Why is Windows 98 SE not full screen?

Well, i just installed Win98 SE on an old laptop but the resolution is 640 x 840. I can't move the cursor to a higher res. Any thoughs?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Win10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba C55-B5256
    CPU
    • Intel® Core™ i5-4210U Processor @ 1.70 GHz.
    Motherboard
    ^3M Cache, up to 2.70GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology
    Memory
    8 GB DDR3
Welcome to 1998. DVD is the latest thing, and that’s plenty of resolution to play one. TV is still analog, there is no such thing as YouTube, and h.264 hasn’t been developed yet. Enjoy!
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x86 SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion Elite m9150f
    CPU
    Intel Q6600
    Memory
    3 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT
i'm just waiting for a CD-R pack i ordered from ebay so i can transfer al the drivers from the dell site which fortunately still has them. But it's weird though because it should be something that i imagine should be already in the OS once installed. I mean there were laptops in 1998 .
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Win10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba C55-B5256
    CPU
    • Intel® Core™ i5-4210U Processor @ 1.70 GHz.
    Motherboard
    ^3M Cache, up to 2.70GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology
    Memory
    8 GB DDR3
i'm just waiting for a CD-R pack i ordered from ebay so i can transfer al the drivers from the dell site which fortunately still has them. But it's weird though because it should be something that i imagine should be already in the OS once installed. I mean there were laptops in 1998 .
The question isn't if there were laptops in 98 but if the manufacturer has drivers for 98. If that isn't a laptop from that era then likely not (however without additional information we can't know for sure). Later versions of Windows (starting with Vista) have more integrated drivers but not for video. The only graphics drivers built into Windows provide basic lower resolution display. If there aren't any from the manufacturer for 98 then your display won't get any better unless you can write your own drivers. You would have been better off putting 98 on as a virtual machine. I don't know what you plan on doing with that computer but don't expect to be able to do much on the internet. IE (version 5) is way out of date, there are components such as video codecs that didn't exist yet, and the html version is extremely old. Remember it's been 22 years. The net has evolved a lot since then. At the time is was likely just bulletin boards and news groups. Everything was very basic. That era even predates Youtube, Firefox, and Chrome. You might want to read up on the history of the internet to find out what existed.

 
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My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 8.1 Industry Pro x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion Elite HPE-250f
    CPU
    Intel i7 860 Quad core 2.8 ghz
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 gb ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Alienware 25 AW2521HF
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 &1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pavilion-elite-hpe-250f/
  • Operating System
    Windows 2012 R2 Data center/Linux Mint
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Poweredge T140
    CPU
    i3 9100 3.6GHz, 8M cache, 4C/4T
    Memory
    8GB 2666MT/s DDR4 ECC UDIMM
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB & 360 GB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetailstxn/poweredge-t140?~ck=bt
The question isn't if there were laptops in 98 but if the manufacturer has drivers for 98. If that isn't a laptop from that era then likely not (however without additional information we can't know for sure). Later versions of Windows (starting with Vista) have more integrated drivers but not for video. The only graphics drivers built into Windows provide basic lower resolution display. If there aren't any from the manufacturer for 98 then your display won't get any better unless you can write your own drivers. You would have been better off putting 98 on as a virtual machine. I don't know what you plan on doing with that computer but don't expect to be able to do much on the internet. IE (version 5) is way out of date, there are components such as video codecs that didn't exist yet, and the html version is extremely old. Remember it's been 22 years. The net has evolved a lot since then. At the time is was likely just bulletin boards and news groups. Everything was very basic. That era even predates Youtube, Firefox, and Chrome. You might want to read up on the history of the internet to find out what existed.

Thank you for all the info. Yes, i'm aware about Win98 and it's limitations. As far as what my plans for this laptop is, i just want to restore it. It's a hobby of mine, even though i won't be able to do much with it. The laptop is a Dell CPI D233ST which supports a max res of 800x600 pixls. It needs NeoMagic 2160 as the video controller which is already installed but as i mentioned in 1st post, it doesn't let me slide the cursor from 640 x 840 in the display settings. I'm still waiting for the CD pack so i can reinstall the driver from Dell's site. Maybe Win98 didn't install properly...? I don't know because everything else seems perfect.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Win10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba C55-B5256
    CPU
    • Intel® Core™ i5-4210U Processor @ 1.70 GHz.
    Motherboard
    ^3M Cache, up to 2.70GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology
    Memory
    8 GB DDR3
I never used Win 98 (I did use Win 95) so I don't know if the same options exist as in Vista.

If you right click on the desktop, are you able to select Personalize. If you can, then select Display Settings and the default monitor. Can you adjust the resolution there or does NeoMagic take it over?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium 64 bit SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Cyberpower
    CPU
    Intel Quad CPU Q6700 2.67 GHZ
    Motherboard
    NVIDIA 780i
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GTX 560 TI Twin Frozr
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster SB Audigy
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2436
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080p
    Hard Drives
    Samsung HD 105SI
    WDC WD20
    Case
    Apevia XJupiter
    Cooling
    air
    Keyboard
    Logitech MX 3200
    Mouse
    Logitech MX 600
    Internet Speed
    30 Mbps
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