If you can get Windows98 to start in the "safe" mode (pressing the F8 key as mentioned above), open the "recycle bin and look to see if the deleted files are there. They should be if these have not been removed from the recycle bin. If the files are there, merely highlight the file and click on "restore". This will put the file back from whence it came unless you have deleted certain part of the operating system. However, if you deleted files using the old DOS commands, I'm not sure what happens. They may be gone. In any event, you could re-install Windows. I've had to to do that a few times back when I had Win98 SE. Before reinstalling, copy down all of your browser settings. You may loose these on an re-install. It doesn't happen every time, but it is a good practice just in case. I'm not sure what happens to the Windows updates upon a re-install. If you are lucky, Windows will recognize the update copies on the drive and install these. If this does not happen, the next time you go in-line, the Windows updater may begin, or ask to begin downloading a bunch of updates, and this can be a lengthy process over a 'dail-up' connection. Of course, you are aware that MicroSoft stopped supporting Window98 and there will be no new updates save the ones already available. If your equipment is suitable for Windows XP, I recommend moving up to that operating system. It's much better that Win98. One caution, however: Make sure that you have plenty of disk space be you begin the upgrade. A big mess is created if XP fails to finish loading due to not enough disk space. Read the requirements carefully. Upgrading to XP requires a huge temporary file during the upgrade, much larger than one might imagine. Also, a large amount of space is neded to store the old system if the option to retain 'retore old system' is chosen. If your disks are formatted for FAT 16 bit, convert up to at least 32 bit FAT. BUT WAIT! If you need to run old DOS programs, find out how to set this up under XP before you convert. That may be more trouble than its worth. It would be best if you could move away from these if possible. I've had no problem with older software written for Win95/98 when run under XP. I do have an expensive old DOS based finite element analysis program that I can no longer run with XP. If I find that I really need to run this program (for consulting purposes), I'll refresh an old computer and install Win98 SE and this program on it.

Yes, it can be done. I bought a 19 inch Sharp LCD TV last summer and experimented with feeding a signal from an older laptop to it. The RGB video connection was used sucessfully. (An RGB cable is much lower in cost than a HDMI cable plus many older laptops do not have a HDMI output. The cost range of an HDMI cable is from $45 to $120.) On the laptop, I set the "display" to both screen and external device. On the TV, I entered its menu and changed its input to the RGB port. Both worked well. I intend to use this combination for a rock-hound club show to demonstrate gem cutting software. I can sit behind a table facing people who come forward to view the display. I can operate the laptop and monitor the results on its screen while the viewers can observe on the larger TV screen facing them. I plan a live demonstration, but as an option, I could also prepare a Power Point presentation and let that run when I take a break.

1. Start your computer, press and hold CTRL, and then choose Safe Mode Command Prompt Only from the Windows 98 Startup menu. If you are running Windows Me, start your computer with the startup disk. 2. At the MS-DOS prompt, type cd\windows\command, and then press ENTER. Where windows is the name of the folder in which Windows is installed. 3. At the C: prompt, type scanreg /restore, and then press ENTER. 4. Select the previous registry you want to restore, and then press ENTER.NOTE: A properly working registry has the word "Started" next to the date. 5. When you receive notification that you restored a properly working registry, press ENTER to restart your computer.

I don't know if this will help you, but I found this post http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0716134126514.html when I was looking for the same kind of info. I'm not up to that stage yet, but I hope that if my plumber has problems hooking up my water filter to my new Kohler Wellspring faucet that this will work. Here is a link that might be useful: post on water filter plumbing