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I have a Compaq desktop computer running Windows 98 SE. It's been handed down a few times, and I don't recollect it ever being online but it does have a version of Firefox from 2007 so I could be wrong about that.

I recently tried using the internal modem on the computer - a 56k Compaq modem - for the first time. The modem shows up in certain system dialogs but none of the dialers - HyperTerminal, Phone Dialer, etc. would successfully connect.

I thought perhaps the modem was broken. I had a Dell Dimension 8200 laying around that had Windows XP, so I opened it up and took out its internal modem, and the NIC, for good measure. I installed both in the Compaq computer. It didn't boot the first time but I cycled the power and it booted up fine, more or less.

The "Add New Hardware" wizard did not open by default. I ran the wizard but it didn't detect any new hardware. Nowhere in the system was either the NIC or the second modem recognized.

I thought perhaps maybe I didn't have the right drivers, so I decided to load some on. The problem is, since this computer is 20+ years old, it only works with USB 1.0. My research shows that there are third-party drivers available that allow Windows 98 SE to work with USB 2.0 devices including flash drives. I have a PS/2 keyboard and mouse so flash drives here are my main concern.

I loaded the following drivers onto a floppy disk, and brought it home:

To test it out, I plugged a flash drive into the computer and the Add New Hardware Wizard opened and prompted for drivers. I then loaded the floppy disk and manually ran the .exe file for the first driver. It installed and rebooted. But when I plugged a flash drive in again, the Add New Hardware Wizard no longer opened automatically, and the flash drive was still not recognized in my computer.

I have nothing against floppy disks, really, but being able to use USB flash drives would be far more practical. This wouldn't be as important if I could get one of the modems to work, but right now neither is working. I believe someone is getting an external US Robotics 56k modem for me on eBay at the moment, and my hunch is external modems are more reliable than internal modems so that one may work more seamlessly. I'm not so sure though, given my problems so far.

I extracted the files for the second driver but I found just a bunch of ".sys" files. I didn't do anything after that.

I am following the procedures available online for getting Windows 98 to work with USB 2.0. What else could I do to get my Windows 98 SE PC to work with USB flash drives? Do I just need drivers, or is some other change required?

My main reason for needing USB 2.0 support is so I can load drivers onto a flash drive and transfer them to the Windows 98 computer to load drivers for the modem. I have a feeling I may need to do trial and error to get the right drivers, and given the capacity of a floppy disk that route would not really be practical. At the moment, however, floppy disks are the only thing working perfectly for me.

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  • USB debuted as default functionality with Windows XP. Back in the day, if you needed USB on an earlier version of Windows you would need a third party driver or utility. I attempted this once in the late 90's on a NT4 box and accomplished nothing except destabilizing the file drives on the system. I never got it to work. You are attempting this on a less stable version Windows, twenty years after the fact. You may have to resign yourself to no USB support.
    – codingCat
    Commented Oct 11, 2018 at 13:06
  • This is entirely possible. You simply need the correct Windows 98 drivers from the manufacturer of the USB drive.
    – I say Reinstate Monica
    Commented Oct 11, 2018 at 13:48
  • @TwistyImpersonator: All USB flash drives use the exact same 'Mass Storage' profile, so generic drivers should work just fine... as long as the device in general is recognized. I'm suspecting the USB 1.1 controller on the computer might just not like a 2.0 device, regardless of whether it's a flash stick or not. I'm now curious about testing Win98 USB via VirtualBox.
    – grawity_u1686
    Commented Oct 11, 2018 at 14:42
  • @grawity I don't know in sufficient detail how Windows 98 behaved with generic drivers. I remember the tried-n-true way to get a USB device to work was using the mfg-supplied driver. But if as you suspect the USB controller isn't playing nice, all bets are off.
    – I say Reinstate Monica
    Commented Oct 11, 2018 at 14:45
  • @TwistyImpersonator The drivers I tried installing were mass storage generic drivers. They installed and I saw a "flash disk" thing in Device Manager but the flash drive was not recognized anywhere. I don't have any other PCs I could use a null modem cable with.
    – InterLinked
    Commented Oct 12, 2018 at 11:38

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I doubt that, twenty years after the fact, you will be able to get USB support to work on Windows 98. This was nearly impossible even back in the day.

I would suggest obtaining a null network cable -- or a null modem cable if the computer in questions does not have an Ethernet adapter. With the computers directly connected it should be easier to find a generic terminal program that will allow you to send the files across the wire.

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