How to build windows 95 virtual machine with CD support

[Ace McPlane]

Here's an alternative way to install windows 95 for those still having issues

 

installing windows 95 manually without the floppy setup disk

 

what you need:
.DOS on a floppy or on an image (.flp .img)
.Windows 95 cd
.VMWARE player (it's free) or virtualpc (I recommend VMWARE)
.Magiciso (the free trial version will do)
.a copy of MSCDEX.EXE and oakcdrom.sys (both can be found online)

 

MSCDEX.EXE:

http://www.techadvice.com/tech/M/MSCDEX.htm

 

oakcdrom.sys:

https://goo.gl/YTZ3nL

 

Magiciso:

http://www.magiciso.com/download.htm

 

 

step 1

create a new virtual machine (make sure to add a floppy image drive if you are using vmware)

step 2

put your dos floppy/image in or mount it and install dos

step 3

download and install the free version of magiciso
open magic iso
go to new - floppy - 1.44

find a copy of mscdex.exe 
find a copy of oakcdrom.sys (generic cd rom driver that works with dos.. might have to try another if it doesn't work)
RENAME the oakcdrom.sys to cdrom.sys

drag both these files into magic iso on the floppy disk we just created

save the file

close magic iso

find the file we just saved in your explorer

change the extension from .ima to .flp (if you are using vmware) or .img (if you are using virtualpc)

(if you can't see the extensions you're going to need to change your folder options to show extensions)
google it. it's easy to do

 

step 4

go back to your virtual machine
mount the floppy image we just created

a:\
copy mscdex.exe c:\
copy cdrom.sys c:\

(don't forget to rename oakcdrom.sys to cdrom.sys in step 3)

step 5

find config.sys in your c drive

type:

edit config.sys

now add a line that says this

device=c:\cdrom.sys /d:mscd001

exit and save

step 6

find autoexec.bat in your c drive

type:

edit autoexec.bat

now add a line that says this

c:\mscdex.exe /d:mscd001

exit and save

step 7

restart the computer or virtual machine

step 8

we're still not done yet

now move to your c drive and type

mscdex.exe: /d:mscd001 /M:5 /V /L:d /S /K

(this part /M:x refers to the amount of buffers your drive has.. it's either 4 or 5. usually 5)

step 9

create a blank floppy image either in vmware or magic iso then mount that new one

put your windows 95 cd in the cd drive

type:

d:\
setup.exe

step 10

it should be booting windows 95 now

now you might run into troubles when it tries to install the other drivers
it might ask you for windows floppies even if you're using the cd version
which I never understood

but anyways, you can find all of these drivers on the windows 95b cd if you have it
they're all in cab files

so you'd need to extract them 1 by 1 and put them on floppy images to use them.
(huge pain)

but I actually just got it to load the drivers off the win95 cd by just trying it over and over again until
it worked. it might have been because I either did or didn't restart after putting in the windows 95 cd
can't remember, but I'd try both if you're having trouble 

all in all windows 95 is incredible wonky to install in a virtual machine. I highly recommend using VMWARE
and not virtual pc for this one.
If you didn't have a hard time installing this.. you got incredible lucky

make sure you check to make sure windows95 is seeing your cd drive
if not go to the add new hardware wizard in the control panel and see if that detects it

(Note: I tried to install it without installing MS-DOS first the first time by using fdisk and format then creating the autoexec.bat and config.sys manually. Even though I did this right I ran into problems when windows started installing. Installing dos before hand made it run a lot smoother for some reason. Ask around and find a copy from a friend. A lot of people still have a copy lying around that they don't care about)

 

[Ace McPlane]

I wrote this guide long ago but it's gone from the internet now so I figure the linustechtips forum is a good place to revive it

[Guest]

link to downloads would be useful 

[xIHuNTeRIx]

why to use 95 o_0 it was befor I came to life

[Ace McPlane]

1 hour ago, deXxterlab97 said:

link to downloads would be useful 

I added links to the original post for you there.

 

I added links for MSCDEX.exe, oakcdrom.sys and magiciso

but everything else is proprietary so you need to buy copies of dos and windows 95.

[Ace McPlane]

1 hour ago, xIHuNTeRIx said:

why to use 95 o_0 it was befor I came to life

To play certain old games that won't work in dosbox or anything else but in windows 95 in a virtual machine.

 

Biosys is one that hardly ever runs correctly on a new PC for example.

[xIHuNTeRIx]

34 minutes ago, stateofpsychosis said:

To play certain old games that won't work in dosbox or anything else but in windows 95 in a virtual machine.

 

Biosys is one that hardly ever runs correctly on a new PC for example.

not better to open with sandboxie??

[Ace McPlane]

14 minutes ago, xIHuNTeRIx said:

not better to open with sandboxie??

If that works for the game in question go for it.

 

Virtual machines are just my go to way because it almost always works with older games except for a handful of games from the early direct3d days since these VMs don't support direct3d.

 

Plus, it's kind of cool to have windows 95 as a guest operating system.

I actually have one built for almost every version of windows except NT and some of the newer ones like vista.

 

I even have a windows ME VM..

no reason because there's never a good reason to use ME.

Just for fun

[bachelor1602]

Its been years since this was posted but as I'm new here, just wondering if i could pick your brain about something.

I have a HDD from the HP family PC we had when I was a kid, it's 1.6gb and was running Windows 95. I have managed to use a program to get a virtual disk image from the HDD and with some tinkering I have it working in VMWare player. The problem is that the CD and floppy shortcuts don't work in Windows, I guessed this was due to a driver issue however one of the other problems I faced earlier was the CPU speed problem and to fix that I had to install a patch using a floppy image from DOS and that worked... so the floppy passthrough in the VM works for DOS but not in Windows...any ideas what i should try next?

[Ace McPlane]

On 3/19/2021 at 10:46 PM, bachelor1602 said:

Its been years since this was posted but as I'm new here, just wondering if i could pick your brain about something.

I have a HDD from the HP family PC we had when I was a kid, it's 1.6gb and was running Windows 95. I have managed to use a program to get a virtual disk image from the HDD and with some tinkering I have it working in VMWare player. The problem is that the CD and floppy shortcuts don't work in Windows, I guessed this was due to a driver issue however one of the other problems I faced earlier was the CPU speed problem and to fix that I had to install a patch using a floppy image from DOS and that worked... so the floppy passthrough in the VM works for DOS but not in Windows...any ideas what i should try next?

If you’re trying to connect a physical floppy drive from the host, look under your USB devices instead which are separate from the floppy and CD menu.