Install Patcher9x for Windows 98 on VirtualBox 7.0.6

[douglasfir]

Hi there, I am trying to get Windows 98SE installed on VirtualBox 7.0.6 Running on Windows 11.
I am aware a patch is needed, Patcher9x. I have Windows 98SE installed, but it is obviously crashing before it gets to the desktop. I am very confused as to how I install Patcher9x. I assume I have to run it from command prompt only in the 98SE virtual machine. However, I cannot seem to figure out how to access the patcher9x executable from DOS. Tried shared folders, virtual hard disks, nothing works. Cannot access the drive letter from DOS at all.

Can someone please point me in the right direction here? I've spent hours on this so far and can't figure it out. Please help!

[mpack]

I am aware a patch is needed, Patcher9x.

Well I'm certainly not aware of that. Where on the forums did you read that?

What's your CPU?

As to running patcher, if indeed it is needed, you would create a rescue boot floppy and boot from that. Then you cd to the C drive, copy the exe file there and run it. Note that Win98 runs on top of DOS, so the boot floppy needs to be running the same version of DOS (DOS 7).

[douglasfir]

Hi there, thanks for the reply!

I read about Patcher9x through Google, I entered "Windows 98 setup crashes during setup virtualbox"

I am running an AMD Ryzen 5 5400U @ 2.38GHz CPU with 16GB RAM.

Apparently there is an issue with CPU's executing instructions too fast, on newer CPU's. I'm assuming I now need to add patcher9x to a Win98 DOS 7 boot disk, and add it to an .img file too boot the virtual machine from?

[plainequally]

Hi there, thanks for the reply!

I read about Patcher9x through Google, I entered "Windows 98 setup crashes during setup virtualbox"

I am running an AMD Ryzen 5 5400U @ 2.38GHz CPU with 16GB RAM. drive mad

Apparently there is an issue with CPU's executing instructions too fast, on newer CPU's. I'm assuming I now need to add patcher9x to a Win98 DOS 7 boot disk, and add it to an .img file too boot the virtual machine from?

Same issue. Updating the app helped. I don't think you need to add patcher9x to the Win98 DOS 7 boot disk to start the virtual machine

[mpack]

I am running an AMD Ryzen 5 5400U @ 2.38GHz CPU with 16GB RAM.

Ok, so you're talking about the patch to make Win98 compatible with Ryzen, which none of us Intel users will be familiar with. It can be helpful to mention that!

But, my suggestion for how to run patcher should still be valid.

Re the comment of "plainequally", just judging from the name I would assume that "patcher" will patch some Win98 system DLLs. It may care about where you run it from, but probably not: it will look for DLLs inside "C:\WINDOWS\*" regardless. And you only need to run it once per Win98 image.

Apparently there is an issue with CPU's executing instructions too fast, on newer CPU's.

No, that is a completely different issue, and only Win95 had that issue (not Win98), and it was not confined to Ryzen. It also had nothing to do with how new the CPU is (that was just how a certain Ryzen fan around here liked to spin the problem). No, the Ryzen incompatibility is... just that: a subtle change in AMD CPU behaviour that Win98 doesn't understand and can't cope with until you apply the patch.

[jvidal]

I'm facing a similar issue here. I copied a W98 Guest machine I have on my PC to a newer laptop with an Intel i5 11th generation CPU and Windows 11.
The VM boots, but just before the desktop appears i get errors relating to SHELL32.dll being linked to SHLWAPI.DLL tFileAttribitesSA wich doesn't exist.

So ,I decided to start over and create a new VM, installed W98 from scratch and everything goes well until the very first logon, where I get that same error and I'm stuck.

Tried VBOX 6.1.42 and 7.0.6 and both give me the same results.

what could be causing this? windows 11 or the intel CPU (11th gen i5-11400H)???

Is there some setting I can tweak to get rid of this issue? the same VM runs fine on my AMD FX-8320E host, using VBOX 7.0.6.

Edit: the W98 VM boots correctly in safe mode, strangely enough, but not in normal mode. Not safe mode on host, of course, I'm talking about starting win98 in safe mode inside the VM (which works)

https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMwar ... -p/2893345

that's exactly the situation I'm describing here...

Edit2: https://github.com/JHRobotics/patcher9x seems to fix it!

[scottgus1]

Seems our Tutorial: Windows 95/98 guest OSes does mention Patcher9x: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=9918#p532314

[jorgensen]

I'm facing a similar issue here. I copied a W98 Guest machine I have on my PC to a newer laptop with an Intel i5 11th generation CPU and Windows 11.
The VM boots, but just before the desktop appears i get errors relating to SHELL32.dll being linked to SHLWAPI.DLL tFileAttribitesSA wich doesn't exist.

I have exactly the same error, and since Virtualbox 6, I have given up on using Windows 9X as a Virtualbox guest.
Instead I am using DOSBox-X which is working pretty well - even networking over FTP is working fine.
Samba is not an option with the Windows 10 host.

[mpack]

Samba is not an option with the Windows 10 host.

I'm not sure of the relevance of that comment here (I see no previous mention of Samba), but ?? Samba is the Gnu Linux implementation of the Windows SMB networking protocol. Windows 10 hosts definitely do have SMB - and although SMB1 is disabled by default, it can easily be re-enabled so it still definitely an option.

[Gtanda]

I have previously seen information confirming that the 32-bit disk drive is the cause.
I followed this information, booted in safe mode, disabled the disk driver for 32-bit protected mode, and was able to confirm normal booting.
However, it should be noted that this method does not solve the fundamental problem, as it causes problems such as not being able to use DVDs.
----
私が以前目にした情報で、32bitディスクドライブが原因であるという情報を確認しました。
それに従い、セーフモードで起動して32bitプロテクト モードのディスクドライバーを無効化したところ通常起動を確認出来ました。
ただし、この方法の弊害として、DVDなどが利用出来ないといった問題も生じるため、根本的な問題の解決にはならない事は注意が必要です。
----
CPU: Core i5-13600K

[James Alan]

Hi there, I am trying to get Windows 98SE installed on VirtualBox 7.0.6 Running on Windows 11.
I am aware a patch is needed, Patcher9x. I have Windows 98SE installed, but it is obviously crashing before it gets to the desktop. I am very confused as to how I install Patcher9x. I assume I have to run it from command prompt only in the 98SE virtual machine. However, I cannot seem to figure out how to access the patcher9x executable from DOS. Tried shared folders, virtual hard disks, nothing works. Cannot access the drive letter from DOS at all.

Can someone please point me in the right direction here? I've spent hours on this so far and can't figure it out. Please help!

It sounds like you're experiencing a common challenge when trying to get older operating systems to run smoothly on modern virtualization platforms. Installing Windows 98SE on VirtualBox can indeed be tricky, especially with the additional layer of running it on Windows 11. Here are a few suggestions that might help you with the installation of Patcher9x:

- ISO Files: Instead of shared folders or virtual hard disks, consider using an ISO file. You can create an ISO that includes the Patcher9x files and then mount this ISO in the virtual CD drive of the VirtualBox. This way, it should be accessible from within Windows 98SE.

- Safe Mode: If Windows 98SE is crashing before reaching the desktop, try booting into Safe Mode. This can sometimes bypass problematic drivers or settings and allow you to perform essential tasks like patching or driver updates.

- Network Solutions: If ISO files don't work, another approach might be to set up a simple network between the host and the virtual machine. FTP or Windows networking can sometimes be used to transfer files between the two systems, though this can be complex with older systems like Windows 98.

- Community and Documentation: VirtualBox's community forums and Windows 98 enthusiast sites often have detailed guides and user experiences related to this exact type of setup. They might have specific instructions or ready-made solutions for using Patcher9x with VirtualBox.

- Compatibility Settings: Ensure VirtualBox's compatibility settings are appropriately configured for Windows 98. This includes checking the system type, allocating suitable memory, and any other settings that mimic the old hardware environment.

- Direct Download: If you can get to a browser or a network connection within Windows 98, consider downloading the patch directly to the virtual machine.

Remember, working with such an old operating system in a modern environment can be inherently unstable and may require a lot of trial and error. Persistence and community support are key. Best of luck with your installation!