Windows 95 OEM

[Shadowknight]

I'm building a retro-machine, and am looking to a get a copy of Windows 95. All I can find are oem copies on ebay; with Windows 95, they didn't try to get you to do online activation, correct? This computer will never go on the Internet, all it's for is off-line old-school gaming.

 

[Mushkins]

Correct, Win95 was strictly CD key activation. Internet activation wasn't around until XP.

 

[TheStu]

I'm building a retro-machine, and am looking to a get a copy of Windows 95. All I can find are oem copies on ebay; with Windows 95, they didn't try to get you to do online activation, correct? This computer will never go on the Internet, all it's for is off-line old-school gaming.

Why not Windows 98SE instead?

 

[Shadowknight]

Why not Windows 98SE instead?

I already bought a copy of Windows 98 SE off ebay, but there were some programs/games where they had compatibility issues with anything past 95. I'm just looking to get a copy of 95, just in case the games have issues with 98.

 

[TheStu]

I already bought a copy of Windows 98 SE off ebay, but there were some programs/games where they had compatibility issues with anything past 95. I'm just looking to get a copy of 95, just in case the games have issues with 98.

Fair enough, I was just thinking that 98SE, though 15 years old at this point, is still 'modern' enough to support more hardware. I put together my own classic gaming rig a while back, and that was the OS I picked.

What games are you going to be playing, what GPU?

 

[Snoop]

I already bought a copy of Windows 98 SE off ebay, but there were some programs/games where they had compatibility issues with anything past 95. I'm just looking to get a copy of 95, just in case the games have issues with 98.

I think i still have a copy of 95. I will look for it and pm you.

 

[SunnyD]

Win95 key: all ones.

I kid you not.

 

[smakme7757]

http://rosshaynes.com/windowsos.html

Obviously if you can buy it you should, but at least you can get things started with a key from there. You might have to try a few to find one that works though.

 

[Shadowknight]

Fair enough, I was just thinking that 98SE, though 15 years old at this point, is still 'modern' enough to support more hardware. I put together my own classic gaming rig a while back, and that was the OS I picked.

What games are you going to be playing, what GPU?

I pulled out my old Hercules 2d/Voodoo card for 3dfx games only compatible with Voodoo 1 cards, I got 2 Voodoo 2 cards (12mb each) to run SLI for any games that work with Voodoo 2(or can use the old configuration trick to make voodoo-1 only cards work with voodoo 2).

As to games: The big ones are Mechwarrior 2-3dfx edition, Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries, I think some of the Descent games had 3dfx version as well. I was going to buy some other 3dfx games that haven't been ported/aren't compatible with newer operating systems, or that you can buy, but it's the dos-version without the visual enhancements in the Windows 96 or 98 versions. I love gog.com to death, but they are lazy when it comes to using dosbox instead of trying to get the better windows versions to work with modern operating systems.

 

[Snoop]

I pulled out my old Hercules 2d/Voodoo card for 3dfx games only compatible with Voodoo 1 cards, I got 2 Voodoo 2 cards (12mb each) to run SLI for any games that work with Voodoo 2(or can use the old configuration trick to make voodoo-1 only cards work with voodoo 2).

As to games: The big ones are Mechwarrior 2-3dfx edition, Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries, I think some of the Descent games had 3dfx version as well. I was going to buy some other 3dfx games that haven't been ported/aren't compatible with newer operating systems, or that you can buy, but it's the dos-version without the visual enhancements in the Windows 96 or 98 versions. I love gog.com to death, but they are lazy when it comes to using dosbox instead of trying to get the better windows versions to work with modern operating systems.

Do you need the iso?

 

[Shadowknight]

Do you need the iso?

Nah, don't worry about it. I already ordered a copy of ebay, it should get here in a week or so. Thanks for the offer.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

If you have games that won't work in 98 but will in 95... are they DOS games? Because they'll probably work better in DOSBox on a Linux machine than on the real hardware.

That was my experience anyway.

 

[Shadowknight]

If you have games that won't work in 98 but will in 95... are they DOS games? Because they'll probably work better in DOSBox on a Linux machine than on the real hardware.

That was my experience anyway.

Some of my older games are Windows 95 or 98 compatible only; I already have a bunch of games running under Dosbox, it's the Windows-specific versions I need the original Windows OS for. I know some people have installed Windows 95 under Dosbox, but I'd have to imagine games would run horrible; I had some severe lag running MW2: Mercenaries with some of the higher settings in Dosbox.

 

[JoeBleed]

When you get 95 installed, check your version and see which one you got. OSR2.1 (win95 B) is ideal, but not the last version available to OEMs. This is the version I try to use anytime I have to resort to 95. Which I haven't had to do in about 5 years or so.

 

[TheStu]

I pulled out my old Hercules 2d/Voodoo card for 3dfx games only compatible with Voodoo 1 cards, I got 2 Voodoo 2 cards (12mb each) to run SLI for any games that work with Voodoo 2(or can use the old configuration trick to make voodoo-1 only cards work with voodoo 2).

As to games: The big ones are Mechwarrior 2-3dfx edition, Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries, I think some of the Descent games had 3dfx version as well. I was going to buy some other 3dfx games that haven't been ported/aren't compatible with newer operating systems, or that you can buy, but it's the dos-version without the visual enhancements in the Windows 96 or 98 versions. I love gog.com to death, but they are lazy when it comes to using dosbox instead of trying to get the better windows versions to work with modern operating systems.

I got a voodoo 5 5500 for a steal a few years back, it's the best card for those old games (3dfx in general)

 

[Shadowknight]

I got a voodoo 5 5500 for a steal a few years back, it's the best card for those old games (3dfx in general)

I've been eying some on ebay, but for some reason people are trying to selling them for $250... Desirable or not, that's too high for a 13 year old card. I'm going to get one, but I have to wait for a not-crazy price. I have to have the Voodoo 1 and 2 cards regardless for MW2 (and certain other games) regardless, but was planning on getting a 5500 anyway for the later 3dfx games, like Clive Barker's undying.

 

[Gs dewd]

Hey Shadowknight, what are the rest of the specs of your retro rig? I built myslef one a fe months ago. I used a MSi 6167 Slot A board with a 800 Mhz Athlon proc, 128 mb of pc133, Rage Fury pro gpu, and a Aureal A3D Vortex 2 SQ2500 soundcard. All running under win 98se.

 

[postmortemIA]

My win 3.11 and win nt 4.0 builds were virtual machines on my regular pc

 

[Shadowknight]

Hey Shadowknight, what are the rest of the specs of your retro rig? I built myslef one a fe months ago. I used a MSi 6167 Slot A board with a 800 Mhz Athlon proc, 128 mb of pc133, Rage Fury pro gpu, and a Aureal A3D Vortex 2 SQ2500 soundcard. All running under win 98se.

I was intending to use an old P2 board/CPU/RAM for the 95 box, but it won't even power on. I'll have to get something off Ebay, probably either a high-end P2 or P3.

The retro machine I'm building right now is for Windows 98 (SE) games that required a lot of power; I got a P4 3.0ghz, 512mb RAM (due to Win98 memory limitation), a Shuttle board (I'm out of town, so I don't remember the model), sound is using the built-in sound card for the Shuttle board, which works under 98, a spare Antec P180 case to house it all, a $5 used HP DVD IDE drive to read disks, an old Western Digital IDE drive I had laying around, a Hercules voodoo 1 (with 2d built in) and 2 12mb voodoo 2s for SLI. I'm using an old Antec PSU of some sort to power it all. I also got a Scythe Ninja for silent cooling. However, when I tried to put it together this week, I found out the Ninja DOESN'T include a P4 mounting bracket, as they expect you to use the one used by Intel's cooler. However, the board I had had been in storage for 10 years, and I didnt know I didn't have the bracket already on it. I ordered one off Amazon, and should have it by the end of the week. Also, I think I'm going to go ahead and pick up a Voodoo 5500 this weekend for playing the later 3dfx games.

In all likelihood, the system will probably be too fast for MW2, as I've heard that fast systems keep the jumpjets from recharging, and I use the hell out of those. Worst case scenario, I'll buy a set of part for a high end P2 or P3 and try again. While there are a bunch of older games I have that need Windows 95 or 98 to actually work, this whole project really boils down to wanting to play Mechwarrior 2 voodoo edition, and any other 3dfx games where the glide wrappers leave out some of the graphical improvements compared to actual 3dfx hardware.

If you haven't done it already, you also might want to go here: http://www.msfn.org/board/forum/91-windows-9x-member-projects/ Some users have been patching Windows 98 long after it went EOL. I'm not sure if they patched it to use more than 512mb, but after you install the patch, you can have more than 512mb without the system going unstable. I think it's primarily to make it easier if you dual-boot with another system,

 

[FalseChristian]

My 1st PC was in 1997. The OS was Windows 95 OSR2.b. This is the version you want. I still have my copy of it but if I decide to sell it I want $500 for it.

 

[HeXen]

Wish I kept my voodoo cards. Who knew. For old PC games I always emulate, they run just fine.

 

[Shadowknight]

My 1st PC was in 1997. The OS was Windows 95 OSR2.b. This is the version you want. I still have my copy of it but if I decide to sell it I want $500 for it.

You might want to drop one of the zeroes at the end, if you want to sell it. Most copies on ebay go for $15-$30.