This article shows how to run Windows 95 on a new virtual machine using VMware Workstation 16 Pro in Windows 10.
Windows 95, officially released by Microsoft on August 24, 1995, is an operating system with a graphical user interface, start menu, and taskbar available after Windows 3.x.
Other innovations of Windows 95 are plug-and-play and multitasking. It also includes the FAT32 file system and the Internet Explorer 4.0 web browser.
In addition to providing complete compatibility with the Internet, Windows 95 includes new options that simplify hardware installation. New multimedia capabilities allow users to use the computer a step further.
The essential system requirement of this operating system, of which Microsoft sells millions of copies, is an x86 processor and at least 4 MB of RAM.
This operating system is older and is no longer supported by Microsoft. However, some users want to experience both this system and nostalgia.
A physical computer is required to use the Windows 95 system efficiently, but you don’t need such a PC today. You can run this system on your host devices using virtual machine software such as VMware Workstation.
You can watch this video or follow the steps below to first create a new virtual machine and then install it.
Step 1: Install VMware 16 Pro software from this link to run a virtual computer on your Windows 10 computer.
Step 2: After installing VMware Pro, download the Windows 95 ISO file used in this video tutorial from the link below.
➦ http://bit.ly/DownloadWindows95
Step 3: Run the VMware virtualization program after downloading the Microsoft Win95 ISO file to your computer.
Step 4: Click Create a New Virtual Machine from Workstation Pro’s homepage options.
Step 5: In the New Virtual Machine Wizard window, to configure the virtual machine with more advanced settings, select Custom (Advanced) and click Next.
Step 6: In the hardware compatibility window, select the version of Workstation (16.x) installed on your computer and then click the Next button. NOTE: The hardware version will be set to 5.x during the driver installation.
Step 7: To prepare the VM, select the I will install the operating system later option in the guest operating system selection window and click Next.
Step 8: Select “Windows 95” in the Guest Operating System window and click Next.
Step 9: In the Name and Platform window, type a name for the old Microsoft system and choose a location on your external hard drive for the installation location or use the default location.
Step 10: In the Firmware Type window, select BIOS for Win95 and continue.
Step 11: In the Processor window, set 1 processor and one core count for the Win95 virtual machine and continue.
Step 12: In the Memory window, select 512 MB, the maximum size of RAM Windows 95 can support. According to Wikipedia, it can theoretically support up to 2 GB, but the cache settings of the video memory must be set. Also, more than 480MB of RAM size may fail to boot the system.
Step 13: In the Network Type window, if you want to use a different IP block than your host’s IP block, select the NAT network type and continue.
Step 14: In the I/O Controller Types window, select the paravirtualized SCSI disk controller and click Next.
Step 15: Select the IDE disk type in the Select a Disk Type window and click Next.
Step 16: In the Select a Disk window, select Create a New Virtual Disk and click Next to create a new disk for a clean operating system installation.
Step 17: In the Specify Disk Capacity window, configure the virtual disk size for Win95 and check the Store virtual disk option to back up as a single file type instead of multiple files on your host and continue.
Step 18: After creating a new virtual machine for Win95, add the ISO file you downloaded to your computer and virtual device.
Step 19: Run the VM by clicking the Power on this virtual machine button and execute the fdisk command in the command line. Then, confirm the extensive disk usage, and when the Fixed Disk Setup Program opens, press Enter on the “Create DOS Partition or Logical DOS Drive” option and then press Enter on the “Create Primary DOS Partition” option.
Step 20: After confirming the maximum size for the Primary DOS Partition, restart the VM. In the meantime, press ESC and boot the VM from CD-ROM.
Step 21: Go to the C drive in the command line and create the WIN95 folder. Then, copy the WIN95 system files from the Windows image file to the folder you started on the C drive.
Step 22: After executing the Setup command, install the Windows 95 system and click on the VM / Install VMware Tools option. When the installation wizard opens, click. Next, select the installation type as Complete to install VM Tools, and restart your VM for the changes to take effect.