Back to Windows95

guest-tools

guest-tools/README.md

5.0.12.0 KB
Original Source

guest-tools

Files and folders in this directory are exposed read-only inside the VM at \\HOST\TOOLS (alongside the synthetic _MAPZ.BAT and README.TXT). Drop drivers and utilities here that you want available from within Windows 95.

mouse-driver/ — seamless mouse (VBADOS)

VBMOUSE.EXE (DOS TSR) + VBMOUSE.DRV (Windows 3.x/9x driver) from VBADOS by Javier S. Pedro, GPLv2. Talks to v86's VMware mouse backdoor (port 0x5658) so the Windows 95 cursor tracks the host cursor pixel-for-pixel without pointer lock.

Install inside the guest:

  1. Copy \\HOST\TOOLS\mouse-driver\VBMOUSE.EXE to C:\ and add a C:\VBMOUSE.EXE line to C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT.
  2. Windows Setup (or Control Panel → Mouse → General → Change → Have Disk) → browse to \\HOST\TOOLS\mouse-driver → pick VBMouse int33 absolute mouse driver.
  3. Reboot. The app detects the driver and stops grabbing pointer lock; ESC still toggles lock for games that want raw relative input.

agent/ — W95TOOLS guest agent

W95TOOLS.EXE is a hidden-window agent that talks to the emulator over the VMware backdoor (port 0x5658). Currently it bridges Windows 95's CF_TEXT clipboard to the host (legacy backdoor commands 6–9; host side is src/renderer/clipboard.ts, which polls Electron's clipboard) and auto-maps \\HOST\HOST to Z: at login via WNetAddConnection, so the shared folder shows up as a drive without a trip through Start → Run. It's also where time sync, host-initiated shutdown, and a tray icon will live when those land.

Install inside the guest:

  1. Copy \\HOST\TOOLS\agent\W95TOOLS.EXE to C:\WINDOWS\.
  2. Drop a shortcut to it in C:\WINDOWS\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp so it runs on login.

Copy text on either side and it appears on the other within ~250 ms. Text only; conversion is Windows-1252 ↔ UTF-8 with CRLF ↔ LF, capped at 64 KB. Built from w95tools.c with Open Watcom v2 — make -C guest-tools/agent (needs Docker).