On win98 os.path.expanuser('~') does not result in a useable directory. The MSDN recommendation for user specific directories is the use of shell.ShGetSpecialFolder, so use it. For details see: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/shellcc/platform/shell/reference/functions/shgetspecialfolderpath.asp

changeset:   0:9426b370c206
tag:         tip
user:        My Name <myname@example.com>
date:        Mon Jan 12 13:46:40 1970 +0000
summary:     commit-1