Help with VMWare Workstation 12 when installing Windows 95

xtremeguy2256

So I have the latest version of VMWare Workstation Pro, (not VMWare Player) and whenever I try to install an older OS that does not support virtualization such as Windows 95, I get an error like this:



After a bit of researching, the only way to fix this problem is only by enabling the "Virtualize Intel VT-x/EPT or AMD-V/RVI" option, but here's the catch, like I said before, Windows 95 does not support virtualization. Even though Windows 95 installed fine with virtualization enabled, booting into Windows 95 with it enabled will give you an IOS Protection error and will not allow you to boot into Windows 95. Disabling it would get rid of the IOS Protection error, but then VMWare would have that "vcpu-0" error as mentioned before, and won't let me start up the VM in the first place, and I'm left with this conundrum. Can anybody help me? In case you need relevant system specs, here you are:

HP Pavilion 15 Z3D09EA #ABU
CPU - Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7200U CPU @ 2.50GHz (7th Gen)
OS - Windows 10 Home 64-Bit
RAM - 8 GB
Virtualization - Enabled in BIOS

wingzeroismine

Some more information about the VM itself would be helpful.
How much ram? What version of 95 (exact iso you're using if possible)?
This error is occurring after the installation completes but before the first bootup?

You have a Kaby Lake processor, there is always the potential that 95 has some bug that prevents it from correctly utilizing the processor. (Or the opposite way, Ryzen seems to have some 16-bit code execution bugs)

A quick test of a 95C installation on my 5820K (Haswell-E) worked fine however, and I wouldn't expect there to be anything different enough between the two architectures to matter but without having another Kaby device floating around to try it on I couldn't completely rule it out.

SomeGuy

VMWare should under no circumstances crash like that. There is either a serious bug in VMWare or a serious problem with your computer.

Now, the IOS error, on the other hand, is just Windows 95's inability to cope with faster CPUs. I actually would not expect virtualizers to work around that, although in the past they have. Go the the "patches" section on the Windows 95 page and grab the "Win95 Fast CPU Fixes" file.

Of course, if there is something messed up with VMWare, or your computer, then VMWare will probably still crash if Windows 95 gets around the speed issues and tries to boot.

BlueSun

I think the VMware crash is just because the OP disabled virtualization in their BIOS. The 95 crash is likely what SomeGuy suggested and is 95's issue with newer / faster processors.

So re-enable virtualization and apply the fast CPU patch and you should be good to go.

[Deleted User]

Or you could use another emulator, such as DOSBox (yes, I've put 95 on DOSBox before) or PCem. You can even try VirtualBox.

However, it is of utmost importance that you have Virtualization enabled in your BIOS setup. On newer PCs (such as mine) this is enabled by default but I highly suggest you check.

If you don't know how to get into your BIOS a quick google search should help you.

tonyjohn29

Have you enabled Intel Virtualization Technology on your PC from Bios before installing the OS on VMware?

If you have not done this, then this may throw an error.

First enable Intel Virtualization Technology from Bios. Take help from this link http://www.howali.com/2017/05/enable-di ... -uefi.html

Regards,
Tony John

ibmpc5150

I don't recommend to use VMWARE to install old OS so much.

I use PCEM or 86BOX to install Windows 95.

But I recommend to refer the following URL if you want to install Win95 on VMWARE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egt4Aanj2Bo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuhHHD97l1U

https://communities.vmware.com/thread/432114

albertopuente

hello, i have never had issues installing win95 on vmware7 and up to 12 right now. Only with the svga drive and with the limitations of no sound as i recall. other than that, when does it exactly crash?

btw, i have almost all versions of Windows on VMWare, starting on win 1.04 (really) al the way up to win10. servers and workstations work without problems. winnt's, win9x, 2000, xp... i have even set up a domain with ad, a terminal server, a 3 node cluster with virtualized quorum,..