Win98 fix -- MS wants to charge me to download patch.

[Robert Haussmann]

> Is anyone here running Windows 98 on a CPU running at 2.2GHz 
> or faster?
> There is a bug in the NDIS driver (knowledge base article 
> 312108) which
> causes a "windows protection error" on bootup on such 
> systems.  According
> to the MS website
> 
>     http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;312108)
> 
> there is a fix available.  However, the link does not take me to the
> download page, but rather to the paid-support page, where I can pay to
> submit a request to get the patch.  (Though it does say "In special
> cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be
> canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that 
> a specific
> update will resolve your problem."  Gee, thanks.)
> 
> Does anyone out there have a Win98 box with ndis.vxd version 
> 4.10.0.2000
> (28-Nov-2001) or later?
> 
> -- 

Ken,

Microsoft is very good about distributing hotfixes without charge.
Basically you just need to open an incident and provide a credit
card.  Generally, if you point to a hotfix issue like the one above,
the support rep. will issue the hotfix right away and there is no
charge.  Some are more zealous than others and make you go through
some basic troubleshooting first, but will eventually get to the 
hotfix.  

In all cases, if the hotfix solves the problem, there is no charge
(well, in some cases if the support incident goes on for a # of days,
they will charge the card and then credit back the charge after
the hotfix is issued).

That being said, try this:
http://www.sjordan.com/ndis_fix.zip
(cannot vouch for the authenticity--just found on google--but it looks
legit).

Bob Haussmann
Tabor Children's Services, Inc.