Windows 9x

Installing using QEMU

Recommended versions:

• Windows 95 OSR2(.5)
• Windows 98 Second Edition (SE)

1. Create a disk image (up to 2 GB):

qemu-img create -f raw hdd.img <size in megabytes>M

2. Run QEMU with the following settings:

qemu-system-i386 -m 128 -M pc,acpi=off -drive file=hdd.img,format=raw

• add -cdrom /path/to/installCD.iso, if you use a CD version.
• add -fda /path/to/boot_floppy.img -boot a, if you use a floppy version or your install CD is non-bootable.
• (optionally) add -device sb16 to enable sound
• (optionally) add -nic user,model=ne2k_pci or -device ne2k_pci,netdev=<...> to enable networking

3. For Windows 98: select "Start Windows 98 Setup from CD-ROM". For Windows 95: select "Load NEC IDE CDROM driver" and run fdisk to create partition, restart emulator, run format c: and D:\WIN95\SETUP.

4. To change floppy disk, press Ctrl+Alt+2 to switch to the QEMU Monitor, run change floppy0 /path/to/new_floppy_image and press Ctrl+Alt+1 to switch to VGA.

5. Follow the installation guide on the screen.

[!TIP] For transfer files from host to guest, use genisoimage (UltraISO and PowerISO for Windows and Mac) for creating CD-ISO image or dosfstools (WinImage for Windows) for creating floppy disk images, then mount the created image to QEMU.

Troubleshooting

"Windows protection" errors during startup

Apply FIX95CPU or patcher9x.

"VFBACKUP could no load VFD.VXD" on startup (Windows 95)

Workaround #1: Source: #1185

1. Mount the installation CD (or Disk 3 for the RTM version on floppy disks).
2. Open the "MS-DOS prompt" and run:

For the CD version:

extract /a /l C:\Windows\System <cd-rom letter>:\WIN95\WIN95_02.CAB vfd.vxd

For the floppy version:

extract /a /l C:\Windows\System <floppy drive letter>:\WIN95_03.CAB vfd.vxd

Workaround #2: Source: #289

1. Open the Start menu, click on "Run" and run sysedit.
2. Find C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and add smartdrv to the top of the file.
3. Press File -> Save.

Floppy disk support

Currently, the floppy drive in v86 works only with MS-DOS compatibility mode.

To check this: open the Start menu, click on "Control Panel" and "System", select "Performance" tab. If it says "Drive A is using MS-DOS compatibility mode file system", the floppy drive should work properly in v86. If not, try this solution:

1. Click on "Device Manager" in "System Properties".
2. Open "Floppy disk controllers", select "Standard Floppy Disk Controller" and press "Remove" at the bottom.
3. Restart Windows.

Enabling True Color (32 bpp)

The default VGA display driver only supports 640x480x4 video mode, to fix this, you can install Universal VBE9x Video Display Driver or VMDisp9x.

Universal VBE9x Video Display Driver

[!WARNING] After installing, DOS Mode (and other programs and games that require it) may not work properly. This is a problem in VBE9x, not v86, see #110. Also, this driver doesn't support DirectX, DirectDraw and OpenGL.

1. Download driver from https://bearwindows.zcm.com.au/vbe9x.htm and unpack into Windows.
2. Right-click on the Desktop, click on "Properties".
3. Click "Advanced" > "Adapter" > "Change".
4. Press "Next", select "Display a of all the drivers in a specific location..." and press again "Next".
5. Press "Have Disk...", click "Browse" and go to folder with unpacked driver. Inside the folder with driver, should be folders like 032mb, 064mb, 128mb. Choose a version based on needed video memory size (for example, 032mb), then select vbemp.inf inside.
6. Select "VBE Miniport" adapter, press "OK" and "Next".
7. After installing, restart Windows.

VMDisp9x (Windows 95)

[!WARNING] This driver can run DOS Mode with some graphical glitches. However, DirectX and/or DirectDraw may not work properly with this driver. Also, this driver doesn't support OpenGL.

1. Download vmdisp9x-<...>-driver-2d.img from https://github.com/JHRobotics/vmdisp9x/releases.
2. Mount as floppy image, right-click on the Desktop, click on "Properties".
3. Click "Advanced" > "Adapter" > "Change".
4. Press "Have Disk...", click "Browse" and go to the floppy.
5. Select "VESA ISA" adapter and press "OK".
6. After installing, restart Windows.

CPU idling on Windows 95

See about installing AmnHLT.

Enabling networking on Windows 95 (requires install CD)

1. Open the Start menu, click on "Control Panel" and "Add New Hardware".
2. Press "Next", select "No" and select next options:

3. Press "Next" and restart Windows.
4. After restarting, right-click on "My computer", select "Propeties".
5. Open "Device Manager" tab, select "NE2000 Compatible" (in "Network adapters") and press "Properties"
6. Open "Resources", change values by selecting the properties and click on "Change Setting":

7. In "Control Panel", open "Network", click on "Add", choose "Protocol" and select the following options:

8. (optionally) Set "Primary Network Logon" to Windows Logon.

Enabling sound manually

[!NOTE] If you don't have an install CD, use the Sound Blaster 16 driver from https://web.archive.org/web/20210814023225/https://www.claunia.com/qemu/drivers/index.html (unpack sbw9xup.exe as a zip archive).

1. Open "Start" menu, click on "Control Panel" and "Add New Hardware".
2. Press "Next", select "No" and select the following options:

3. Restart Windows.