My current computer is running Windows XP Home Edition and I want to be able to multiboot the computer with Windows 95. I can't use Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 because it requires XP Pro. I would appreciate a solution that will work for sure.
2007-08-13 09:32:14 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Software
My current computer is a Dell Dimension 3000 with an Intel Celeron 2.4 GHz processor with 512 MB of RAM running Windows XP Home Edition. I want to be able to multi-boot with Windows 95. However, I don't want to have to lose all my files or reinstall XP. I have searched all over microsoft.com's help and support and the Internet and found nothing to suit my needs. I would appreciate a stable answer that is guaranteed to work.
2007-08-13 09:41:05 · update #1
Exactly! I don't NEED Windows 95, I am just curious. It would also be a good learning experience. Thanks inclusive_disjunction.
2007-08-13 10:37:14 · update #2
You should be able to run virtual pc on a computer with xp home edition. It's just not supported. Microsoft just won't help you with it if you have an unsupported OS. You'll just get a warning message that says your OS isn't supported, other than that you probably won't have any other problems. But make sure that when you make a virtual machine that you click settings>networking then change it to shared networking. Otherwise, you will get an IP address issue.
If you try to install windows 95, your xp bootloader will be replaced with the windows 95 boot loader and the windows 95 bootloader can't boot xp. So you will only be able to boot into windows 95 unless you repair the windows xp bootloader.
If you still want to dual boot xp and windows 95:
You will have to delete all the partitions on your hard drive and create 2 paritions on your hard drive: 1 NTFS and 1 Fat32 partition. Then you will have to install windows 95 first on the fat32 partition. Then you will have to install xp on the NTFS partition. You have to install xp last because the xp bootloader can load both windows xp and windows 95.
That's kind of a lot to go through just to play with a new OS you will probably get tired of quickly. So, personally, I think you're better off installing windows 95 in virtual pc
2007-08-14 17:48:41 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
What you want to do is:
1. Get the latest version of Windows 95 (I don't recall what it was), that has support for FAT32. This is key.
2. Partition the hard drive. If you don't have a tool to do this, I suggest downloading the Ultimate Boot CD:
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/
Partition the hard drive into at least two parts, one for XP and one for Windows 95. You can pre-format them here, too, if you like. If you want to be able to access XP files from 95, both partitions must be FAT32.
3. Install Windows 95 onto the FAT32 partition.
4. Install Windows XP onto the second partition (FAT32 if you want access from Windows 95)
Windows XP will install a bootloader that will give you the option of booting either Windows 95 or XP.
After saying this, I must say that this is a bad idea. You will never get anything beyond the most basic drivers for video, probably no sound, no USB support, etc...
You would be much better off using a virtual machine. Since you can't use VirtualPC, I would suggest Innotek VirtualBox instead:
http://www.virtualbox.org/
You can use it on Home just fine. In addition, it will help you avoid many compatibility issues, like possible problems with SATA drives in Windows 95, as well as the previous problems I mentioned. It doesn't have very good support for video, either, so you probably won't be able to play many games.
I don't know why you need Windows 95, anyway. Curiosity, I guess.
2007-08-13 16:52:30 · answer #2 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have to partitions your drive. Install windows in order starting with the oldest . good luck make sure you install windows in different directories.
2007-08-13 16:43:12 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes, with Microsoft Virtual PC, which basically creates a virtual pc inside your existing one (duh!) it is available free from microsoft.com, and you create a virtual hard disk which you can install Win95 on to. If you want to transfer files between your XP (the host OS) and win95 (on the virtual machine) you can create a "virtual network" between the two (exactly as you could a real network)
2007-08-13 16:44:56 · answer #4 · answered by guesswhoextra 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
apart from being the worst os in the world, you will not be able to do it as xp will be on an ntfs drive and win95 needs fat 32!
2007-08-13 16:41:00 · answer #5 · answered by andy t 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
it's a waste of time because win 95 is an obsolete o.s.
2007-08-13 16:39:15 · answer #6 · answered by Terry D 2 · 1⤊ 2⤋