Installing Windows 98 into a Virtual Machine

Windows 98 can be installed in a virtual machine using the standard Windows 98 CD.

Note: Some Microsoft Windows 98 OEM disks included with new computers are customized for those computers and include device drivers and other utilities specific to the hardware system. Even if you can install this Windows 98 operating system on your actual computer, you may not be able to install it in a VMware GSX Server virtual machine. You may need to purchase a new copy of Windows to install in a virtual machine.

Before installing the operating system, be sure that you have already created a new virtual machine and configured it using the Configuration Wizard.

Use the VMware GSX Server Configuration Editor to verify the virtual machine's devices are set up as you expect before starting the installation. For example, if you would like the Windows 98 setup program to install networking services, be sure that a virtual Ethernet adapter is installed in the virtual machine's configuration. VMware also recommends that you disable the screen saver on the host system before starting the installation process.

To install Windows 98 into a virtual machine:

Insert the Windows 98 CD in the CD-ROM drive on your VMware GSX Server host.

Power on the virtual machine to start installing Windows 98.

Choose to boot from CD-ROM, then select the Start Windows 98 Setup from CD-ROM option. The setup program runs FDISK and reboots.

Once again, choose to boot from CD-ROM, then select the Start Windows 98 Setup from CD-ROM option. The setup program continues installing Windows 98.

Follow the Windows 98 installation steps as you would for a physical PC.

Install VMware Tools in your guest operating system.

If sound was disabled at the time you installed Windows 98, you can enable sound for the virtual machine after the operating system has been installed.

If networking was disabled at the time you installed Windows 98, you can enable it after the operating system has been installed. To set up networking for a virtual machine:

Shut down Windows 98 and power off the virtual machine.
Enable networking for the virtual machine.
Power on the virtual machine.
When Windows 98 reboots, it auto-detects an AMD PCNET Family Ethernet Adapter (PCI-ISA) and prompt for the Windows 98 CD-ROM to install drivers. The default Ethernet adapter settings should work fine and do not need to be changed.
Use the Network icon in the Control Panel to view or change network settings. For example, you may want to add the TCP/IP protocol since Windows 98 does not install it by default.

VMware Tools

Be sure to install VMware Tools in your guest operating system.

Enabling Sound After Installing Windows 98

The VMware GSX Server sound device is disabled by default and must be enabled with the Configuration Editor (Settings > Configuration Editor) after the operating system has been installed.

Enabling Networking After Installing Windows 98

If networking was disabled at the time you installed your Windows 98 guest operating system, you can enable it after the operating system has been installed.

Known Issues

After Windows 98 has been installed, you may notice COM5 and COM6 devices exist within the Windows Device Manager. These devices do not actually exist and are not consuming IRQ or other resources. You may remove them using the Windows device manager if you like.

Support for EMM386.EXE and other memory managers is currently limited. If you initially boot using a customized non-standard MS-DOS or Windows 98 boot floppy, be sure that EMM386.EXE (or other memory manager) is not being loaded. HIMEM.SYS and RAMDRIVE.SYS can be loaded and used without problems.

On a Linux host with an XFree86 3.x X server, it is best not to run a screen saver in the guest operating system. Guest screen savers that demand a lot of processing power can cause the X server on the host to freeze.