SteveMann wrote on 2021-03-03, 04:38:

I have my original Win 98 and Win95 discs, but when I mount them in DOSBox and run setup.exe, I only get as far as "Setup is going to perform a routine check on your system."

I am trying to find a way for my wife to play one of her favorite games, Rama (from Arthur C. Clarkes novel) which was released in 1996. I figured that since I had the original install discs it would be an easy way to get her back into the game.

Any tips would be appreciated.

you could try windows 98 in vmware
also another option is React OS it's a windows knockoff that is able to play some games alright
I've never tried any of those options or the one you are trying though so that's as helpful as I'll be

SteveMann wrote on 2021-03-03, 04:38:

I have my original Win 98 and Win95 discs, but when I mount them in DOSBox and run setup.exe, I only get as far as "Setup is going to perform a routine check on your system."

I am trying to find a way for my wife to play one of her favorite games, Rama (from Arthur C. Clarkes novel) which was released in 1996. I figured that since I had the original install discs it would be an easy way to get her back into the game.

Any tips would be appreciated.

IMHO, unless the game requires hardware 3D acceleration, the simplest and likely best performing solution is to install Windows 95 or 98 SE in VirtualBox on a modern PC . For a video driver, you can use the latest version of Scitech Display Doctor (now freeware) . At least, that's what I would do if the game does not install or play correctly on windows 10 .

SteveMann wrote on 2021-03-03, 04:38:

I am trying to find a way for my wife to play one of her favorite games, Rama (from Arthur C. Clarkes novel) which was released in 1996. I figured that since I had the original install discs it would be an easy way to get her back into the game.

Like many Sierra games, RAMA is supported by ScummVM and that is absolutely what you should try first.
https://www.scummvm.org/compatibility/

Trying to run the game by installing Windows 95 or WIndows 98 in mainline DOSBox should be very, very far down the list of possibilities. What gave you the idea that you should do that?

IMO, PCem works much better for Windows 9x than DOSBox or VMWare/VirtualPC:
https://pcem-emulator.co.uk/

You can also try installing Windows 9x in DOSBox-X, which officially supports Win9x. Wiki pages for setting them up are here:

Windows 95: https://dosbox-x.com/wiki/Guide%3AInstalling-Windows-95

Windows 98: https://dosbox-x.com/wiki/Guide%3AInstalling-Windows-98

Jorpho wrote on 2021-03-03, 05:08:

What gave you the idea that you should do that?

It seemed like a good idea at the time...

Windows 9x DOSBox Guide (Not officially supported)

or this:

http://dosbox95.darktraveler.com/index.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPq3_m5MGAI

Make sure to use a seperate DOSBox installation for it though if you are using DOSBox for other games as well.