Can Windows 98SE run on an Intel I7 with SATA hard drives?

[ethan at 757.org]

> QUESTION:  Is it even possible to run Win98SE on a current
> Intel I7 CPU with SATA hard disk drives?  I realize that it might
> be possible under a virtual machine, but I really want all of the
> advantages that Win98SE provides.  One problem, of course,
> is that there must be a patch to Win98SE when more than 1 GB
> of actual physical RAM is present.  But I can't seem to find out
> anything else.

No idea on RAM, probably not.

Be careful on the internet, your stuff is probably highly vulnerable. Use 
a 2nd system for logging into any banking or other accounts and use 
different passwords.

There was a SATA emulation of IDE IIRC, this was an option in the bios and 
might work.

Bigger issues are going to be the drivers for the USB chipset, all of the 
system devices, lack of drivers for audio, etc. Your I7 probably won't 
have a PS2 port or mouse port, so you have to depend on the USB bus. The 
BIOS **MIGHT** emulate old school but I doubt it on that new of school.

Really a VM is probably the best way to go.

> Alternatively, does it seem reasonable to attempt to keep a
> system with a Pentium III CPU and associated hardware
> running for another 20 years?

Sure why not? Amiga and Atari STs still work, 8088 PCs still work. The 
failure point will be the electrolytic capacitors on the main board used 
for noise filtering, it will be the same in the power supply. Since the 
power supplies are all basically the same voltages that isn't that big of 
a deal (+5/+12/-5/-12/+3.3v)

Back to running 98 on a I7. One thing you MIIIIGHTTTT be able to do is 
find a I7 PICMG sub board which would give you an I7 processor with a PCI 
bus computer. From here you could put in your Trident video card, a PCI 
card that supports Windows 98 on USB, and other chipset cards of the old 
school. Would it work? Not sure what 98 will do with all the modern 
devices maybe you could ignore them all.

I picked up a Dolch Pac 64 which is a luggable and installed 98 on it. I 
use a PCI card for IDE made by Promise, and I use a PATA to SD card 
adapter and the whole thing runs on a SD card. I had to get a PCI USB card 
from MicroCenter, which I looked up the chipset in advance to confirm 98 
drivers existed. I use USB thumbdrive to get data to the system, and I use 
a USB mouse since I couldn't find a working mouse around my place that was 
PS/2 or that would work with the PS/2 to USB converters. I image it off a 
LOT using linux (dd) so that if I bork a driver I don't have to start from 
square one. It's cute but not practical for everyday use for me. My goals 
were to run an ISA card for laser show playback made by Pangolin 
(QuadMod32) and a Gravis Ultrasound. I wish it had room for a Sound 
Blaster also, for demos. Not sure if the LCD would work well.

There are some PICMG based luggables, that would be where I might go if I 
were you. You can swap the motherboard card between PII, PIII, P4, 
and higher and still retain the backplane. But some motherboard cards 
might require extra power connectors. There are also PATA to SATA bridges, 
so you might be able to run a SATA based SSD on an old computer.

Good luck!

--
Ethan O'Toole