virtualbox.org

My Windows 95 VM says this: "While Initializing device IOS: Windows Protection Error. You need to restart your computer."
Host: Microsoft Windows 10 v1607 build 14393.953
Guest: Microsoft Windows 95 v4.00.1111.osr2
Vbox:5.1.10 r112026

That doesn't seem to be a VirtualBox error message. I have no idea what "device IOS" is.

I suggest that you use Google for guest OS error messages. For example the post by LoneCrusader in the attached discussion looks promising.
https://www.computing.net/answers/windo ... 70738.html

DVINTHEHOUSEMAN wrote:My Windows 95 VM says this: "While Initializing device IOS: Windows Protection Error. You need to restart your computer."
Host: Microsoft Windows 10 v1607 build 14393.953
Guest: Microsoft Windows 95 v4.00.1111.osr2
Vbox:5.1.10 r112026

Hi,
I've had the same issue as you but managed to resolve it. Let me reinstall my Win95 VM so I can give you the exact steps and I'll be back to you shortly

Ok, I've found the solution, so I think it's worth sharing to help you and other fellows.

The reason the Win95 kernel crashes is because of a well-know issue: Intel CPUs above 2.1 GHz aren't supported (and AMD ones aren't if >350 MHz) and will cause the network driver (NDIS) to crash during boot.
Microsoft has released a patch for it, but you need to run it within Win95. Luckily, a guy named "LoneCrusader" on the MSFN.org forum has re-packaged it into a convenient bootable ISO.

Steps to solve the "Windows Protection Error" when running Windows 95 on VirtualBox

1) edit the VM settings --> Acceleration --> disable VT/nested paging
2) download this zip file: http://www.tmeeco.eu/9X4EVER/GOODIES/FI ... _FINAL.ZIP
3) get the FIX95CPU.ISO file from the zip
4) attach the iso file to the CD drive of your Win95 VM (as usual)
5) reboot and you'll get a red on black screen. It's fine
6) decline to read the "readme" (better to read it later within Windows) and go ahead
7) reboot when prompted to do so, detach the ISO, reboot again and enjoy Win 95 working fine

The OP has not visited since August, so I'll thank you anyway for these posts.

(though IMHO the better solution is to ditch anything earlier than Win98SE )

Thank you @francescocariati ! This solution worked PERFECTLY for me! Thank you for taking the time to post a solution.

I tried the patch and on the second restart after finishing setup it says only this. Nothing else:
"Windows protection error. You need to restart your computer."
Absolutely no error code, no IOS or whatever and I did run the patch. Does anyone want to help?

If you are still getting "Windows Protection Error" then the most likely explanation is that you did not complete the patch. If you believe otherwise then start your own topic, point out that you already applied the patch, and include a zipped VM log file. I.e. make sure the VM is fully shut down, then right click it in the manager UI. Select "Show Log" and save "VBox.log" (no other file) to a zip file. Attach the zip to your post in your own topic.

So when i read one of the inital posts which says that there is a bug concerning cpu speed it just gave me the hint to reduce CPU speed in Virtual Machine settings. In my case 40 % works out well. No patch needed.

That option in the VM settings simply adjusts the task priority, it doesn't (and can't) change the actual CPU clock frequency. So IMO you can't count on your "fix" working reliably, unlike the recommended one.