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Windows NT 3.51 VM installation problem

EliaElia
in Software

Hello everyone,

I am probably the one doing something terribly wrong, but I am clueless.

Essentially, when I try to install Windows NT 3.51 on VMware 12 I always encounter issues:
1. When I use the Italian ISO downloaded at https://winworldpc.com/download/3fc3b853-7818-c39a-11c3-a4e284a2c3a5 it is not detected at all by the BIOS, even when I enter in the Boot Menu and choose "CD/DVD Drive" to boot from, it just won't
2. When I use the 22-disks floppy images, I get to the point where I am asked to insert Disk 2, press Enter, but then I get stuck at the blue screen of booting, even after waiting approx. one hour (the one saying "Microsoft Windows NT 3.51 Workstation etc)

These are the specs I have given the machine:
1. Set as "Windows NT" in VMware Guest OS version
2. 1 processor, 1 core, 1 thread
3. Memory ranges between 16 MB and 768 MB (I tried those sizes and many more in between i.e. 32/64/128/256/384/512 MB)
4. IDE drives (none are SCSI or SATA, all IDEs)
5. HDD sizes ranging between 128 MB and 1 GB (I tried those sizes and many more in between i.e. 256/384/512/768 MB)
6. Forcefully selecting as "Preferred virtualisation engine" either "Intel VT-x or AMD-v" or "Intel VT-x/EPT or AMD-V/RVI", otherwise the machine would not start (vcpu error) - obviously virtualisation is activated in host's BIOS, triple checked

These are my host specs:
1. CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 2200G
2. GPU: MSI NVidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti OC
3. RAM: 16 GB DDR4 2400 MHz

I would really appreciate any help I could get.
Thank you in advance.

Comments

  • db2db2

    Recommendation: use VirtualBox instead. It runs great there. I've even got a 4-node network with domain controller.

  • EliaElia

    @db2 said:
    Recommendation: use VirtualBox instead. It runs great there. I've even got a 4-node network with domain controller.

    Thank you, I will gladly try it out tomorrow and keep you posted. I will appreciate any additional input.

  • EliaElia

    So, after following a guide aimed at Windows NT 3.1 and a few smart changes to that guide I figured to make VirtualBox work flawlessly with NT 3.51, I got the solution - thank you @db2 for your extremely helpful hint. For anyone who might still have the issue, I used this guide: https://socket3.wordpress.com/2016/12/18/install-configure-windows-nt-3-1-using-oracle-virtualbox/ to help me.
    Have a nice day everyone!

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