I bought an NEC Ready 9840 233 MHz Pentium MMX system back in May 1998. I still have the system, the box and all of the contents. Here are some photos of the box and disks:

Additional NEC Ready 9840 CD-ROM Photos:

akula65 wrote:

Additional NEC Ready 9840 CD-ROM Photos:

Thank you for help. But... can you make image of last 2 discs (phone book and Merlin) - these are unavailable at Archive.org

akula65 wrote on 2018-02-08, 20:53:

Additional NEC Ready 9840 CD-ROM Photos:

I apologize for necro-ing a thread this old but I have a rather curious story to tell.

I have a friend who had, a very long time ago, a brand new NEC Ready computer, with Merlin, and the wall-paper and everything. Things being what they are, the computer gradually got cluttered. They used the recovery disk to reinstall the operating system, and Merlin disappeared. No help from the people who sold them the computer, and NEC also apparently was no help.

Akula65, Your post seems to be the only thing on the internet that even gives any indication that Merlin came on a CD-ROM.

My friend really wants to find Merlin again. I realize this is ridiculous but, please, if it is at all possible, could you make an ISO of that disc or … or SOMETHING? I'd also accept just straight up buying the physical disc from you, but honestly, this disc might be extremely rare so it might be a good idea to have an online back-up of its contents, in any case.

sleepcircle wrote on 2020-11-26, 02:37:

I apologize for necro-ing a thread this old but I have a rather curious story to tell.

Don't worry, it's okay.

sleepcircle wrote on 2020-11-26, 02:37:

My friend really wants to find Merlin again. I realize this is ridiculous but, please, if it is at all possible, could you make an ISO of that disc or … or SOMETHING? I'd also accept just straight up buying the physical disc from you, but honestly, this disc might be extremely rare so it might be a good idea to have an online back-up of its contents, in any case.

Gladly, this year I've finally found CD image for NEC Merlin, so I can send PM to source.

you're a wonderful human being, thank you. i have offered 20 dollars to the nostalgia kami at archive.org, in thanks for this blessing

Hello! I found this thread via Google and just created an account to join the Merlin party. I've looked far and wide and I think this is the only thread on the internet that exists with an actual photo of an install CD! What peculiar timing for this to have just been bumped, too. Not too long ago I found my original NEC Ready software booklet from 1996:

In it was my NEC 962X recovery CD (note "Tri Films Merlin II"):

And something I've had living in the vague recesses of my memory for decades now -- a standalone installer for Merlin himself, version 2.0:

As you can see, my Merlin is an earlier version than what Akula65 shared a photo of from their 1998 batch and, presumably, what ArtiomWin found in their 1997 batch. Until recently, it never even occurred to me that there could be multiple editions. I'm intrigued.

Anyway, I really wanted to see the actual videos again, but my Win 10 machines predictably wanted nothing to do with SETUP.EXE no matter what I did. I ended up teaching myself how to bring up a virtual XP desktop using Oracle's VirtualBox so that I had something I could actually install it on, and then I pulled all of the extracted data (videos, bitmaps, etc.) from the C:\Merlin install directory. Then I played around with video/audio encoding in VirtualDub until the videos were finally in a format that YouTube would accept.

This is the complete two minute first boot intro from Merlin 2.0 on a brand new NEC Ready Windows 95 system in 1996 -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCn8RvLcyS4

And here are the other 32 minutes, all tutorials and tours compiled together -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjQfyzqcrIg

What a zany period piece this is. I forgot how much the 90s loved multimedia-anything! I would love to know the name of the actor who portrayed Merlin, but I couldn't find any credits on my CD. Speaking of, I also added Merlin 2.0 to archive.org here: https://archive.org/details/NECMerlin. It includes a .zip of the actual C:\Merlin data so that you don't have to bother with virtual machines to browse the contents from a modern computer. The Merlin 2.0 ISO is included for good measure.

Akula65 and ArtiomWin -- if there's anything I could do to help you do the same with your Merlin CDs, please reach out to me. These are pretty rare and I'd be happy to help!

MattJH! wrote on 2020-12-17, 18:05:

In it was my NEC 962X recovery CD (note "Tri Films Merlin II"): […]
Show full quote

In it was my NEC 962X recovery CD (note "Tri Films Merlin II"):

nec-recovery-cd.jpg

And something I've had living in the vague recesses of my memory for decades now -- a standalone installer for Merlin himself, version 2.0:

nec-merlin-cd.jpg

I've downloaded your copy, but only yesterday have looked at Vogons. Can you also upload recovery CD also? Next day after you've uploaded your Merlin CD, another NEC recovery CD have pop-up, this time for Ready 7610 (earlier one, timestamp 12 March 1996). Also I would like to get disk for first version of Merlin and boot floppy (both for recovery CD for NEC Ready 7022-9232). I already have boot floppy, but not recovery CD for Ready 5010 (found at same place where Merlin copy was), and I don't think CD found on eBay would be the one.

ArtiomWin wrote on 2020-12-25, 12:07:

Can you also upload recovery CD also?

Sure can. Here you go: https://archive.org/details/NECReady962X. If you manage to install this, would you mind making the extracted content available? I'm looking for the Merlin data specifically.

ArtiomWin wrote on 2020-12-25, 12:07:

Next day after you've uploaded your Merlin CD, another NEC recovery CD have pop-up, this time for Ready 7610 (earlier one, timestamp 12 March 1996).

Yep! That one is thanks to Reddit user Titannel: https://www.reddit.com/r/ObscureMedia/comment … 5_days/gf13j8n/

MattJH! wrote on 2020-12-26, 16:04:

Sure can. Here you go: https://archive.org/details/NECReady962X. If you manage to install this, would you mind making the extracted content available? I'm looking for the Merlin data specifically.

I haven't tried your CD yet, but I've PMd you copy of Merlin folder from TitanSix's CD.

ArtiomWin wrote on 2020-12-26, 20:28:

I've PMd you copy of Merlin folder from TitanSix's CD.

Amazing. Thank you! Unfortunately, those video files only play audio on my end. I tried a few different programs. I wonder if the actual video output is embedded elsewhere on the CD. Oh well, I appreciate the attempt!

MattJH! wrote on 2020-12-26, 20:52:

Amazing. Thank you! Unfortunately, those video files only play audio on my end. I tried a few different programs. I wonder if the actual video output is embedded elsewhere on the CD. Oh well, I appreciate the attempt!

No, video files here are complete and play successfully on included Quicktime 2.0 for Windows.

ArtiomWin wrote on 2020-12-28, 19:07:

No, video files here are complete and play successfully on included Quicktime 2.0 for Windows.

I stand corrected. They're working for me now. I had to reboot for some reason. Thank you very much for this!

MattJH! wrote on 2020-12-17, 18:05:

Anyway, I really wanted to see the actual videos again, but my Win 10 machines predictably wanted nothing to do with SETUP.EXE no matter what I did. I ended up teaching myself how to bring up a virtual XP desktop using Oracle's VirtualBox so that I had something I could actually install it on, and then I pulled all of the extracted data (videos, bitmaps, etc.) from the C:\Merlin install directory. Then I played around with video/audio encoding in VirtualDub until the videos were finally in a format that YouTube would accept.

Also, why you've used VirtualBox for extraction?

ArtiomWin wrote on 2020-12-28, 19:36:

Also, why you've used VirtualBox for extraction?

My Windows 10 x64 machine wouldn't execute Merlin's setup.exe installer no matter which compatibility mode I chose. I tried using 7zip to access the data file, but I didn't have any luck there either. In order to actually install Merlin and get at its program files, I had to use a virtual XP box. There might have been an easier way! That's just how I ended up doing it.

MattJH! wrote on 2020-12-28, 19:53:

There might have been an easier way! That's just how I ended up doing it.

Yes, it is. You could install/recover your system on 86Box, and then take files from virtual hard drive with WinImage or something else. On VirtualBox I wouldn't get those screens with 256 colors.

ArtiomWin wrote on 2020-12-28, 20:14:

Yes, it is. You could install/recover your system on 86Box, and then take files from virtual hard drive with WinImage or something else. On VirtualBox I wouldn't get those screens with 256 colors.

Whoooah. Thanks for telling me about this. I've never heard of 86Box. I'm grabbing it now.

MattJH! wrote on 2020-12-26, 16:04:

Sure can. Here you go: https://archive.org/details/NECReady962X

Now I'm "recovering" system from your CD. Despite it's bootable, the Packard Bell PB640 couldn't boot from it, so I had to extract OSBOOT floppy. I can see all the results tomorrow.

ArtiomWin wrote on 2020-12-29, 20:51:

Now I'm "recovering" system from your CD. Despite it's bootable, the Packard Bell PB640 couldn't boot from it, so I had to extract OSBOOT floppy. I can see all the results tomorrow.

Excellent! I appreciate your efforts. If your extraction is successful, would it be possible for me to browse its contents somehow? It's been two decades since and I'd very much like to see it again, one more time.