[Qemu-stable] Version 1.7.0 fails to boot Windows 98 SE on Windows host

[Legorol]

I am trying to run Windows 98 SE in Qemu. Under version 1.7.0 on a Windows 7 
64-bit host, it fails to boot.

The symptom is that the guest hangs on the boot screen with the full-screen 
Windows 98 logo displayed. Booting in safe mode gives the same result. If I 
try to cleanly install Windows 98 SE on a freshly formatted hard disk, then 
the guest hangs the first time setup attempts to reboot, on the screen 
displaying the message "Getting ready to run Windows for the first time." If 
I reboot the guest, it always hangs in the same place.

I tried a few Qemu builds, with the following results.
Builds that fail:
* my own 1.7.0 build, compiled natively under MinGW
* Stefan Weil's build, from qemu-w32-setup-20140118.exe
Builds that succeed (can install and run Windows 98 SE fine):
* my own 1.6.2 build, compiled natively under MinGW
* my own 1.7.0 build, compiled and running under Ubuntu 12.04 instead of 
Windows

The command line I'm using to execute:
qemu-system-i386w -rtc base=localtime -cdrom en_win98_se_oem.iso -hda 
win98-hdd.img

Any suggestions on how I can troubleshoot this issue further?

Regards,
Legorol