Installing Windows 98 on a Proxmox VE

Install ImgBurn
Create a new folder and stick the 7zip installer and the Intel Network Adapters in that folder
Open ImgBurn
Create image file from files/folders
Click through the prompts
Verify the image is in the destination folder specified

Login to your Proxmox VE dashboard via your web browser
On the left side of the dashboard, expand the Datacenter drop-down, and the node with your server name.
Select your local storage, select ISO Images, and click Upload

Creating and Configuring the VM

Continue to System tab:
- For Graphic card: select Default
- For Machine: select i440fx
- For SCSI Controller: select Default (LSI 53C895A)
- For BIOS: select Default (SeaBIOS)

Continue to Disks tab:
- For Bus/Device: select IDE
- For Disk size(GiB): choose at least 1GB. In this example we select 32GB.

Continue to CPU tab:
- For Sockets: select 1
- For Cores: select 1
  - We selected 2 cores for this example, mostly to test the limits of the Windows 98 VM, but the VM most likely is not utilizing the second core
- For Type: select Default (kvm64)

Continue to the Memory tab:
- For Memory (MiB): select at least 32MB of RAM, and no more than 1024
  - We selected 1024 in our example
  - Anything above 1024MB will cause issues with the Windows 98 VM
    - Windows 98 was realistically not designed to handle more than 512MB of RAM

Make sure you know what you’re doing in this step by enabling networking

Continue to the Confirm tab:
- Click Finish
- Allow the VM to finalize setup, until it is visible on your list of VMs

The VM is now ready to be started for the first time in order for proper installation.

Select your Windows 98 VM on the Server View window on the left side of the Proxmox Dashboard
Click the Start button
Choose the Console tab to view the video output
When the OS loads, choose option 2. Boot from CD-ROM

Select option 1. Start Windows 98 Setup from CD-ROM
You may have to wait about 1 minute, ignore any status messages until the Microsoft Windows 98 Setup page shows:

Press your Enter key to continue past the “Welcome to Setup” page
If a prompt to “Configure unallocated disk space” shows hit your Enter key
- If using over 512MB drive space, choose “Yes, enable large disk support”
When you get to the step regarding restarting your computer, hit Enter
VM will reboot
Select option “2. Boot from CD-ROM”
Wait a minute or so until you see the following screen:

Wait for drive to format
- Verify you are thinking about playing Minesweeper
After drive is formatted, hit the Enter key to “perform a routine check on your system”
Allow Microsoft ScanDisk to check drive C:
Verify the Windows 98 Setup screen shows up

Select “Next” for Computer Settings to confirm keyboard layout and regional settings
Select your country for Establishing Your Location, hit “Next”
Hit “Next” on Start Copying Files page
Verify you are” sitting back and relaxing while Windows 98 installs on your computer”
Verify you are reminiscing of the dial up connection tone
After an excruciatingly long amount of time, a “Restart Computer” prompt should display

Restart, let the OS reboot
- If any errors arise, try to ignore them and hit enter to continue
Enter your name when prompted
Accept agreement
Enter your product key (no we won’t supply one)
Continue by hitting “Finish” and allow installation to continue
Reboot if prompted
Set date/time
Let setup continue
Windows will restart until Prompted for a Password
- Enter your desired Password
Drivers will install – for now
Windows 98 is now installed! Wow! Look at that GUI! Isn’t it beautiful? Bill, you’ve done it again.

You saw it, now let’s properly shut it down by clicking the Start button in the bottom left hand corner
Shut Down…
Now, with that ISO image we created earlier, let’s attach it to the Windows 98 image.
Go to your virtual machine, hardware, Add

Click Add
You can now start your virtual machine back up.
Install 7zip on the Windows 98 machine
7zip the Intel Drivers onto the Desktop
Double click on the PRO98_10.1 installer and install the program.
Restart the VM
Once you log in and verify that the machine is now loaded, right-click on My Computer and click Properties
Click Device Manager
You may notice that there is a Plug and Play BIOS Device that is marked with a yellow indicator
Right-click on that, click Properties, Driver, Update Driver
Click Next
Select “Display a list of all the drivers in a specific location, so you can select the driver you want”. Click Next
Select “Show all hardware.”
Scroll down and select “PCI bus”
If at any time the prompt asks you to Choose a file, make sure you select your E:\WIN98 folder (E: being the drive that contains the Windows 98 ISO)
After that you may be prompted to restart your computer, definitely restart it.
You will notice that all drivers are now being noticed.
You will be prompted to find the files, for any networking file, make sure you to select C:\Intel10.1\Pro100\Win98SE and it will autofill, other than that select E:\WIN98
After that, enjoy your new Windows 98

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me: https://stevesec.com/contact