How To Install Windows 95 On Virtualbox

Microsoft's Windows 95 was a huge leap from Windows iii.ane. It was the commencement release of Windows with the Outset menu, taskbar, and typical Windows desktop interface we notwithstanding use today. Windows 95 won't work on modernistic PC hardware, merely you tin still install it in a virtual machine and relive those glory days.

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This may exist useful if you want to play an onetime game that doesn't work in Windows 10's compatibility mode, although Windows 98 may be more ideal for Windows 9x-era games. Or you could merely practise it for a little kick of nostalgia. We wouldn't blame you.

What You'll Demand

You'll need two things for this: A Windows 95 ISO file and a Windows 95 boot disk image. Unlike modern operating systems, the Windows 95 installation disc isn't bootable. Y'all must starting time kicking into an MS-DOS environment from a Windows 95 boot disk, which would have been a floppy disk at the time, to get the installation started.

If you have an old Windows 95 CD lying around, you can insert information technology into your PC and create an ISO file from it. While ISO files of Windows 95 are available online, carry in mind that Windows 95 is withal nether Microsoft copyright, and tin can't be legally downloaded from the web. So start earthworks through those one-time drawers of yours.

One time you lot've got your Windows 95 ISO file, you can download a kick diskette paradigm from AllBootDisks. Y'all will probably just need to download the "Windows95a.img" file. Windows 95b (also known as Windows 95 OSR2) was only bachelor to OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), so any Windows 95 disc you lot take lying effectually will either by the original Windows 95 release (also known every bit Windows 95 RTM) or the Windows 95a release (also known as Windows 95 OSR1), which came with Service Pack 1 installed.

Footstep One: Create Your Virtual Machine

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We'll be doing this in VirtualBox, which is completely free to utilise and available on Windows, macOS, and Linux. You lot can practice it in other virtual machine programs like VMware, merely the process of configuring the virtual machine software volition be a little different.

Once you have VirtualBox installed, click the "New" button to create a new virtual machine.

Enter whatsoever name you lot like and select "Windows 95" from the Version box. If y'all proper noun information technology "Windows 95", VirtualBox volition automatically choose the correct Windows version.

Choose how much RAM you want to expose to your virtual machine. VirtualBox recommends 64 MB, while official Microsoft blog The Onetime New Thing claims that Windows 95 won't kicking if it has more than than effectually 480 MB of retentivity. You could divide the difference and safely use 256 MB, which would be more than enough for old Windows 95 applications.

Continue through the magician until you lot're prompted to create your virtual hard disk. VirtualBox will automatically suggest 2.0 GB, and you probably don't want to go over that. The retail versions of Windows 95 only support the FAT16 file system, which means they can't utilise drives over two GB in size.

Windows 95b (aka OSR2), which was merely released to device manufactures and never sold at retail, does support FAT32. So, if you were using this version of Windows 95, you could theoretically use up to 32 GB of space.

Don't boot up the auto right after you lot're finished creating it. Commencement, you lot'll need to alter a few settings. Correct-click your Windows 95 virtual machine and select "Settings".

Click the "System" category, click the "Dispatch" tab, and uncheck "Enable VT-x/AMD-V" hardware virtualization.

If you exit this choice enabled, you'll exist able to install Windows 95, but it will simply show a black screen when information technology boots up afterwards.

Next, click the "Storage" category and select the virtual drive under the Floppy controller. Click the floppy deejay push to the correct of Floppy Drive and click "Cull Virtual Floppy Deejay File" in the carte du jour. Browse to the boot disk .img file and select it.

Finally, click the Empty disc drive under the IDE controller, click the disc icon to the right of Optical Drive, and click "Cull Virtual Optical Deejay File". Browse to your Windows 95 ISO file and select it.

Click "OK" to salve your settings when yous're done.

Step Two: Prepare Your Virtual C: Drive

You can now just double-click the Windows 95 virtual machine in your library to kick information technology up. It will boot to a DOS prompt.

Annotation that the virtual machine will capture your keyboard and mouse one time you click within it, simply you lot can press the host key—that's the right Ctrl central on your keyboard, by default—to gratuitous your input and use your PC's desktop normally. The key is displayed at the lesser right corner of the virtual machine window.

Starting time, you'll need to partition the virtual drive yous created. Type the post-obit command at the prompt and press Enter:

fdisk

This process is very simple. You'll be starting with an empty drive, so y'all just desire to create a DOS partition. That'south the default option, which is "1". You simply need to take the default options to become through the fdisk process.

You tin merely press "Enter" three times later launching fdisk to create a DOS partition, create a principal partition, and concur that y'all want to use the maximum size of the bulldoze and make the division active.

Yous'll be told you have to restart your virtual automobile before continuing. To do this, click Input > Keyboard > Insert Ctrl-Alt-Del in VirtualBox. Press the right Ctrl central to gratis your mouse first, if necessary.

You'll now demand to format your new partition, which will be bachelor in the virtual machine equally the C: drive. To format it, type the following command at the A:\> prompt and printing Enter:

format c:

Type Y and press Enter to agree to the format process when prompted. You'll and then exist prompted to Enter a characterization for the drive. You can enter any you like, or nothing at all. Press "Enter" afterwards to terminate the procedure.

Step Three: Launch the Windows 95 Installer

Yous will now need to copy the files from the Windows 95 ISO file to your C: drive. Theoretically, y'all should just be able to run the Setup programme from the disc bulldoze itself to install Windows 95. Nevertheless, this produces errors, as the disc bulldoze isn't mounted afterwards the installer reboots, and the installer isn't able to discover driver files it needs. Instead, we found it much easier to simply copy the files to the C: drive and run the installer from there.

First, figure out which bulldoze letter your disc drive was mounted as. This is displayed when your virtual machine boots up. On our virtual machine, it's the R: bulldoze. If you forgot and tin't run across information technology on your screen, yous can always restart your virtual motorcar once once more with the Ctrl+Alt+Delete option in the keyboard menu to view this info.

Run the following command to re-create the files from the Windows 95 disc to your C: drive, replacing R: with whatever drive letter corresponds to your virtual disc drive.

xcopy R:\ C:\INSTALL\ /Southward

When the process is consummate, you can now switch to your C: bulldoze and launch the setup program from the INSTALL program, similar so:

c:

cd INSTALL

setup

Press Enter once again to continue when prompted.

The graphical Windows 95 setup program will announced. From here on out, you tin practise everything graphically without messing with the DOS prompt.

The actual installation process is simple. On most screens, you lot tin accept the default options and speed through the process. You volition be prompted to enter your Windows 95 product key earlier the installation process finishes, however. Different editions of Windows 95 require unlike product keys, then ensure you're using the correct key.

When you attain the Analyzing Your Computer screen, be sure to check the "Network Adapter" and "Sound, MIDI, or Video Capture Menu" options to ensure all the virtual machine's hardware is correctly detected and configured.

When yous're asked to create a Startup Disk, you can select "No, I do non want a startup deejay" to continue. This isn't 1995 and yous're not installing this on a real PC, afterward all.

The actual installation process will be extremely quick on mod hardware, fifty-fifty in a virtual car.

At the end of the setup process, Windows will prompt you to reboot and tell you to remove the floppy deejay from your reckoner. To practise this, click Devices > Floppy Drive > Remove Disk From Virtual Bulldoze. Click "OK" to reboot your PC and keep afterwards.

The setup process volition continue setting up your hardware. You'll be told you have to provide a workgroup name to continue, but yous tin enter anything you similar here.

Finally, y'all'll be prompted to provide your time zone and gear up a printer. You can just click "Cancel" in the Add Printer Magician window to skip configuring a printer when it appears.

Finally, your PC volition reboot and you'll be prompted to create a countersign. Y'all'll and so be presented with the Windows 95 desktop. You're done—yous now have a Windows 95 virtual machine.

To actually become back into the 90'southward, open Windows Explorer from Windows 95'southward Start menu and head to the C:\Install\Funstuff\Videos folder. You'll find music videos for Weezer's Buddy Holly ("Weezer") and Edie Brickell'southward Practiced Times ("Goodtime"), which were included on the Windows 95 disc. In that location'south likewise a motion picture trailer for the moving-picture show Rob Roy, which was also released in 1995.

The videos in the "Highperf" folder are college quality than the ones in the chief Videos folder, so be certain to lookout man those—your mod PC can handle them!

Source: https://www.howtogeek.com/329301/how-to-install-windows-95-in-a-virtual-machine/

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