Running Windows 3.1 on MS VirtualPC

[Guest]

remember the days when getting one or 2 games on your 50mb hardrive was good going? or when you PC had a 'boost/turbo' button on the side? well now you can relive them with MS VirtualPC (now known as vpc throught the guide - im lazy - sue me).

Ingrediants

MS Virtual PC 2004

MS-DOS 6.22 Disks (1,2,3)

Windows 3.1 Disks (1,2,3,4,5,6)

Floppy disk imager (i used Floppy image trial: http://www.rundegren.com/)

NOTE: due to the fact microsoft has not declered Windows 3.1 to be abandonware or released it under any kinf of freeware/shareware thing all downloads on the web are considerd warez so i will not tell you or give you any infomation about getting them apart from ask your friends :p (the same applies to DOS)

Step 1 - getting vpc

go here : http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/virtualpc/ click 45 day free trial, then choose you language and click download on the box in the top right hand side.

when i got this MS servers seemed to be very slow (took me around 2-3 hours).

Step 2 - installing vpc

this is quite easy - follow the instructions on screen

Step 3 - creating disk images - Optional

this is mainly for ease of use when you come to install dos + windows (or reinstall if it gets messy)

install your image software and make sure it makes raw uncompressed images - no names/descriptions etc, for floppy image goto Edit>>settings>>floppy disk select create compatible img files

then make your 3 DOS disks and 6 windows disks into .img files.

Step 4 - create your vpc machine

open up vpc click ok at the splash screen then go file>>new virtual machine wizard - then create a virtual machine for MS-DOS (32mb RAM), name it however you want

Step 5 - stating your vpc

on the virtual machine window select your machine and click start - from here you can enter bios, basicly use it like a blank computer :p

NOTE: whatever you do on your virtual computer wont effect yout actual one (the one on your desk/floor) this includes formats, partitions, bios changes etc etc

Step 6 - installing DOS

you will see it 'boot up' then it will request for a disk, click Floppy>>capture floppy disk image - and set it to your ms-dos disk 1 image you made (or do Floppy>>capture Drive A: and insert you msdos disk into drive a:), follow the instructions to install dos into C:\dos, when it asks you for another disk just repeat what you did for disk one.

Step 7 - installing windows, part 1

once ms-dos is installed, it will reset again and you will be faced with a nice shiny C:\> prompt, now you can insert you windows 3.1 disk and start to install that, now type A:\ (yay command line) press enter then type setup.exe (press enter), you will be taken to the windows 3.1 setup - choose express install and feed it the disks when it beeps, after disk 2 youll be taken to a screen for you name and company, after this point youll be able to use your mouse (to activate the mouse clink in the vpc window, to use your mose outside vpc press right alt (Alt Gr))

Step 8 - installing windows, part 2

you can view the tutorial if you want, you can install a printer but i dont have a printer myself to test it with - after you click reboot/return to dos you will be returned with a dos promt (c:\) type in win press enter and enjoy :p

NOTE: i am no expert on windows 3.1, Vpc or dos - i did this to see if i can - i have written this guide to help you guys see if you can relive the days of windows 3.1 in all its 8 bit glory :p as a side note Vpc is not limited to win 3.1 you can install any x86 operating sytem on it (linux/unix/windows/os/2 etc etc).

DISCLAIMER: i am in no way responsible for any harm that following these instruction does to you social life, or geekiness, or actull damage to loss of data of damage to your computer.

as a very last not, have fun

Smifffy

[AaronMT]

Hey I actually wanted to try this out, but whenever I am trying to boot from the dos floppies - all I get is a single cursor underscore flashing. I let it sit for about ten minutes than I gave up.

I followed your instructions pefectly, made the dos images in the program you supplied the link for.

[anog]

I did this some time ago, but on my main computer...

It was really fun, running DOS and Win 3.11 on a P3 1000Mhz computer with 512 MB of RAM :D

Since it was Win 3.11 (supports networking) I could install my cable modem and access the internet with an old version of IE ;)

[clonk]

Thats pretty neat, thank you for posting.

[mihir]

that's IS slick, cool beanz.

[Gary_Player]

I did it a while ago with some copy of WIN 2.0 I found back in the day...actually ran better than win95 did :p

Sweet guide btw...alot of the kiddes on Neowin never ran win9x let alone DOS or win 3.1

[Sporkguy]

  Gary_Player said:

I did it a while ago with some copy of WIN 2.0 I found back in the day...actually ran better than win95 did :p

Sweet guide btw...alot of the kiddes on Neowin never ran win9x let alone DOS or win 3.1

I reckon Windows 9x was the closest thing to the devil a piece of software could get.

I'm *just* old enough to say that I started out on a 386 laptop running windows 3.1 - I never got to experience the wonders(?) of 2.0 and below hehe.

I still hate WIndows 98, and I always will.

Long live the WIndows NT 5.0+ platform!

[nuka_t]

nice guide. althoughi wouldnt exactly call it essential. :p

[Shadowbladex]

Just wondering but does anyone know if MS's VM Program is better than VMWare or is VMWare better for doing these things. Thanks.

[Storm]

I want to try it, but i need both the MS DOS disks, and the 3.1 ones

[Ashl]

  Gary_Player said:

I did it a while ago with some copy of WIN 2.0 I found back in the day...actually ran better than win95 did :p

Sweet guide btw...alot of the kiddes on Neowin never ran win9x let alone DOS or win 3.1

I'm 13 and i have used windows 3.1 and dos 6 and before so nah

[DevilsJim89]

Hey nice guide here! Vintage....

I have a site that has abandonware and such ...including DOS and Win3.1 but PM me if you want it.... :p

I got a question though, how do you get Win3.1 in VPC to use your real hardware like a PCI modem or wireless PCI cable internet? :huh:

[Le_gin]

very cool, i've always wanted to try this, but never got around to it, i'll definitely be trying this today.

[DevilsJim89]

  DevilsJim89 said:

Hey nice guide here! Vintage....

I have a site that has abandonware and such ...including DOS and Win3.1 but PM me if you want it.... :p

I got a question though, how do you get Win3.1 in VPC to use your real hardware like a PCI modem or wireless PCI cable internet? :huh:

I'm surprised no one knows how to do this...

Oh and Windows 3.1 was 16-bit. Windows 95 was 32 bit and u know the rest...

[nX07]

OMg what a find!! I JUST wanted to do this! I recently made a post, but I had clue this guide was here!!! THANKS A MILLION! :D :D

[lnmnky]

You don't use the real hardware. Set it up to use NAT in settings.

Or am I wrong. My Win95 in VPC runs using NAT and works fine..

[Guest]

  DevilsJim89 said:

I have a site that has abandonware and such ...including DOS and Win3.1

dos and 3.1 are not abaononware yer otherewise i wiuld of posted download links ;)

thx alot guys for the thx

[Annorax]

This is pretty sweet, I've been trying to do it for a while. I managed to install DOS 6, but I can't seem it install Windows 3.1! I can get to about disk 2-3 before it keeps asking for me to put in disk #something, but that disk is already in the drive! I then copied the disks to a folder c:\setup on the virtual drive, but it took some patience. It seemed to keep mixing up disks somehow. But I got all 6 copied into the directory. Now I try to run setup, and it whizzes through the DOS part of it, but right before it jumps into the Windows interface, it just freezes. It says that it will launch Windows and the bottom status bar says "Please Wait" but it does nothing and just sits there.

Can someone please help me? Thanks.

[XST1]

Two Questions:

1. What theme is used in the screenshots?

2. What did the turbo button do on the old computers? I never had one of those on mine but reacall seeing them when I was young.

[DevilsJim89]

  XST1 said:

Two Questions:

1. What theme is used in the screenshots?

2. What did the turbo button do on the old computers? I never had one of those on mine but reacall seeing them when I was young.

1. There is no theme. Thats really what Windows 3.1 looks like. lol.

2. Turbo button is a waste. It just makes the processor faster by going up a couple mhz

Like 8mhz then turbo button it to 12mhz ....thats how my old samsung laptop is....

[Guest]

my windows xp theme is called reluna

the turbo button was great mine went from about 12 to 25mhz - i had a big LCD screen on the front to tell me that LOL

Annorax, have you made sure all your images work? ie not buggy etc other than that i dont know ;)

EDIT: sorry about my spelling in my last post, i only just woke up then :p

[lnmnky]

Virtual Pc has been crashing my system recently. I get a blue screen listing my video card driver.

This only every happens in VPC and not when playing games. any clues?

i have the FX5200, 56.64 drivers, windows XP, athlon 2800XP+, 1024mb ram.

EDIT : Found it >> http://www.robertmoir.co.uk/win/vpcfaq/VPC...sueswithVP.html

(My Athlon is new)

Edited July 7, 2004 by lunamonkey

[Annorax]

Smifffy, I finally managed to get it to work. I was orginally using my floppy disks, but I decided to use the 'Capture Image' option instead and that worked great. I have internet, 1024x786 32bit color, but no sound. Does anyone know of a sound driver to use?

[lnmnky]

What browser are you using Annorax?

I can't install IE, as it errors about win sock.

[Guest]

try looking for soundblaster drivers for win3.1 - they may work