Windows 98 can be installed in a virtual machine using the standard Windows 98 CD.
Note: Some Microsoft Windows 98 OEM disks included with new computers are customized for those computers and include device drivers and other utilities specific to the hardware system. Even if you can install this Windows 98 operating system on your actual computer, you may not be able to install it in a VMware Workstation virtual machine. You may need to purchase a new copy of Windows to install in a virtual machine.
Before installing the operating system, be sure that you have already created a new virtual machine and configured it. Use the VMware Workstation Configuration Editor to verify the virtual machine's devices are set up as you expect before starting the installation. For example, if you would like the Windows 98 setup program to install a sound driver, be sure that sound is enabled in the virtual machine's configuration. VMware also recommends that you disable the screen saver on the host system before starting the installation process.
To install Windows 98 into a virtual machine:
After Windows 98 has been installed, you may notice COM5 and COM6 devices exist within the Windows Device Manager. These devices do not actually exist and are not consuming IRQ or other resources. You may remove them using the Windows device manager if you like.
Support for EMM386.EXE and other memory managers is currently limited. If you initially boot using a customized non-standard MS-DOS or Windows 98 boot floppy, be sure that EMM386.EXE (or other memory manager) is not being loaded. HIMEM.SYS and RAMDRIVE.SYS can be loaded and used without problems.
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