Cannot install Windows 95

Discussion in 'Installation and Configuration of Parallels Desktop' started by Gatekeeper201, Sep 19, 2009.

  1. Gatekeeper201

    Gatekeeper201 Bit poster

    Messages:
    1
    Hey guys,

    I recently purchased a copy of what I believe was the last of release Windows 95, Windows 95 OSR 2.5. I've trying to install the OS for the last few days, but with no success. After creating the virtual machine, I inserted the CD-ROM as instructed, but it failed to boot from the CD drive. My purchase also came with a MS Setup Boot Disk (or so it says), which I tried on my second attempt.

    It seemed to work at first because it booted from the floppy and took me to the Microsoft Windows 95 Startup Menu. It gave me a list of machines to pick from, Acer, Mitsumi, Samsung, Hitachi, Toshiba, Panasonic, Adaptec2940, and Unlisted. I chose the last option and it took me to the next screen and prompted me with this:

    Continue with Windows95 installation or Exit to the DOS Prompt ?

    C. Continue
    X. Exit to DOS

    [C,X]?

    I typed in C, and but it immediately went to the DOS prompt itself with this:

    Invalid drive specification
    Bad command or file name
    A:\>

    I tried the c:/setup command and pressed Enter and these this was the next message:

    Please wait while Setup initializes.
    Cannot create a temporary directory.
    It you have HPFS or NTFS installed on your hard drive, you will need to create an MS-DOS boot partition to up Windows.

    A:\>

    I tried using the "fdisk" command to do exactly what was stated above but the whole process just repeated itself even after setting a primary DOS partition. I tried a few variations of the same procedure but all with the same result.

    I've searched the knowledge base but I haven't able to find a recent posts concerning Windows 95. I'm using Parallels Desktop 4.0, build 3844, on a MacBook Pro 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 running Mac OS X 10.5.8.

    Any help you guys can give would be appreciated.
     
  2. BobF

    BobF Bit poster

    Messages:
    5
    I see no reply to this post, so I'm probably wasting my time, but...

    I installed Win 95 last night. It wasn't without issue, but it installed. Problem is although I used the cd-rom to install the software, there's no CD-ROM recognized by the installed Win95! I've looked all over for possible help, but I haven't found anything to help me with a solution.

    Bob
     
  3. Shaddam IV

    Shaddam IV Forum Maven

    Messages:
    623
    I hear that it's kinda hard to install Windows 95 on a "blank" machine. Try installing DOS on it and then installing Windows 95.
     
  4. Salamat

    Salamat Member

    Messages:
    72
    I'm not sure after all this time but it sounds like you would need the autoexec.bat and config.sys to load your cd rom drivers with mscdex etc.

    Salamat
     
  5. BobF

    BobF Bit poster

    Messages:
    5
    Thanks for the quick replies. You are probably like I was before trying to install Win95.

    I researched the Parallel docs and other info on the Internet before starting. Then I followed these steps:

    1. Located a floppy disk image for win95 boot with CDROM support since the Win95 CD is not bootable.
    2. Pointed the Parallels floppy to the boot image on my MacBook Pro.
    3. Put the Win95 install disk in the MacBook Pro CD drive
    4. Started the process.
    5. The floppy image booted and asked if I wanted to start with or without CDROM support. I selected with CDROM.
    6. The floppy continued to boot into DOS with CDROM active as D:
    7. I used FDISK to partition the C: drive
    8. Then I formatted the C: drive
    9. Finally, I ran D:setup from the CDROM to install Win 95 as a VM in Parallels
    10. When Win 95 install was complete, I had the usual desktop, etc., but I had NO CDROM option. That is, I have the A: drive floppy and the C: drive hard disk, but no CDROM recognized by Win 95. Odd, since I used the darn thing to install Win 95.

    Like one of you said, "its been a long time." Yes, for me too. Maybe someone will pick up on this.

    Bob
     
  6. After Hours

    After Hours Member

    Messages:
    28
    Installing Windows 95 in Parallels 8

    When I had to create my Win95 for a software test, I used Parallels 8.

    These are the approximate steps I took:

    Created a new VM from the add tool + pulldown menu at the bottom of my list of existing machines.
    Chose to create a new Windows VM, selecting from the prl-tools-mac.iso option when Parallels asked for the source.
    Selected my desired version for the window shade pop up that appeared.
    Chose to share with other users on my mac (my wife has an account on my laptop, too).
    Allowed Parallels to create the VM
    Got the command line ROM screen warning me that no bootable devices were present.
    At this point, I shut down the VM, then went into preferences and set the boot order to Floppy, CD, HD, Network, gave it 512 Mb RAM, and restarted the VM.
    Mounted my Win95 install floppy iso by using the floppy icon at the bottom of the screen to connect to my iso image
    Inserted my Win95 installer CD, and used the optical drive tool to set to the default CD drive.
    Ran the autoexec.bat from the floppy (a:) drive
    When I got the startup menu, I selected the NEC IDE CD driver option.
    Formatted the c: as a 2Gb (extended) drive with the format command
    Ran the setup.exe from the d: drive
    Worked through the Win95 install (CD key, selections of options to install, no startup disc creation, etc.)

    I think that was my procedure -- hope it helps someone.
     

Share This Page