I have had similar problems in the past... I too am using Windows98 SE...
Look through the two threads I have linked below if what I'm about to suggest does not work...
In your Boot5Zones.Win9x.bat file, change the 127.0.0.1 entries (ALL of them) to say "localhost" without the quotation marks and try again... Also, for purposes of testing, it may do you well to create an alternate file in the following manner...
Create a file named Boot1Zone.Win9x.bat... Simply delete the last four lines that begin with "start" in your Boot5Zones file and Save As the new file name. Whatever errors, if any, you get in the ONE zone9x window you will also get in the other four, so for test purposes the other four are not necessary.
If that doesn't work, read the threads linked to below:
http://eqemu.sourceforge.net/forums/...;threadid=1371
http://eqemu.sourceforge.net/forums/...;threadid=1435
Hope this helps... good luck.
Kyouchou
P.S. A NIC is a Network Interface Card... it's used for making broadband internet connections and LAN connections.