Tutorial - Virtual Windows95 for old games

[forcenetix]

@apsco17. the important thing to note is windows 95 doesnt support more than 128 or 256MB of ram. if you add too much ram you get the windows protection error. hope this helps . i had this problem years ago and just registered here to let you know . hahaha. enjoy

[apsco17]

I tried a new install and made sure to pick 128 meg ram, same problem.

Thanks for the suggestion and taking the time to post it for me.

Todd

[forcenetix]

hi, it doesn't support 128MB ram... please try 64MB

[Murf]

Ahh..... Windows 95 can support up to 2GB memory, having said that it depends on what version of Windows 95 and its vcache file had some problems, but can be overcome by tweaking the settings.

A computer running Windows 95 that contains more than 512 megabytes (for example, 768 megabytes) of physical memory (RAM), you may experience one or more of the following symptoms:

• You may be unable to open an MS-DOS session (or command prompt) while Windows is running. Attempts to do so may generate the following error message: There is not enough memory available to run this program.
  Quit one or more programs, and then try again.
  
  
  
• The computer may stop responding (hang) while Windows is starting, or halt and display the following error message: Insufficient memory to initialize windows. Quit one or more memory-resident programs or remove unnecessary utilities from your Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files, and restart your computer
  
  

There is a fix:

Use the MaxFileCache setting in the System.ini file to reduce the maximum amount of memory that Vcache uses to 512 megabytes (524,288 KB) or less. For additional information about how to use the MaxFileCache setting, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 108079

[forcenetix]

ahh... i just remember loooooooong time ago i had the issue on my computer when i added too much RAM... i also used the first edition of windows 95. back then 32MB RAM was like record breaking. hahahah.

[apsco17]

Smurfy,

I used your guide as a road map to load up vmware with win95. I got it working - mostly. It was enough for me to play around with the virtual emulator concept and see that it probably won't get me what I need.

I am using a 16 bit DOS program for my business. The computer I'm using is about 25 years old and if it goes, right now I'm looking at dominos falling that will amount to thousands of dollars in new equipment that will enable my newer computer to conduct downloads from my stores. My XP floppy is a USB, vmware/win95 doesn't recognize it and I need it to load the software program. There are no printers and my wireless brother MFC is probably not going to work with it.

I have a winme computer that's only about 15 years old and hasn't been used in about 7 years, it's still working well and has all of the hardware I need. I'm going to try to uninstall ME and install win95 and the DOS software and use it for my downloads. Since I only use it once or twice a week for 45 mins at a time, I'm hoping it'll buy me another 10 years after which, it won't matter.

Your tutorial and the suggestions that forcenetix was kind enough to suggest enabled me to try out the concept and realize I need a different solution. Thank you both for your time and suggestions, they've been a great help.

Todd

[G2geo94]

Originally Posted by apsco17

I am using a 16 bit DOS program for my business.

Hey there apsco,

If you want a stable work environment that's easier to install, I'd recommend FreeDOS. It comes with a basic program manager GUI as well, and has full support for 16-bit DOS programs.

[The Dude]

Welcome to CTH my friend

[G2geo94]

Thank you. I hope the thread resurrection isn't too much of a bother, I wanted to go ahead and let that guy know about FreeDOS if he was still needing help, and I didn't see any way of messaging him...