4 ms·

Windows 95 tips, tricks, and tweaks (2013)

135 points by ndsipa_pomu 3y ago

dannyisaphantom 3y ago
Oh neat! Hope this is okay to share here re: the context; but I uploaded a cache of files to spin up a Windows 95 VM in virtualbox to Archive a bit ago. Was messing around with it for a few weeks to try and get an old game my boyfriend wanted to play working that ultimately couldn't be achieved. https://archive.org/details/win-95-vm https://archive.org/details/win-95-vm The .vhd is immediately bootable; just mess with the settings a bit. The .vdi requires you to patch with the FIX95CPU.iso. Either way, documentation from the sources I used are included in the upload.
- veilrap 3y ago
  I've also had a great time installing Windows 95 into a DOSBox instance. Might be even easier than a full fledged VM.
- cbhl 3y ago
  Have you seen the Win95-in-dosbox-in-the-browser item in the archive? If not, it's here: https://archive.org/details/win95_in_dosbox https://archive.org/details/win95_in_dosbox
  - perfect-blue 3y ago
    What is going on in those comments, wow.
    - userbinator 3y ago
      Reminds me of early YouTube comments.
    - wyclif 3y ago
      "I hope you stub your toe every day." Some really intense passive aggressive stuff going on there.
- stavros 3y ago
  What game was it? Why couldn't you play it? Those usually play fine.
  - dannyisaphantom 3y ago
    DK: Oz, The Magical Adventure It wasn't so much an issue with the system but the actual game itself. The director (.dxr) files are all corrupted sadly. Tried some 'hacks' to maybe even get a peak/convert the files with very old installs of Macromedia and some extra software but came up short. The game would load - but when you're taken to the startup screen, the assets kick back an error of '..file is not director file...' and crashes :( It's on a todo, hopefully one day I can get it going haha :')
    - stavros 3y ago
      Oh, that's too bad. Can you get it elsewhere? Maybe this will work?: https://oldgamesdownload.com/dk-oz-the-magical-adventure/ https://oldgamesdownload.com/dk-oz-the-magical-adventure/ Or maybe this?: https://archive.org/details/DKOZadventure https://archive.org/details/DKOZadventure
- Bluecobra 3y ago
  There’s also a Windows 95 vm written in Electron that is a self contained .exe file that just works, with no mucking around. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17827797 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17827797
anyfoo 3y ago
This one is my favorite so far: https://64.media.tumblr.com/3117452ff1ccc9b9dd37f228300ea5f2/tumblr_mki295sZYq1rehruqo1_500.png https://64.media.tumblr.com/3117452ff1ccc9b9dd37f228300ea5f2... It's a bit more subtle and not so in-your-face horror, which I think works out in its favor.
userbinator 3y ago
https://64.media.tumblr.com/591356e31408f1b7b370ceeb7a584ac2/tumblr_nkmevuSapB1rehruqo1_500.png https://64.media.tumblr.com/591356e31408f1b7b370ceeb7a584ac2... reminds me of the time when themes were called skins --- not surprisingly, there was lots of innuendo around that.
abhaynayar 3y ago
I was just watching an episode of the last season The Office (U.S.) (2012) where the guy was complaining they still had Windows 95.
- neurostimulant 3y ago
  Not as outrageous when you realized many people are still using windows 7, which was released more than 13 years ago.
gaudat 3y ago
>Created by Neil Cicierga Is this the same guy that makes song mashups and remixes? If so, he is one hell of a creative and high energy person.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- andrepd 3y ago
  A frighteningly high number of internet phenomena and meme styles have their roots in Neil Cic works.
- DreaminDani 3y ago
  Yes. It's the same Neil Cicierga. The link at the top goes to his personal website with mentions of his band, Lemon Demon
  - LordDragonfang 3y ago
    Note that his work under the pseudonym Lemon Demon (from which you'd likely recognize the song The Ultimate Showdown) is almost entirely unrelated to his mashup albums (Mouth Sounds, Mouth Silence, etc), which he released under his own name. He's also the guy behind Potter Puppet Pals.
    - bitwize 3y ago
      And Hyakugojuuichi! and a bunch of similar "animutations": https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EqO5lNS094M https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EqO5lNS094M Now get off my lawn. And give me my sweater back, or I'll play the guitar.
      - endgame 3y ago
        I'm glad someone else remembers the old arts. I used to have a big collection of my favourites in .swf form, but lost them in an OS reinstall. The youtube renders aren't the same; many animutations had secret interactive bits or hidden messages if you resized the player. Ah, the flash era.
HeckFeck 3y ago
Now we just need a way of splicing these into the actual Windows 95.
- grishka 3y ago
  "Resource Hacker" should be enough to edit some strings, you just need to find the right file. http://angusj.com/resourcehacker/ http://angusj.com/resourcehacker/

135 points by ndsipa_pomu 3y ago

Oh neat! Hope this is okay to share here re: the context; but I uploaded a cache of files to spin up a Windows 95 VM in virtualbox to Archive a bit ago. Was messing around with it for a few weeks to try and get an old game my boyfriend wanted to play working that ultimately couldn't be achieved. https://archive.org/details/win-95-vm https://archive.org/details/win-95-vm The .vhd is immediately bootable; just mess with the settings a bit. The .vdi requires you to patch with the FIX95CPU.iso. Either way, documentation from the sources I used are included in the upload.

veilrap 3y ago
I've also had a great time installing Windows 95 into a DOSBox instance. Might be even easier than a full fledged VM.
cbhl 3y ago
Have you seen the Win95-in-dosbox-in-the-browser item in the archive? If not, it's here: https://archive.org/details/win95_in_dosbox https://archive.org/details/win95_in_dosbox
- perfect-blue 3y ago
  What is going on in those comments, wow.
  - userbinator 3y ago
    Reminds me of early YouTube comments.
  - wyclif 3y ago
    "I hope you stub your toe every day." Some really intense passive aggressive stuff going on there.
stavros 3y ago
What game was it? Why couldn't you play it? Those usually play fine.
- dannyisaphantom 3y ago
  DK: Oz, The Magical Adventure It wasn't so much an issue with the system but the actual game itself. The director (.dxr) files are all corrupted sadly. Tried some 'hacks' to maybe even get a peak/convert the files with very old installs of Macromedia and some extra software but came up short. The game would load - but when you're taken to the startup screen, the assets kick back an error of '..file is not director file...' and crashes :( It's on a todo, hopefully one day I can get it going haha :')
  - stavros 3y ago
    Oh, that's too bad. Can you get it elsewhere? Maybe this will work?: https://oldgamesdownload.com/dk-oz-the-magical-adventure/ https://oldgamesdownload.com/dk-oz-the-magical-adventure/ Or maybe this?: https://archive.org/details/DKOZadventure https://archive.org/details/DKOZadventure
Bluecobra 3y ago
There’s also a Windows 95 vm written in Electron that is a self contained .exe file that just works, with no mucking around. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17827797 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17827797

anyfoo 3y ago

This one is my favorite so far: https://64.media.tumblr.com/3117452ff1ccc9b9dd37f228300ea5f2/tumblr_mki295sZYq1rehruqo1_500.png https://64.media.tumblr.com/3117452ff1ccc9b9dd37f228300ea5f2... It's a bit more subtle and not so in-your-face horror, which I think works out in its favor.

userbinator 3y ago

https://64.media.tumblr.com/591356e31408f1b7b370ceeb7a584ac2/tumblr_nkmevuSapB1rehruqo1_500.png https://64.media.tumblr.com/591356e31408f1b7b370ceeb7a584ac2... reminds me of the time when themes were called skins --- not surprisingly, there was lots of innuendo around that.

abhaynayar 3y ago

I was just watching an episode of the last season The Office (U.S.) (2012) where the guy was complaining they still had Windows 95.

neurostimulant 3y ago
Not as outrageous when you realized many people are still using windows 7, which was released more than 13 years ago.

gaudat 3y ago

>Created by Neil Cicierga Is this the same guy that makes song mashups and remixes? If so, he is one hell of a creative and high energy person.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
andrepd 3y ago
A frighteningly high number of internet phenomena and meme styles have their roots in Neil Cic works.
DreaminDani 3y ago
Yes. It's the same Neil Cicierga. The link at the top goes to his personal website with mentions of his band, Lemon Demon
- LordDragonfang 3y ago
  Note that his work under the pseudonym Lemon Demon (from which you'd likely recognize the song The Ultimate Showdown) is almost entirely unrelated to his mashup albums (Mouth Sounds, Mouth Silence, etc), which he released under his own name. He's also the guy behind Potter Puppet Pals.
  - bitwize 3y ago
    And Hyakugojuuichi! and a bunch of similar "animutations": https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EqO5lNS094M https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EqO5lNS094M Now get off my lawn. And give me my sweater back, or I'll play the guitar.
    - endgame 3y ago
      I'm glad someone else remembers the old arts. I used to have a big collection of my favourites in .swf form, but lost them in an OS reinstall. The youtube renders aren't the same; many animutations had secret interactive bits or hidden messages if you resized the player. Ah, the flash era.

HeckFeck 3y ago

Now we just need a way of splicing these into the actual Windows 95.

grishka 3y ago
"Resource Hacker" should be enough to edit some strings, you just need to find the right file. http://angusj.com/resourcehacker/ http://angusj.com/resourcehacker/