Interested in Installing Windows 95
 

So I have an old box that I really can't use for anything... well useful. So I was thinking I'd slap Windows 95 onto it, and run all my old favorite games since DOSBox is a big pain in the ass, and I few games that are my favorites (Megarace, Master of Orion, Castles II Siege & Conquest) either run poorly (no sound, glitchy), or don't run at all. So since I have this box, I'd like to put Windows 95 on it, along with an old version of Dos. I've never done anything like this before, I don't really know how to start. I know I cannot install Windows 95 on the current version of Dos that is on that computer (currently running windows XP). I know I have to format it, but I do not know where to find the only version of Dos to install it, and I don't know how to install it. What other steps would I need to take before installing Windows 95? Thank you.

Must be Win 95? Win 98 doesnt have much of a slowdown from 95 and its so much more stable. Anyway, if you dont have a Win98 disk, hit up a torrent site like mininova.org or isohunt.com and look for a windows 98 second edition ISO. burn the image to a disk using your favorite ISO program. Then shove the disk into your old PC, and restart. Win 98 and 95 (and ME, but we wont go there) are all written as frontends to dos, while 2000/XP are just emulating dos in their Command Prompt windows. What im getting at is the Win98 disk you make will auto install DOS. Just stick it in the drive, and follow the instructions. Let me know if i need to elaborate more.

Thank you for replying, so correct me if I'm wrong... but if I install windows 98, it will install the proper dos version I need, then I could format and reinstall 95? I'm fairly certain some of the games I'd like to play run much better on 95 than 98, but I could be wrong. Thanks again for replying.

Windows 98 is built on top of DOS, so yes, it should be the "right version" that you need.

That, and win95 as well. If you really want 95, then follow my same steps above, just looking for a Win95 disk. Might be a tad harder to find though. As for your question you PMed me, im not really sure. Anyone else out there know if you can install win 3.1 and win 95 dual boot?

Otherwise, Win98 is basicly just win95, build more accessably. Either would work just as good as the other when refering to older DOS games. Except win95 might have some compatibility issues.

Just remember that a whole bunch of stuff won't really work properly under Windows '95. The obvious thing that comes to mind is USB. There's plenty of other things, though.

I would think you could, as long as you installed 3.1 first, and then 95/98. But then again, I've never had to use such a combination...

If nothing else, you could get something like VMWare, and virtualize them under XP.