Windows 98 SE build 2106

Windows 98 SE build 2106 is the official Beta 1 build of Windows 98 Second Edition.

History
The build was originally found on the Euro-Asian Beta Group as an incomplete ISO, since the Windows installation files were present, but the extra content (Interactive Tour, Trial Software) was not included. It was then uploaded to BetaArchive on 7 April 2010 by member linuxlove.

KenOath was the only known holder of the build's original installation media until 2014 when marcoguy uploaded a dump of the complete disc.

New features and changes

 * This build includes Outlook Express 5 and Internet Explorer 5, both in the beta 2 phase.
 * The channel bar no longer appears by default (removed entirely in Windows XP).
 * Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer have smaller spacing between buttons and items.
 * The look and feel of Outlook Express has been completely redesigned.
 * Windows Media Player has been updated to version 6.0.
 * DirectX has been updated to version 6.1. Also it introduced the DirectX Diagnostic Tools (dxdiag.exe).
 * NetMeeting has been updated to version 2.11.
 * FrontPage Express has been updated to version 2.0.2.1128.
 * Microsoft Wallet has been updated to version 3.0.0.1830.
 * Microsoft Chat has been updated to version 2.5.
 * Added ability to import Web Folders.
 * A Certificate Manager was introduced.
 * Removed NetShow Player, Real Player and VDOLive Player.

MSN Messenger
A very early build of MSN Messenger 1.0 (version 1.0.0452, Beta 2) is included in this build, but is not installed by default and can't be selected during setup. To install it, follow this procedure:


 * 1) Extract files   from ,   from WIN98_49.CAB,   from  ,  ,   and   from   and   from the precopy chain  of build 2106 into a directory of your choice.
 * 2) Extract   from Windows ME build 2419 or build 2429 to the same directory.
 * 3) Open the "Add/Remove Programs" control panel applet and switch to the "Windows Setup" tab.
 * 4) Click on the "Have disk..." button.
 * 5) Navigate to your directory with extracted files and select.
 * 6) In the component list, double-click on "Communications" and then check "MSN Messenger Service".
 * 7) Confirm your selection and when asked for the location of the files, confirm the path to your directory with extracted files.
 * 8) When asked for , skip it as it is missing and not needed.

After installation, a Start Menu shortcut is created but it has the wrong path set, you can fix it to start Messenger with.

Messenger can also integrate with Outlook Express, but this integration is disabled by default. To enable it, open the registry editor and navigate to   and delete or change to 0 the   value in that key. However, if Messenger is not installed, all the options in the menu will be disabled, and if it is installed, Outlook Express will crash on startup due to an illegal operation in.

MSN Messenger was removed by build 2120 at the latest and would not be included with Windows again until Windows Me build 2419 almost exactly a year later.

Fixes
This build fixes the issue that a Windows Protection error appears on AMD processors with a clock frequency set to 350 Mhz or higher and on Intel processors with a clock frequency set to 2.1 Ghz or higher.