Running Windows 95 in DOSBox

24) File Transfer Methods

I will discuss two methods for accomplishing file transfer between your virtual hard drive and your host file system.

Method 1 is the use of the computer management tool available in Windows Vista, 7 and 8. I cannot verify that it will work correctly in Vista or 8. Method 2 only uses DOSBox, so should be a universal solution.

Method 1: Computer Management ￫

Method 2: XCOPY in DOSBox ￫

25) Boot into DOS

Start DosBox Daum and your autoexec should give the same results as we save in the last section of the guide.

Boot into DOS by typing "boot -l a". This should give you the same message and lead you into the same screen we have seen previously.

26) Change to your C: Drive

Now that we are booted into DOS, we want to view our C: drive.

To swap to the C: drive simply type "C:" at the command prompt. You may also type "dir" to view basic information and contents of your drive. At this point it should only be the folder containing the Windows 95 CD.

27) Enter the Windows 95 CD

Switch into the folder containing your Windows 95 CD by changing directory. This is done via the "cd" or change directory command as shown.

Your prompt should now say something similar to "C:\WIN95CD", showing that you have successfully changed directories.

28) Installing Windows 95

You must execute the setup program for windows 95. This is located in the primary directory on the Windows 95 CD. Thus once you are in that directly you can begin simply by typing "setup" or "setup.exe".

However, we will be using a few parameters to make the installation easier and faster to complete. Type "setup.exe /nm /is" and it should begin immediately.

29) Follow the Prompts

The Windows 95 was designed to be simple and easy to follow and complete. For the sake of this guide I will point out a few areas and make some recommendations.

Simply hit continue to begin the installation.

30) Directory Choice

This is best simply left at the default option of  "C:\Windows".

There is no reason to change this setting for our purposes.

31) Setup Options

While not necessary, I would recommend you use the "Custom" choice. You may choose one of the others if you wish. It won't make much of a difference.

You can, however, eliminate some of the less useful programs by choosing custom.

32) Authentication

Simply enter the authentication key for your copy of the operating system. Note there are universal keys available, in the event you no longer have yours available.

There are ways to circumvent this authentication. I will not be going into that in this guide, but you may locate this information on your own if you choose.

33) Computer Analysis

When prompted to let Setup analyze and detect your hardware, the best option is to simply allow Setup to automatically detect by selecting "Yes (recommended)"

34) Computer Analysis con't

Make these selections when prompted.

At the this time you cannot utilize the emulated CD-ROM while you are in the Windows 95 operating system. This is a result of currently incomplete IDE emulation.

ATTENTION: Occasionally you will see extreme slow down at around this point. Simply wait a minute or two for it to pass. The Windows Setup is running some checks in the background.

35) Selecting Components

If you chose to go the Custom installation route, you will be prompted with the ability to pick which programs you want to install.

This is entirely up to you, you may pick all of the programs, none of the programs, or anything inbetween. Explore the menus and see what might be interesting. It won't affect our install much, if at all.

36) Verify Computer Settings

Setup will correctly identify all of your emulated hardware. There is nothing to change here.

You may choose to look through this list to get an idea of what is being emulated. Again there is nothing to change here.

37) Start-up Disk

Be sure that you do not make a start-up disk. You already have one of these, it is your Boot Disk.

If you choose yes it will simply overwrite your 622c.img boot disk. While the disk it creates will be less effective, you can simply re-extract the original boot disk image.

38) File Copy

Wait for the file copy to complete, this should only take a few minutes at most. Continue when prompted.

39) Switching DosBox Versions

Please notice: we have switched from DosBox Daum to the official DosBox 0.74 release.

Copy your hard drive image from the Daum folder into the 0.74 folder for ease of use. This switch is only temporary!

40) Preparing for the First Boot

You can manually enter the imgmount line. We will only be booting into Windows using the the official release 0.74 twice.

If you have used a different size disk or disk name, please adjust those accordingly. Boot the operating system using the command "boot -l c"

41) The Final Setup

Enter a user name, you may enter a password if you wish. If you do not enter a password you will not be prompted each . I recommend only entering a user name.

Please note that your mouse (at this point) will simply be a black square. Navigate with it as best you can. We will fix this shortly, it results from certain shortcomings within the emulation itself.

42) Time Zone

Pick your time zone. You will have noticed by now that the screen isn't displaying  "correctly". Navigate as best you can.

If prompted for printer setup, simply select no or cancel. You have no need to install a printer.

43) Remount and Reboot

Your system will restart, or attempt to restart. If it does not successfully restart, simply close DosBox and start it again. (Short-cut to force a close: Alt + F9)

Enter your imgmount and boot commands as before. This is the last time we will boot using the official 0.74 release.

44) Welcome to Windows 95

Simply close the Welcome dialogue box by hitting the "Close" button.

Naturally you will immediately notice the screen is displaying very poorly. This is OK! We are going to solve this problem now.

45) Solving the Problem

Right click on your desktop and go into properties. We will change the color depth.

Our display corruption is a result of a less than complete bios resulting in unhandled XGA calls, at least without the proper video drivers installed.

46) Changing Color Depth

Go to the "Settings" tab at the top of the screen.

We want a 16 color palette with an an area of 640x480. For now this will allow us to actively use the interface and install better drivers.

47) I Can See Clearly Now

You will observe a usable display at this point.

Congratulations! You are now running a most basic form of Windows 95.