Guide - Windows 95 on DOSBox 0.74

"-How do I get CD-ROM support?"
You won't unless you implement it in dosbox yourself.

ripa wrote:

Guide - Windows 95 on DOSBox 0.74

"-How do I get CD-ROM support?"

it is there too 😀

There are things that you need to remember when it comes to attempting to run Windows 95 in DOSBox:

1. You can ONLY use Windows 95 OEM Service Release 1.
2. You must create a hard disk image no bigger than 504 MB, partition it using FDISK and then format it. Up to 2 hard disk images are supported.
3. You must copy the contents of the \WIN95 installation directory over to the hard disk.
4. In the \WIN95 directory, run SETUP /in /is.

CD-ROM ISO support is not supported by default unless you implement it in DOSBox yourself. It is wise that you do not allocate more than 32 MB of memory to the Windows 95 guest OS.

If you want to try a later version of Windows 95, use VMware Player, QEMU, Bochs, Virtual Box or Virtual PC. 😀

Believe me, I tried to install Windows 95 OSR2 under DOSBox 0.73MB5 the other day and it never worked.

You must create a hard disk image no bigger than 504 MB, partition it using FDISK and then format it. Up to 2 hard disk images are supported.

Wrong. I have image 1 GB. Works fine.

CD-ROM ISO support is not supported by default unless you implement it in DOSBox yourself.

That's right but only partially. You can install Nero Image Drive and mount CD-Image under Win95. I'm not sure, but I think, old version of DaemonTolls can also work.

ppgrainbow wrote:

1. You can ONLY use Windows 95 OEM Service Release 1.

I use OSR2 without issues.

OH NO!

I also use DOSBox 0.74, and only use the megabuild for real IPX netbios support

OH NO X2!!!

leileilol wrote:

ppgrainbow wrote:

1. You can ONLY use Windows 95 OEM Service Release 1.

I use OSR2 without issues.

Have you actually installed it inside 0.74?
Cause i had to install it in 0.72 and than it works nicely in 0.74, OSR2.5 too.
On the other hand 98SE had to be installed in 0.74 (only 4 errors during installation) and works nicely there with default drivers (had to install DX9c for sound to work properly(6, 7 and 8 had no sound heard in dxdiag).

robertmo wrote:

Wrong. I have image 1 GB. Works fine.

Then you're probably using the MegaBuild version of DOSBox, aren't ya?

robertmo wrote:

Have you actually installed it inside 0.74? Cause i had to install it in 0.72 and than it works nicely in 0.74, OSR2.5 too. On t […]
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leileilol wrote:

ppgrainbow wrote:

1. You can ONLY use Windows 95 OEM Service Release 1.

I use OSR2 without issues.

Have you actually installed it inside 0.74?
Cause i had to install it in 0.72 and than it works nicely in 0.74, OSR2.5 too.
On the other hand 98SE had to be installed in 0.74 (only 4 errors during installation) and works nicely there with default drivers (had to install DX9c for sound to work properly(6, 7 and 8 had no sound heard in dxdiag).

I attempted to install Windows 95 OSR2 under the DOSBox 0.73MB5 and I couldn't get it work.

I'll probably have to use QEMU to install Windows 95 OSR2 inside the hard disk image and then try to use it under DOSBox 0.73MB5 to see if it is working or not. I don't know if HAL-9000 has updated the MegaBuild version of DOSBox 0.74 yet.

How about playing DOS games in DOSBox?

too overrated, dosbox is for playing starcraft you know

This post is a bit off-topic but I just want to thank the programmers of DOS BOX and all the various front - ends for the application like D-Fend.

I have a lot of Windows games from 1995 and a good portion of them cannot run on XP namely my all-time favorite strategy game... M.A.X. by Interplay. Does anyone remember that title?

Anyway, I had the craving for a serious strategy game like this for years but couldn't run it on a new PC until someone told me about DOS BOX.
Well, I finally found the time to download the program and installed it on my PC , fiddled with the application for a while and installed my game and...

My eyes almost went into tears when M.A.X. launched! I couldn't believe it!

I just wanted to say... thanks people!
They don't make games like this anymore!

M.A.X. DOS or Windows version?

Anyway I noticed that Windows 95B and 95C installs OK without any errors if you choose minimal installation, with standard vga and no sound card. You can detect new hardware, update drivers to S3Trio32/64 and PNP monitor and install additional windows components (if you need any) after installation. (if you want IE4.0 too, install IE4.0 before adding all these things)
Also don't install IE4.0 immediately (Alt-F4 the installer) make a backup of the hddimage and you can try installing it later (so if the installation fails you can always try it again. And it fails rather often 😀
Oh, it is very important to make a backup of the hddimage after every success in installing anything 😉

To sum up every version of Windows 95 and Windows 98 First Edition installs correctly without any errors. Windows 98 Second Edition has four poping up errors (I guess because WD hasn't debug it yet) but looks to be working correctly after installation in spite of that.

And i won't debug it and YOU SHOULD NOT USE IT 😉

M.A.X. DOS or Windows version? ---robertmo

Yeah, there are two versions on that disc, right?

Either version will not install on my XP machine, but I am aware that the DOS version in a DOS environment is more stable and DOSBOX/D-Fend was just the remedy. Thanks for asking...

robertmo, I tried to install Wnidows 95 OSR2 under DOSBox 0.73MB5 using the S3 Trio32/64 and Plug and Play Monitor during installation and I still get this error message:

dosbox.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows.
You will need to restart the program.

An error log is being created.

I can try to reinstall Windows 95 under Qemu using Standard VGA and Plug and Play Montior capabilities and then try to use it under DOSBox 0.73MB5, but if that doesn't work, I'm afraid that I'm gonna have to give up. 🙁

The first partition that I created is 504 MB and the second one is 1 GB using IMGMAKE.

I don't know if installing Windows 95 OSR2 even works on DOSBox 0.74 or a future MegaBuild version of the product.

Is anyone willing or not to provide proper instructions on how to install Windows 95 under DOSBox 0.73MB5 or DOSBox 0.74? If so, please let me know. I'll try to find information on how Windows 95 can be installed properly under DOSBox by searching for answers on my own to see what I can come up with.

i have edited my previous post a bit

I'll try reinstalling Windows 95 under DOSBox with minimal installation with standard VGA and no sound card detected. If that still doesn't help, I'm afraid that I will have to give up. 🙁

Edit: A minimal installation of Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 requires no less than 95 MB of free disk space. Once Windows 95 is successfully installed, I will need to make a backup of the two hard disk images incase I screw up.

Update: I'm attempting to reinstall Windows 95 OSR2 under DOSBox 0.74. However, after completing the installation and rebooting to detect Plug and Play drivers, i get this error message:

This program has performed a illegal operation and will be shut down. Quit all programs and then restart your computer. If the problem persists, contact your program vendor.

Upon viewing the details of the error, it reads the following:

RUNDLL32 caused a invalid page fault in module KERNEL32.DLL at 0137:bff81592.

Unfortunately, when Windows 95 setup attempted to set up the Control Panel, it resulted in the same error. And accessing the Control Panel even caused Windows Explorer to crash!

Is this behaviour by design when running Windows 95 under DOSBox or is there a way to fix this?