Building a Windows 95 machine

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I want to build a Windows 95 machine. I've done so many Windows 98 SE builds but nothing for Windows 95. I miss Windows 95 I find it quite nostalgic plus I think I will enjoy the challenge building one or in other words getting a computer to run Windows 95.

There are several problems that could be worked around...
First is SATA Windows 95 "as far as I know" will not support SATA so a possible work around could be a PCi card with a IDE and floppy connector otherwise I will have to find a motherboard with IDE.

I do have a Dell computer in the back of my cupboard which has a Celeron processor but its dual core. The motherboard has IDE and Floppy connectors as well as SATA. I could down size the RAM to 256 MB its DDR2 I have plenty of spare DDR2 RAM knocking about. It also has a 3.5 floppy drive. This Dell computer was a bit under performance running Windows 7 and I had replaced it with another build so the Dell ended up going into the cupboard and hasn't been used since so I figure maybe I could use this for a Windows 95 build. The case is also white so very retro looking.

I've never tried installing MS DOS and Windows 95 on a computer using a dual core processor I think its 1.3GHz per core. 1.3 GHz is more than fast enough for Windows 95. I'm assuming that Windows 95 will use just one core "I forget what the socket type is" but if the dual core processor is not ideal I could possibly replace the processor for a single core otherwise I'll just use the existing dual core processor.

Providing that the Windows 95 install goes well then I can't see a reason why the Dell can't be used as a Windows 95 machine. I don't know what the limit is on processors for Windows 95 but I recall seeing a patch somewhere if the processor is to high.

Next are the drivers. The only drivers I will need is video and audio. If there is no Windows 95 driver support for the onboard VGA graphics then not to worry because I've found a file that fixes the issue to allow more colors and screen resolutions. As for audio. If the onboard audio doesn't work then I could find a Windows 95 compatible sound card. I may have some spares.

I will use a 16GB CF card via an IDE adapter

Sound good? Is there anything else I would need to consider?
 
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So long as the board has the option to run the SATA ports in a non AHCI and non RAID mode, 95 should run on it just fine as it will essentially be presenting as IDE anyway.

Personally though I don’t understand the point in lusting for 95 but wanting to run 2000s hardware, you might as well just virtualise 95 on a more modern platform.
 
I'm not a fan of virtual stuff. It has to be real or nothing. Old hardware is hard to find now and expensive. If Windows 95 can run on fairly modern hardware then its good enough for me. I'm not after top performance as long as it works that's the main thing. There is no fun in using virtual machines and takes away a lot of the nostalgia and that warm fuzzy feeling knowing I have a Windows 95 machine.

Considering that Windows 95 back in its day ran on very slow computers like 486 and Pentium 1 and earlier Pentium II computers then Windows 95 will run pretty well on modern hardware anyway even if there is some performance compromises it probably wont be noticed on 1.3GHz and 256 Ram.
 
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I completely disagree I’m afraid. Running an old OS on modern(ish) hardware isn’t really the same as having a period correct machine, it never will be a “Windows 95 PC”. Most period specific games will be sensitive to CPU speed, making your 1.3GHz modern CPU not only overkill but in some situations it will completely ruin the experience. Virtualisation will not only be simpler, but will be more easily throttled to the right speed.

Old hardware doesn’t have to be expensive, and it’s certainly not that rare, just steer clear of the top end (for the period) hardware and it won’t attract the same retro-tax the cream of the crop hardware does. Think 300-450mhz mendocino Slot-1 celerons or original PPGA 370 celerons at the absolute top end. TNT2 vanta or similar for the video card (or go older with something like an S3 ViRGE DX if you don’t need decent 3D performance). Cost will be minimal and the experience will be far more befitting. Bonus points if you end up with a Baby-AT slot-1 board.
 
Is it possible to down clock the processor speed? I have to use what I can because these old systems regardless of low end or high end sellers still want 100s for them and old hardware can fail at any time so paying 100 pounds or more for an old computer is not an option for me. I have found somebody on facebook who is selling a Pentium II computer in unknown working condition and wants 15 quid for it so I'm going to take my chances on that although its 50 odd miles from me. I'm going to see if I can get up there during the week and grab it if nobody else beats me to it.
 
Shouldn't have thrown away your old computers all those years ago :)
I'm still annoyed at getting rid of my crt monitors which were in excellent condition and working order at the time.

But seriously, Windows 95. Or 98, or even XP for that matter? Why? It's the kind of thing that you'll play around with one rainy Sunday afternoon and never touch again for another 25 years. There's just nothing attractive about these old MS OS's. May as well play around with various Linux distros on a Raspberry pi and run dos box on it whilst you're at it.
 
XP doesn't do anything for me. I prefer Windows 3.11 95 and 98 SE. I do eeprom programming and I also repair radio transceivers some of which are old PMR equipment that rely on an old PC for reprogramming. Its the same with my eeprom programmers. Although I already have a dedicated PII computer running MS.DOS and Windows 98 SE that will do most things I still want a Windows 95 machine as well that will go in the back of my living room to join my Windows 98 SE machine. I have bundles of old original software to use for Windows 95 like office 97 Encarta 95 and lots more... I use my Windows 98 computer quite a bit mainly when I'm working on my radio / eeprom and other electronic projects but not so much for old games. There are some vintage games that I could play all day for many weeks. Lemmings, Theme Park, Sim City, Tetris to name a few. The Windows 95 machine will get plenty of use. I'm keeping my eye out for old Pentium II / III stuff.

I use Linux quite a bit but its very limited to online things and that is all I really use Linux for.
 
I have a temporary solution for a Windows 95 machine although it wont be the ultimate for games but it will work well on Windows 95. I remembered that I've got an old laptop in the attic that has a 333MHz processor and 64 MB ram. Its tatty looking and there are some dead pixels on the screen but that wont matter. I could connect a mouse and keyboard and monitor to it and power the laptop from an ATX PSU 12 volt. "no battery" Hopefully it still works. This use to run Windows 98 with sound and video so I could install Windows 95 to this and get the drivers from the Windows 98 CD if Windows 95 don't have them. I'll use a CF Card as a hard drive and make 3 partitions. 4gb for DOS/WIN95 and 4 GB partition for DOS/Windows 3.11. I could fix the laptop onto the back of a monitor so it feels like a desktop PC. Its a temporary solution until I find a more suitable PII desktop or parts for a WIN95 build.
 
So the PII stuff I had my eye on has gone, the seller ended the listing. I can't find nothing else and this is why I wanted to see if anything could be done with a dual core machine. I'm not interested in virtual rubbish. I know a modern motherboard and processor isn't period correct and over kill but that may have to do because I'm not paying 100s of pounds for old hardware that could fail and there is nothing cheap going. Even Pentium 4 computers are getting very sort after now and demanding high prices. So with no PII or PIII or even P4 computers available there really is no other choice but to try with a dual core machine at 1.3 GHz that is the only option.

There could be ways to down clock the processor in the BIOS. There are also work around for Windows 95 to run on a modern PC.

Everything I have is vintage apart from the motherboard and processor. It will be in an old case and have a 3.5 floppy drive old CD Rom old PS2 keyboard and mouse. Its not ideal but hey gotta be worth a shot.

I do have an old tatty laptop 333MHz 64 MB that I can install Windows 95 on as well which has a floppy and CD Drive. I can put that on the back of a monitor with an old keyboard and mouse. It be like an all in one Windows 95 PC. Not what I had in mind but is the closest thing I can get until one day a PII board with processor and Ram or complete system comes up for sale for a reasonable price... if that day ever comes.

I think its ridiculous that old PC computers are demanding high prices no matter how crappy old or tatty they are. I can understand vintage computers being desirable like the Acorn, Amiga and others but old PC computers? for one the motherboards were prone to failure plus hard drives fail as they have moving parts those who pay high prices for what could end up becoming a door stop pretty quickly. No thanks. I'd pay no more than 20 quid for a motherboard with the processor and ram on it or 30 quid for a complete or almost complete system. They do show up for a reasonable price every now and again.

A few years ago I bought an old IBM Pentium II desktop online for 20 quid. When I got it, it worked for all of 2 days when the motherboard completely failed beyond repair so I got in touch with the seller who sent out another one the same... That worked for 3 weeks until the PSU went bang so I changed the PSU and got another week out of it until a Ram problem happened so I spent a lot of time trouble shooting and even trying different Ram that had been fully tested... the problem remained then the motherboard completely failed a bit later on. I'd be pretty mad if I paid the prices that ebay loonies pay for them just to end up with junk box parts.

That is why I will never pay anymore than 30 odd quid for one.

This is what I did with the broken IBM's...

The old IBM cases I modified to take ATX boards so in the end I just ended up with two vintage IBM cases. I saved the CD drives and floppy drives and the dead motherboards I gave to an arts and craft place. The processors I kept and the old power supplies I rebuilt so nothing went to waste.
 
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Update on the Windows 95 build. Unfortunately the PII board I had my eye on I did not get. I actually got it for 15 pounds but the seller decided to refund me then relist it for 135 quid with no bidders and its now gone never to be seen again I expect.

I have got a suitable small form factor PC running at 200MHz 64MB RAM and 4 GB hard drive. It has a floppy drive but there is no room for a CD Drive but hey its all I could get. I have installed MS-DOS 6.22 with the CD device driver I will have to open it up and connect a CD ROM drive to install Windows 95 and MS Office 97.It will get a sound blaster card and a USB PCI card that way I can connect USB flash drives.

I am still planing on doing a second Windows 95 build as soon as a reasonably priced PII board becomes available I may put some wanted adds about for old PC's as well. The small form factor Windows 95 build will have to do for now.
 
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