Hi everyone, I saw that the "vintage edition" of CPU- Z is capable to read specs of low end machines such as 386 and 486. However, there seems to be no DOS version of the tool. How is this supposed to be done Install Win98 on a 386? Thanks for any suggestions.
Hi, Windows 95 RTM ran on my father's am386DX-40 PC in 1995-2000.
It had 16MB of RAM, two HDDs (one Win95, one data), Mitsumi Single-Speed CD-ROM drive, Trident 8900 graphics card and 20" monitor.
But that being said, original Windows 95 lacked a lot of system files that got standard in the later years.
So it's likely required to install some updates for Windows 95 to make CPU-Z run..
Edit: Windows NT 3.5x could run on 386, still, I think.
Speaking under correction, though.
"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel
//My video channel//
Min specs for Windows 95 are a 386DX, 4MB RAM, and 50-55MB free HDD space.
But 8MB is really the minimum RAM you'd want to run.
Yes, I run Windows 95 B on my 386SX-20.
20 MB RAM (4 MB EMS, not useable under Windows 95).
Adaptec 1542B busmaster SCSI controller
1 GB SCSI HDD
SCSI CDROM
Soundblaster 16 ASP/CSP (Windows soundfiles converted to use ADPCM compression)
Tseng Labs ET4000W32 accelerated graphics card
3Com 509 network card
Despite all tasks who need CPU power this machine ran quite good. I even was able to burn a CD with 2x speed. It just was a little too slow to succeed with 4x. Perhaps a little faster machine (25 MHz or with cache) could do this.
Earlier I also run Windows NT 3.51 with 5 MB RAM on this machine and 2 IDE HDDs.
It was terrible but still good enough for writing texts.
Many laptop/notebook users in mid-90s had installed Windows 95 as soon as possible.
These poor things had 386/486 mobile processors @16 to 40 MHz, RAM often was as little as 4 MB - expansion was possible,
but the RAM upgrades were proprietary, expensive and hard to find.
Windows 95 performance s*cked, but the use of Windows 95 made sense to mobile users.
Because Windows 95 shipped with out-of-box features such as PCMCIA/PC-Card support, irDA port support, hot-plugging for docking stations etc.
Then-new Plug&Play feature also made most sense when on the go,
so users did rather accept to suffer than keep using more lightweight Windows 3.x or WfW.. 🙁
Edit: The now popular Amstrad Mega PC was a lower-end Windows 3.1x PC, too.
It barely met the minimum requirements for original Windows 95, as well.
Default expansion of especially RAM and VGA RAM was a bit too little, I think.
"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel
//My video channel//
Ok, a new task! I never installed Win95 on anything slower than a pentium. So I will try to get it running on my 386 and see how well the CPU performs.
Aui wrote on 2025-07-12, 03:01:Hi everyone, I saw that the "vintage edition" of CPU- Z is capable to read specs of low end machines such as 386 and 486. However, there seems to be no DOS version of the tool. How is this supposed to be done Install Win98 on a 386? Thanks for any suggestions.
Windows 98SE isnt suitable for a 386, but it can be done:
This was done by temporarily replacing the 386DX with a 486DLC and switching back to the 386DX after the installation completed. You will need to start the Windows 98SE SETUP.EXE with commandline parameters to bypass the minimum system hardware requirement test.
Opening the Start menu will lock up the system and so will a File open dialog or a File save dialog. You can start programs with the Windows+R key combo and take screenshots with the Prntscrn key.
