Earlier Windows Emulators

[SentaiBrad]

DOS76 said Oh you have to install a 32 bit system even though its a 64 bit chip that kind of sucks but since it would sort of be like a legacy platform and still have an OS that is modern it wouldn't be to much of a problem especially since I am not doing much with the system anyway

Well, if 64bit Vista has compatibility problems with the older games but not the 32bit version, you'll be capped at 3GB with the 32bit version. There is a very rare, and supposedly unstable version of XP that is 64bit, but I would stick with the 32bit version regardless. You might end up with the same compatibility issues. So either one can't utilize the full 4GB of RAM.

[Bil]

I was just reading on another forums and this emulator was mentioned - http://pcem-emulator.co.uk From the emulator's readme:

- Windows 95/98/ME run, with the following caveats : - Setup sometimes crashes in the first stage (during file copying). This appears to be a side effect of the bugs fixed making OS/2 work. Unfortunately I haven't been able to eliminate this issue. - On some versions of Windows the AWE32 is not set up correctly, claiming a resource conflict. To correct this open the relevant item in Device Manager, choose 'Set Configuration Manually' and accept the options presented. - Windows NT works okay now. I've tested NT 3.51, NT 4, and 2000. I've also been informed that NT 3.1 works. XP does not currently run as PCem doesn't emulate any processor with the required CMPXCHG8B instruction.

[SentaiBrad]

Hey you found it, this is the one I remembered. But it was a while ago... Looks like It's been updated since I saw anything about this, which is good. Let's just hope this group / person keeps going. I do want to state though, treat it like any other emulator. Some things may work, some things may not. You may need to just wait for updates or forks etc.

[turbofeet]

The above is an old thread but I found this which looks quite interesting:

https://olistutorials.wordpress.com/2017/02/25/setting-up-pcem-for-windows-95-games/

Not tried it but I will do. Looks like you can set up a Voodoo card in there.

I previously had some more modern Windows Games like Medal of Honour Allied Assault & Soldier of Fortune (classic!) set up in my previous GameEx Setup.

Created a batch script that loaded the ISOs instead of using NoCD Cracks as I actually had the disks. Just ISO'd them and installed Daemon Tools (now full of adware):

@echo off
cls
echo.
SET INPUT1=%1
SET ROMFile=%INPUT1:~1,-1%

set str=%ROMFile%
set str=%str:.lnk=%

If EXIST "%programfiles%\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe" (SET mounter="%programfiles%\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe")
If EXIST "%programfiles(x86)%\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe" (SET mounter="%programfiles(x86)%\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe")

SET isopath=Y:\PCGames\Games_Windows_ISOs

If EXIST "%isopath%\%str%.ccd" (goto isCCD) 
If EXIST "%isopath%\%str%.cue" (goto isCUE) 
If EXIST "%isopath%\%str%.mds" (goto isMDS) 

If EXIST "%isopath%\%str%.iso" (%mounter% -mount dt,0,"%isopath%\%str%.iso")
If EXIST "%isopath%\%str%.bin" (%mounter% -mount dt,0,"%isopath%\%str%.bin")
If EXIST "%isopath%\%str%.img" (%mounter% -mount dt,0,"%isopath%\%str%.img")

goto Exit

:isCCD
%mounter% -mount dt,0,"%isopath%\%str%.ccd"
goto Exit

:isCUE
%mounter% -mount dt,0,"%isopath%\%str%.cue"
goto Exit

:isMDS
%mounter% -mount dt,0,"%isopath%\%str%.mds"
goto Exit

:Exit

ping -n 9 127.0.0.1 >NUL
 

Worked quite well but was a bit of a pig to set up initially and certainly not portable with various Registry Keys etc.

Abandoned it in the end but it did work.

I still have the disks and CDs from some of my Windows 95 Games so it might be nice to see if that PCem emulator actually works.

 

[Masheen]

I got windows 95 working fairly well with pcem. I do wish it allowed for a larger joystick, but my next step is to see how can I get launchbox to 'load' it / a game. If I get anywhere I'll be sure to update, if you guys have any ideas I'm open for that as well.

[dsnyd22]

Im starting to look into this now. Have an Old Mac on some emulator i forget name of and a good windows 3.1 and windows 95 on PCEM.. currently just running PCEM and Basilisk directly from launchbox but would be wild to be able to launch the games somehow. 

[Headrush69]

49 minutes ago, dsnyd22 said:

Im starting to look into this now. Have an Old Mac on some emulator i forget name of and a good windows 3.1 and windows 95 on PCEM.. currently just running PCEM and Basilisk directly from launchbox but would be wild to be able to launch the games somehow. 

It's a waste of space (but storage is plentiful these days), both Windows and Mac OS have autostart folders to automatically start applications.

[dsnyd22]

Hmmm nice advice. I would his mean I would need a pc setup for each game I wanted to boot straight into?

On 2/12/2022 at 10:30 AM, Headrush69 said:

It's a waste of space (but storage is plentiful these days), both Windows and Mac OS have autostart folders to automatically start applications.

 

[Headrush69]

9 hours ago, dsnyd22 said:

Hmmm nice advice. I would his mean I would need a pc setup for each game I wanted to boot straight into?

 

Yes, I keep a clean system install that has everything set up. (For that OS). Than for each game, copy it and install that one game. Since this is on an Arcade cabinet it fits my needs where I don't want to keep a keyboard around.