I use the 98Lite Micro install <W95 explorer shell> and remove all the following:
Active Movie
System Information
Windows Bitmap Tiles
Dr. Watson
Task Scheduler
Tune-up Wizard
Cleanup Manager
DirectX 5
Outlook Express
HTML Stationery
Readme Files
Internet Search
IE4
Internet Connection Wizard
Windows HELP files
Web Posting
Media Player
Trouble Shooters
MDAC database Drivers
Connection Manager
VDOlive
Webfolders
Shockwave
Wallet
JAVA
MS MAPI
VRML
RealPlayer
Tour
MSN
RegWizard
WebTV
Screen Savers
Themes/Wallpaper
Basically I gut it and when Windows finishes installing and reboots I install all my updated hardware device drivers and DirectX, and the critical updates I've saved from the MS Windows update site.
I use Opera 5.1 as my primary browser and have a stand alone version <no Windows desktop integration> of Internet Exploder 5.5 for the websites that aren't Opera friendly and Eudora for email.
Download or copy all the files <drivers,etc> you will need to a directory on a different disk/partition than you will use for 98 and also create a folder <I call mine W98> and copy all the Win98 install files and CABS into it.
Then run the 98Lite executable and follow the prompts to configure it for the desired install options, when ready reboot into DOS and format the partition you will install to and when completed switch to the W98 folder and run the standard Win98 setup.exe.
Follow the DOS prompts, choose custom install and remove all unwanted files from the set-up routine, you will be amazed how much quicker W98 installs. <I'll guess 50% faster>
IIRC after installing Windows, all device drivers,critical updates and DirectX 8 the complete install used only 78 mb of hard disk space.
[ 10-24-2001: Message edited by: weazel ]