A31Chris--I presume your main objective is to find updates, hot fixes, etc. for Win 98se, not Belarc.
It has been many years since Microsoft offered any such for Win 98se. I think that partially explains why IE cannot access Windows Updates.
I think you are out of luck.
FWIW--Here is a list of programs similar to Belarc.
http://alternativeto.net/software/belarc-advisor/
I have not tested whether they will work with Win 98. But even if they do, I am not sure what they can tell you at this point.
Jim
WIN7 Ultimate SP1 64bit, IE 11, NTFS,
cable, MS Security Essentials, Windows 7 firewall