Windows 9x / 2000 / XP retro tutorial
- Use VMware Workstation
If you are using newer processors (AMD Zen 1 and Intel Rocket Lake), running Windows 9x on VMware may encounter errors. Because Windows 9x is using non-standard TLB flush method.
Solution is download Patcher9x:
https://github.com/JHRobotics/patcher9x
For Windows 9x in VMware, Windows 98 SE is recommended, one can install SoftGPU for gaming.
For Windows 2000 in VMware, Windows 2000 SP4 is recommended, and please install KB835732 before install VMware Tools.
It’s recommended to disable Hyper-V features (including Memory integrity) if you want to run Windows 9x / 2000 / XP in VMware. Use bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchttype off command (then reboot) can temporary disable Hyper-V.
- Use VirtualBox
Use VirtualBox to create Windows 9x VM, then install Patcher9x and SoftGPU in Windows 9x VM.
It’s recommended to disable Hyper-V features (including Memory integrity) if you want to run Windows 9x / 2000 / XP in VirtualBox. Use bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchttype off command (then reboot) can temporary disable Hyper-V.
- Use 86Box / PCem
But 86Box / PCem is an emulator, so 86Box / PCem may has performance issues. To emulate Pentium II in 86Box / PCem, the Rocket Lake / Zen 2 (and later) host CPU is recommended.
- Buy a real Pentium III / 4 PC
Recommended configuration:
Pentium III + IDE SSD (≤128GB) + IDE DVD
Pentium 4 + SATA SSD (≤128GB) + SATA DVD
CF card (≤128GB) + CF to IDE adapter
mSATA SSD (≤128GB) + mSATA to IDE adapter
The last hardware support Windows 95 is 815 + Pentium III + GeForce 6000.
The last hardware support Windows 98 is 865 + Pentium 4 (Pentium 4 ≤ 2.0GHz) + GeForce 6000.
The last hardware support Windows 2000 is 965 + Core 2 + GeForce 7000.
- Software
The last VLC support Windows 9x is version 0.8.4.
The last Firefox and Thunderbird support Windows 9x are version 2.0.
