• Windows 95 Install Disc

Not along after posting about using PCem 11, version 12 was available for downloading literally a few days later. Due to this, I’ll briefly go over the changes before delving into setting up a virtual 386 PC with Windows 95.Why a 386? Windows 95 required as a minimum a 386DX to run. Back in the day when a 386 was rather common, I’d only see them with 4 or 8 MB of RAM running Windows 3.1.

However, in more recent times I did see someone who had a highly-spec’d multimedia 386 build with 64 MB of RAM on YouTube, and the performance of Windows 95 wasn’t that bad considering the hardware involved. This is an attempt to mimic that virtually.Before proceeding, here’s a run-down of some of the changes between PCem 11 and 12:BIOS – Version 12 added BIOS support for AMI 386DX and MR 386DX.

Previously when using the AMI 386 BIOS ROM file (AMI386.BIN), it was named as a generic 386 clone with the ability to select either 386 SX or DX processors. Using the same ROM file in version 12 now designates it as a 386 SX only. In order to use a 386DX, another ROM file needs to be used instead named OPT495SX.AMI.Mice – The ability to now select between serial, PS/2, and IntelliMouse, with the Microsoft 2-button serial mouse as the default option.Joysticks – The ability to now select a joystick, including the Microsoft SideWinder Pad.Wait states – Wait states replaces the cache setting from previous versions. This adjusts the speed when the processor has no instructions to process.Voodoo graphics – The Voodoo graphics feature isn’t new, though the ability to select the type of Voodoo is.

Windows 95 Install Disc

PCem starting up with default RAM and graphic settings.Before commencing anything else, we’ll start configuring the virtual PC in order to meet the minimum requirements for running Windows 95. Select Settings followed by Configure from the menu bar.

The Configure PCem dialog box appears.I used the following configuration, though feel free to experiment:. Machine AMI 386DX clone.

Video Tseng ET4000AX. CPU type AMD. CPU Am386DX/40. Video speed Fast 16-bit (just for being more historically correct, as the faster VLB and PCI interfaces were introduced in the 486 era). Sound card Sound Blaster 16.

Memory 64 MB (the maximum amount the 386 BIOS can address). Drive A  3.5″ 1.44M.

Drive B  5.25″ 1.2MSelect OK to confirm the changes. PCem will mention this will restart itself; select OK again. You should notice the change in display and the additional memory detected. PCem now starting up as a 386DX 40 Mhz with SVGA graphics card.From here, it’s a good time to set up the hard disk and CD-ROM drive. Being a 386, the maximum size for hard disks supported were around 504 MB, and the only way to get around that was to either use a SCSI controller card or DDO (dynamic drive overlay) software.Select Configure hard discs from the Disc menu. Choose hard drive and CD-ROM for C: and D: drives respectively. Under C: select New for the New Hard Disc dialog box to appear. How to add transitions in sony vegas pro 16.

Setting up mass storage drives.Update the cylinders values with 1024 to increase the capacity to 504 MB. Select the  button to provide a file name and specify the location where it’s to be saved, then select OK. PCem will remind you to partition and format the drive. Select OK again to close and save the changes in the Configure Hard Discs dialog box. Continue with restarting PCem when prompted to do so.Upon restart, you’ll see once again (as shown above) a prompt to run the setup utility from the BIOS.

Press the F1 key, and the AMI BIOS utility will appear. Highlight the Auto Detect Hard Disk option and press Enter. Shortly afterwards the hard drive should be detected as below. Press Y, then Enter. Repeat again for drive D when it detects no hard disk. Updating the floppy drive type.When done press Esc to return to the main menu, and choose Write to CMOS and Exit to save the changes. Press Y then Enter upon confirmation.

PCem will restart. Once it does, instead of seeing a prompt to run the setup utility, it will state there’s an issue with the HDD (hard disk drive) controller. The error will disappear following the next steps.Preparing the Hard DiskAt this point mount the Windows 95 boot disk image file, by selecting Change Drive A: from the Disc menu.

It’s also a good time to enable the virtual CD-ROM drive, as it’s disabled by default. To do so, select Settings from the menu, hover over CD-ROM, and select Empty for the time being. PCem will require a restart. Now CD-ROM drivers will then be able to detect a CD-ROM drive present.As it restarts, PCem should now be starting from the boot disk in drive A.

At the A: prompt, type fdisk then press Enter to start the FDISK utility. FDISK will bring up a menu with four options to select from. Press 1 for the Create DOS partition or Logical DOS drive option followed by Enter. Another menu appears with three options to select from. Press 1 for the Create Primary DOS Partition and press Enter. The hard disk is quickly scanned and you will be prompted if you wish to use the maximum available size of the hard disk.

The default option is yes, so press Enter. You will be prompted to now restart the computer. From the File menu, select Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart bypassing the memory test.Back at the A: prompt, type format c: then Enter. Press Y then Enter to proceed with the format. Formatting the hard disk.After formatting, you’ll be prompted to provide disk volume label, otherwise just proceed by pressing Enter.

The hard disk is now ready for installing Windows.At the C: prompt, type md win95 and press Enter. This creates a directory (folder) named win95 on the hard disk. Then type copy d:win95.cab c:win95 to copy the main installation files from the CD to the new directory on your hard disk, were d: is the CD-ROM drive. The purpose is to avoid an issue in the later stages of Windows 95 Setup after rebooting, where it’s unable to locate the CAB files from not having CD-ROM drivers loaded. The files can be deleted afterwards to save on the limited disk space of the drive.

For now, we’re ready to install Windows 95.Windows 95 SetupAt the DOS prompt, begin Windows 95 Setup by typing d:setup (again change d: if your CD-ROM drive is designated a different letter).Follow the prompts as your normally would during Setup. If you need more details on proceeding through with installation, I suggest checking out an earlier post  where I was installing Windows 95 under Oracle VirtualBox.

More specifically the section under the same name (Windows 95 Setup) as here. The only part I deviate here is skipping detection of network cards.Eventually when installation completes, you should be able to see the desktop. Windows 95 came provided with drivers for the Tseng Labs ET4000 and Sound Blaster 16, so these work as is. The mouse under Device Manager was flagged with an issue, despite functioning okay. It was listed as a Standard Serial Mouse, though updating to the Microsoft Serial Mouse driver from the Windows CD sorted that out.

Is a packaged copy of Microsoft's classic Windows 95 operating system that is running in an Electron application.The package is available for Windows, Linux and Mac devices, and can be downloaded from the project website.The release has a size of about 100 Megabytes; Windows users need to download the 64-bit version of the Windows95 distribution to get started.It is just a matter of double-clicking on the downloaded executable file to run the program. The start screen displays several important options. You can click on 'Start Windows 95' to launch the operating system, reset the machine to start anew, insert a floppy disk, or discard the current state and boot from scratch.

Windows 95The Windows 95 environment itself runs in a window just like any other program. A selection of links and tools are displayed on the desktop that you may interact with. You can access My Computer, the Control Panel, or the c: drive from there for instance.One of the first things you may want to do is change the default background image; this can be done with a right-click on the desktop and the selection of properties from the menu.A click on the Start button displays links to tools and default programs that come with the operating system. You can start games like Minesweeper or FreeCell, or classic Windows programs such as Paint or the Media Player.While you can run and use most programs and tools of the Windows 95 distribution, you will notice that some cannot be launched or don't work properly. While you can run Internet Explorer on Windows 95, you will notice right away that it cannot connect to any website.Another thing that is useful to know is that you need to use the Esc-key to move the mouse cursor out of the Windows 95 window and to lock it in again. The functionality seems a bit buggy at the time as I ran into mouse movement issues after exiting and entering the environment again.One interesting feature of Windows95 is the ability to load.img floppy disk images.

You can run old games, apps, or load files from disks that you integrate this way. Third-party apps and games should run for the most part.Windows95 remembers the previous state and loads it on every start. You can reset the state on the Start screen to start anew at any time.

Closing WordsRunning Microsoft's ancient Windows 95 operating system on newer versions of Windows or on Mac or Linux devices may not be something that is very practical but it certainly appeals to users who grew up with Windows 95 and those who are curious about the operating system.The ability to load floppy disk images is certainly an appreciated feature.Now You: Remember Windows 95? My IBM Aptiva E04 came with Windows 95 OSR2. That computer is still running, but with 98SE.Still i think XP x64 is the best version ever made. Anything after that is bloated and thewy claim You uninstall Windows stuff while You really only deactivate them. In 2000, XP and XP x64 You could change Sysoc.inf by remove HIDE in that file and really do uninstall un-needed crap. With later versions You have to create a special install build to get rid off stuff (and that might not always work either).