virtualbox.org

I want to migrate "Windows 98 SE" to a VM host of "Windows 7 64 Bit", I have a backup of the hard drive it was on, as well as the hard drive untouched.
Maybe a driver issue but im not sure, the old computer it was on was a Compaq im not sure any specs right now but i can get them it is still running .
When I start the VM after converting the back up a .vhd to .vdi and trying to start the VM my windows 7 BSOD'ed witch was really weird. Now I have 4 gigs of ram and a 3.0 ghz processor so I know I am covered hardware wise under the host operation system. Im hoping for a way to disable all the drivers and want not but and help would be much appreciated. If you need any other info just ask the is more of a project for my Grandpa so its not a life or death thing thanks all

It would be useful to know how the backup was created. Also, you should try to reproduce the old hardware configuration as closely as possible, which of course means knowing what that hardware configuration was.

Incidentally, it is a sad fact that Win98 is never going to run great under VirtualBox, because of the 16bit legacy code and because there are no guest additions to make it run sweetly. I suggest getting Grandpa to upgrade to XP (which you can create as a fresh install in a VM, so no migration problems). In classic mode XP can be made to look and feel similar to W98 - except it will be a helluva lot more stable, run sweeter, multitask better, support networking and USB properly etc etc - and XP as far as I know can run anything that W98 can run (and more), except for VxD style device drivers.

and XP as far as I know can run anything that W98 can run (and more), except for VxD style device drivers.

I'm also trying to get Windows 98 working for some old programs.....If XP will run anything it will solve my problems. How do I get a game that requires 256 colors to run in XP?

DrLarryE wrote:I'm also trying to get Windows 98 working for some old programs.....If XP will run anything it will solve my problems. How do I get a game that requires 256 colors to run in XP?

Well, the obvious way is to set the XP guest to 256 colours. Unfortunately that isn't something I've ever tried to do.

However you may find this link interesting.