GeForce 7 in Win98?

[Wolfshanze]

Topic says it all... I have a dual-boot system (WinXP/Win98) on an AGP rig... I know NVidia stopped "officially" supporting Win98 drivers with the Forceware 81.98 drivers... which (according to the read info) only supports GeForce 6 cards.

If I were to toss a GeForce 7 AGP card into my rig, would I still be able to use the system in Win98? Would the 81.98 drivers work, or are there any beta drivers from NVidia or anyone else that supports a GeForce 7 in Win98?

Please, I'm only asking the above question, if you have any answer to that, I'd love to hear it, but please no flames for having a dual-boot system or simply because I still use Win98 for a few things (I do spend MOST of my time in WinXP mode).

Thanks for the help (if there is any).

 

[Keysplayr]

It would seem Windows 2000 is the oldest supported OS for GeForce 7 series cards. There is a Windows 9x driver for the GeForce 6 series, but I think thats as far as they went. This is according to the driver downloads available on NV's site.

 

[Wolfshanze]

Thanks for the reply... that much I pretty much already knew (since I'm using a GF6 in my current dual-boot rig).

Seems a shame, since the beta 82.12 drivers (for WinXP) which were released practically on the same day as the 81.98 drivers (for Win98) support GF7 cards.

So does anyone else know if there are any Nvidia beta drivers or any other 3rd-party drivers out there that support GF7 cards in Win98... or what happens if you run a GF7 on 81.98 drivers (is it possible?).

 

[TunaBoo]

It is a 7 year old OS.. you really should move on to XP full time

What games are you booting into 98 with? If its just to do say a really old 2d app.. you may be able to get GF7 to work in 2d. Not sure...

 

[Wolfshanze]

Originally posted by: TunaBoo
It is a 7 year old OS.. you really should move on to XP full time

What games are you booting into 98 with? If its just to do say a really old 2d app.. you may be able to get GF7 to work in 2d. Not sure...

I knew somebody had to be cute.

I'm running Win98 for MY OWN REASONS, not to please anyone else. I have some programs and games that have never run in WinXP. I do spend MOST of my time in WinXP, I just occasionally go back to Win98 every now and then. What differance does it make if I want to run Win98 or OS2 Warp?

Please, I'm just asking if anybody knows of any drivers for a GF7 in Win98, or what would happen if you tried a GF7 on Nvidia's 81.98 drivers?!?!?

 

[Cheezeit]

You could try a Gf7 on the 81.98 drivers, but I doubt that would work. Every time new cards are introduced, even in the same family, say GF7, then need new drivers to be recognized. A whole jump to GF7 on Gf6 drivers is unlikely.

 

[swtethan]

what do you run in 98??????

 

[Cheezeit]

Originally posted by: swtethan
what do you run in 98??????

Mech warrior 2?

 

[hans030390]

Hm, you may need custom drivers. All I know of are the ones at www.tweaksrus.com , but I doubt they have anything for a GF7 in Win98.

I think you're out of luck.

 

[Agentbolt]

Grab a cheap PCI card or use integrated video if it exists on your motherboard. You're not going to get the 7 series to work on Windows 98, it'll most likely default to 16 colors and laugh at you.

 

[coolpurplefan]

Isn't there a weird religious dude who makes Omega drivers? Maybe try that guy's website...?

 

[Wolfshanze]

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
Grab a cheap PCI card or use integrated video if it exists on your motherboard. You're not going to get the 7 series to work on Windows 98, it'll most likely default to 16 colors and laugh at you.

Well I already have a GF6 running in both 98 and XP, so I don't need "any-old" video card.

The main reason I ask is that I might just be "coming into" a free GF7, so I was wondering if I could get it to work in 98... if not, I'll just stick with the GF6... at least I know it does work.

 

[Agentbolt]

The main reason I ask is that I might just be "coming into" a free GF7,

If you don't care about using the GF7, then why the heck are you even asking this? Your post seems to indicate that you want to keep using Win98 AND use the GF7. If you want to do that, you're stuck unless you use a different video card for Win98. Get a cheap PCI card or use integrated. You can't use both the GF6 and GF7 obviously.

 

[Vinnybcfc]

Originally posted by: Wolfshanze
I'm running Win98 for MY OWN REASONS, not to please anyone else. I have some programs and games that have never run in WinXP. I do spend MOST of my time in WinXP, I just occasionally go back to Win98 every now and then. What differance does it make if I want to run Win98 or OS2 Warp?

Please, I'm just asking if anybody knows of any drivers for a GF7 in Win98, or what would happen if you tried a GF7 on Nvidia's 81.98 drivers?!?!?

Personally though I would have a second box for Win98 you cant really expect companies to support Win98 it is old and cranky

Will the games run on Win200

 

[Stumps]

It can be done, I haven't done it on a 7 series GF, but I did alter some NF3 win98 drivers to make them work with a NF4 motherboard for a customer awhile back who insisted on using Win98 on a A64/NF4 setup.

It's just not worth it in the end if you have to do the drivers yourself...to much stuffing around.

 

[SolMiester]

Can you not just edit the .inf file with a GF7 series line copied from xp drivers?, a hack sort of?

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: SolMiester
Can you not just edit the .inf file with a GF7 series line copied from xp drivers?, a hack sort of?

nope a few .DLL's have to be changed as well...I'm not sure which ones on the Forceware drivers though.

 

[Wolfshanze]

Originally posted by: Agentbolt

The main reason I ask is that I might just be "coming into" a free GF7,

If you don't care about using the GF7, then why the heck are you even asking this? Your post seems to indicate that you want to keep using Win98 AND use the GF7. If you want to do that, you're stuck unless you use a different video card for Win98. Get a cheap PCI card or use integrated. You can't use both the GF6 and GF7 obviously.

What's the obsession with telling me to use a PCI card? Are you not following that I ALREADY have a GF6 in the system? I care to use the GF7 IF I CAN, which is why I ask. If I can't use the GF7, I'll give the card to my wife (she's using Vista only), and I'll stick with the GF6.

...in other news...

Stumps... sounds interesting... any hints on what needs to be done to modify a forceware driver DLL?

 

[Stumps]

http://www.pe-explorer.com/ works pretty good, but it's a real pain in the arse to modify drivers just as a one off.

Luckly the customer that I did the Nforce drivers for had 5 PC's that he needed running (I didn't bother to ask why...I just rolled my eyes and did it for him) Windows 98...it worked pretty stable but I guess I got lucky.

As for where to start with Forceware drivers....well I can't tell you that, but it's an interesting idea...

But really if you need Win98....stick with your GF6, you will be fine and won't have the head ache of modifying drivers.

 

[Captante]

Looks like Forceware v77.72 supports the 7800GTX in Win 98/ME so you could give it a try ... clockspeeds should be set by the cards BIOS so it may work with some of the other 7-seris cards... I'm not sure how well it will work combining a 7-seris card with a GART driver since all of them were PCIe at that point but its worth a try.

Edit: Forceware v81.98 adds support for the 7800GT so it might be a better bet.

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: Captante
Looks like Forceware v77.72 supports the 7800GTX in Win 98/ME so you could give it a try ... clockspeeds should be set by the cards BIOS so it may work with some of the other 7-seris cards... I'm not sure how well it will work combining a 7-seris card with a GART driver since all of them were PCIe at that point but its worth a try.

Edit: Forceware v81.98 adds support for the 7800GT so it might be a better bet.

using those drivers, if they already have support fot some series cards in them, then all that needs changing is the .INI file...you should just be able to copy the appropiate ID string from the XP drivers and add it to the Win98 forceware's .INI file...it should work.

But having never tried this before with Forceware drivers I can't garrantee that it will work 100%.

but hey it beats having to modify .DLL files.

 

[Wolfshanze]

Thanks for the help guys... I'll check it out!

 

[JSt0rm]

Originally posted by: Stumps
http://www.pe-explorer.com/
Luckly the customer that I did the Nforce drivers for had 5 PC's that he needed running (I didn't bother to ask why...I just rolled my eyes and did it for him) Windows 98...

lol thats so funny. What a odd ball. Hope you charged the piss out of him.

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: JSt0rm01

Originally posted by: Stumps
http://www.pe-explorer.com/
Luckly the customer that I did the Nforce drivers for had 5 PC's that he needed running (I didn't bother to ask why...I just rolled my eyes and did it for him) Windows 98...

lol thats so funny. What a odd ball. Hope you charged the piss out of him.

Yes....Yes I did, but he was doing the IT work for a software firm so It didn't really matter to him how much it cost to do....but he was happy with the finished setup.

I still wonder today why he needed to run Win98se on those A64's.

 

[Matt2]

I wish I still had a copy of Win98.

I have a ton old Janes Flight Sims games (F15, USAF, F/A-18, Fleet Commander, IAF, Longbow, Longbow 2, etc) that I would absolutely LOVE to play. Unfortunately none will play nice with XP and I'm not even going to bother with Vista.

I wouldnt mind dual booting Vista and Win98 if I could.

Good luck OP!