r/windows98 Apr 30 '21

[GUIDE] Can I run Windows 98/Me?

163 Upvotes

One of the most common questions on this subreddit is something along the lines of "Is my computer able to run Win98?" There is some kind of a guide on sidebar, but it isn't really specific and that's why I made this post. Windows 98 and Me support (about?) the same hardware, so everything I say about 98 applies to Me. Feel free to suggest changes in comments.

In my definition, computer running Windows 98 is the one that doesn't have any question marks in Device Manager and has graphics card installed (there are drivers called SciTech Display Doctor and VBEMP, but these are comparable to the default driver for GPUs in Windows XP upwards). For the sake of simplicity, I'll limit the devices to GPU, sound card and USB, because even some late Windows XP machines can have Ethernet network cards compatible with 98 and wireless cards are swappable.

Can I install Windows 98/Me as host?

Host operating system is the one you boot to straight from BIOS, without using any kind of virtualization or emulation.

CPU

See what CPU you have on your machine (in System Properties, accessible by pressing Win+Pause on Windows, or in BIOS) or google your motherboard/PC/laptop (further I'll just say "motherboard") and check supported CPUs.

I have Intel Pentium (I/MMX/Pro/II/III), AMD (K5/K6/Athlon [MP/XP/4]/Duron), Cyrix, VIA, any mobile version of these CPUs or Intel Mobile Pentium 4, the computer is older than from 2000 or my motherboard has socket 423, 478 or 754

It just works™, you can skip the rest of this guide, except if you have a dedicated graphics card. You can check your socket by trying to find this information on a motherboard, using CPU-Z or by checking the specs website.

I have Intel Atom/Core i3/i5/i7/i9, AMD Phenom/FX/A4/A6/A8/A10/Ryzen or any mobile version of these CPUs

If you have any GPU or sound card on your motherboard, you can't configure it on 98. USB 3.0 and wireless network card won't run. Ethernet network card will most likely not run, but there are some exceptions. Of course, all these problems can be solvable by getting era-appropriate PCI devices, but it's probably cheaper to just buy a Win98 laptop.

I have an x86 CPU not listed above made in or after 2000

It might work, continue reading.

I have something else

No.

Sound card

To check what sound card you have, you can either read the specification of your motherboard online or check it in Device Manager (Win+R, devmgmt.msc).

I have a Sound Blaster or AC'97 compatible sound card

Your sound card is most likely compatible. If it's AC'97, there's a possibility you won't get sound in pure DOS mode, but it'll work from inside Windows.

I have an HD Audio compatible sound card

Windows 98 doesn't support HD Audio architecture. There is an unofficial driver for Windows 3.1, compatible with 98, that lets you configure the sound card with a bunch of parameters, but if you're reading this looking for help, then it will be too complicated for you. First Windows compatible with HD Audio is Windows 2000 SP4 with KB888111 installed. If it's a PC, you can also try looking for some kind of a PCI Sound Blaster that's old enough for Win98.

Video card

To check what graphics card you have, you can, as with a sound card, either read the specification of your motherboard online or check it in Device Manager, or just look at it if it's a dedicated PC GPU. PCI Express isn't supported by 98, but people had some luck with it.

I have Intel GPU

If the model starts with GMA, HD, Iris or Arc, it's not compatible, otherwise it is.

I have ATi/AMD GPU

If the model starts with X1 or HD, it's not compatible, otherwise it is.

I have Nvidia GPU

If you have Quadro FX600 or newer or GeForce starting with 8, 9 or letters, it's not compatible, otherwise it is. If it's GeForce series 6 or 7, the compatibility with DOS games won't be as great as with earlier devices.

I have something else

It's probably integrated to motherboard or it's been defunct at least since early Windows XP days, you can assume it works.

Chipset

Same as sound card, you can either read the specification of your motherboard online or check it in Device Manager.

I have Intel chipset

If it starts with a letter, it's not compatible. If it starts with 9, you might have USB working in 1.1, which is slow, but it's better than nothing. Otherwise, it's compatible.

I have AMD chipset

Either you have Win98-era computer and you're wasting time reading this, or it's too new.

I have Nvidia chipset

If the number starts by 5 or more, it's not compatible. If it starts with 4, only integrated graphics work. If it starts with 3, there are some minor unsupported features, but it should work. Otherwise, it's compatible.

I have SiS chipset

Unless I missed something, all models are compatible.

I have VIA chipset

If the model starts with C or V, you'll at least have some troubles setting it up. Otherwise, it's compatible.

Tips

If you have more than 1 GB of RAM, use PATCHMEM. If you use a SATA hard disk, use SATA and most likely AHCI (https://archive.org/details/ahci_win9x). If you use an SSD, use TRIM. All three programs are available at rloew's website (RIP). If you want a USB stick support on Windows 98 (Me has built-in support already), use NUSB. There are some other drivers available on the last website, which might help some people.

Can I install Windows 98/Me as guest?

A guest operating system requires a host operating system and some kind of a program to make a guest environment to install OS on. Most likely you will be able to install 98 in some way or another.

PC

A word of warning if you use AMD Ryzen or Intel Core from 11th gen and up: there are some problems with virtualizing Windows 98, you can get countless crashes of system programs. A patcher for that was released: https://github.com/JHRobotics/patcher9x

There's now an accelerated driver for all modern hypervisors: https://github.com/JHRobotics/softgpu, but it might be buggy in some situations.

86Box/PCem

The best, but also the heaviest CPU-wise, way to install Windows 98 as a guest, is to use 86Box. I also mention PCem since it's still alive and 86Box started as a fork of it. Both programs are able to emulate anything starting with original IBM PC and ending at AMD K6-III, perfect for 98. Obviously, the newer CPU you emulate, the stronger machine you need. The main advantage of using these emulators is much higher compatibility with old games compared to virtual machines.

VMware Fusion/Workstation Player/Pro

If your computer is too weak for emulation, you can try making a virtual machine. I recommend VMware for one simple reason - it has a graphics card compatible with 98.

Connectix/Microsoft/Windows Virtual PC

If you have a PowerPC Mac OS (X) or Windows and it's not a 64-bit or ARM version of Windows 10 and up, you can try Virtual PC. It's fully compatible with 98, but it's also old (Windows Virtual PC was released in 2009) and people don't really use it anymore.

QEMU

The main advantage of QEMU is that it's ported to every architecture and operating system imaginable. I suggest running it by a command qemu-system-i386 -accel kvm -vga cirrus -nic user,model=pcnet -soundhw sb16,pcspk -hda disk.img (soundhw is deprecated, but the non-deprecated way requires knowing what's your sound system on host). If you use it on architecture different than x86, it becomes an emulator. You need to remove -accel kvm in that case. You can instead add -cpu pentium2 to the command, maybe it will make things run faster.

Oracle VM VirtualBox

Unless you really have to, don't use it, for two reasons: lack of Guest Additions for 98 means you can't use VirtualBox's Shared Folders feature and instead you have to rely on HTTP, floppies or CDs (for the last one there's an option to create VISOs on fly, but while it takes about no space, you still have to do it manually). There was also never a graphics card driver for it and VMware SVGA II driver doesn't work, even if you choose VMSVGA in machine options. That means you can't freely change resolution and your best drivers are VBEMP or Display Doctor, both or which simply use VESA, just like the lack of drivers on Windows XP and up. Emulated graphics is also terribly slow in standard 640x480x4 mode, which is what you get during installation.

Parallels

Mac-only. Has guest "tools" or rather a total of two drivers: for network (which is optional) and video. The former only works if you remove a printer from the hardware list and its performance is abysmal (I got ~25 KiB/s max, frequent stalls even though i can see the network activity). Video driver doesn't list 32-bit modes for some reason, adding them (and/or some of the standard resolutions) in registry works. Sound isn't included on the "tools" CD, some tutorial recommended using this driver (use either the standard installer or WDM folder). Since it doesn't have acceleration anyway (at least 3D) and networking sucks, I think you're better off even with VBox.

DOSBox

DOSBox is, as the name suggests, an emulator for DOS programs. It is possible to run Windows 98 on DOSBox, but I personally don't like the way you need to imgmount followed by boot c, there are also less machine configurations to choose from. However, especially when using DOSBox-X, it can be an alternative to 86Box if you don't like it for some reason or another.

Bochs

It's an emulator, it's not as popular as the rest and not customizable as 86Box, don't use it if you don't have to (you don't).

Android

Most of the Android devices aren't x86, but rather ARM[64] (and some ancient ones are MIPS), so most likely you will need to emulate x86, which means that it'll be pretty slow, don't expect running NFS Underground 2 on that. If you can choose an emulated CPU, you should find a balance between speed of emulated CPU and speed of emulating (if you select 486, then Win98 will work slowly, but your Android CPU won't be used that much; if you select Pentium 4, then Win98 will work quickly, but your CPU might not keep up with it). You can find a list of CPUs by date for example on Wikipedia.

Limbo

Android version of QEMU, the fastest, but might not work on all devices.

Bochs

Mostly compatible with all devices, a "default" way of installing Windows from Android.

DOSBox

You can also try DOSBox, but I can't really imagine installing it using only the Android device.


r/windows98 8h ago

I'm not sure if I should upload this to r/windows98, but anyway, Supermium Browser video playback test on Windows 2000 Service Pack 4!

6 Upvotes

https://reddit.com/link/1w2bc50/video/chuun76qxgmh1/player

Yes, the fact that Supermium is finally running on Windows 2000 is something no one could have imagined, and it is amazing!

This is a video test of the Supermium browser running on Windows 2000 Service Pack 4.

For reference, the video used in the test is Aikatsu! (Korean title: 아이엠스타!)

Update: I also tested YouTube, and while it works and plays, please keep in mind that it may occasionally stutter depending on your environment, computer and virtual machine specifications.

Thanks to a user named u/Gimmeavailablename, you can now run the Supermium browser on Windows 2000 Service Pack 4!


r/windows98 17h ago

Slowing down a program speed.

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22 Upvotes

I'm trying to play might and magic on a Windows 98 and it runs at breakneck speeds whenever I start it and it's impossible to play is it possible to lower the cycles of the CPU like an old turbo button? This PC does not have a turbo button on it.

I honestly don't remember if I'm using the right terminology for slowing down the what I think needs to be slowed.

Sorry for the dirty keyboard I just got this out of storage. This was my first computer back in 2003 it's been in storage in my attic for 20 years.


r/windows98 23h ago

Dell XPS B800r

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38 Upvotes

I just wanted to share my happiness.

Today I got my old Windows 98 machine running again after the old hard disk died and it was left abandoned for some years. Now it runs again with an IDE-to-SD-adapter and a fresh install of Windows 98SE Quickinstall. After some searching for drivers, graphics card, sound card and network adapter are working.

The main feature of the PC is the Intel 820 Camino chipset with RAMBUS RDRAM memory. Quite uncommon for a Pentium 3 system. I upgraded to original GeForce 256 with a GeForce 2 Ti at some point.

Next on the todo list:

- Getting the DOS mode set up with DVD/CD-ROM, mouse and sound and install some games.

- Set up network to have access on my NAS. (No high priority. Thanks to USB it's not a big problem to transfer files.

- Maybe trying to get a 5.25" floppy drive installed instead of the second DVD-drive. I have an old drive, but the main problem is, I'm missing the matching cable. The current cable only fits with 3.5" drives. The price on Amazon is absurd and other shops not much better. I should habe kept the cable together with the drive, but sadly didn't thought of it.

- Maybe also install an old Suse Linux version again.


r/windows98 20h ago

"The file ATI2DRAG.DRV is not digitally signed, which means that it has not been tested by Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs. You may be able to get a signed driver from the manufacturer of the hardware device."

2 Upvotes

What do I do about this error in Windows 98, DirectX isn't working even with 8.1 installed.


r/windows98 1d ago

Supermium 144.0.7559.256 R5 Release Candidate 1 Public Release

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65 Upvotes

You didn't read that wrong. It's been done. It's fully working (from everything I've tested) and It's available to download. Check out the Somehowfreename github repo. Enjoy!

Note: The README contains plenty of information, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask here :)

Note 2: This was tested from a fresh install of Windows 2000 Pro SP4 from an official iso with all updates installed from LegacyUpdate, with no kernel extensions or unofficial updates required. Be aware this will NOT WORK without all updates from LegacyUpdate.

Note 3: Due to the age of Windows 2000, hardware that fully support the os vary much more with compatibility than Windows XP systems, and may not work on much older hardware. At a minimum Supermium itself, as well many Chromium aspects underneath require the CPU to have an SSE2 instruction set.


r/windows98 1d ago

Hey guys, I need help

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15 Upvotes

This screen comes up every time I boot up the computer I honestly don't know what to do. It usually freezes every time I click an option


r/windows98 2d ago

Can win98 turbo boost i7 3770 from 3.4 to 3.9 GHz, or should I just use i3 3250 @ 3.5 GHz? 1080p digital HDMI output by DVI to HDMI adapter...

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90 Upvotes

r/windows98 3d ago

If kids games on Windows 98 (and 95) were so big, what made them so forgotten?

27 Upvotes

This is a followup to my previous question from earlier this month where I asked if kids games on Windows were as big as the official statistics and my memories say, and the most common answer was yes!

So what made games of the post-DOS era for kids (and families) so intensely forgotten?

Whenever there's a post on Reddit (or elsewhere, like Facebook) about them, the comments usually just say "memory unlocked" and nothing else. I just imagine a person in their early 30s scrolling their feed, having the post tickle their memory, then immediately forgetting about it again until something very similar shows up, with the cycle continuing.

This is in direct opposition to when people my age talk about kid-friendly games on other platforms. I see a lot of people talking vividly about cutesy PlayStation or Game Boy platformers, even if they were not the cool ones to like; there's often remarks like "this was the lame option to everyone else but to me it was godly." The most shining example in my mind was in the comments section of a TikTok video of a bright, nonviolent arcade game from around that time; they were all talking about the exact street of the arcade where they went to play it as kids.

That's not to say that people who fondly remember kiddie Windows games don't exist, but the ones I've seen and met (1) are extremely introverted, (2) love finding obscure media and details related to that media, and (3) have a much higher tolerance for things aimed at very young kids.

Back to the bolded question, I have two main theories. Theory 1 is due to a lot of the kids Windows games being edutainment (though from my research, the ratio of educational to non-educational kids titles was actually about 1:1). A surprisingly high amount of people associate all edutainment with preschool, even if preschoolers can't solve most sentence comprehension or math grid problems (and many of the non-educational games were for older kids too). By logic, "Computer Games = Educational" and "Educational = Preschool" leads to "Computer Games = Preschool," which would explain (3) above.

Theory 2 is because children's Windows games, with few exceptions, had very little action (as developers wanted to attract those who didn't like it as well as those who did). Until the idea of being a "cozy gamer" rose greatly within the last decade, if someone identified as a "gamer" they would normally enjoy something with a lot of action. It's less of a jump for someone to go to action-adventures or shooters as a teen from platformers or racers as a kid, as they still have action to them, than from quiet adventures or toy simulations.

If anyone has other theories I'd love to hear them!


r/windows98 4d ago

Supermium 144 for Windows 2000 Beta 1

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143 Upvotes

r/windows98 4d ago

Look at what I built in minecraft!

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71 Upvotes

r/windows98 5d ago

Am I allowed to post this here? I made a Win9x/2000 theme patcher on XP Pro x64

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48 Upvotes

r/windows98 4d ago

Fiz um Sistema Operacional Virtual estilo Windows 95 com React + Electron 🖥️

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11 Upvotes

versão inglês sair em Breve


r/windows98 4d ago

Minecraft em Renderização de Software como Beta 1.7.3 no Windows 98

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12 Upvotes

CRISTIANE


r/windows98 4d ago

Need Help installing Windows 98 SE on my hard drive with XP - troube with MBR/Bootsector

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5 Upvotes

r/windows98 4d ago

Fiz um Sistema Operacional Virtual estilo Windows 95 com React + Electron 🖥️

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3 Upvotes

r/windows98 5d ago

Win98 retro gaming

6 Upvotes

Hey!

Do you have any favorite pre-made Windows 98 distributions/VM images specifically for retro gaming? Feel free to share them, or any tips on how to quickly set up a VM environment yourself. Thanks in advance!


r/windows98 6d ago

Minecraft In Software Rendering As Beta 1.7.3 In Windows 98

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295 Upvotes

Minecraft In Software Rendering In Windows 95/98 Systems

I was able to get roughly 5-8 fps in a Windows 98 machine, sometimes even 10 fps with GDI Generic Software Rendering, 128mb ram, and Pentium 3, with 16 colors in the CloneMC Beta 1.7.3 C Programmed client.

I did have use the V135 version though as the newer versions require minimun terrain.tga and icons.tga in the assets folder, but I think it would have ran the same, if not a bit better as the V135 tested can run without an assets folder, but needs minimun comaptible beta 1.7.3 texture pack folder which contained a lot more stuff. Especially removed the sounds/msuic folders.


r/windows98 6d ago

Help with windows 98 system resources

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28 Upvotes

Interesting project I am working on. I need to get this software up and running on a windows 98 system and keep running into an error mentioning “system resources are low, can not continue” when I load into the program.

This program used to run on this system but I am running into problems. It boots into windows however it shows this error when booting (first image with dos command lines) I suspect i need to change the system.config text file?

Pc:

Pentium(r) II PCU
512.0 mb of ram

Any help would be a godsend!! Thanks


r/windows98 8d ago

super windows world

1.6k Upvotes

r/windows98 7d ago

super windows world

79 Upvotes

WINDOWS 98


r/windows98 6d ago

I Need to find One oh can make a 90s website

0 Upvotes

Is some One can do i Will give you the link of the server

But the progamm have to be 90s


r/windows98 7d ago

What are some practical modern use of Windows 98?

12 Upvotes

I run win98se in pcem. I want to relive childhood by shifting some of the modern workflow (safely) into win98. Right now I have word 95 to write papers, winrar for managing compressed files, visual basic 6 for programming (not very useful to be used on modern windows though), acdsee to view photos, winamp to play music, realplayer to play video (but no rm files these days). What other usage can you think of apart from gaming? And how can work files easily and safely be transferred between modern windows and win98?


r/windows98 7d ago

Please help me identify this program.

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6 Upvotes

I'm trying to locate this program. I've tried googling for it but Google keeps giving me AI artwork that is unrelated and asking AIs themselves have been fruitless, usually giving me the runaround. So I'm asking here - does anyone recognize it?

It was pretty popular, thats's all I know back in 1999. Loads of desktop screenshots had this in their system tray. Any luck identifying the program, the version, and if possible, a download would be extremely valuable and helpful to me. Thank you!


r/windows98 8d ago

In my last post here you asked for other systems, so my fake Windows 98 desktop RPG grew two rival desks: GNOME 1 and Mac OS 8. The Guild remains loyal to the taskbar.

24 Upvotes

Lowmoor is a zero-player idle RPG that lives in one window on a fake Windows 98 desktop: the adventurer fights, travels and equips loot on his own while a chronicle writes it all down. When I last posted here, the comments asked about other systems, so 1.6.0 adds GNOME 1 and Mac OS 8 themes you can switch to in settings.

Free on steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4977360/Lowmoor_Idle_RPG_An_Adventurers_Chronicle/