll get fixed in a later version. I just hope that Netscape doesn't open up any holes...

Kernel32.dll error...aw, son of a....