I would like to transfer files (mostly digital camera images) from a Windows 98 computer that currently will only operate in safe mode. I tried using a USB Flash Drive as an easy way to save the files out...but it didn't work...the computer never recognized it. I'm not concerned about preserving anything on the hard drive other than these digital images.

I have a newer fully functioning computer running Windows XP Pro.

I need direction on how to proceed....

Is my best bet to try and network the two computers together to transfer the files and if so do I need to fix the Windows 98 problem first or can I try an share files with the one in safe mode?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Your external USB device will require drivers to work under Windows 98. Many of these devices do not supply the proper drivers, but they can be downloaded from the manufacturer's website. There is the possibility that you have Windows 98FE, not SE... And you might have that quirky USB support bug too. But don't discount the driver until you try it.

Windows 98 under safe mode is virtually useless. I'm pretty sure 98's Safe mode does not support networking, although "Safe mode with networking" is an available option for 2000 and XP.

Transferring files via network is perfectly fine, but it will likely be more hassle than installing some USB storage drivers on your 98 machine.

Win98 SE2 was supposed to fix USB issues. It did sorta ...
If this machine will only start in safe mode, it might be too late to network it to a XP machine, unless it already has a network card installed and will start in 'safe mode with network support.' To network it to an XP machine, both machines will have to have network cards, and you'll need either a rolled cable, or a switch to connect the 2 machines together. You will have to configure TCPIP setting and file and print sharing, but that isn't as difficult as it sounds.

Since the machine sounds like it's at death's door, I'd suggest putting a 2nd IDE hard drive in the machine as a slave (a separate physical drive, not a virtual drive partition) and copy all critical files to it.

Better and easier still, take the hard-disk with the images out of the W98 machine and stick it temporarily in your XP-machine. You will probably have to change the Master/Slave jumpers. Copy the images onto your XP-harddisk, remove the HD and put it back in the old one.

I couldn't get drivers for Win98 FE and I wasn't able to get the master/slave settings correct. But I was successful in using the secondary IDE by unplugging the CD-ROM. Thanks for the help.

For the record, Windows 9x has safe mode with networking, too.