WINDOWS 95 on Virtual box 7.1.6

[Pguerin]

Hello everyone,

I am currently running Windows 95 inside VirtualBox 7.1.6 in order to use an old inventory management software that only works under Windows 95. The software generates PostScript (.ps / .prn) files which I need to transfer to my modern host system (Windows 10/11) for PDF conversion.

The problem I am facing is transferring those files out of the VM.

Here is what I have tried so far:

Shared folders: I enabled shared folders in VirtualBox and marked them as Auto-mount and Permanent, but they do not appear inside Windows 95.

USB support: I enabled USB in VirtualBox, but Windows 95 does not detect USB mass storage devices.

Creating additional virtual hard disks: I created several VDI files, but initially they were not detected in FDISK. I realized the controller type matters (PIIX3/PIIX4 vs AHCI/ICH6), and I am still working through this.

ISO method: I am considering creating/mounting an ISO as a transfer method.

My current situation:

The .ps file is about 6 MB.

It exists inside the Windows 95 VM.

I need a reliable way to transfer it to the host system.

Could anyone recommend the simplest and most reliable method to move files from a Windows 95 guest to a modern host in VirtualBox 7.1.6?

Thank you very much for your time and assistance!

Best regards

Pierre

[klaus]

Shared folders can't work, because they are a feature of the VirtualBox Guest Additions (need to be installed inside the VM), and these don't exist for Windows 9x.

Using the network would be an option - but that's tricky if you don't want to expose the VM to the rough network reality in your LAN. Going for "Host-Only" networking is probably the best choice. I wouldn't attempt to use CIFS, because you'd have to allow SMB1 connections and they're known insecure. An option might be to set up an ssh server on your Windows host (see the Internet for one of the countless instructions how to enable Microsoft's sshd port) and install a version of putty inside the VM which supports Windows 95. Then you might be able to use pscp and the like to copy data across (if there is an overlap in the supported ciphers).

Using USB devices for data exchange is also feasible, but you need to pay attention: for the VM enable just USB 1.1. Anything else isn't going to work anyway because Windows 95 doesn't know the associated newer controllers. Another important item to keep in mind: if your USB stick is USB3 (and your host is having just USB3 capable ports) then you'll need to force the device to speak "old USB", and for that you need a USB1 (or USB2) extension cable (USB-A plug to USB-A socket) and put it between your USB stick and the host port. Then you can try passing the device to the VM and it should be visible. Another item to keep in mind: the initial Windows 95 release didn't handle FAT32 filesystem, so I hope you use Windows 95B which does. If your USB stick (ideally you get a dedicated one, doesn't have to be huge anyway) isn't FAT32 formatted you'll need to reformat it (data loss, ...), best to do this from Windows 95. When the stick is visible in the VM you can put data on it. Don't forget to do the "safe eject" from Windows 95 before un-grabbing it in VirtualBox. Then the host should see it and show the content...

[jorgensen]

Use this tool -> https://www.rejetto.com/hfs/
Or use VMware Workstation which support dragging of files.