getting dos/win95/98 games to work in xp or vista

[dark55]

i'd been trying to get some old dos/win 95 games (star wars flight sims, Betrayal at Krondor, Warcraft II etc.) on my wife's old XP equipped desktop, and before that on my XP laptop before it blew up. I tried using the dos emulators and setting the file to run through 95, however neither of these ever ran well enough to let me actually play the games. I was looking into buying an old win 95/98 machine (or building one), but i figured i'd try here first. Anyone know any better options for running older games, or is it possible to install 95/98 on an external/thumb drive to boot from that even with XP/vista installed? Can 95 and older games even run on modern hardware?

[Maxx]

I think one solution might be to run a virtual machine of an older OS and run the games through that. I've certainly seen people manage to get DOS running on Virtual PC. It wouldn't take too much RAM and it's relatively quick to setup, I believe. You can probably get the disk images somewhere for free...

Here's some tips about optimizing DOS in VPC:
http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2004/10/21/246136.aspx

[RocketFast321]

I used a older verison of Connectix and it worked real well

[dark55]

I tried using the VPC with, ah, no results to the point of freezing up the computer i was trying to get it to work on. would there be any restrictions to loading Win 95/98 on a thumb drive and booting from there if desired?

[t00thless]

have you tried dos box yet?

or dl m$ virutal pc and install 95 into that. i may be wrong! virtual pc may not support 95.

[Catweazle]

I was looking into buying an old win 95/98 machine (or building one), but i figured i'd try here first.
IMO that is the simplest, easiest and most enjoyable way to address the problem.

[dark55]

Quote:
Originally Posted by dark55
I was looking into buying an old win 95/98 machine (or building one), but i figured i'd try here first.

IMO that is the simplest, easiest and most enjoyable way to address the problem.

Any ideas on where to go to buy either components or a pre-assembled computer? i realize this is a bit off topic, but unless anyone can confirm win 95/98 drivers working with current hardware i'm kinda stuck...

[Catweazle]

Swap meet forum of this (or similar in your location) forum would probably be the best shot. Computer swap meets. Secondhand shops. eBay if you're REALLY stuck.

[bbz_Ghost]

Craig's List (http://www.craigslist.com)

Probably has one that covers your area, so give that a shot. Excellent source of low-end older machines, sometimes complete, sometimes not. Cheap too, but sometimes you'll get the random "P2 300 with 64MB of RAM and a 6.4GB hard drive for $750" kind of folks who are best avoided. :)

Hope this helps...

[nessus]

I think one solution might be to run a virtual machine of an older OS and run the games through that. I've certainly seen people manage to get DOS running on Virtual PC. It wouldn't take too much RAM and it's relatively quick to setup, I believe. You can probably get the disk images somewhere for free...

Here's some tips about optimizing DOS in VPC:
http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2004/10/21/246136.aspx

That's what I did to get "Wing Commander Kilrathi Saga" to play under Vista. Set up a Windows 98 SE virtual machine running under Virtual PC 2007. Installed the virtual machine additions, patched it up, and played away. The automatic updates web page at MS still works for 98. Shocked me, but it does.

[Monkey34]

The automatic updates web page at MS still works for 98. Shocked me, but it does.

:D Now that's amusing!

[Monkey34]

The automatic updates web page at MS still works for 98. Shocked me, but it does.

I'm not surprised. The VM is working like it should, and MS is staying on track with security updates......you'd be surprised how many 98 boxes are still around.