3rd Party Software for Windows 98
Howdy. It's me the "Software Nut". Most of the below was published by http://www.pcworld.com/
And most of it I've tried. So I'll share and compare my opinion with theirs.
If you'd rather not buy a separate file manager, disk scanner, and so on, go for a utilities suite. Of these, Nuts & Bolts sports a simple interface and file management tools. If you need more robust utilities--and better defragging and recovery--pick the slightly more expensive Norton Utilities.

FILE MANAGER
Mijenix's PowerDesk Utilities 98 is everything Windows Explorer should have been, and more. You get the best of Explorer and the Windows 3.1 File Manager, plus encryption and file synchronization.

I agree 200%. No need for Quick View Plus 4.5.
Problems: It scrolls just like Microsoft's Explorer. Meaning it's a slow scroller. But once you learn how to use the back-slash key it's almost as good as Norton Navigator, which has been discontinued. I use Powerdesk and advize it.

FILE COMPRESSOR
Mijenix's ZipMagic lets your zipped archives act like standard Windows folders, so you can use the files without unzipping them.

True. Very handy. Along with it's built in F9 activated file viewer.

FILE VIEWER
There are many pluses in Inso's Quick View Plus 4.5: This easy-to-use upgrade to Windows' Quick View adds support for dozens of file formats. Built-in unzipping and other features help make oddball files easier to manage.

DIAGNOSTICS
Windows 98s own diagnostic tools are really all you need. You can read about them in "Denny's System Tips" or
"Utilities and Tools for Win98"

DISK SCANNER
The Disk Minder utility included in Nuts & Bolts (from Network Associates) is the best disk scanner around, repairing damaged files that the other products we tested couldn't. It's also the fastest of the bunch.

Have not tried this yet??

UNINSTALLER
The best overall performer in our tests was CyberMedia's Uninstaller 4.51. The program removes newly installed applications flawlessly, and its interface and documentation are easy to understand.

I installed CyberMedia's Uninstaller 4.51 now owned by Norton. The first thing it did was wipe out my Start Menu links all by itself without me even ask it to or warning me that it was going to. That installation disk became a frisbee 10 minutes later.

DEFRAGMENTER
Speed Disk, part of Symantec's Norton Utilities, is the fastest and best at defragmenting.

I've always been a Norton user. However, they do not tell you that on installation that it writes to "YOUR" Win.com.
So when you have a bad shutdown and your system does a scandisk Norton's pops it's head up.
If you don't like that, make a copy of your win.com 1st and save it to another directory. Then after you install just replace it.
It also write to other vital system files. I'm trying to track down all of them now. One of them effectively nullifies any S.M.A.R.T hardware you have.
I find that extremely rude!!!

CRASH PREVENTION AND RECOVERY
With its familiar browserlike interface, CyberMedia's First Aid 98 Deluxe is the best crash recovery utility.

Backup your system 1st as with all of the above.
And again see  "Utilities and Tools for Win98" .

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