Well, here is the loaddown...
I got the following working in my win98se on a 3.2G hitachi 2.5" HD.
1)USB A4Tech USB Optical Mini 3D Mouse
2)Viking InteliFlash USB Flash Memory Reader Reader
I precopied the drivers into HD and then hook it up, run the setup and plugged in the device. After installation, both device work right out of the box, I can even leave them plugged in the WP and reboot and they will both be recognized w/o any problem.
My LinkSys USB100TX Network adapter should arrive here any day, I will keep you guys posted on that one.
Peace out..