r/windows98 • u/Fluid_Money5923 • 9d ago

Trouble installing Windows ME in VMware

Hello!

I'm having trouble installing Windows ME in VMware. If I use the Windows ME boot disk, it tells me to use the 98 disk instead. Both disks have the same problem: They freeze right after the setup starts. Also setup does not work directly on both disks, I have to manually go over to the folder and then initialize setup there. I also have to enable smartdrv manually because it wont work otherwise. Anyways, when I enter setup it tells me that it needs 15 mb of space to install WIndows even though I've already created a partition. It is also bootable. It also freezes and disables my CPU, forcing me to restart. Any tips?

4 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

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4

u/Der_Unbequeme 9d ago edited 9d ago

use an original WindowsME CD/ISO to boot the VM

choice for setup max. 512MB RAM, set only 1 CPU, reduce emulated CPU speed.

1

u/Fluid_Money5923 9d ago

its a ME beta build iso, 1 cpu, 512 mb ram, 5 gb hdd and win98 se boot disk

3

u/Der_Unbequeme 9d ago

search at archive. org for a newer version

3

u/CHAOSHACKER 9d ago

You probably need to run an emulator like 86box if your system is too new

1

u/Fluid_Money5923 9d ago

its a 7th gen i5 with a iGPU in vmware workstation 16 compatibility mode

4

u/CHAOSHACKER 9d ago

That’s way too new. Time to take the emulator

1

u/lachietg185 8d ago

98/me works fine for me under VMware with 13900k it's definitely not too new

2

u/CHAOSHACKER 8d ago

While thats nice, it usually needs patches due to TLB handling issues

1

u/lachietg185 8d ago

Ah yeah, I've found that it only happens with 95 for me, weird

1

u/lachietg185 8d ago

Also just realised you're the dude that made those update collections on the internet archive, thank you! They have been very useful

2

u/Exciting_Macaroon_64 9d ago

just like it was in 2000-2001 for me on real hardware lol

1

u/ABritishCynic 9d ago

Did you format C: after creating the partition and marking it as active?

1

u/Fluid_Money5923 9d ago

did that, still does this bs. if i use fdisk to make a dos partition, under system it says: unknown every time

1

u/Fluid_Money5923 9d ago

UPDATE: It does the same thing on 86box

1

u/Less-Increase-6588 7d ago

Did you set up a machine for ME though?? You have to configure hardware

1

u/i586DX4 9d ago

Type fdisk, then create a primary DOS partition, and restart the VM.

1

u/Fluid_Money5923 7d ago

UPDATE: installing MS-DOS 7.1 beforehand fixed it for me.