Install & Configure Windows 98 Using Oracle VirtualBox
Earlier posts on installing Windows 3.1 and 95 with VirtualBox have been consistently popular since I started this blog. This time the focus is on Windows 98, arguably the most popular version of Windows from a retro PC enthusiast prospective, particularly for gaming.
Based on personal observations I feel it comes down to a few reasons such as:
- relative ease of installation;
- generally runs earlier Windows and DOS games and applications without compatibility issues;
- was well supported by game developers into the 2000s;
- less irritable for power users compared to Windows ME (e.g. Windows ME brought further restrictions to DOS);
- people who only experienced PCs with Windows XP or later, generally can use with a minimal learning curve, who desire to run older games.
Unfortunately VirtualBox once again provides limited support for Windows 98, so the Guest Additions isn’t going to be of use. Also if the intent is gaming where DirectX and 3D acceleration is needed, I’d be more inclined to use PCem to emulate hardware from the era. Personally I built a Pentium III 800 MHz PC for Windows 98 gaming, and it’s brilliant for this. Despite all the mention of gaming, VirtualBox is better suited for applications.
Windows 98 saw two releases over its lifetime, the original RTM in June 1998, followed by the Second Edition (SE) in May 1999. Unless it’s out of curiosity, there’s not really a compelling reason to not go with SE. To understand the differences between the two, I’ll briefly go over the changes.
The RTM release brought together several bits and pieces that were made available for Windows 95 over time. Originally available separately or as part of Windows 95 OSR 2.5, Internet Explorer 4.0 and the Windows Desktop Update (e.g. shell enhancements such as the Quick Launch toolbar) were now integrated. Desktop Themes and utilities offered with Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 were also added, USB support improved, and the introduction of DVD.
ACPI (Advanced Configuration & Power Interface) had also been introduced, though is typically disabled by default upon installation. ACPI provided an open standard that brought about transferring power management across from being dependent on the computer’s BIOS to the operating system itself. Installing Windows 98 with ACPI support is done by entering setup /p j at the DOS Command Prompt, otherwise it requires a registry change after installation.
The Second Edition included Internet Explorer 5.0, and Internet Connection Sharing. Internet Connection Sharing was to allow a small home or office network access the internet via a single PC. Useful at a time when only one PC could be physically connected using a dial-up modem. DirectX was updated from 5.2 to 6.1, introducing the DirectMusic API, whilst Direct3D now took advantage of Intel’s then-new Pentium III processors for 3D tasks. Fonts had also been updated, to accommodate the new Euro currency that came into effect across much of continental Europe. Otherwise the changes were subtle for improving stability and bug fixes.
For this guide you’ll need to have:
- Oracle VirtualBox installed
- Windows 98 Boot Disk (optional) Download
- CD or ISO image of Windows 98
- VBEMP Universal VESA Video Driver Download
Windows 98 also accepts the SciTech Display Doctor video driver that was used in my Windows 95 tutorial with VirtualBox. However, the one used here I prefer out of the two. Developed by Bearwindows and AnaPa Corporation as they call themselves, it’s a stable and no-frills driver, that can also be installed onto Windows 95 and ME. From experience this driver is lighter on resources and allows Windows 98 to shut down correctly. SciTech’s driver tends to cause the virtual machine to freeze up at the “Windows is shutting down” splash screen. The original source location is https://bearwindows.zcm.com.au/vbe9x.htm and is free for personal use. I simply copied the contents of their ZIP file in its entirety into an ISO image for ease of installation.
Here I’m using Oracle VirtualBox 5.2.18, though later upgraded to 5.2.20 on Windows 10.
Setting Up The Virtual Machine
Open up VirtualBox and select New. A Create Virtual Machine dialog box will appear allowing you to select which operating system it will be using for this virtual machine (VM). You may either select the Windows version, or type Windows 98 and the drop-down selection will automatically change. After this, select Next.
The following option now is to choose the amount of RAM. By default as Windows 98 had been selected, the recommended memory size is 64 MB. A historically accurate amount was typically in the range of 16 MB to 128 MB. For this, I went with 128 MB. Select Next.
Having 512 MB or above and Windows 98’s stability becomes flaky with varying results, thanks to memory management (i.e. VCache). This was inherited from Windows 95 and continued with Windows ME. For VirtualBox, I managed to successfully boot with 978 MB without workarounds. Once in gigabyte territory, Windows will simply crash upon start-up claiming there’s insufficient memory.
Now the option is regarding a hard disk for the VM. As we don’t have one yet, we will select the Create a virtual hard disk now option and choose Create. Again as we’ve chosen Windows 98, VirtualBox has suggested the recommended size of the hard disk to be 2 GB. Select VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image) and Dynamically allocated over the following couple of options before choosing the size of the hard disk.
In 1998, hard disk drives peaked at 15 GB capacity. For a desktop PC, capacities of 4.3, 6.4, and 8.4 GB were most frequently seen.
Attempting to create a virtual hard disk at 6.4 GB, VirtualBox threw me an error about not being aligned on a sector boundary. Another attempt at an even 6 GB and it was fine. This quirk comes about from a misalignment with the sector size of your physical drive, in this case having 512-byte sectors. Alternatively repeating the process set at 6.4 GB on a different physical drive with 4 KiB (4,096-byte) sectors, and it was fine. To see whether my physical hard disks had 512- or 4,096-byte sectors, I went to check via Windows 10’s Command Prompt with administrator access. With the command fsutil fsinfo ntfsinfo d: to check Drive D, followed again by the other hard disks, the value for Bytes per Physical Cluster provided confirmation as to why the outcome was different on different drives. Depending on your setup you may not even see this error at all, but if you do, simply choosing a different size for your virtual hard disk is the way to circumvent this if you have no other hard disks to store your virtual machine.
Remaining settings to adjust for your virtual machine include:
- System > Acceleration tab > Deactivate the VT-x/AMD-V and Nested Paging
- Display > Scale Factor > Default is 100%, useful for enlarging low resolution output on our modern resolution displays if desired
- Audio > Audio Controller > Use Sound Blaster 16
- Network > Adapter 1 > Use Bridged Adapter and ensure it’s a PCNET-Fast III
- USB > Set the USB controller to USB 1.1 (USB 2.0 didn’t gain widespread adoption until Windows XP)
Whilst still in the Settings dialog box of your VM, you may mount the Windows 98 CD or ISO image before running it. Once done, select OK to close the dialog box.
Mounting the Windows 98 CD. Use the Host Drive option for a physical disc.
Windows 98 Setup
Start your VM in VirtualBox, and shortly you should see the CD-ROM Startup Menu. Unlike Windows 95, there’s no need to use a floppy boot disk to begin installation. Either press 2 or use the arrow keys to highlight option 2 to proceed booting from the CD.
A second menu appears whether to proceed with Setup, or to boot into DOS with or without CD-ROM support. The first option is highlighted by default, so press Enter. Shortly you will see Windows 98 Setup.
At the Welcome to Setup screen, press Enter. Setup detects the virtual hard disk as having unallocated disk space, in this case the whole disk. Highlight Configure unallocated disk space (recommended) and press Enter. As the capacity is greater than 512 MB, Setup confirms if you wish to enable large disk support. Highlight Yes, enable large disk support and press Enter. In slightly technical terms, large disk support refers to the FAT32 file system, instead of the older FAT file system that had been in use since the 1980s.
Setup states that it will restart your computer, with mention to have the Windows 98 Boot Disk in your floppy disk drive. This actually isn’t required. Upon restart and choosing to boot from CD-ROM, select either one of the Start computer with/without CD-ROM support to access the DOS prompt. The Windows 98 Boot Disk is handy for reformatting the hard disk as FORMAT.COM is not provided when booting from CD.
At the DOS prompt appearing as A:\>, type fdisk and press Enter. The FDISK utility should load, and at first ask to enable large disk support as occurred in Setup. Press Y then Enter to proceed to the main menu. FDISK alerts you at the bottom of the screen that no partitions are set active. Press 2 then Enter to select Set active partition.
At the Set Active Partition screen, you’ll like see only one partition listed for this virtual machine – shown as C: 1. FDISK prompts to enter the partition’s designated number you wish to be active. Press 1 then Enter. The Status column updates to display the letter A to reflect this change. Press Esc repeatedly until you reach the DOS prompt again, then restart the VM.
Run through the startup menus to load Windows 98 Setup again. Now that there’s an active primary partition, Setup will commence formatting as needed for installation. When formatted has completed, press Enter to continue with performing a “routine check”, which is simply ScanDisk checking for any errors on the hard disk.
ScanDisk will complete, and Setup changes from text mode to the GUI portion of Setup. Here’s a series of screenshots through the steps up until this point.
Setting up for Windows 98 installation.
This stage of Setup is intuitive and easy to follow. Unlike Windows 95 Setup, hardware detection is left towards the end. At first, you’ll be prompted to confirm the location to install Windows. Click Next to install to the default, C:\WINDOWS.
Setup begins checking if a previous version of Windows exists, and the available disk space. A possible error to come up here is by using the inappropriate Windows 98 CD (i.e. using the retail Upgrade version on a blank hard disk, when it’s expecting to find either a previous Windows 3.1 or 95 installation).
You will now be greeted with four options on the installation type to proceed with. These options and their outcomes are virtually the same as what was on offer with Windows 95.
The four options are:
- Typical – As it’s named, this was the most common installation pathway that would have Windows 98 installed with many of its bells and whistles. We will go for this option.
- Portable – Similar to a Typical installation, though with some relatively minor changes that includes functionality concerning laptops, i.e. relating to power and battery settings.
- Compact – When disk space was tight, this option could be selected bypassing all the optional components such as games, accessories, etc. that may be installed with a Typical or Portable installation.
- Custom – Allows much greater tweaking of installation and configuration of Windows 98.
With Typical selected, click Next. Select Install the most common components (Recommended), and click Next. Otherwise feel free to customise (e.g. you may wish to include Desktop Themes). I personally tend to remove Online Services and Outlook Express.
Setup proceeds with confirming your computer’s name and the workgroup to be associated to for a server-less network. Enter a more descriptive name if desired, to replace the random alphanumeric characters. WORKGROUP is the default name for a workgroup, so only change this if your workgroup has a different name. Click Next.
You’ll be asked to confirm your location. Based on the country chosen, this would influence Windows 98’s Channel Guide that could appear floating on your Windows desktop. Select your country and click Next. As Setup is now ready to begin file transfer, click Next once more.
As files begin transferring over, a rundown of what’s in store with Windows 98 commences. Now is an opportunity to make yourself a coffee as it takes a few moments. After completion, Setup will display a countdown that it will restart your computer in 15 seconds, unless you hit the Restart Now button. When the VM restarts, you may also leave it alone and wait for the countdown to complete on the default option to boot from the hard disk.
The final stages of the Windows 98 Setup Wizard will appear, requesting your name, to accept the license agreement, and to enter your product key. Hardware detection follows, with yet another restart just as before. This time Setup will only prompt to confirm the date and time, but otherwise finishes off installation. Windows starts up and you’ll be prompted for a network password, due to having the VM set up to include a compatible network card. At this time, you may simply select Cancel. The network passwords here were only intended for accessing resources over your workgroup network, not to be confused with securing your user account. Windows begins to complete the Plug and Play process, by installing drivers for hardware components detected during Setup.
Setup is now complete and directs you to the Windows desktop, displaying the Welcome to Windows 98 window. Below is a continuation of screenshots up until this point. Remember to unmount the Windows 98 CD/ISO also.
Now it’s ready for some optimisations.
Windows 98 Setup to the desktop.
Configuring Video
By default, Windows 98 will appear at a low 640 x 480 resolution with 16 colours, using the basic VGA video driver. Installing the following video driver will allow up to 32-bit colour at a maximum 1,600 x 1,200 resolution – a lot easier on the eyes.
At the Windows desktop, right-click on My Computer and select Properties, to bring up the System Properties dialog box. Select the Device Manager tab to see a list of system components. Hit the plus sign beside Display adapters to expand, now showing Standard PCI Graphics Adapter (VGA). Select on this VGA video adapter, then click Properties to bring up the Properties dialog box. In the Standard PCI Graphics Adapter (VGA) Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab, then click Update Drivers. The Update Device Driver Wizard will appear.
With the wizard appearing, it states that it will search for an updated driver. Click Next. You’ll be asked to search or display a list of drivers to choose from. Select to display a list, and click Next. This option was typically for more advanced users who knew exactly what hardware they were installing.
Update Device Driver Wizard.
You’ll be asked to select the manufacturer and model of your hardware device. Click Have Disk. The Install From Disk dialog box will appear. Now is the time to mount the ISO image of the VBEMP drivers. Once mounted, click Browse, select the CD drive, and direct yourself to the 032mb folder. Select VBEMP.INF and click OK to close this dialog box. The path to copy the files from has then updated. Click OK.
Based on the INF file selected, the Select Device dialog box shows the models of compatible hardware to choose from. However only VGA is an option. Select the radio button for Show all devices to expand the list. From this list, select the XGA model as shown below. Click OK.
Viewing all options from the VBEMP drivers.
Windows will warn you that the driver chosen wasn’t specifically for your piece of hardware, and therefore may not work correctly. Click Yes to proceed, then Next to begin installation. Click Finish once done, followed by Yes to restart the computer (VM).
Once restarted and back to the Windows desktop, the new display settings whilst still at 640 x 480 have now somewhat improved to 256-colour depth. Under the Display Properties within the Settings tab, you’ll know be able to significantly increase colour depth and resolution. Personally I set it to 32-bit colour with an oddball resolution of 1,152 x 864 as it comfortably fits within my 1080p monitor. Once you’ve made your selection, press OK. Windows will note that it will now resize your desktop. Click OK, then click Yes to keep the changes.
You should also find that the performance of the VM will be more responsive after this.
Windows 98 in glorious 32-bit colour.
Sound & Networking
As with Windows 95, Windows 98 detects the Sound Blaster 16 and PCNET-Fast III adapters for sound and networking respectively, out of the box so to speak. Unlike Windows 95 though the TCP/IP protocol is installed by default, so there’s no longer a need to change over from IPX/SPX. Internet connectivity should simply work. When the operating system was new, protocols such as IPX/SPX used on Novell networks, and Banyan Vines were losing prevalence.
Tutorial – Installing Windows 98 Using Oracle VirtualBox
Update: February 2022 – It’s been a few years since I wrote this tutorial and I understand things have probably moved on a bit with VirtualBox and the available drivers etc. but I still think this tutorial mostly holds up.
Personally I’ve not had need of a Windows 98 VM for a while as I’m focusing on DOS gaming. However I can see people have been contibuting some useful comments below in my absense which might help out if you’re getting stuck. Likewise, if you find anything else please comment as I’m sure anyone reading will appreciate further insights that have otherwise been missed.
Following on from previous VirtualBox tutorial, (for Windows 95), this is a step by step guide on how to install Windows 98. For clarity any information boxes describing the mouse cursor capture from Host Machine to Virtual Machine are ignored in the step by step guide.
In order to follow this tutorial the following is required:
- A fully installed version of Oracle VirtualBox. This tutorial uses VirtualBox Version 5.2.6 (for Windows hosts) with the VirtualBox 5.2.6 Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack installed (both can be downloaded from here).
- A copy of Windows 98 (and it’s Licence Key). This can either be an original CD or an ISO image. This tutorial uses an ISO image of Windows 98 Second Edition (Retail).
- A Windows 98 boot disk image (a diskette image can be downloaded from here).
- Auto-Patcher December 2007 Full (downloaded from here). It has been noted that Window Defender (at the time of writing) flags the Auto-Patcher 2008 Upgrade executable file (AP2008UP.EXE) as a Trojan so this file will not be included in this tutorial.
- SciTech Display Doctor Version 7 Beta Driver (an ISO image can be downloaded from here)
- Optional – A fully installed version of Anyburn to create ISO images (download fromhere)
To begin start VirtualBox and click the New icon. 
- Enter a name
- Select the type Microsoft Windows
- Select the version Windows 98
- Click Next
- Select a memory size of 512MB
- Click Next
- Choose Create a virtual hard disk now
- Click Create
- Choose VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)
- Click Next
- Choose Dynamically allocated
- Click Next
- Use the slider to select the size of the virtual drive (for the purpose of this tutorial a size of 8GB was selected)
- Click Create
The VM is now created and is in a powered off state.
With the powered off VM selected click the Settings icon. 
- System > Processor tab – ensure that Enable PAE/NX is checked
- Display > Screen tab – Video Memory: 64MB
- Display > Screen tab – Acceleration: ensure that both Enable 3D Acceleration and Enable 2D Acceleration are checked
- Network > Adapter 1 tab – Attached to: select NAT from the drop down menu. Expanded the Advanced menu below and ensure the Adapter Type is PCnet–PCI II (Am79C970A)
- Click OK
With the VM selected click the Start icon. 
The VM will now power up and ask for the location of a start-up disk. This will be either a Windows 98 CD in a Host Drive or an ISO image . In the case of the latter navigate to the relevant ISO file by clicking on the folder icon to the right and mount the ISO image.
- Click Start
The following error occurs. This is because the Windows 98 disk is not bootable.
In order to boot the machine a boot disk is required. To mount the boot disk image select from the VirtualBox top menu:
- Devices > Floppy Drives > Choose Disk Image… Navigate to, and select, the Windows 98 boot disk image
- Machine > Reset
- Click Reset
The machine now resets and boots with the following message.
- Select 1. Start computer with CD-ROM support and press Enter
At the A: prompt:
- Type fdisk and press E nter
If a hard disk size larger than 512MB had been selected then a message will appear regarding large disk support and enabling the FAT32 file system.
- Select Y and press Enter
- Select 1. Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive and press Enter
- Select 1. Create Primary DOS Partition and press Enter
- Select Y and press Enter
A message will now appear.
From the top menu:
- Machine > Reset
- Click Reset
Once the computer restarts
- Select 1. Start computer with CD-ROM support and press Enter
At the A: prompt:
- Type format c: and press Enter
- Type Y and press Enter
- Add a volume name if required and press Enter
The hard drive is now ready for Windows 98 to be installed.
At the A: prompt:
- Type D: and press Enter
- Type Setup /p j and press Enter
- Press Enter
Scandisk will now run and check the newly formatted hard drive. Once complete the setup will begin.
- Type X
- Select I accept the Agreement
- Click Next
- Enter the Licence Key Number
- Click Next
- Choose the Windows 98 install directory.
- Click Next
- Choose a Setup Type (for the purpose of this tutorial Typical was used)
- Click Next
- Enter a Name and if required a Company
- Click Next
- Choose Install the most common components (recommended)
- Click Next
- Enter a Computer Name , Workgroup and a Computer Description
- Click Next
- Choose a location
- Click Next
- Click Next
- Click Cancel to skip the creation of a startup disk
- Click OK
- Click Next
Windows will now start copying files. Upon completion it will prompt regarding restarting the computer.
Uncapture the mouse from the Virtual Machine (by default, Right Ctrl) and navigate to the VirtualBox menu bar to dismount the boot disk image.
- Devices > Floppy Drives > Remove Disk From Virtual Drive
Return to the Virtual Machine. Click OK
Windows now goes through a automatic cycle of setting up hardware, resets and finalizing settings until the point where it requires further user configuration.
- Select a time zone from the drop down menu
- Click Close
After additional setup Windows will once again reset.
After the computer restarts it will prompt for a username a password. As a password has not been created as part of this tutorial press OK and Windows will begin detecting hardware.
Welcome to Windows 98
- Untick the Show this screen each time Windows 98 starts box
- Press Close
At this point any personalisations within Windows can be made, such as task-bar and start menu setting, folder options and the removal of any unwanted programs. It is then advisable to take a snapshot of the machine using the VirtualBox menu.
- Machine > Take Snapshot
- Enter a Name , Description and press OK
The next stage is to apply the Auto-Patcher December 2007 (Full).
In order to use the Auto-Patcher on the Virtual Machine an image file will need to be created of the executable file. This can be done using AnyBurn or any other imaging software.
Optional – If using AnyBurn:
- Open Anyburn
- Click Create image file from files/folders
- Click Add
- Navigate to and select the Auto-Patcher executable file ( AP2007.EXE ), click Add
- Click Label , enter a name , press OK
- Click Next >
- Enter an image filename (add .iso to after the name)
- Ensure the image file type is Standard ISO File
- Click Create Now
- Once the image has been created click Close
Mount the Auto-Patcher ISO image using the VirtualBox menu.
- Devices > Optical Drives > Remove Disk From Virtual Drive ( Force Unmount if necessary)
- Devices > Optical Drives > Choose Disk Image… Navigate to, and select, the Auto-Patcher ISO image
Return to Windows and navigate to the Auto-Patcher installer using the Windows icons.
- Double click My Computer , followed by (D:)
- Double lick the Ap2007 icon to begin the installation
- Click Next
- Chose an install directory
- Click Next
- Click Next
- Choose the Additional icons if required
- Click Next
- Click Install
After the installation has completed ensure the Launch Auto-Patcher for Windows 98se check box is ticked and click Finish (and close any background windows such as My Computer and D: )
The Auto-Patcher now starts.
- Press A
- Press I
The Auto-Patcher begins the long process of working through numerous cycles of updates and restarts, the only interaction needed during this stage it to enter a username (and a password if one has been created) and press OK after each restart. Eventually when it completes the following message will appear.
- Press any key to exit
- Read the log file and then save and/or close
It is now advisable to take a second snapshot of the machine using the VirtualBox menu.
- Machine > Take Snapshot
- Enter a Name , Description and press OK
As the display is currently limited to 640 x 480 VGA, so the next step is to update the video drivers with the SciTech Display Doctor Version 7 Beta Driver.
Optional – It’s worth noting that some of the restarts during this installation may cause the computer to hang. If this happens simply force a reset by using Machine > Reset on the VirtualBox menu.
Start by mounting the SciTech Display Doctor ISO image using the VirtualBox menu.
- Devices > Optical Drives > Remove Disk From Virtual Drive (Force Unmount if necessary)
- Devices > Optical Drives > Choose Disk Image… Navigate to, and select, the SciTech Display Doctor ISO image
Return to Windows and navigate to the SciTech Display Doctor installer using the Windows icons.
- Double click My Computer , followed by Sdd7 (D:)
- Double lick the scitech-displ icon to begin the installation
- Click Next
- Click Next
- Check the tick box and click Next
- Select the Express Installation and click Next
- Click Start Install
- Select Restart Computer Now and click Finish
Once the computer restarts the following message appears.
- Click OK (twice) and wait for the SciTech Display Doctor to load
- From the left menu select Properties
- Click on the Monitor not selected! hyperlink (under Monitors)
- Choose a Super VGA resolution.
- Click Apply
- From the left menu select Properties
- Click on the Standard PCI Graphics Adapter (VGA) hyperlink
- Click on the Standard PCI Graphics Adapter (VGA) hyperlink (under Windows Driver)
- Choose the SciTech Nucleus Driver
- Click Apply
- Click Yes to restart the computer
- Minimise the SciTech Display Doctor
- Click the Windows Start button (in the bottom left corner of the screen)
- Navigate to Settings > Control Panel
- Double click Display
- Select the Settings tab
- Use the Screen area slider to select a new resolution
- Click OK
- Click Yes to restart the computer
- Click the Windows Start button (in the bottom left corner of the screen)
- Navigate to Settings > Control Panel
- Double click Display
- Select the Settings tab
- Use the drop down to choose the Colors
- Click OK
- Click OK
- Click Yes to restart the computer
The computer should now restart in the chosen resolution. The next step is to register the SciTech Display Doctor before the 21 day trial period expires.
- Double click My Computer, followed by Sdd7 (D:)
- Double click Serial Key to display the name and serial
- Go to the SciTech Display Doctor (it should have automatically opened after the last reboot)
- From the left menu select Home
- Click the Unregistered hyperlink
- Enter the Name (CRCSCKnight) and Registration Number (0B5E-12B4-A8A4-0B)
- Click Register
- Click Exit
After registering the SciTech Display Doctor a change needs to be made to the registry in order to prevent the application opening each time the computer starts.
Windows 98 v.2222A [VirtualBox] [OVA-template ] x86
350 Мб
— свободное место внутри образа занулено. Исходный ova-образ стал сильно меньше весить.
— Многие программы давно не обновляются и уязвимы !!
Точно — IE, Flash6, WinRAR.
НЕ ИСПОЛЬЗУЙТЕ ТАКИЕ СИСТЕМЫ ДЛЯ ВАЖНЫХ ЗАДАЧ.
1\ :]
— FreeCommander 2009b
— DOS BOX 0.73.4
— Notepad++
— 7-Zip 9.20
— UnixTools
— Internet Explorer 5.0
— Opera 9.64
— Mozilla 1.8-a4
— xnView 1.98.5
— DeCSS
— Small CD Writer 1.33
— WinDjView 0.35
— WinSCP
— WinAMP 2.80
— LightAlloy 4.0
— ACD See 1.0
— SysInternals Tools (regmon, procexp, filemon)
— md5 / sha1 / sha256 *sum
— TYPSoft 1.1 FTP Server
— HFS 2.3 micro-webserver
— Cisco TFTP Server
— OllyDebug 1.10
— ASMD Base 1.14
— WinRAR 3.42
— Flash Player 6
Чего нет:
— сторонних драйверов NUSB
— сторонних приблуд для особо больших дисков / памяти
— кодеков и кодек-паков для видео
— твикеров и оптимайзеров
— антивирусов и файерволов
— VBox Guest Addons
— просмотрщика PDF
— офиса и прочей тяжелятины
Я считаю это лишним в данной сборке, и более
рискованным для стабильности работы.
Win98 — хрупкая ОС, ставьте сами, если хотите.
Если вам не нравится консольный вывод при вызове ярлыка «Мой IP», поменяйте его на ссылку к winipcfg — это GUI-утилита для удобного и наглядного просмотра / перезапроса IP-адреса.
Предустановленный образ VirtualBox для Windows 98 SE — загрузка и использование
Советы и хитрости
Если вы всё ещё являетесь поклонником Windows 98 и хотите, чтобы она была установлена на компьютерах с Windows 10, Linux или даже macOS, вы можете установить её с помощью VirtualBox. Зачем вам сейчас нужна Windows 98? Это зависит от вас и цели. Тем не менее, некоторые люди любят играть в несколько старых игр (основанных на DOS) и использовать устаревшие программы. Ещё одна хорошая идея — сохранить в виртуальной среде коллекцию работающих старых операционных систем Windows.
Я уверен, что вы даже можете показать своим детям / друзьям, чтобы удивить их, самую старую ОС, которую мы использовали с 1998 по 2002 год.
Чтобы сэкономить ваше время, которое связано с загрузкой файла CD / ISO и выполнением шагов по установке (кстати, установка занимает больше времени, чем Windows 10), вот предустановленный образ VirtualBox для Windows 98 SE. Это просто заархивированный файл размером 64 МБ; вы можете легко загрузить, импортировать и использовать его в Oracle VirtualBox.
Примечание. Поскольку VirtualBox не поддерживает гостевые дополнения в этой старой версии ОС Windows, мы не сможем использовать другие расширенные функции. Вы должны использовать правую клавишу Ctrl, чтобы освободить курсор от ВМ.
Мы создали этот образ с главного компьютера с Windows 10. Он должен работать в других операционных системах, таких как Linux и macOS, если у вас есть VirtualBox и правильно настроены параметры виртуальной машины.
Сводка предустановленного образа
- Установленная версия: Windows 98 SE
- Лицензия / ключ: уже активирован. Вы найдёте множество рабочих ключей в Интернете.
- Дисплей: Установлен универсальный видеодрайвер VBEMP VESA. Это позволяет виртуальной машине иметь 32-битные истинные цвета и достаточное разрешение пикселей внутри виртуальной машины.
- Звук и сеть: Работает «из коробки».
- Обновления: для Windows 98 SE доступно несколько неофициальных обновлений Windows. Но мы их не установили. Если вы хотите установить, мы настоятельно рекомендуем сделать снимок виртуальной машины, прежде чем продолжить.
Как использовать предустановленную Windows 98 SE на VirtualBox (хост Windows 10)
1) Загрузите предустановленный образ. Это просто файл виртуального жёсткого диска. Вам нужно распаковать его в то место, где вы будете хранить файлы этой виртуальной машины. После распаковки вы должны получить файл Win98.vdi объёмом 2 ГБ.
2) Создайте новую виртуальную машину. Установите 1024 МБ ОЗУ.
3) На следующем экране вместо создания нового жёсткого диска выберите «Использовать существующий файл виртуального жёсткого диска» и просмотрите извлечённый файл.
4) Добавьте в область выбора жёсткого диска и выберите файл, как показано ниже.
5) Нажмите кнопку создания.
6) Перед включением виртуальной машины измените следующие настройки.
В разделе «Система» -> «Процессор» -> установите флажок «Включить PAE / NX».
Дисплей -> Экран -> Видеопамять до 64 МБ, также отметьте галочкой «Включить 3D-ускорение»
Остальные настройки оставьте без изменений.
7) Запустите виртуальную машину сейчас.
Вы должны попасть на экран входа в систему. У него нет пароля, нажмите ввод или ОК.
8) Сделайте снимок перед тем, как вносить какие-либо изменения.
Теперь у вас есть работающая Windows 98 SE на вашем компьютере с Windows 10 от VirtualBox с рабочим звуком, сетью и 32-битной цветовой схемой.
Текущий размер диска составляет 2 ГБ, и он был установлен как фиксированный для повышения производительности и использования в будущем. В большинстве случаев на нём достаточно места на диске для установки всего, что вам нужно, на виртуальной машине Windows 98. Если 2 ГБ недостаточно, вы можете добавить ещё один файл VDI на виртуальную машину и подключить его как другой раздел.
Мы надеемся, что вам понравится эта ОС Win 98 SE. Сообщите нам, как этот предустановленный образ помог вам и с какими трудностями вы столкнулись при его импорте и использовании в Oracle VirtualBox.