Windows 95 Inside of Windows 95

[Nerdulater]

You will need:

Windows 95 as host, CD & Floppy
DOSBox (MegaBulid 6 strongly recommended and the one I used for this tutorial)
Windows Desktop Update (Bundled with IE4, but you can put it into IE5.5 or just upgrade)
WinSock2 Update
64MB Ram (128 Recommended)
2+GB Hard Disk Space
WinPcap 4.0 Beta 2 (If using Megabulid6 AND NE2000 emulation)

1. Install the Windows desktop update, The WinSock2 update and WinPcap if using Megabulid6 AND NE2000 emulation.
2. Install DOSBox (I used MegaBulid6)
3. Make a folder where you will have all the files for the 95 files e.g. C:\W95
4. Take the "win95" folder off your Windows 95 CD, A Windows 95 floppy vfd/img and put it in the 95 files folder
5. If using MegaBulid6, you can use the "imgmake" command to create a virtual hard disk. If not, you can use the following web site here to not only get the image but to get the geometry of the virtual hard disk image if needed. If using the download image option, make sure you have a program such as 7-Zip to extract the files. Put the virtual hard disk image into the 95 files folder. 
6.In the start menu go, Programs,DOSBox,Configuration,Edit Configuration and edit the following lines:

frameskip=0
memsize=64 or 32/16 if low ram
cputype=pentium or 486/386 if weaker CPU
cycles=max
sbtype=sb16
irq=7
[autoexec]
mount x (path to 95 files)
imgmount c: x:\(virtual hard disk name)

If using MB6, There are also NE2000 Settings, use the following:
ne2000=true
nicbase=300
nicirq=6
macaddr=AC:DE:48:88:99:11
realnic=1 unless you have more then 1 network card

7. Open DOSBox and copy the win95 installer files to the virtual hard disk e.g "copy x:\win95\*.* c:\setup" (make sure you create a folder where you put the setup files first)
8. Boot into the windows 95 floppy e.g "boot x:\(windows 95 floppy disk) file extension included
9. Once it boots type c:\(path to windows 95 setup) and you will enter the setup (if your having problems getting into the setup, goto to it's folder and type "setup /is" once the setup is open set it up as usual unless specified.
10. At the "Setup Options" Screen, select "Custom"
11. At the second "Analyzing Your Computer" Screen select the "Sound,MIDI Or Video Capture Card" Option
12. Note: If you aren't using DOSBox Megabulid 6 AND using NE2000 emulation you may skip this step. Select Add, Double click on "Protocol" Microsoft, TCP/IP then you will be asked to select a network adapter. Select "Novell/Anthem", NE2000 Compatible then unless needed remove the "IPX/SPX Protocol".
13. At the Computer Settings screen with Display selected, click Change,Show All Devices, S3 Trio32/64 PCI and click OK
14. When it finishes installing click Finish and OK then close DOSBox and open it again, and type "boot -l c" (you can also add that command to your [autoexec] so it runs automatically.
15. Once it loads, complete setup as usual
16. Enjoy!

 

Flaws/Bugs:
If you attempt to change the color depth to True Color 32-Bit, the screen may become pink, use True Color 16bit and lower instead.
If you shutdown Windows correctly, there's a chance Windows will get stuck on the scandisk screen, you can use Tweak UI to disable scandisk.
Opening a DOS Program causes the graphics to freak out so you can't open any.

Fixing NE2000 Emulation on Windows 95
After I installed windows 95, the NE2000 refused to work, but i fixed that issue here.

1. When logged in to Windows, Right click on "Network Neighborhood" and click properties.
2. Click on "NE2000 Compatible" and click properties.
3. go to bindings, and change the I/O Adress range to "300 - 31F" also make sure the interrupt (IRQ) is set to 6.
4. shut down windows (dosbox) and start it back up you should now have the NE2000 working!

 

Fixing mouse problems in Windows 95

In DOSBox, if your mouse is sensitive and you cannot move it without it going flying, here's how that can be fixed

1. In your host windows 95 right click "My Computer" and select properties
2. go to the "device manager" tab and expand the mouse tab
3. Select your mouse, click properties, driver, update driver
4. click select driver from a list, show all devices, and select in the (standard mouse types) "Standard PS/2 Port Mouse." or what your mouse uses such as serial, but I haven't tested those.
5.Install its driver and reboot.

It should work as normal now.

that should most if not all needed to use Windows 95 Inside of Windows 95, if there are any problems with Windows 95, you can post them here and I will happily respond.

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by Nerdulater