Installing and running Windows 95 on Proxmox

[shodan]

Hello,

Today I am supposed to change the break pads on my car.

So for some reason I decided to try and run Windows 95 in my proxmox computer instead.

Ostensibly, this is to run a very very old version of original winamp and screen record the older AVS visualization of some music.


So this thread will serve to document this effort, I expect probability of success at 3%.

If you ABSOLUTELY cannot wait to use windows 95, right now, in your browser then
If the great library has not yet been burnt down in your age, you can try this

https://archive.org/details/win95_in_dosbox
https://www.pcjs.org/blog/2015/09/21/
https://copy.sh/v86/?profile=windows95 (this is the best one, sound internet even works)
and this is just for fun https://www.windows93.net/

I recommend listening to this song in another tab while continuing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwgSmXkIQf8

Ok time for the brass tacks

 

[shodan]

So, first things first, getting that heirloom ISO
https://winworldpc.com/product/windows-95/osr-2

Next, that ISO is not El torito compliant, meaning, it won't boot

So it takes a boot floppy image

I am going to try these in order
https://winworldpc.com/product/microsoft-windows-boot-disk/95-osr2x
https://archive.org/details/microsoft-windows-95_202404
https://winworldpc.com/product/microsoft-windows-boot-disk/98-se

Next I asked chatgpt, how to add floppy drive to proxmox VM

It said

• Click on Hardware.
• Click on Add and select Floppy Disk.

Which is a problem because



There is no such option in the hardware menu

According to this

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19961095/os-development-booting-from-floppy-drive-using-qemu


Qemu does appear to support floppy booting

I have compiled a few floppy related thread in this forum

https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/adding-floopy-disk-to-vm.20855/
https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/floppy-patch.10910/
https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/floppy-support-hack.3711/
https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/floppy.41669/
https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/including-a-floppy-image-into-vm.5488/
https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/request-floppy-image-support.12592/

 

[wigor]

Maybe nested virtualization and a VirtualBox VM in Promxox can run Windows 95.
I never get Win95 running virtual, but did not try hard. I have run Win98 and NT in Virtualbox (not nested till now).

For networking in old machine i had to use the pcnet in the VM.conf, not supported by the gui.
net0: pcnet=00:01:.....



good luck!

 

[LnxBil]

Maybe nested virtualization and a VirtualBox VM in Promxox can run Windows 95.
I never get Win95 running virtual, but did not try hard. I have run Win98 and NT in Virtualbox (not nested till now).

I did this, too (years ago).